Marketing Channel Choice and Marketing Efficiency Assessment in Agribusiness

In agribusiness, profitability critically depends on the choice of proper marketing channels. This article studies the factors influencing marketing channel choices of vegetable farmers. Vegetable farmers have generally 3 choices to sell their produce, which are formal and informal market participation vis-à-vis nonmarket participation. Ten independent variables are considered for the study and a multinomial logistic regression model is used for the analysis. The study finds 4 major variables that can influence farmers’ decision to shift from nonmarket participation to informal or formal market participation. The article further identifies 4 microlevel marketing channels and assesses their efficiency.