Assessment of the Channel of Rice Marketing: A case Study on Jessore District

This study is based on data collected through a survey of 42 rice farmers and 21 middlemen carried out during November to December 2010 in Jhikargacha Upazila in the Jessore district of Bangladesh. In the surveyed area six types of middlemen and eighteen types of major marketing channels were identified. The study found that 33 (79%) farmers sold exclusively unhusked rice and only 9 (21%) farmers sold partially husked rice. The quantities of unhusked rice sold by farmer to village merchants, wholesalers of unhusked rice, stockists and husker were 6, 43, 15 and 22%, respectively. Although among all eighteen channels husked rice selling to retailers of husked rice was observed to be the best channel, only 6% of unhusked rice was converted to husked rice and sold through this channel. Husked rice sold through wholesalers of husked rice was also found to be the second best channel, but only 8% of unhusked rice was converted to husked rice and sold through this channel. The amount of returns, or farmers share, from rice selling were very a important factor for subsistence because it was one of the main sources of agricultural income for the farmers in the surveyed area. Therefore, the assessment of the best channel was necessary for them. Most of the farmers know that the selling of husked rice comparatively earns more money than the selling of unhusked rice, but they must sell the raw product after harvesting, due to economic and marketing problems. Farmers will not widely be able to use the best channel as long as these problems are unsolved.