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initiatives to start ‘Khedut Grahak Bazars’ every Sunday in most of the districts.
During stored potato marketing, the post storage expenses incurred by farmer were the
additional expenses which include unpacking, cleaning, grading, weight loss and spoilage
during storage as well as bag refilling and stitching. In all the channels of all the districts,
the farmer incurred higher cost towards cold storage charges, post storage expenses,
packing material and transportation. Comparing all the three channels over districts,
channel III had the lowest marketing cost in terms of rupees because of the involvement
of no intermediary in this channel.
It was revealed in the study that in channel I, the highest marketing margin was recorded
in Banaskantha followed by Aravalli and Gandhinagar.

Relatively lower marketing margin was observed in Sabarkantha and Mehsana while in
channel II it was also high in Banaskantha compared to Mehsana. Price spread differs
from channel to another channel, the shorter the channel, the lower is the price spread.
Hence it is directly concerned with the length of the channel.

Amongst all the channels, the only marketing channel III of Gandhinagar and Mehsana
reflected marketing efficiency above unity. Good efficiency of this channel showed that
farmer was getting remunerative prices for their produce.

Four factors consisting 12 extracted variables were identified for sell related variables.
They were Financial Assistance and Business Relationship, Service Provision and Market
Reputation, Demand Driven and Information Support Services. The Findings for the
variables related to the selection of market functionaries to sell the potatoes revealed that
only one variable SP: Make transport arrangement for wholesalers showed significant
results in the study.
Four factors consisting 12 extracted variables were identified for purchase related
variables. They were Financial Assistance and Support Services, Functionaries Behavior
and Facilities and Price and Information Support. Findings for the variables related to the
selection of market functionaries to purchase the potatoes indicated that only one
variable PE: Offer best price for retailers showed significant results in the study.

The present study is of immense use to the market players to have broader knowledge
for outlining the strategies of their business practices. It builds up newer prepositions in
the field of agricultural supply chain management. It also improves the body of
knowledge in supply chain management and has contributed to fill the gaps of literature.

Key Words: Supply Chain Management, Marketing Cost, Marketing Margin, Marketing
Efficiency.

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