Dinakar H P Satyanarayan Kammardi Jagadeeswary Vankayala Veeranna Khandenahalli Channabasappa Jayashankar Marappa Ramaiah Shilpa Shree J Vol 8(1), 90-95 DOI- http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/ijlr.20170802113314
Sheep and goat husbandry was practiced by man earlier to crop husbandry, because it provided him ready source of food and clothing. Mandya sheep breed has been acclaimed to be one of the most important and dominant indigenous breed of Karnataka and India. More than production, marketing was considered as important component in livestock sector. The study on marketing pattern by farmers of Mandya sheep rearing was purposively conducted in two taluks, Malavalli and T. Narasipura from Mandya and Mysore districts respectively. A total of 200 sheep rearing farmers were selected randomly for the study. The results revealed that majority of the Mandya sheep farmers separately sold their sheep directly on the basis of age and they expressed that middlemen were not helpful in marketing. Shandy is the major marketing channel in these areas followed by middlemen involvement. Farmers opined that getting actual price and more profit was the major advantageous in direct marketing, but it takes a longer duration from producer to reach consumers. Majority of the farmers indicated that the actual weight basis method was the best method in fixing the price and also considered as most ideal method of marketing. Most of the farmers were not satisfied with the present marketing system and they expressed that the direct sale from the producer was the best alternative for new marketing system. The net profit for rearing a single Mandya sheep was Rs. 3540/-. The findings of the study indicated that the farmers were facing the problems of sheep marketing. Efforts may be initiated to establish separate market for selling Mandya sheep and wool as it fetches higher price especially at Malavlli taluk.
Keywords : Economics Marketing Mandya Sheep
Introduction
Sheep and goat husbandry was practiced by man earlier to crop husbandry, because it provided him ready source of food and clothing. Sheep have an inseparable identity with the farmers in India from time immemorial. They constitute an important component of agriculture and economy of the farming community in India, especially those of the weaker sections among agriculturists. They form substantial income particularly by the sale of surplus ram lambs, wool, unproductive and aged animals and manure. Mandya breed has been in limelight ever since its development and continues to be the only outstanding and the best Mutton breed of the State as most nutritious and high quality mutton in the diets of human beings. Mandya breed of sheep was pre-dominantly distributed in Mandya and adjacent districts. This breed was used as one of the parental indigenous breed to develop other improved breeds. Mandya sheep in its home tract over centuries implies not only its inherent adaptability but also confirms its multi-utility under different farming systems of the native tracts. This breed has been evolved naturally for adaptation to semi-arid region for both dry land agriculture and also irrigated areas. This has ability to survive and sustain prolong periods of drought, semi-starvation and thirst. However, they cannot travel long stretches of grazing land due to short legs because of which the sheep movement is restricted to small local area. Thus, this breed has made stamping impression on the society and the farmers in the native tract. However because of various reasons, the Mandya sheep is under the verge of extinction, thus a systematic investigation would help the farmers and the policy makers to arrive at a decision in conserving this valuable breed of sheep. More than production, marketing was considered as important component in livestock sector. Keeping all these in view, the present study was under taken to study the marketing pattern by farmers of Mandya sheep rearing in Karnataka.
Materials and Methods
The study adopted an exploratory research design with an objective to study the marketing pattern of Mandya sheep in Karnataka. Two taluks, Malavalli and T. Narasipura purposively selected from Mandya and Mysore districts, respectively as they had predominantly high Mandya sheep population and ten villages from each taluk were randomly selected for the study. Hundred sheep rearing farmers from each taluk, i.e. a total of 200 sheep rearing farmers were selected for the study. The data were collected through a structured interview schedule from the Mandya sheep rearing farmers. The collected data was tabulated and analyzed using suitable statistical methods.
Results and Discussion
Marketing Pattern of Mandya Sheep
The distribution of farmers based on marketing methods of Mandya sheep was depicted in Table 1. From the results, it is indicated that, majority (63 %) of the Mandya sheep farmers separately sold their sheep on the basis of age and 37 per cent based on numbers. Majority (55%) of the farmers sold the sheep directly, while 45 per cent of the respondents sold through middlemen. Majority (92%) of the farmers opined that middlemen were not helpful in marketing. In the study area, through middlemen, shandy and APMC market were the common marketing channels. It was also observed that, 45.00 per cent of the farmers sold their animals through middlemen and 47 per cent of the farmers sold their sheep during shandy and 8 per cent sold through APMC market.
Table 1: Distribution of farmers based on marketing methods of Mandya sheep (N=200)
S. No. | Category | F | % | |
1 | Separation of selling sheep | By Numbers | 74 | 37.00 |
By age | 126 | 63.00 | ||
2 | Sell the sheep directly | Yes | 110 | 55.00 |
3 | Sell the sheep through middlemen | Yes | 90 | 45.00 |
4 | Middlemen are helpful in marketing | Yes | 16 | 8.00 |
5 | If not, what should be done
a. Control of middlemen b. Direct marketing c. Through self help groups |
164 20 0 |
82.00 10 0 |
|
6 | Marketing channels | a. Through middlemen
b. Shandy c. A.P.M.C |
91
94 15 |
45.00
47.00 8.00 |
The opinion of sheep farmers on different marketing channels for Mandya sheep was depicted in the Table 2. As per the opinion of sheep farmers, more profit (86 %) and securing actual price (82%) were the advantages in direct marketing channel. Majority of the sheep farmers opined that assured selling followed by whole flock selling were the major advantageous in both shandy and APMC markets. From the point of sheep farmers, the major disadvantage of the direct marketing was time interval as it takes longer duration (82%), from producer to reach consumer whereas in case of shandy and APMC markets, the major disadvantage was interference of middlemen (87%) followed by transportation risks (82%). The other disadvantage opined by sheep farmers in APMC market channel was APMC Fee (71%).
Table 2: Opinion of sheep farmers on different marketing channels (N=200)
Category | Advantages | F | % |
Direct Marketing | Will get Actual Price | 164 | 82.00 |
More Profit | 172 | 86.00 | |
Shandy | Assured Selling | 158 | 79.00 |
Flock Selling | 144 | 72.00 | |
APMC | Assured Selling | 142 | 71.00 |
Flock Selling | 136 | 68.00 | |
Marketing Channels | Disadvantages | F | % |
Direct Marketing | Takes longer duration | 164 | 82.00 |
Shandy | Interference of Middlemen | 174 | 87.00 |
Transportation Risks | 164 | 82.00 | |
APMC | Interference of Middlemen | 174 | 87.00 |
Transportation Risks | 164 | 82.00 | |
APMC Fee | 142 | 71.00 |
The responses given by farmers on marketing of Mandya sheep were depicted in the Table 3. The results indicated that majority of the sheep farmers (98.50%) were of the opinion that the actual weight basis method was the best method in fixing the price, followed by outlook (49.50%) and lumbar score (13.50%). Majority of them (94.50%) expressed that actual weight basis method was the most ideal method of marketing, followed by outlook (21.00%) and lumbar score (7.50%). Most of the farmers (95.50%) were not satisfied with the present marketing system and most of them (92%) indicated the direct sale from the producer was the best alternative for new marketing system. Regulations in the A.P.M.C market (22.00%) and separate sheep market (33.00%) were the other alternatives for new marketing system. The findings of the present study are in accordance with the findings of Deoghare(2001), Arun Pandit and Dhaka (2005), Srivastava and Saraswat (2006), Lavania and Singh (2008), Senthilkumar et al., (2012) and Tanwar and Rohilla (2012).
Table 3: Response of farmers on marketing of Mandya sheep (N=200)
No. | Particulars | Category | Respondents | |
F | % | |||
1 | Mode of Fixing Price | Lumbar-score | 27 | 13.50 |
Actual weight | 197 | 98.50 | ||
Outlook | 99 | 49.50 | ||
2 | Most useful & Ideal method | Lumbar-score | 15 | 7.50 |
Actual weight | 189 | 94.50 | ||
Outlook | 42 | 21.00 | ||
3. | Satisfy with present marketing system | Yes | 9 | 4.50 |
No | 191 | 95.50 | ||
4. | Alternative for new market | Direct sales from producer | 184 | 92.00 |
APMC with new rules & regulations | 44 | 22.00 | ||
Separate sheep market | 126 | 63.00 |
Economics in Mandya Sheep Rearing
The data regarding economics in each Mandya sheep rearing were presented in Table 4. The findings revealed that the mean income from a Mandya sheep was Rs. 4820/- whereas the gross expenditure towards feeding, labour and medicines for a single sheep was Rs.1280/-. Hence, the net profit for rearing a single Mandya sheep was Rs. 3540/-.
Table 4: Economics in Mandya sheep rearing as expressed by the farmers (For each sheep) (N=200)
No. | Category | Economics (000’s) | |||
Mean | SD | ||||
1 | Expenditure | For Rearing | 664.00 | 1.28 | 0.32 |
For Labour | 365.00 | ||||
Medicine & others | 251.00 | ||||
2 | Income | Sale of Sheep | 4070.00 | 4.82 | 1.70 |
Sale of Manure | 492.00 | ||||
Sale of Wool | 258.00 | ||||
3 | Profit | 3540.00 | 3.54 | 1.65 |
Conclusion
The study on marketing pattern and its economics of Mandya sheep rearing revealed that majority of the Mandya sheep farmers separately sold their sheep directly on the basis of age in shandy, the major marketing channel and farmers opined that getting actual price and more profit was the major advantageous in direct marketing but it takes a longer duration from producer to reach consumers. Majority of the farmers indicated that the actual weight basis method was the best and ideal method in fixing the price. Most of the farmers were not satisfied with the present marketing system and they expressed that the direct sale from the producer was the best alternative for new marketing system. The net profit for rearing a single Mandya sheep was Rs. 3540/-. The findings of the study indicated that the farmers were facing the problems of sheep marketing. Efforts must be initiated to establish separate market for selling Mandya sheep and wool as it fetches higher price especially at Malavlli taluk. Support in the form of loan and subsidy for Mandya sheep farmers will encourage them to conserve and propagate the valuable breed. Establishing cooperative societies exclusively for Mandya sheep farmers in the breeding tract would ensure timely and adequate supply of inputs and channelize the marketing process.
References