expected that at least this will make direct sales in the markets free and fair.

However in the case of indirect sale the system of payment by the buyer to thecommission agents is more governed by trade convictions. The commissionagent may not necessarily recover the amount from the buyer immediately ondelivery of goods. There may be a time lag between the delivery of goods andt h e p a y m e n t b y t h e b u y e r , w h i c h g e n e r a l l y v a r i e s . F u r t h e r i t i s s e e n t h a t t h e commission agents in most of the markets follow the practice of calling on to gettheir payments. This is particularly so in the case of certain commodities likec o t t o n a n d g r o u n d n u t s . T h e b u y e r s o f t h e s e c o m m o d i t i e s a r e g e n e r a l l y t h e processing factories, which make payments at their own premises. It may ben o t e d t h a t d u e t o t h i s p r a c t i c e o f d e f e r r e d p a y m e n t s t h e c o m m i s s i o n agentsdemand a higher rate of commission from the producer -seller for p r o m p t payments or result to a system of deferred payments to the farmer.Due to the cash crunch in Indian markets such deferred payments or forwardt r a i n i n g c a n n o t b e a v o i d e d . I n o r d e r t o s t o p u n h e a l t h y s p e c u l a t i o n , f o r w a r d training of agricultural commodities is regulated under the forward contract regulation act 1952 for enforcing the act the forward market commission was setup in 1953. This commission identified forward markets in raw cotton,g r o u n d n u t o i l , c o c o n u t o i l , b l a c k p e p p e r a n d o t h e r o i l s e e d s . A s a p o l i c y measures the commission has sort to eradicate monopoly of any kind.As far as the operations of moneylenders are concerned they are governed by theB o m b a y A g r i c u l t u r a l P r o d u c e M a r k e t R u l e s o f 1 9 4 1 . T h e r u l e s s t a t e t h a t licensed general commission agents or brokers could give advances either in cash or in kind to the agriculturalist on the condition that1 . I f a n a g r e e m e n t w a s e n t e r e d i n t o b e t w e e n t h e m o n e y l e n d e r a n d t h e borrower, the lender should supply a copy of the agreement to the borrower and82 2. The lender should keep an account book, recording all advances made by him to an agriculturalist and repayments affected in the manner specified bythe committee in its byelaws and should supply a copy of an account book, under his signature, to the borrower, entering therein every load transactionand its recoveryH o w e v e r t h e c o m m i t t e e s h a v e practically no direct cont rol over the creditactivities of the traders, g e n e r a l c o m m i s s i o n a g e n t s a n d t h e b r o k e r s . A s c o - ordination between the working of the market committees and the administrationof the moneylenders act should be attempted. 8. Improvement in Grading and Standardization: Grading of commodities has 3 main purposes. Firstly it protects the consumers and the producers through the establishment of standards of quality. Secondly it serves as a mean of describing the quality of commodities to b e purchased or sold by buyers and sellers all over the country. Thirdly it provides a basis for the payment of premium on the q u a l i t y o f commodities.Further trading on the basis of accepted quality standards makes pricing more precise andequitable. Thereby making the price reporting mechanism more meaningful.In India grades, standards and appropriate trademarks have been developed under theagricultural produce (grading and marketing) act 1937. The agricultural produce is gradedunder the trademark AGMARK. This is done in order to ensure good quality both for export as well as the domestic market.83

The act provided for the fixation of grade designations, which indicate the quality of scheduled commodities of agricultural produce. The grading for other commodities isvoluntary.The grading practices of produce at the farmers level need to be emphasized and widelycanvassed. This will (it is hope) fetch a competitive price to the grower in the marketscompared to the ungraded produce. 9. Remunerative Prices for Farmers: It has been increasingly realised that mere increased production could be of littleavail so long as the excess production failed to reflect itself in the shape of someextra income to the producer. How to ensure an economic and remunerativereturn to the producer; how to establish a relationship between the price returnand the quality of a produce; how to provide a self-propelling incentive for themaintenance of a standard which will bring the maximum return: how to preparethe produce for the market, how to grade and di fferentiate how to pack andt r a n s p o r t ; w h a t s e c u r i t y a n d w h a t f a c i l i t i e s t h e p r o d u c e r s h o u l d g e t i n t h e market; how to keep him informed of market trends and prices; how to keep himabreast of consumer preferences these have been some of the questions whichdemanded close attention of those concerned with the agricultural marketing 10. Development of Co-operative Marketing: With the commercialisation of agricultural products efficient marketing is asn e c e s s a r y a s s c i e n t i f i c a g r i c u l t u r a l o p e r a t i o n a n d s o s i d e b y s i d e w i t h t h e progress in cultivation methods of suitable machinery for the efficient sale of farm produce should also be made. The income of the farmer depends to a greatextent on the ability with which he is able to market his produce for a fair price.E v e n i f t h e p r o d u c t i o n s i d e i s strengthened and cultivation improved, thecultivator would not gain much, i f t h e r e i s n o p r o p e r a r r a n g e m e n t f o r t h e marketing of his produce as the benefits of better farming would probably bereaped by middlemen intervening between them and the ultimate consumer. Ithas, therefore been recognised that defects of agricultural marketing may be 84 removed by organising the work through co-operative societies. Conclusion In a country like India where, agriculture contributes nearly 49% of the nationalincome and provides purchasing power for over 70% of the population engagedin the production of crops, the marketing of farm produce, which