Price Gap between Producers and Consumers of Ginger: Empirical Evidence from North Eastern Hill Region

This paper attempts to estimate the price gap between producer of ginger and consumer. The study was conducted under extra-mural research project in all the states of North Eastern Hill Region (NEHR) excluding the state of Assam. A sample of 271 ginger growers, 8 village merchants, 9 wholesalers, one farmer producer's organisation and 22 retailers were selected to collect the primary data from growers as well as from the intermediaries involved in marketing of ginger in the region. Standard techniques were applied to estimate producers' price, marketing costs, marketing margins and price gap between producer and consumers' price. The study found that Channel-I (Producer-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer) which was most popular among the ginger growers of NEHR was the major channel in marketing of ginger. The ginger produce disposed-off through this channel is in the range of 47-90 per cent of farm produce and the rest is through other channels. But the price received by the ginger growers under this channel was found to be less than what they received in other channels across the states of NEHR. Even the price offered by consumer was observed to be comparatively higher than other channels. The apparent reason was more marketing margins earned by intermediaries and high marketing cost incurred by them including producers in marketing of ginger. Therefore, regulation on marketing costs and margin of functionaries need to be done at state level.