Changes in Indigenous Paddy/Rice Marketing Channel Structure: An Evidence from Two Districts of Bangladesh

Aim: The study examines the evolution of the indigenous paddy/rice marketing system in Bangladesh.

Study Design: Descriptive-quantitative and qualitative.

Place and Duration of Study: For the research study, a simple random sampling procedure was used in two districts of Bangladesh, Brahmanbaria and Habiganj. The survey was conducted from February to March 2022.

Methodology: In total, 113 farmers and 43 different paddy and rice traders’ data were collected from two villages in Brahmanbaria. In addition, data was also collected from 179 farmers in six villages and 23 different types of paddy and rice traders in Habiganj district. The data was tabulated and entered in SPSS 18 and MS Excel to calculate descriptive statistics.

Results: The study revealed that in the indigenous paddy/rice marketing channel, Faria and LPA/Bepari were both very active actors. Over time, Faria’s business vanished in the 2nd stage, and LPA/Bepari has become the dominant actor, as about 64.3% of paddy is traded through them. In the 3rd stage, LPA/Bepari’s business has decreased, and LPB/Paddy Aratdar has become a dominant actor as about 68.9% of paddy is traded through them. In the 3rd stage, Paddy Aratdar cum Wholesaler has vanished from the paddy/rice marketing channel. Due to intense competition among paddy and rice traders, changes in their functions and marketing power in the paddy and rice markets, the development of infrastructure, and the enlarging of farmers’ facility conditions are the main reasons for the change.

Conclusion: Therefore, infrastructure and farmer facility condition enhancement need to be extended for future paddy/rice marketing structure improvement.