Sreerenjini.K.

R b2491
Transportation

Means:-
• Transport takes a very important place in every industry, including agriculture.

• Transportation is the movement of agricultural commodities from where they are produced
to various consumption centers.

• Transportation is the key link in the agricultural marketing system connecting geographically
specialized farmers and an urbanized consumer population. It contributes to the creation
and preservation of place utility for consumers.

• It plays an important role in market development, expansion and competition.

The story of an adequate farm management begins and ends with efficient and properly managed
transport. Transport takes a very important place in every industry, including agriculture.

In order to produce food, farmers need certain resources, such as seed, fertilizers, pesticides,
packaging materials, and many others. Precisely because of that, transport is an essential aspect of
crop production that enables delivery of agricultural resources to a farmer.

Furthermore, transport is a burning component of post-harvest crop management. After all, every
harvested crop needs to be transported, either directly from the field to the market, or to the
packing house and storage.

Transport is a farm practice common to every farmer. However, regarding its purpose, it can be
classified into two categories:

• 1. Traditional; manual method of transport, used on every farm, usually includes very short
distances (for instance, the transition from the field to the storage that is located on the
farm).

• 2. Mechanized and advanced transport; includes longer distances that require the use of
certain means of transport.

Mode of Transportation

• The choice of the mode of transport will be guided by considerations of merits and demerits
of alternative transportation modes.
 • Owing to special agricultural commodity characteristics agricultural sector has special
transportation needs. Therefore, depending on transportation needs, freight rates, routes
and schedules adjust freely.

Agricultural produce is different from industrial goods, and have certain peculiar characteristics,
because of which the quality of transport becomes as important as the availability of transport.
Like – agricultural products are bulky and perishable. Most of them are consumable goods. The
packaging and transport need to ensure that the products are not bruised during transit. After a
crop is harvested, it goes through the process of harvesting, threshing, winnowing and bagging,
processing and storage.

Refere the table in the ppt

Road transport is the most regular and multifaceted network that includes wide range, physically
expedient, highly bendable and generally the most operationally suitable and readily available
means of movement of goods.

Railway :- the Indian Railways has connected the North-east region to the West Coast by running a
Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET) for transportation of agricultural produce of the Northeast, such as
pineapple, turmeric, ginger, cane, tea, and other goods from New Guwahati Yard (NGC) in Guwahati
to Kalyan in Maharashtra.This leased PCET is cost-effective as the logistics costs are cheaper as
compared to roadways. According to the Indian Railways, for small-scale local producers of the
Northeast region, such a train is a boon, as their products can easily access the markets of other
parts of the country.

Water :- In many cases, an effective waterways system to comes to the aid of agriculture marketing,
enhancing the local economy. Forestry and fishery products and critical farm inputs such as
fertilizer, feed, and fuel move on the waterway system as well.

Air :- Thattivitto

When choosing the optimal mode of transport, farmers should consider a few important aspects:

• The distance and the accessibility of the destination

• Type of goods that are transported; for instance, there are different requirements for
transition of perishable crops and packing material

• The size or the quantity of goods that need to be transported; determine the optimal mode
of transport, as well as the price of delivery

• International or national laws and regulations

• Available infrastructure and farmer's financial possibilities

 • Functionality and additional properties of any transport mode, as well as any means of
transport

Problems in trnsptn.

There are several problems and limitations linked with transportation of agriculture productions.

 In case transport services are not common, cheap quality or costly then agriculturalists will
be at an inconvenience when they try to sell their crops. An expensive service will naturally
lead to low farm gate prices (the net price the farmer receives from selling his produce).
 Most of the villages in India do not have proper roads. The farmers, as a result, have to rely
mainly on bullock carts and such other conventional mode to transport their agricultural
goods. This leads to delay in the produce reaching the market.
 Although trucks are increasingly used in transporting perishables, the cost of transportation
is generally very high. As a result, the farmers get a very low return on their output.
 In case transport services are not common, cheap quality or costly then agriculturalists will
be at an inconvenience when they try to sell their crops. An expensive service will naturally
lead to low farm gate prices (the net price the farmer receives from selling his produce).
 The seasonally blocked routes or sluggish and irregular transport services, together with
unsatisfactory storage, can actually lead to high losses as specific items such as milk, fresh
vegetables, tea, get worse quickly after a while. In case the agricultural products are moved
through bumpy road network, then several other crops such as mangoes & bananas might
also suffer losses from staining. This will also show up in reduced rates to the agriculturalist.