As farming has now become more business-oriented, the farmer along with fulfilling domestic needs also follows the market signals. The production trend of an agrarian economy depends on many factors.

Besides the market signals, sometimes it is also affected by the weather, pests, diseases, sowing techniques and time, harvesting method and the post-harvest management. Natural calamities perhaps may not, but other factors can be managed to enhance the efficiency of the farming community.

Decision making in the past was easy but now farmers have to be more market-oriented about what, when and how to market their produce because of the government interventions, increased urban demand, improved cultivation techniques, increased opportunities of trade in local and international market and better information services. This culture is characterized with a time lag between planning and its final realisations thus delaying spontaneous response to the changing market signals.

There is no gauge to ensure the exact intensity of changing signals but the probabilities can be improved by managing the available tool-kit, among which information services are the most important. This can help in managing the available resources in a more rational way.

The FAO has defined the market information service (MIS) as a service usually operated by the public sector which involves the collection of information on prices and, in some cases, quantities of widely traded agricultural products from the wholesale, retail and the rural assembly markets. Information helps the farmers to bring their production pattern in line with the market demand. The farmers living in an information vacuum are not sure of the prices they will get for their produce. This constraint, at times doesn’t even cover the costs of transport, handling,marketing fees, etc. The information gap also fluctuates the arrivals of agricultural commodities causing disturbances in the national economy, especially during the bumper crops when the commodity is exported. To make the existing set-up more efficient, the information services should be supplemented with the allied facilities.

Prices are a key element in decision-making process. The government agencies assess the welfare of producers and consumers, plan the price support programmes, measure the international trade options, and plan the farmer-oriented programmes based on the reported prices.The agriculture-related industries monitor the prices in planning, production and marketing strategies. Universities and research institutes use the prices as input into econometric and enterprise analysis. Farmers need good price data to make the optimum management decisions and to plan crop marketing. Newspapers, radio, consulting firms and number of other special interest groups also use agricultural commodity prices on regular basis.

The farmers can compare the prices they receive with the market rates which would help them in identifying the place to take the produce. Retail and wholesale prices have been collected for many years but there is a deficiency of price data at the farm level. Harvest season prices at the farm gate are collected in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces but the information is not published. No farm level prices are collected in the NWFP.

The agricultural and livestock marketing adviser (Alma) is mainly responsible for collection and dissemination of the wholesale price information. It employs its own enumerators who report prices in major markets and where there are no committees. It produces monthly and annual publications which report wholesale and retail prices. The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) collects the information on a large number of retail food items as part of comprehensive list of 91 wholesale and 466 retail items traded in the market. Each province has one or more organizations collecting the agricultural commodity prices.

In addition, many private traders’ and producers’ organizations are also doing the same job. Farmers cannot depend solely on the information coming from the traders. They often under- or over-estimate the prices to earn more profit. There are other means such as the producers, processors, policy makers and consumers to transfer information. The best source of information are extension workers.

Future challenges under the WTO regime: In the coming regime of trade liberalization, when the international market will be equally open for all, the percentage share of a country in the international trade will become a matter of national integrity. To keep the status of Pakistan intact, it is inevitable to bring some changes in our domestic set-up. But doing so requires a strong market information network.

Two factors need immediate attention i.e., improving the quality of products and reducing the cost of production. The producers in Pakistan should be well informed about the demand and trends for various agricultural commodities in the international market. The need of the time is to prepare a list of prioritized agricultural commodities based on the comparative advantage and same information should be transferred to the farming community so that they can adjust their cropping pattern and other farming activities, accordingly. As we will be facing open market in future, the public and private agencies collecting data should also scan the international price and demand trends for various agricultural commodities. Some private organizations are doing good job in this context but the overall information scenario in the country can be improved by developing an integrated network of information by collaborating the efforts of public and private organizations.

The customer in the international market is becoming more quality conscious so in order to make our farmers more quality-oriented, he should be made aware of the international standards with the latest knowledge about grading, standardization and packing. Farmers should be informed and trained in the adoption of new varieties, technologies and methods of marketing their produce which should be compatible with the international standards. Short training courses should be arranged for the farmers to make them aware about the possible implications of the WTO. In the light of these programmes the farming community should modify their production practices.

To cope with changing environment our farmers, traders, processors, policy makers should revise their priorities. Our priority should not only be to collect large amount of data with attractive analysis and presentation but the real task should be its transferability to the legitimate persons in the form and manner they can understand. The information about major agricultural commodities should be broadcast daily on the TV and radio at the times feasible for the farming community. Programmes where farmers can exchange information with experts in a face to face situation should be arranged to strengthen the coordination between two concerned quarters.