Study on Marketing Channels of Black Pepper in Kolli Hills of Namakkal District in Tamil Nadu

Aim: The present study was conducted with the aim to analyze the marketing cost, margin, price spread and marketing efficiency of farmers in different marketing channels of Black pepper in Kolli Hills of Namakkal district.

Methodology: About 80 farmers were interviewed for this study. Data related to marketing performance of black pepper was collected using the well-structured pre tested interview schedule and the results were tabulated.

Results: Among the different marketing channels, total marketing cost was low in channel III (Rs.39/Qtl) as compared to channel II (Rs.92/Qtl) and channel I (Rs.74/Qtl). This shows that marketing cost was low if the channel does not have any market intermediaries. The best channel for both producer and consumer were found to be channel III in which producers receives the maximum share of consumers rupee (89.46 per cent) and consumers purchase the produce at the low price of Rs. 370/Qtl.

Conclusion: This study reveals that, among the other marketing channels, channel III has the highest marketing efficiency of 9.48 per cent and 8.48 per cent. Middleman exploitation was the major problem which reduce the net income of the farmers in the study area.