CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The available literature indicates that very limited research
studies have been conducted in the field of agroforestry products and marketing
analysis. Therefore, the present study will be one of the basic studies helpful
for the policymakers and researchers with the subject area. However, the
available literature reviewed here, are as under:
FAO (1993) found that marketing of fire-wood and charcoal in
Peshawar was characterized by high cost when compared with other commercial
energy sources like natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene.
This study concluded that out of the estimated total number of 126,750
households in Peshawar, about 17,000 used firewood for household activities
such as cooking, water heating and space heating. In addition the domestic
sector, a large number of commercial establishments also used firewood. The
annual consumption of fire-wood and charcoal were estimated at 44,600 and 3,500
metric tons, respectively.
Gangadharapp et al. (2004) investigated that 37
percent of the agroforestry growers cut the tree in the age group of 20-30
years followed by 25 percent between 30-40 years and only 17 percent of farmers
harvested above 40 years old trees. Further they revealed that 62 percent of
the farmers sold their products through forest contractors, 27 percent through
saw-mill owners and 11 percent directly to consumers. Finally they explored
that 58 percent of the farmers were not aware of the market price of their
products.
Holding et al. (2006) discovered that tree
cultivation for reasons like windbreaks, soil and water conservation had become
a secondary objective of agroforestry growers, while the current primary
objective of tree planting was for cash and investment.
Hollington et al. (2001) explored that wood
industries can be established around growth of salt tolerant trees and
establishment of agroforestry markets and processing facilities will allow
saline lands to make a significant contribution to the economy.
Jayasankar et al. (2000) found that the
inefficiencies in the functioning of wood marketing is due to exploitative
trade practices arising out of the legal restrictions, and bureaucratic
procedures are the main bottlenecks in the functioning of the bamboo markets in
Kerala (India) which often tends to reduce the share of the farmers.
Kanowski (1997) suggested that simple plantation forests, with
aim that in meeting the wood needs of societies to increase and satisfy
sustainability criteria. This plantation forestry for commodity production
benefits considerably from economies of scale and integration with industrial
processing; it is also under strong cost and profit pressure, thus both
demanding and permitting relatively high levels of resource inputs.
Kärnä et al. (2003) concluded that
environmental issues had a significant impact on the forest industry. It is
natural that companies seek to address environmental concerns of customers and
other stakeholders. Further, results showed that majority of surveyed companies
had at least partially integrated environmental issues into their marketing
strategies and practices. They suggested forest certification as a necessary
tool for marketing of forest products.
Keerio (1997) estimated that 67 percent of mining timber and
33 percent fire-wood had been produced from Acacia nilotica Hurry or
block, he further investigated that Acacia nilotica fire-wood had been
preferred in the market and fetched a higher price than other species.
Kella and Sangi (2000) investigated that agroforestry meets the
nation's requirements of timber and fire-wood which is also principle source of
revenue.
Khair et al. (2002) explored that apple producers
were merely getting 31% of consumer rupee, the rest of it going to different
middlemen, thus showing an exploiting and inefficient marketing setup. The
results of this study further indicated that reasons for these high marketing
margins were large number of market intermediaries, expensive packaging
material and high cost of transportation, illegally imported apples and lack of
capital.
Negussie et al. (2004) explored that income from
eucalypt woodlots constituted about 28.5% of the total cash revenues generated
from sales of tree/shrub products, where large farmers made only 2.5% and 0.2%
of the total cash profit from eucalypt poles of respectively the two dominant
intermediate brokers. They suggested that poor marketing infrastructure, weak
institutional support, and biophysical limitations still undermine the
financial benefits of eucalypt woodlots and other tree/shrub plantations. They
also recommended that expansion of market-oriented eucalypt woodlots on
marginal lands is expected to improve farmers' financial income and thus
increases access to modern farm inputs.
Sharif (2004) investigated that case of citrus the duration of
contract is almost one year, the producer share in consumer rupee was 35%,
followed by contractor was 32%
and retailers was 20%. Similarly, the marketing margin
analysis showed that major beneficiaries in the marketing were contractors and
retailers. The underlying reasons for the major share of contractors and
retailers were that the formers bring the product into the major markets of
Pakistan while the latter takes the commodity in the easy reach to the
consumer. Both bear the risk of post-harvest losses in case of contractors,
major losses take place during transport, loading and unloading while in case
of retailers the losses are in the form of deterioration of quality due to
delayed sale, by pressing due to over-packing, and malpractices in crates
filling.
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