Some studies reveal that farmers’ share in the consumers’ rupee is just 40 paise. In addition, the estimated loss in handling of vegetables in the traditional channel of marketing is about 30-35%. This becomes more acute, as the marketing system for fruits and vegetables is mostly in the hands of middlemen who exploit the poor farmers through malpractices in weighing, handling and payments. The Andhra Pradesh Government established rythu bazaars in 1999 to create a platform where farmers could sell their produce directly to the consumers without the interference of middlemen or marketing intermediaries. This paper makes an attempt to study the supply chain of rythu bazaars and looks at areas that, if addressed, can result in increased income generation for the farmers operating from these market yards. The current supply chain is studied and a supply chain model is proposed in the paper to address this issue.

Rythu bazaar, the farmers’ market of Andhra Pradesh, was a social initiative taken by Chandrababu Naidu in 1999, the then Chief Minister of the state. The principal objective of rythu bazaar is to help farmers bring and sell their produce without the involvement of any middleman or marketing intermediary. Rythu means farmer in Telugu (the local language of Andhra Pradesh), and bazaar is derived from the Persian word bâzâr, the etymology of which goes back to the Pahlavi word baha-char , meaning ‘the place of prices’. These bazaars provide a platform for direct interaction between the farmers and consumers. While the farmers benefit by selling directly to the customers without paying any commission to the agents, the customers get good quality produce at lower prices.

Operations Management Journal, Rythu Bazaar, Study, Supply Chain, Farmers, Markets, Andhra Pradesh, Eliminating, Middlemen, Rural Development, Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, National Cooperative Development Corporation.