A Study on the Marketing Efficiency of Button Mushroom in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, India

The study was conducted on the marketing of button mushrooms in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. A multi-stage sampling technique was used for the selection of primary and secondary market functionaries. Market functionaries were taken into study in order to collect information related to marketing cost, marketing margin, price spread, marketing efficiency, and the producer's share in the consumer's rupee. It was also used to identify the different marketing channels used in the marketing of mushrooms. All the details of the marketing process were figured out by using the data collected from the respondents and the market middlemen. Three categories of market channels were involved: channel I was producer to consumer, channel II was producer to retailer to wholesaler, and channel III was producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. In all three groups, channel I was more profitable. The study was conducted to identify the various problems faced by growers in the marketing of mushrooms. The study also revealed that the maximum number of growers sold their products through channel I, which was direct from growers to consumers. The maximum price received by mushroom growers in channel I was Rs. 9000 per quintal, followed by channel II at Rs. 8590 per quintal, and in channel III at Rs. 7500 per quintal.

The total marketing cost incurred in channel I was Rs. 1000 per quintal; in channel II, it was Rs. 2050 per quintal; and in channel III, it was Rs. 1220 per quintal. Producer’s share in consumer's rupee was obtained maximum in channel I, which was 90%, followed by channel II, which was 71.58%, and in channel III, it was 62.5%. Total marketing efficiency was 9.0 in channel I, 2.51 in channel II, and 1.66 in channel III.