A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

The study of behavioral

Aspects of rural agricultural market and customers

Of backward area

by

Vintech International Bioscience

(Mumbai)

A Project Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award
of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

TO

MAHARISHI DAYANAND UNIVERSITY, ROHTAK

BY

NIRMAL PATIDAR

Under the guidance of

Mr. SACHIN NAMDEO

RAI BUSINESS SCHOOL

E-8, BASANT KUNJ
ARERA COLONY, BHOPAL [M.P.]

JULY 2009-2011

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Report on

The study of behavioral

aspects of rural agricultural market and customers

of backward area

At

VINTECH INTERNATIONAL BIOSCIENCE

(MUMBAI)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

TO

MAHARISHI DAYANAND UNIVERSITY, ROHTAK

Is a record of bonafide Training carried out by

NIRMAL PATIDAR

Under my supervision and guidance and that no part of this report has
Been submitted for the award of any other degree/diploma/
Fellowship or similar titles or prizes.

FACULTY GUIDE

Signature:

Name: Mr. SACHIN NAMDEO

Signature seal of the Learning Centre

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 STUDENT’S DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the Project Report conducted on

The study of behavioral

aspects of rural agricultural market and customers

of backward area

At

VINTECH INTERNATIONAL BIOSCIENCE

(MUMBAI)

Under the guidance of

Mr. Sachin Namdeo

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

TO
MAHARISHI DAYANAND UNIVERSITY, ROHTAK

Is my original work and the same has not been submitted for the
Award of any other Degree/Diploma/Fellowship or other similar titles
Or prizes.

Place: Bhopal NIRMAL PATIDAR

Date:

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 CERTIFICATE OF THE ORGANIGATION

TO
The Training Officer
Rai Business School
Bhopal

This is Certify that

Mr./Ms.-----------------------------------------Of

MBA course of Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak

at______

------------------------------------------Leaning Center has

undergone

Management training at our Organization From

--------------------------

to-------------------------.

His/Her Performance during the training

Period was-----------------------------

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 Authoriz
ed Signatory

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped
me tremendously during the course of the project.
I wish to place my deep sense of gratitude to my project
guide. Sachin Namdeo, Sr. Lecturer (Marketing) for his constant
motivation and valuable guidance throughout the project work. I
express my gratitude to Mrs. Swati Tiwari, Director of Rai Business
School for her suggestions and advices throughout the project course.
The great efforts put in by Mrs. Sangeeta Jauhari, Sr. Lecturer
(Finance) cannot be quantified.

Finally I would like to thank all my peers at VINTECH

INTERNATIONAL BIOSCIENCE and friends for their cooperation
extended to complete this project. I also extend my thanks to other
faculty members for their cooperation during the course.

Place: Bhopal
Date: NIRMAL PATIDAR

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Rai Business School, Bhopal Page 6
 PREFACE

Agriculture is above all in today’s scenario

as it provides food without which no life
exists. There are so many methods of
cultivation depending upon the climatic
conditions and the culture followed by the
community of the particular area.
Agriculture covers not only feeding needs
but also provides raw material for textile and
pharma industry.

The concept of Agriculture is not the

new one and started when the men started
thinking and living in groups. The Agriculture
is prevalent all over the world from very
beginning in the form of tradition. Most of
the people of India lie on agriculture. 70% of
total population depends on Agriculture for
their livelihood. Thus for the production of
crops, crop management needed and for the
crop management farmer have to use
various products available in the market.
Pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers
and micro nutrients become essential for
crop management.
Private players play a significant role in
making availability of these products. There
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for it become necessary to study the farmers
behavior.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project “Farmers behavior of backward

area” is mainly subject matter of discussion.
Project mainly includes the study of farmer’s
behavior and dealer’s response to new
products in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh.

The benefits of the products, farmers

buying behavior, socioeconomic status of the
farmers, dealer’s response to new products,
and scope in Jhabua have been studied in
detail and incorporated in the project.

Lastly based on the study conclusion

have been drawn about exploring the rural
agricultural market.

Initially Vintech International Bioscience is

the firm engaged in the marketing, research,
development and sales of the agricultural
micro nutrient based products. At Vintech
International Bioscience the trainees were
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given initial training about the products and
their benefits. They were given sufficient time
to know about the products and also about
sales and distribution channel. They had to
work with sales representatives and
understand the needs and behavior of the
farmers.

CONTENTS

1) Objectives, Reasons and

Limitations of study…………………..10-
12

2) Introduction to area and

Company……………………………...14-
23

3) Swot analysis………………………….25-25

4) Research methodology………………..27-
29

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 5) Observations and Findings……………31-
32

6) Conclusions and Suggestions…………

34-35

7) Bibliography………………………….37-37

ANNEXTURE

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 OBJECTIVES, REASONS AND

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

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 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Main objective of the research is to have an

analysis of Agriculture Industry in Jhabua to
accomplish this have been divided in to the
following:

1) To Study socio economic status of the

farmers.

2) To develop a strategy to establish new

business.

3) To study purchasing capacity and

buying behavior of farmers.

4) To study role of dealers and

distributors (intermediatories) in the
market.

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 REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE
TOPIC

1) It has been always challenging to

establish a new business among the low
resourced areas.

2) An area with immense possibilities to

invest as the first mover advantage can be
taken through continuous monitoring and
demonstrations.

3) Creativity can be showed.

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 4) Novel experience as the area seems to be
as in the starting of Indian civilization.

LIMITATIONS

 Time was major constraint.

 Illiteracy of people.

 Fear of people.

 The information provided by the people all

the

results were drawn cannot be denied

that here

was always a possibility to response

error.

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Rai Business School, Bhopal Page 15
 INTRODUCTION TO AREA AND

COMPANY

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 INTRODUCTION TO JHABUA DISTRICT

The district of Jhabua situated in the south-western

corner of Madhya Pradesh is home to the Bhil adivasi or
indigenous people with the various sub-tribes like Bhil,
Bhilala, Patelia and Mankar together constituting 86.8 % of
the total population (Census, 2001). The district forms an
unique agro-climatic zone called the Jhabua Hills in the
southern part where it is part of the Vindhya hill ranges and
drains into the River Narmada. The northern part of the
district forms the undulating hilly edge of the Malwa
Plateau and the eponymous agro-climatic zone and drains
into the River Mahi. The topsoil’s are mostly light and
lateritic with some fertile patches of the medium black
variety. The underlying rock structure is mostly Achaean
igneous with some hard rock, deccan trap basaltic and
sedimentary formations in patches. The first two formations
have low primary porosity and permeability and so the
groundwater aquifers have poor water retention capacity.
While the deccan trap and sedimentary formations are
better aquifers they are few and far between. Thus the
terrain and the underlying geological structure together
result in most of the average annual rainfall of 829 mm
running off during the monsoons and consequently the net
groundwater availability is only 519 million cubic meters
per year.

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Traditionally the Bhils lived by practicing shifting
cultivation, hunting and gathering in the dense forests that
used to cover the terrain. A combination of the reduction of
the fertility of their farms and epidemics would cause them
to move every few years to new locations. Living at
subsistence levels and being heavily dependent on physical
labour they had no alternative to being integrated into
tightly knit communities by customs of labour pooling in
most aspects of their material and cultural life. The
egalitarianism of the Bhils, apart from the usual patriarchal
aberration, was further ensured by customs that decreed
that surpluses accumulated beyond a certain limit be spent
on communal merrymaking and feasting. This also did
away with the possibility of these surpluses being used to
develop agricultural and artisanal production and engage in
trade and further accumulation and so protected the
environment from over exploitation. This aversion to trade
also meant that they eschewed the abstractions of literacy
and numeracy and remained firmly down to earth and
developed a rich oral animistic culture with nature at its
centre. Thus there was no commercial value attached to
natural resources and especially water. The terrain and the
kind of agriculture they practiced discouraged the
development of irrigation. Nevertheless using their own
ingenuity the Bhils developed an unique irrigation system
that involved the construction of temporary weirs on the
hilly streams and then the diversion of water into channels
with lesser gradients that over a distance of a few
kilometers brought the water into their small farms by
gravity.

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 Independence from British rule in 1947 brought in
massive changes into this subsistence livelihood of the
Bhils of western Madhya Pradesh. From 1949 onwards a
process of land settlement was started with the aim of
stopping shifting cultivation. With the formation of the
state of Madhya Pradesh in 1956 from an assortment of
former princely states and British administered areas in the
central Indian region that were left unclaimed by the other
more articulate linguistic sub-nationalities. The Indian
Forest Act 1927 was then extended to the adivasi areas in
Jhabua which had formerly been out of its purview being
ruled by minor princely states. The act was strictly enforced
totally stopping shifting cultivation. The forests began to be
worked for fuel and timber for the development of
industrial and urban centres in Western India. Timber
contractors in collusion with corrupt Forest Department
staff began indiscriminately decimating the forests. This
put the adivasis in a difficult position. They could not shift
to newer locations any more as the fertility of the soils
decreased and simultaneously the massive deforestation
meant that the supplementary income and nourishment
from minor forest produce also went down.

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 The destruction of the Bhils' agricultural base and their
loss of control over the crucial natural resources of land,
water and forests in the western Madhya Pradesh region in
fact, have a long history. Under pressure from the Mughals
and the Rajputs from the sixteenth century onwards they
had first to give up the more fertile lands of the Malwa
plateau and Nimar plains bordering the lower Narmada
river valley and recede into the forested hills to cultivate
sub-optimal lands. This process gained in momentum with
the increase in trade and settled agriculture as more and
more forests on the plains were cleared and brought under
the plough. The British accelerated this transformation by
laying railway lines from the decade of the 1860s and thus
opening up these areas further to trade and the penetration
by sahukars or moneylender traders who also doubled as
tax collectors into the remotest regions. The loss of access
to forests and agricultural lands, the burden of heavy taxes
and the exploitation of the sahukars had destitute the Bhils
even prior to independence.

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 Following on the national policy in this regard the
concentration of government finances after independence
on the promotion of green revolution agriculture on the
more fertile lands belonging to non-adivasi farmers in the
river valleys to the neglect of the much wider dry land
areas of the Bhils in the upper watersheds has further
skewed the resource access pattern of the region against
them. The benefits of the green revolution were cornered
by the sahukars, who traded in the inputs and the increased
output and also made super profits from lending at usurious
interest rates. The large farmers too benefited immensely
by earning huge surpluses from low production costs due to
state subsidised supply of inputs and the use of their extra-
economic powers over the adivasis to keep wage levels
depressed. The lack of state support for research and
development of indigenous crops suitable to harsh
topographies of the Bhil homelands has further weakened
their economic base. Thus the Bhil adivasis have remained
in the clutches of sahukars who dominate the rural markets
of the region exploiting the former through un-
remunerative prices for their produce, exorbitant prices for
the agricultural inputs and usurious interest rates on loans
advanced to them. Consequently most of the Bhil adivasi
peasants have to rely on migration either permanent or
seasonal to make ends meet. This in turn means that their
labour which is the only asset that they have and which was
previously being used on their farms is now being
expended in building the assets of other people in other
areas which are already better developed adding to the
injustice to the Bhils.

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The most glaring failure of planning has taken place in the
sphere of the management of water resources. The proper
way to go about managing the surface and sub-surface
water flows in a river basin, especially in dry land areas is
to start from the ridges of the topmost micro-watersheds
that constitute the catchment of the river and then work
down to the river itself. It is economically much cheaper,
socially more just and environmentally much safer to do
this than build big dams, which should only be constructed
if necessary to service the needs that cannot be met through
in situ water conservation and extraction. Instead two large
dams have been planned and are under construction on the
rivers Narmada and Mahi, which will serve the non-adivasi
people in control of the plains lands leaving the adivasis
literally high and dry. Moreover, motorized Lift Irrigation
Schemes (LIS) have been implemented on a large scale, as
if to make up for this injustice, with scant regard as to the
sustained availability of water in streams and rivulets given
the heavily deforested condition of the area. The sustained
availability of adequate electric power to run the motors
was also not considered. These schemes have boomeranged
adding further misery to the precarious livelihoods of the
Bhils. It is these schemes, which underline the
commoditization of water and the marginalization of the
Bhil adivasis that are the subject of the present study.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

Vintech International Bioscience is a Mumbai based

firm dealing in the marketing, research, development and
sales of the Agricultural micro nutrients based products. It
was started by Rajaram Patidar in the year 2007 after
completion his post graduation in Agriculture.

The main emphasis of the firm is to provide

nutritional requirement of the crops. The firm is engaged in
the purchase of raw material from the suppliers, it’s
mixing, packaging, sales and distribution in eight districts
of Madhya Pradesh i.e. Khargone, Khandwa, Barwani,
Burhanpur, Dhar, Jhabua, Neemuch and Mandsaur
constituting Malwa Nimar region.

Vintech International Bioscience in its three

successful years has contributed significantly in the rural
agricultural market of Malwa and Nimar region of Madhya
Pradesh in delivering consumer oriented products and
valuable guidance for sustainable agriculture. It has a
product range of 18 products to deliver total nutrient
solution for the crop with the strong network of 176 dealers
in Malwa and Nimar region.

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VISION

The firm’s vision is to be a world class Agricultural

nutrient provider to the farmers and to be amongst top
companies in India.

MISSION

The firm’s mission is to provide its customers with total

crop nutrient solution by innovative and need based
products. The guidance for sustainable Agriculture and
cooperation in crop management through well trained
professionals is firm’s priority.

The value of the firm is to develop lifetime relations

with suppliers, manufacturers, dealers and customers
through value added products and services, within the the
regulatory framework. The firm provides career
development opportunities to its employees.

VALUES

Integrity
Commitment
Passion
Promised

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PRODUCTS

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 SWOT ANALYSIS

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SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGHTS

• Instant decisions
• Quality in products
• Focus on lower market
• Innovative product combination

WEAKNESS

• People are not aware of such products.

• Lack of advertisement
• Novel in market
• Lack of resources

OPPORTUNITIES

• Good market can be created by exploring new areas.

• Whole rural agricultural market is available for access.
• Can be a leader in nutrients in M.P.

THREATS

• Climate is variable.
• Agriculture is dependent of rain.
• Bio products are slow in results.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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RESEARCH METHDOLOGY

The aim of requirement analysis is to

understand the exact response of people that
what they think of Bio products? It is the study
where we can take care of customers need and
understand their behavior.

There are two types of data:

1) Primary data
2) Secondary data

Primary data refers to the data which observer

directly collect from the area to be observed.
By the means of:

1) Observation
2) Survey
3) Personal Interview

The secondary data refers to those data, which

have been gathered from:

1) Company or Agency
2) Newspaper
3) Internet etc.

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FIELD WORK

At the end of the problem definition and

research design, researcher conducted the
actual data procedure by the means of
personal interview of farmers and dealers.
Respondents showed sometimes reluctance,
and refuse to cooperate. Sometime they were
unable to give time, not interested to meet
bargaining nature of the people.

Some people looked very interested in new

concepts and showed their interest in Briefing
about the geography, people and their
behavior.

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DATA TYPE:

In this research Interviews of many dealers have taken

about the opportunities, farmers buying behavior, need for
the products, major problems arriving in crops, people and
their culture.

DATA COLLECTION:

Interviews taken by direct meeting farmers, dealers and the

professionals of other companies working in seeds and
pesticide divisions. There was no such method applied for
data collection because it is very tough to analyze behavior
of people through some questions. Therefore a briefing
about the opportunities, farmers, buying behavior, need for
the products, major crops, major diseases and malnutrition
problems arriving in the crops was asked.

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 OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS

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OBSERVATIONS and FINDINGS:

Farmers are facing a lot of problems in managing their

crops due to:

- Lack of resources.
- Illiteracy
- Domination by certain group of people
- Insufficient knowledge.
- Traditional methods of cropping.
- Reluctance towards change.
- Lack of awareness.
- Lack of irrigation facilities.
- Lack of electricity etc.

Farmers generally use four pesticides:

- Acetamiprid
- Cypermethrin
- Imida
- Monocrotophos

Only fertilizers and pesticides are used.

No, usage of bio products and nutrients.

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 Farmers are rigid to adopt new products.
Purchasing capacity is very low.
Farmers use only traditional pesticides.
 After cultivation farmers move to Gujarat for
employment for 3-5 months.
Dealers play a key role in market.
Farmers are indebted to dealers and a small group of
rich dominating people.
 Farmer has to purchase what dealer is suggesting
because of lack of knowledge and benefits of the
products.
Farmers don’t know how much land they have in in
area.
Professionals are centered towards their targets only
and sale their products by any means.
Climatic conditions are suitable for cropping:

- Cotton
- Tomato
- Jowar
- Maize
- Chilly
- Grapes
Petlawad tehsil has a rich production of tomato and
have ample of chances for small firms in nutrients
business,
Tomato produced in Petlawad tehsil is exported to
Pakistan.

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  Farmers prefer to buy the products with same label,
bottle size and same color nib which the products they
are purchasing from years.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGEESTIONS

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CONCLUSION:

Buyers are dominated by dealers.

Dealers are playing key role.

Jhabua has ample of opportunities for business of

nutrients as no close competitor exists.

People should be making aware of using bio products.

Buyers are illiterate, socio economically weak.

Climatic conditions are suitable for growing various

crops.

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 Dealers are interested in buying new products if they
get a good margin.

Jhabua is untouched by big players of agriculture

sector.

There are so many opportunities for small firms.

SUGGESTIONS:

If a firm has to start a business in Jhabua, It should have

to be customer centric because the market is dominated
by some people.
Firm should have labels of the products as the other
running products have.
Farmers should be made aware of products by free
sample distribution in every village so it can earn
mouth publicity.
Some expenditure on advertisement should be made.
Firm should be dealers centric in prices of the products.
There are ample of opportunities in Jhabua as no
completion exists with lot of support from dealers as
they are getting a good margin over products.
Continuous demonstration of the products should be
done to make people aware of the benefits of the
products.

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 Skilled and trained professionals should be employed in
the backward areas for upliftment of knowledge and
awareness in the farmers.
Products should be highly result oriented.
Fast resulting products have to be used for
demonstration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Rai Business School, Bhopal Page 40
BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Kothari C.R. (1999), “Research methodology”

Wishwa Perakashan.
 Rahul Banerjee “Studies on Jhabua”

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 ANNEXTURE

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QUESTIONS TO DEALERS AND FARMERS

1. Do you sell Agricultural nutrients?

2. Do the people buy bio products?
3. In on average how much land a farmer has?
4. Anything about people and their culture?
5. How do you suggest the people to buy?
6. Which products are in demand?
7. Anything about their cultivating habits and selling of
grains?
8. How farmers demand for the product?
9. How much land do you have?
10. Are you interested in buying bio products?

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