THE EFFECT OF PRICING STRATEGIES ON THE MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN ENUGU STATE

THE EFFECT OF PRICING STRATEGIES ON THE MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN ENUGU STATE
 
ABSTRACT
This study on the effect of pricing strategies on the marketing of agricultural products in Enugu State.  With particular attention to Udi L. G. A Council was carried out with the some for the following objectives: To evaluate the possible means of reducing or removing entirely the activities of middlemen to remove the problem of heading; To appreciate the channel of information flow which will help bridge the communication gab which exist in the rice market in the State; To evaluate the best possible means or best strategy to be used in making the product available in the Urban town and Cities thereby eliminating the problem of price variations and To  recommend based on the findings possible ways of activating the problem effecting rice marketing (pricing and strategies in Enugu State).
 
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Today, the mentioning of the word marketing has a lot of things and meanings to send to a lay man.  The word marketing has to be understood and interpreted by any lay man as meaning the same things as trading.  But to a professional, marketing is starts before production and ends after consumption.  We also talk about societal marketing concept which puts the entire  society into consideration when doing any thing unlike trading which emphasizes  on selling.
In an attempt to define the term marketing, it is good to look at some definition given by some authorities  and professionals in the field.  It should also be noted that there is no generally accepted definition of marketing rather each person tries to took at marketing to reflect the functions performed by him therefore we would not make mistakes if we say that there  are as many  definitions of marketing as there are many marketer
According to Philip Kotler (1980), marketing is “Human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange  process.”  This definition has some key words as the operative words, such as needs,  wants and exchange,  Needs, this defined  as a  state felt deprivation in person. Wants are the expression of human needs as they are sharped by a person,  culture and individual development.  And want must be backed with money for it to be meaningful to the marketer Exchange is obtaining  a desired object from some one offering in return something of value.
Nwokoye (1981) defined marketing a s the “ set of  activities that facilitate exchange transaction  involving economic goods and services for the ultimate purpose of satisfying human needs.  The  activities here includes product development, production, packaging, branding, transportation, storage, promotion, distribution,  pricing  and so on.
Ifezue (1990) define marketing  as’ a process which identifies, anticipates and satisfies consumes needs and wants through conception, promotion mutual exchange and physical distribution of economic goods and services. Yet, Institute of marketing, london (1945) defined marketing as “a management process which identifies, anticipates and supply consumers requirements efficiently and profitably.
From the above definition, one can understand that market is said to encompass a lot of activities and emphasizes a lot on consumer satisfaction and puts the marketer at a profit. From the above definitions, marketing of agricultural produce (Rice) can be looked at as the application of marketing knowledge  to the marketing of rice.
One may be correct to say that market starts when farmers plan their output in respect to expected market demand to pricing of the produce in relation to the existing market price till the product  gets to the ultimate consumer. ‘Because of the above, we picked up to find out in this study the pricing and strategies used in holding the produce. (Rice)  and make some recommendation or how best to improve the marketing of the produce. By the time we finish this work, we will be able to find out the strategies used in  the pricing of rice and find out if the shortfall in the strategies (If any)   are responsible for the inadequate supply  of rice to the consumers who need the product (Rice).
1.1       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Before now, the production of rice used to  be  at the very low level  and because this, rice was left for the rich man who can afford the cost.  The reason for this being that because the production was left unmechanized through some attempts were made towards increasing the put but one  much have been achieved. It is based on above reason that we have choosen to find out the problems inherent in the rice marketing in Enugu State. The problems which are identified fall in the following:- 
1.2       OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major objectives of this study is to evaluate the marketing of rice (agricultural produce) in Enugu State. This work wants to pay particular attention to:
Discover the problem (s) Inherent in rice marketing.
Evaluate the possible means of reducing or removing entirely the activities of middlemen to remove the problem of heading.
Evaluate the possible means or best strategy to be used in making the product (rice) available in the Urban town and cities thereby eliminating the problem of price variations.
Appreciate the channel of information flow, which will help bridge the communication gab which exist in the rice market in state.
To recommend based on the finding possible ways of achieving the problem effecting rice marketing (pricing and strategies in Enugu State).
1.3       FORMULATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS
Bearing in mind the above objectives of this study,  the following hypothesis have been put forward:
Ho1)    The marketing functions f rice distributions are still below the expectations of consumers.
Hpg)    The marketing functions of rice distributions are equal to the expectations of consumer.
Ho2)    Lack of information within rice market leads to price variations.
HA2)   Lack of information within rice market does not lead to price variations.
1.4      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The role of agricultural products and rice in particular in the nations economy and its importance cannot be over emphasized. The deadline in the rice production and fluctuation in price and price and its effects on the citizen as well as the economy were not taken seriously, hence the study.
This study will of great importance to the government and other interested group (s) especially the farmers, processors, distributors and even consumers to know how to solve the problem inherent in marketing of it, say by way of revamping and revatalizing the industry so as to meet the needs of the society.
In the like manner, this study will recommend the best production and adequate strategy to make the product available to the consumers at the right time, place and at a lasers price. Also, it will aim at pointing out other areas in rice marketing that need greater and urgent attention.
Finally, this study will help the researcher in that it will expose him to the practical aspect of marketing research and widen his knowledge about rice production. Also, it will serve as a help to others who may want t carry out research in any related areas.
In this work, we studied Enugu State as whole. The reason behind our studying the entire state is to collect a broad information that will cover the variations involved in the pricing and strategies in the different areas of our study.
The areas covered in Enugu state zones are Abakaliki, Enugu and Nsukka zone. This spread was considered necessary because through some of the zones are more of production concentration than others, the reverse is the cause when considering marketing and consumption of rice. Example of this is the fact that Abakaliki and Ugboaka in Enugu Zone and Adani in Nsukka Zone have higher production, concentration for rice, Enugu and Nsukka happen to have higher consumption concentration. It is based on th above that we have in this work chosen to study the entire state to find out the variation (s) in pricing and strategies.