Impact of marketing on Agricultural Products Introduction Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s

Under National Agro-Food Policy, agriculture sector has been identified as a National Key Result Area. Under this initiative, the agriculture sector is targeted to increase the Gross National Income by RM28.9 Billion (USD9.1 billion) to reach RM49.1 billion (USD15.4 billion) by 2020. The agricultural sector is also targeted to create more than 109,000 job opportunities by 2020, primarily in the rural areas.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as "an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders". (2005) Simply put, marketing is the process by which businesses assess the needs and desires of consumers in order to provide products and/or services to meet those needs in the most efficient and cost effective manner. Truly effective marketers do market research in an effort to understand their target market and create marketing strategies based on the characterization of those in the target area.

Marketing research is very important component of a business used to identify and define the opportunities and problems that they will encounter on the market. The aim

Marketing research is the method/methods that connect the clients, buyers and users to the marketer through data found from research to find and outline marketing opportunities and dilemmas. The general aim of marketing research is to recognize and evaluate how altering the marketing mix which is comprised of 4 features: product, price, promotion and place, influences customer behaviour.

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture

Marketing is an important tool for any business. It is how a company makes their product known to the public. Without marketing, the consumers will either not know that the product even exists or will not know all the applications of the product; who makes it, what it is and what it is made from, when came on the market, where it can be purchased, how it can help the consumer and why the consumer should even purchase the product in the first place. According to Tom Ash, Marketing is the process whereby demands for products, services and ideas are anticipated, managed and satisfied (2011).

Marketing research is what informs business’s make decisions by helping it to understand the changing dynamics of its market. This involves finding out more about customers, competitors and the overall marketing environment.

Marketing research is best defined as, “a way of investigating and answering questions about human behavior,” (Bont, Et. Al, 2007). Essentially, marketing research is a tool that helps businesses stay ahead of the trends and maintain a competitive edge in the constantly changing global market. Companies that make marketing research a central part of their business plan will see the business grow and develop to not just achieve their business goals, but exceed them. Robert Duboff puts it into perspective in a way that anyone can understand in terms of why marketing research is a valuable tool, “Marketing

When marketing a product or service the organisation needs to make sure it will satisfy the customer needs or wants. An organisation will not survive let alone succeed or make a profit if it does not meet the customer’s physical, intellectual, educational or social needs/wants. An organisation will use market research to identify what the customer and consumer wants. This definition means there is a management responsible for doing market research to identify the customer’s requirements

3. Government and NGOs have been conducting regular training programs in developing a skilled manpower for this industry.

To be successful in business, "a consumer does not buy a whole of physical components of the product but it is usefulness, function, satisfaction of consumer's needs, solving the problem, etc" (Dubrouski, , p.1). "That is why the product is a whole of tangible and intangible components which means satisfaction of consumer's needs and desires, solving the problem"(Dubrouski, p.1). Companies and managers must learn to utilize marketing research, as well as, strategy skills to fulfill customers' satisfaction. Management has to focus on exclusive marketing challenges presented by the new era of the 21st century. Management has to be able to utilize inventive, dominant, and cost effective marketing techniques that will support the future success of the organization. Companies must meet,"the increasing importance of services as part of a product (offer, offering package) which cannot be neglected" (Dubrouski, p.1). Exploring the purpose of market research, as well as, evaluating the importance of such research, facilitates managers in realizing the importance of marketing to an organization's success and to be globally competitive.

Fertile Plains and deserts are important part of natural resources. More fertile plain a country has means more agricultural department. Pakistan can cultivate a number of different foods. About 28% of Pakistan’s total land area is under cultivation. Pakistan boasts one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. The most important crops are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, sorghum, millets, pulses, oil seeds, barley, fruits and vegetables.

In 1988, Richard E. Lyng (secretary of Agriculture), and Deborah Takiff Smith (Editor for this yearbook) put together this yearbook of Agricultural articles based around the marketing of agriculture. This book lists strategies for everyday farmers as well as bigger agricultural organizations. Richard E. Lyng was a U.S administrator for agriculture and served under Reagan’s presidency, as a part of the Republican Party representatives. As the secretary he served between the years of 1986-1988. He was qualified for this position because in the 1950’s he became the president of Ed. J. Lyng Co., which happened to be his father’s company, which happened to be a seed and bean processing company. That is based on certain marketing techniques and strategies.

Marketing is a process of identifying and satisfying the consumer needs and wants by creating or exchanging product.

Marketing as we learned from the text is both an art and a science; two different subjects that often conflict as they have very different approach to producing an outcome. When talking about art we are referring to the creative side of marketing and the science portion is the process of how to make something work out. At its simplest, marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs. (Kotler & Keller, 2012)