Agricultural Marketing - Definition and Scope - Concept - Subject Matter of Agricultural Marketing - Differences in Marketing of Agricultural and manufactured goods - Growth of Markets - Factors affecting rate of market - development.

Markets - Meaning - Components of a Market - Dimensions of Markets - Classification - Bases for Classification - Location, Area / Coverage, Time span, Volume of Transactions - Nature of Commodities, Stage of Marketing, Extent of Public Interventions.

Marketing Functions  - Agencies - Channels - Efficiency and Costs - Price Spread and Market Integration - Producer's Surplus - Government Policy and Research - Training and Statistics in Agricultural Marketing.

Market Structure - Meaning - Components of Market Structure - Dynamics of Market Structure - Conduct and Performance - Market Forces - Demand - Supply - Simple Market Model and Price Determination.

Efficiency - Marketing Efficiency - Definition - Efficient Marketing - Approach to the Assessment of Marketing Efficiency - Technical or Physical or Operational, Pricing or Allocative - Empirical Assessment of Marketing Efficiency - Marketing Costs and Efficiency - Efficiency of Indian Food Grain Marketing System.

Integration - Market Integration - Types of Market integration - Horizontal, Vertical, Forward, Backward, Conglomeration - Degree of Integration - Ownership, Contract - Effects of Integration - Measurement of Integration.

Marketing, Costs, Margins and Price Spread - Marketing Margin - Concept - Concurrent and Lagged Margins - Importance of study of marketing margins and costs - Estimation of marketing margins and costs - Factors affecting the cost of marketing - How to reduce marketing costs.

Training, Research and Statistics to Agricultural Marketing - Training - University / College Level, - on-the -job  training - Extension Education - Research - Importance and Objection, Steps - Approaches to problems of marketing agriculture commodities.

Importance of Economic Principles in Agricultural Marketing - Role of Agricultural Marketing in Economic Development - Marketing as economic link between producers and consumers - Economic growth and equitable distribution of goods and services.

Introduction to Economics and Economics - Nature of economics and economic perspective - Foundation of Economics - Wants and Resources - Economics and Efficiency - Markets - Demand and Supply - Market Equilibrium - Market System and Private and Public Sectors.

Micro Economics of Product and Resource Markets - Demand and Supply - Elasticities and Applications - Consumer Behaviour and Utility - Costs of Production - Price and output determination, Competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly - Production and Demand for resources - Employment of Resources - General Equilibrium.

Agricultural Marketing and Economic Development - Importance of Agricultural Marketing - Market Oriented Agriculture - Optimization of Resource use and output management - Increase in farm income - widening of markets - Agro based industries - Adoption and spread of new technology - Employment - Creation of utility.

Surplus of agricultural commodities - Producer's surplus - Marketable surplus - Marketed surplus - Relationship between Marketable and Marketed Surplus - Factors affecting marketing surplus - Relationship between prices and marketable surplus - Estimation of surplus - Pattern of disposal of surplus.

Agricultural marketing - Characteristics of good market, Developed market - Ideal marketing system - Scientific marketing of farm products - Mechanisation and modernisation  of food grain markets.

Economics of Agriculture - Fluctuating prices and declining incomes - Short run and long run farm problems - Inelastic demand for agricultural products - Fluctuation in farm products - Shifts in demand curve - Technology and supply increase - Income inelastic demand - Population growth.

Economics of farm policy - Price supports - Coping with surpluses - Subsidies - Politics in Far Policy - World trade and farm policy - GATT negotiations - Global view.

Inputs - Factors of production or inputs - Resource payment - Income received from supplying property resources - Wages and Profits - Input prices - Inputs Vs Productivity - Import Substitution - General equilibrium. Input Output Analysis - Input Output Table.

Chemical fertilizers - Supply - Demand (consumption) - Demand Supply Gap - Prices - Fertilizer subsidy - Marketing of Fertilizers - Defects in fertilizer marketing - Costs and Margins in Fertilizer Marketing.

Seeds - Seed Production and Supply - Seed Marketing - Distribution - Export and Import of seeds - National Seed Project (NSP) - Demand for Seeds - Pricing of seeds.

Plant protection of chemicals - Groups of plant protection chemicals - Production of pesticides - Consumption of pesticides - Marketing of pesticides.

Energy supply - Elasticity - Supply, Demand and Marketing - Pricing of Electricity - Pattern of electricity generation - Pattern of electricity consumption and supply - Diesel - Supply, Demand and Marketing.

Farm machinery - Demand for farm machineries - Pumpsets - Tractors - Production and Imports - Prices -Power tillers and combine harvestors - Supply and demand - Repair services - Agro industries centres.

Farm 'C's of credit - Character, Capacity, Capital, Condition, Commensense - Seven P's of credit - Principles of Production Purpose, Personality, Productivity, Phased distribution proper utilization, Payment, Protection - Acquisition of capital - Procedural formalities in sanction of farm loans - Repayment plans.

Institutions in supply of inputs - National seeds - Corporations (NSC) - State Farms Corporations of India (SFCI), State Seeds Corporation (SSC's) - Co-operative finance - Deposit Insurance and credit Guarantee Corporation of India - Crop Loan - Higher Financing Agencies - RBI, ARDC, NABARD, AFC - Programmes of Rural Development - Role of Legislature and Government in Input Regulation and Control.

Marketing Functions - Classification of Marketing Functions - Processing of farm products - Packaging - Advantages of Packing and Packaging - Transportation - Advantage of Transport function - Means of transport - Transportation cost and factors affecting costs - Problems in transportation of agricultural commodities.

Grading and standardization - Meaning of grading - Types of grading - Criteria for grade standards - Inspection and quality control - Labelling - Advantage of grading - Grade specifications - Recommendation of National Commission on Agriculture - Popularisation of grading.

Storage and warehousing - Meaning and need - Storage practices - Risks in Storage - Storage Structures - Cold Storage - Costs of and return on storage - Warehousing - Types of warehouses - Costs and returns on warehousing - Warehousing in India.

Buying, Selling and Pricing - Subsidiary functions before buying - Methods of buying and selling - Merits and Demerits of the various methods - Demand Creation - Price Discovery and price determination - Process of price discovery.

Market Information - Meaning and Importance - Types of Market information - Collection and dissemination of Market information - Criticism of market information - Market intelligence in India.

Financing - Capital requirements of Agricultural marketing firms - Factors affecting capital requirements - Risk taking - Risk bearing - Types of risk - Minimisation of risk - Speculation and hedging - Forward Market.

Market agencies and Institutions - Market agencies - Producers - Middlemen - Merchant middlemen - Agent middlemen - Speculative middlemen - Facilitative middlemen - Marketing Institutions - STC, FCI, NAFEED, CCI, NDDB, NOVOD, APEDA and others - Roles and Functions of marketing institutions.

Marketing Channels - Definition - Factors affecting length of marketing channels - Marketing channels for various agricultural commodities - Effect of transportation and communication network on marketing channels for farm products in India.

Traditional Agricultural Marketing System - Village Sales of agricultural commodities - Post harvest immediate sales - Inadequacy of institutional marketing infrastructure - Existence of malpractices - Lack of market information - Low marketable surplus - Absence of grading and standardization.

Role of government - Forms of Government intervention in marketing system - Establishment of Directorate of Marketing and inspection - Market Research and Commodity Surveys - Market extension - Statutory Regulation of markets and market practices - Promotion of grading and standardization - Market intelligence, Marketing improvement and Development Cells - Training of Market Personnel.

Regulation of agricultural marketing - Definition - Objective - History of market regulation - Features of regulated market - State Agricultural Marketing Boards - COSAMB - State trading - Types - Food Corporation of India - Growth, Structure and Functions of FCI - Export and Import of Agricultural Commodities.

Buffer stock, Procurement and Distribution - Buffer stock - Public Procurement of food grains - Procurement of food grains - Difficulties faced in procurement - Distribution of food grains and issue prices.

Quality Control - Agricultural products - Manufactured products - Indian Standard Institution (ISI) - Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) - Objectives of ISI, BIS - Formulation of standards - Collaboration with similar organization in other countries.

Consumer protection - Consumer awareness - Consumerisation - consumer oriented legislation - Consumer Protection Act - Salient Features - Prevention of Food Adulteration Act - The Standards of Weights and Measures Act - The Packaged commodities order - MRTP - Essential Commodities Act.

Price Control - Statutory Price Control - Rationing - Administered Prices - Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) - CACP's recommendations - Agricultural Prices Commission - Minimum support price - Procurement Price.

Co-operative Marketing - Meaning - Objectives - Functions - Origin and Development - Types - Structure - Functioning - NAFEED - NDDB, NCDF - Objectives and activities - Milk and Oilseeds Co-operatives - AMUL pattern.