Private partnerships are the need of the hour to make agricultural marketing more efficient. According to the National Commission on Agriculture (XII Report), "Agricultural marketing is a process which starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity, and it involves all the aspects of market structure or system, both functional and institutional, based on technical and economic considerations, and includes pre- and post-harvest operations, assembling, grading, storage, transportation and distribution."

Assembling involves the bundling and delivery of the produce for marketing at a marketplace. Then, the product is processed, i.e., prepared for consumption. Processing involves integrated activities of manual as well as machine-based works such as grading, standardization, etc. Here, the food processing industries come into the picture. The other aspect is distribution, whereby the final product is delivered to the end-user. The distribution network involves transporters, wholesalers, retailers, and agents. As far as the marketing of agriculture products is concerned, the commodities vary from cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, honey, mushroom, tea, coffee, and dairy products to fish and poultry.