MANGO enjoys a unique position and thus is called the king of fruits. It is the second major fruit crop in Pakistan in terms of area, production and export volume.
The marketing system for agricultural products is diversified ranging from the marketing arrangements where private sector is free to operate but the government intervenes through price fixation.
Fruit marketing is in the hands of private sector where there are no restrictions on movements. It is an accepted view that our fruit marketing system is inefficient, exploitative with high marketing costs and huge profits for the middleman.
The system neither maximizes the benefits to the producer nor to the consumer. The producer receives low-cost while the consumer pays more. The middleman takes up the share of a grower making the market his paradise.
Private organizations and individuals carry out mango marketing. Producer, pre-harvest contractor, commission agent, wholesaler, retailer and exporter are the principal agencies in mango marketing.
A small number of growers sell their produce directly in a wholesale market, while the majority 90 per cent sell their harvesting rights at the flowering stage to contractors. The contractor performs a key role in marketing the fruit. He is the middleman who buys the produce from the farmer and sells it in the market.
A contractor belongs to farming community with the sound knowledge of production and marketing. A contractor visits the grower to inquire about the possibility of leasing the orchard. After getting a positive reply, he estimates the yield and cost to be incurred for picking, grading, packing, loading and transportation. The producer has his own estimates for which an agreement is reached and prices negotiated.
There are three types of contracts. The first is the contract “without management practices” where all costs are borne by the producer and the agreement is valid for one year. The contractor is responsible for harvesting, handling and marketing of the produce.
The second type specifies that some management practices; particularly the “pesticide spray” is the responsibility of the contractor. Producers carry out other management practices. This is also for one year and is normally agreed 3-4 months before harvesting.
In third contract “all management costs” i.e., ploughing, application of inputs like, farmyard manure, fertilizers and pesticide sprays are the responsibility of the contractor. It is normally decided for two to three years with one-year advance payment. The growers, particularly absentee landlords, sell their orchard this way.
Each contractor keeps contact with the commission agent who advances loan to him on the condition that he brings the produce to him. During survey it came to the knowledge that the majority of contractors do not bring mango themselves but send the consignment through trucks and inform the commission agents by telephone.
The contractor normally remains in the orchard during harvesting to supervise labour, arrange transport and packing material. When a commission agent receives the produce he has the authority to sell and keep the account. The commission agent is the principal agency around which all marketing activities rotate licensed under the Punjab Agricultural Produce Market Act 1978. He has his own business place in the market.
He sells the fruit through auction by charging commission. During marketing, the contractor cannot obtain revenue from the commission agent as he has already taken advance. The commission agent provides the contractor with necessary expenses including the instalment for orchard owners and payment for labour and packing material. At the end of the season the contractor visits the market and settles the whole season’s account with the commission agent.
Wholesaler (Pharias) usually purchases mango from the commission agent in an open auction and sells in smaller quantities to retailers and consumers. He mostly buys from the commission agent on credit and about one week after selling it, he pays to the agent.
At the end of the marketing chain is the retailer who generally buys from the wholesaler and sells in smaller quantities according to the demand of a consumer. Some retailers, especially large shopkeepers buy from the open auction and subsequently sell to retailers. Retailer generally buys fruit from the wholesaler on credit. He repays that amount the next day after selling the fruit.
Major marketing problems requiring the attention of concerned authorities, include poor knowledge about the standard post-harvest processing like picking, grading, packing and transportation. There is an absence of cool chain system for proper transportation of the fruit. There is no efficient system of grading and standardization of the produce, especially for export.
Due to inadequate cold storage facilities not only appreciable quantity is lost between the producer and the consumer but also wide seasonal fluctuations occur in prices.
One of the most serious difficulties in the development of efficient markets is an inadequate flow of information on prices and quantities. The middleman uses the market information to his advantage.
The grower fails to get real dividend of his hard-nourished produce. He receives almost 30-40 per cent of the prices paid by the consumers while other intermediaries take away large percentages.
MANGO enjoys a unique position and thus is called the king of fruits. It is the second major fruit crop in Pakistan in terms of area, production and export volume.
