Study on Fish Marketing in Rewa City

(M.P.)

1. Introduction:
With the age old tradition, the fishery sector is providing almost one-
eighth [12.05%] of the entire population of Madhya Pradesh with the
opportunity to earn their livelihood (Journal of social sciences, 2006).
Thus the importance of fishery sector is apparent in the economic
development of the country. Throughout the year, various types of
fishes are being cultivated by the fishermen. The availability of fish at
the right time at the right place is at the heart of the success in fish
marketing. Fishermen are hardly involved in process. Their
responsibility is confined to catching fishes only.

In the fish market, fishermen are not getting proper benefit due to the
intervention of intermediaries. Fishermen hardly have storage facility
and due to the perishable nature of fish, they are bound to sell fish at
lower price. On the other hand, the consumers have to pay higher
prices for the fishes at local markets.

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 1.1 Purpose of this study
The study was conducted with the main objective of tracking The Intermediaries in
Fish Marketing and their influence on price difference. Other than this, the study will also
focus on:
The functions of the intermediaries
The profit margins consumed by the intermediaries

1.2 Prior study

Fish trading is always considered an important sector and thus many studies have
been conducted before. But marketing and trading practices of fish is quite inadequately
studied. Some prior studies related to this study are given as follows:

The salient feature of fish marketing system and three fish marketing areas,
urban, suburban and rural fish market and the pond fish marketing system of
Madhya Pradesh have been studied in Rewa. [Devendra K. Azad M.H. 2017].

The Transactional, logistical, and facilitating functions and various advantages

and disadvantages of using intermediaries in fish marketing have been studied on
a theoretical view point. [Sharma S. S.]

The reasons for price difference between fishermen and consumers, i.e,
transportation, personal expenses, aratders commission, market tolls, and
wastages and many other sectors are described from a study in Chuadanga (2002).

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 The fish marketing systems, based on existing marketing systems, economic
features of marketing activities and inefficiencies are described from study in
Gazipur. [Ahmed N. and Rahman M. M., 2005]

By taking the insights of these studies, this study was conducted on the specific roles
of the intermediaries, their functions in the market place, the ways of and reasons for price
rise, and price differences in fish marketing channel of Rewa City district.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Field Study

This paper is prepared stemming from a root level. The field study was done in Rewa
City district. The study was conducted at Hospital Chowk to opp of Old Bus Stand. The time
frame of this total field work was from March 23rd to 27th, 2017.

A rigorous attempt was undertaken to mine the true fact from dawn to dusk. The
fieldwork started in the morning when the fishes were brought to market and were sold to
other intermediaries either in a bidding process or through bargaining. In the market, all the
intermediaries were available and this is why maximum time was spent there. In Rewa City
district, there is a government operated fisheries in Govindgarh. The manager of fisheries and
Local pond owners were interviewed according to their leisure. The end consumers were
interviewed while they were either entering or leaving the marketplace.

2.2 Sample
To conduct the study, a total of 10 samples are taken. Out of these, 10 retailers were
interviewed, as they have direct contact with the consumers. To check the validity and
reliability of the information, 10 consumers were interviewed. Retailers purchase fishes
mostly from the Aratdar [fish businessman]. Thus 5Magur were also interviewed. Many small
retailers collect fishes either from Foriyas [those who catch fish in others ponds] or directly
from the fishermen. Thus, 10 fishermen and 5 foriyas were interrogated. The foriyas used to
get fishes from local pond owners. This is why, 8 pond owners were also visited.

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 2.3 Sampling method
Not all the parties involved in the fish marketing process are equally knowledgeable.
So, probability sampling may not result in an effective sampling frame. The fieldwork was
done in accompany with a local young boy, Md. Rafiqul Islam, and a businessman, Md.
Didar Hossain, who knew the people well. Non probability sampling technique was used in
this study as the selection of sample was based on judgment rather than chance. Judgmental
sampling was used to prepare the sampling frame.

2.4 Data type

The paper is mainly focusing the fish marketing process in Rewa City district. No
such study is conducted there previously. All the data collected from the field is primary in
nature. As there is no secondary data available in this topic about this region, web search and
literatures of other regions are studied.

2.5 Data collection method

The overall data collection process was done using a questionnaire [see Appendix].
The questionnaire was prepared before going to the field. And the data were collected in
depth interview method. The notion behind the decision of using this method was that the fish
marketing process is conventional and rarely is it possible for any sort of new concept. So,
what is necessary is to talk with a person who has deep knowledge in this sector. And this is
why depth interview is seemed to be the most effective method.

3. Results and Discussion:

3.1 Name of fishes under study
The people of Rewa City are very much fond of eating fishes. So, a huge variety of
fishes are seen in the market. Taking into account all the fishes is almost impossible. Fishes
are selected based on the consumer preference, profitability, size, availability, and of course
cultivability. Following are some of the fishes
Rohu Silver-carp Grass-carp
Mrigel Sanna Goharia
Morwa Kari Magur

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 3.2 Channel Members
3.2.1 Fishermen
The first member of the overall fish marketing process is the fishermen. There main
job responsibility is catching and selling fishes. How they catch and sell fishes is different.
Some fishermen have nets and boats in their own, whereas some borrow from others or go for
partnership. After catching fishes, they sell in MON {40 kg}. They have 3 alternative ways to
sell the fishes. They usually sell to FORIYAs who bring the fishes to the market. Or the
fishermen can sell the fishes to the retailers who sell directly to the consumer. They most
often sell to rural ARATDAR when the amount of fishes is very large.

3.2.2 Fishery
Rewa City has a government owned fishery at Govindgarh. The fishery contains 10
ponds in which almost all types of fishes, related to this study, are being cultivated. The
fishery is responsible for the reproduction of fishes. The fishery has 2 ponds, one for big
fishes and another for small fishes, where the mother fishes are kept to lay eggs. These eggs
are then hatched in another pond. When the fishes are born, usually called RENU or PONA,
these are sold, in thousands, to ARATDAR, who then cultivates the fish.

3.2.3 Local Pond Owner

There are many pond owners in Rewa City. Almost every household has its own pond.
Not all pond owners cultivate fish. They get fishes in their ponds naturally and thus they
consume the fish. In the season, when there are plenty of fishes, they used to call Foriyas to
catch fishes in a 5050 basis.

3.2.4 Intermediaries
There is a small number of intermediary operating in the fish marketing process in
Rewa City. But their impact is very much crucial.
i. Foriya
Foriya is a local term of Rewa City. It generally indicates small group of
people used to earn their living by catching fishes in others ponds. They then bring
the fishes to local market. They sell the fishes either directly to the consumers or to
the retailers. They usually sell the fishes in a measure of every pot basis {HARI}.

ii. Retailer

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 Retailers exist at the last corner of the marketing process. They sell directly to
the consumers. They collect fishes either from the foriyas or from the aratdars. They
purchase small and mixed {PANCH MISHALI} fishes from the foriyas in a
measurement of every pot {HARI}. They collect big fishes from aratdar in a bidding
process. The retailer who bids highest takes title to the fish to sell in the market. More
discussion on the bidding process is given later. One exception from these two is that,
sometimes retailers are seen to be selling sea-fishes, tortoises, and crabs. They collect
these from the fishermen.

iii. Rural Aratdar

The scope and activity of rural aratdar is simply astonishing. They are
responsible for bridging the gap between the fishermen and the retailers. They
organize a bidding environment. At the same time, many of them purchase RENU
from fisheries and cultivate fish. Many of them send fishes to urban aratdars. These
ruralMagur do not sell directly to the consumer. They work as intermediaries. They
receive a commission [usually 3% of the bidding price] for their job.

iv. Urban Aratdar

Here, urban aratdar refers to those in divisional cities or any other of country.
Some rural aratdar sells fishes to these parties. This study is based only on Rewa City.
So, the role of urban aratdar was not taken into consideration. But as a general
process, they must use an intermediary to reach the consumer. And retailers are best in
this purpose.

3.3 Marketing channel

A mixed nature of marketing channel, though not very complex, is found in the fish
marketing process. The number of intermediaries is small. But the way in which fishes reach
to ultimate consumer is rather diverse. Each of them tries to grab the whole margin. Some can
make their own way, whereas some depend on others. Following are the marketing channels
found in Rewa City

Channel 1: Fishermen Retailer Consumer

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Channel 2: Fishermen Foriya Retailer Consumer
Channel 3: Fishermen Foriya Consumer
Channel 4: Fishermen Rural Aratdar Retailer Consumer
Channel 5: Fishermen Rural Aratdar Urban Aratdar
Retailer Consumer
Channel 6: Local Pond Owner Foriya Retailer Consumer
Channel 7: Local Pond Owner Foriya Consumer
Channel 8: Fisheries Rural Aratdar Retailer Consumer
Channel 9: Fisheries Rural Aratdar Urban Aratdar
Retailer Consumer
3.4 Flow of Fishes

Fisheries Fishermen Local Pond Owner

Foriya

Rural Aratdar Retailer Ultimate Consumer

Urban Aratdar
{Divisional city/ Dhaka/ Other Retailer Ultimate Consumer
part of the country}

3.6 Price differences

From the table given, it is apparent that the fishermen are the least beneficial and the
consumers are most survivors. The profit margin set by each of the intermediaries depend
almost their own will. The price difference in each layer is described below:
In most of the cases, price difference between fishermen and consumer is almost
doubled. In some cases, it is more than this. The reasons behind this increase are
transportation cost, storage cost, Magur commission, market co-operative
subscription, and the most significant the profusion and demand for the fishes.

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 The profit margin for Carp fishes, Rohu, and Catla are very low. The reasons
behind this are pond owners get these fishes on their ponds, these fishes are
grow up very quickly, and are highly available.
The margin for Catla, Mrigal, and Goharia are equal. Rohu and Sanna fishes are
very expensive and consumed by some consumers or consumed occasionally.
Thus the price is kept charging a minimum margin to encourage purchase.
The margin for Magur is highest due to its overall demand. The people of Rewa
City need Magur fishes at their dining table twice/thrice in a week. Though most
of them get Magur fish in their own ponds, the size matters the price increase.
In case of Catla and Rohu, no specific reason is found for increased price. The
Bihar River is close to the district that provides Son. Both own cultivated and
imported Rohu fishes are available in the market. However, price is high. It is
nothing but due to the syndicate grouping of parties involved in the process.
The profit margin of Magur is not confined to the commission earned through
bidding process only. They charge their functional and operational costs also.
The profit margin of retailers is set solely by themselves. This is why not even
Magur can get a share of this increased price.

3.7 Price Bidding Process

The bidding process is taped to see how price is set. Every morning huge collection of
fishes, loaded in trucks, arrive market. These fishes are either brought by the fishermen or
someone else who purchase from fishermen. ThenMagur take the responsibility of selling the
fishes.Magur usually have 2/3 people who conduct the bidding task and theMagur remain
busy in calculation. They also own some people in disguise of retailers who bid just to
increase the price. When the highest bid is fixed, the Magur get a fixed commission on the
selling price. The commission rate varies from 3% to 10% based on the nature of fish.
4. Limitations of the study
This paper is not free from limitations. A deep attention is put while preparing the paper.
So, flaws related to study may not be found. However, some limitations are there:

1) The study focuses only on the Rewa City district.

2) The study takes into account only 10 major fishes based on judgment. The price
difference for other fishes may vary significantly.

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 3) There is hardly any previous study in this topic, thus it is hard to compare results.
4) As fishes are cultivated based on nature and the field work is done in the month of
June, when there is plenty of fishes available everywhere, the findings in other time
of the year may vary.

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

One of the objectives of this study is to ensure fair prices for both the fishermen and the
consumers. Some recommendations in this respect can be made:

1) The price rise is caused by the middlemen. The number of middlemen is not very
high. But their impact is very influencing. Thus, what can be done is to distribute the
marketing function to different intermediaries. Then a fixed amount can be set to
compensate those functions.

2) A fixed commission for theMagur is a must. This may result in fair treatment of
fishermen of different fishes.

3) The involvement of syndicated group of people must be resisted in order to keep the
price stable according to what the retailers actually want to pay.

4) The willingness of the retailers to set and charge prices must be brought into a fixed
rate of profit margin based on the type, nature, availability, size, and consumer
preference of the fishes.

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 5) The rates set forMagur and retailers must be informed to both the fishermen and the
consumers. The fishermen then may need not to pay high commission to the aratdars.
And the consumers will not have to pay what the retailers set.

Reference

Dr. S.N. Shukla Under, A Study on Fish Marketing Systems in Rewa, Madhya
Pradesh Model Soience College Rewa,.

Devendra K. Azad M H., Fish market and marketing issues in Madhya Pradesh,
International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade, Rewa 2017.

Research on Hospital Chowk to Opp. Of Old Bus Stand.

http://www.bdresearch.org/home/index2.php?
page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=359&category_id=3&o
ption=com_virtuemart&Itemid=64

http://www.marketingcrossing.com/article/220071/Why-Use-Intermediaries-in-
Marketing-/,

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