A Study of Value Addition of Tomato in Punjab: A Novel Market Dynamics Approach

The study examined tomato value chains in Punjab to understand market dynamics. The majority of the marketed surplus was sold to wholesale markets (48.37 per cent), followed by pre-harvest contractors cum processors (35.70 per cent), distant markets (8.39 per cent), village-to-distant wholesalers (5.58 per cent), and direct marketing (1.93 per cent). VC-III (Producer-Consumer) showed the highest marketing efficiency, indicating better performance than other channels. Value addition was notably high in VC-V (134.86 per cent) and VC-II (220.75 per cent) due to price gaps and higher marketing margins. In VC-IV, processors gained the highest share of value addition (150 per cent), while retailers and wholesalers received the least share. The study suggested creating additional action points to current value chains to boost farmers' income, lower marketing margins, and support high-value crops via better practices, infrastructure, and support.