Marketing strategies for Machete in karnal territory of Haryana

Report

Institute of Agri Business Management

S K Rajasthan Agricultural University
Bikaner, Rajasthan

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
Dr. Rajesh Sharma Mr.Rakesh meel

Associate Professor MBA (AB) 1st Year

IABM, Bikaner IABM, Bikaner

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The present investigation is a synthesized effort of various sources. Words can hardly
express my feeling of indebtness to all those who extended cooperation in completing
this report work successfully. The satisfaction that accompanies the successful
completion of any task would be incomplete without the mention of all those people
who made it possible whose constant guidance and encouragement crowns the efforts
with success

First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty God and my parents whose blessings and
inexpressible support are my most valuable assets. I would like to thank my parents
with whose gracious blessings and affection I was able to accomplish my work
successfully.

I am heartily thankful to my mentor Mr. Dnyaneshwar shankarrao Ingle Working with

him enhanced my analytical skills which will help me in the field of Management

I express my thoroughly thanks to Dr. Rajesh Sharma who gave me opportunity to

make this report. I would like to thank my all friends and seniors in IABM.

Finally, I extend my thanks to all the people who came in contact and co-operated me
during my report work.

Rakesh meel
IABM, Bikaner

2
 CONTENT

S. No. Title Page No.

Executive Summary 5-6

1. Introduction 7-23

2. Project Methodology 24-25

3. Analysis of Data 26-27

4. Findings and Analysis 27-35

6 Recommendations/suggestions 37

7. References 38

8. Appendices 39-40

3
 Executive Summary
An herbicide is a substance used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill
specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act
by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant
hormones. Herbicides used to clear waste ground, industrial sites, railways and railway
embankments are non-selective and kill all plant material with which they come into
contact. Smaller quantities are used in forestry, pasture systems, and management of
areas set aside as wildlife habitat.
Sinochem India Company Pvt. Ltd. is a year old organization in India and
actively involved in expansion of its agrochemicals business in the rural market. Hence,
the company is interested in preparing appropriate marketing strategies to increase the
adoption of its Butachlor based selective herbicide product ‘Machete’ all over India.
Machete can be applied in Paddy. The Report entitled Marketing strategies for Machete
in Haryana” is aimed at making marketing strategies to increase the awareness about
product among farmers of selected districts of Haryana with a broader objective of
increasing its adaptability in other potential areas of the state .Keeping this in the view
it seems necessary to study the impact of marketing strategies for Machete in selected
districts of Haryana which is one of the major areas of focus for the Sinochem India
Company Pvt. Ltd.

4
Today, a successful product or service means nothing unless the benefit of
such a service can be communicated clearly to the target market. Promotion serves
as a process and activity to convey the uniqueness of a product to its
customers. More precisely, the ultimate objective of the project is to identify those
marketing strategies which can effectively convert the farmers to local herbicide into
that of company herbicide. When I consult seniors for effective marketing strategies.
The study reveals that farmer meeting is the prerequisite tool that can motivate
the farmers to use good company herbicide in their crops. The villages where Don‘t
aware about the company herbicide should be targeted by a combination of
promotional tools like demonstrations, jeep campaigning, and farmer meeting,
at large. Advertisements through local Radio station along with distribution of free
audio cassettes/compact disks has also been found as an effective way to
promote the use of company herbicide(Machete). As not a single company has
used Weekly Hatts so far, therefore, it can emerge as a unique way to promote
the company herbicides in the area. These hatts can be utilized by way of
promoting the company products (Herbicides) using traditional promotional
tools like Nukkar Nataks, Puppet shows and also by organizing informative
quiz events. It was also observed that farmers in the area under study expect gifts
with the purchase of agricultural input . Hence, there is an urgent need to work at
the grassroots level in order to promote the company products among the local
user‘s herbicides.

5
 INTRODUCTION

Agriculture dominates India's economy, with nearly 60 per cent of the population
working in this sector. Foodgrain production is around 176Mt/a and it is estimated that
by the year 2010, India's requirements will have increased to 300Mt. In the modern
world, the interdependence of agriculture and industry is well known. The Green
Revolution, which enabled India to be self-sufficient in its food needs, was made
possible only by the inputs to agriculture provided. Ensuring food security for more than
1 bn Indian population with diminishing cultivable land resource is a herculean task.
This necessitates use of high yielding variety of seeds, balance use of fertilizers,
judicious use of quality pesticides along with education to farmers and the use of
modern farming techniques.

Emerging Marketing Scenario

The pesticides industry has grown rapidly during the last two decades. It has also
undergone a structural change from producing low value products to one producing
high value specialty products. Despite this,the use of pesticides is concentrated in
selected districts of a few states. The bulk of pesticides are consumed by crops like
paddy and cotton. Crops which account for less than one per cent of the use are

6
sugarcane, barley, rape and mustard, tobacco, and gram. Plantation crops like rubber,
tapioca, coconut, and spices more or less have remained outside the ambit of pesticide
use. The pesticides use pattern is very similar to that of fertilizers which also display
geographical and crop concentrations. This is understandable because marketers
usually tap first those markets with more potential and easier access. This pattern,
however, has to undergo a change during the next decade of agricultural development.
During the Eighth Plan, emphasis will be on acceleration of agricultural growth in
rainfed areas, eastern regions, and crops like oilseeds and pulses. This process has
already begun with the identification of 66 districts for intensive development. Efforts
have also been made to delineate 15 agro-climatic regions for promotion of optimal
cropping mix. This scenario opens up new opportunities and challenges for the
pesticides industry. To promote sales of pesticides, the industry will have to generate
guidelines for economical use of pesticides for crops grown in disadvantaged regions.
This has to be supplemented with development of crop specific products and pricing
and promotion of these products in relation to crop profit abilities. Market development
efforts are time consuming and costly. As the industry is presently dependent on
distributors and dealers to push their products, the challenge may not be automatically
taken up because the turnover per outlet in disadvantaged regions is going to be much
smaller than what is obtained now. Similarly, the marketing cost is also going to be
high. Perhaps the pesticides industry is in need of governmental support for market
development. The above analysis indicates the magnitude of problems faced by
various constituents of the industry. These have to be resolved by various constituents
of the industry itself so that the challenge can be met by the industry.

Strengths and Opportunities:

➢ India has a huge pool of low cost managerial and technical professionals

➢ With the increasing emphasis on farm credit and irrigation facilities, the demand
for the agro chemical industry is expected to go up.

➢ To keep pace with the growing population, the prime concern at present is to
increase productivity only from the available land to educate farmers about new
technologies for increasing yield and to have better quality harvest as per
international standards.

➢ Increasing focus on yield is expected to drive the demand for agro chemicals.

➢ Various agro chemicals are getting off patented in the coming 5 years, and this
will provide huge opportunities for those having the required process technology
and the manufacturing facilities.

7
 ➢ Any further reduction of other levies like excise duty, VAT, LADT etc. is expected
to grow the pesticides Industry.

➢ Low food stocks globally for the key agricultural commodities and competing
demand from some crops like Maize for bio fuel production are driving the need
for improving the crop productivity. Strong produce prices are also improving the
affordability of growers for using the good quality of agri-inputs.

➢ Pesticide consumption in India is very low compared to the developed and

developing countries. India produces 16% of the world's food grains but utilizes
less than 2% of pesticides leaving substantial room for growth.

2 .COMPANY PROFILE

With customers from more than 100 countries and regions worldwide, SINOCHEM
International Corporation ("SINOCHEM Intl") is a large Shanghai listed company
engaged in logistics, industrial investment, trading and other operations in chemical
logistics, rubber, chemicals, petrochemical, metallurgy and energy, etc. In 2006, the
total sales revenue of the major operations of SINOCHEM International reached RMB
15.4 billion and its total assets over RMB 7.9 billion.

BRANDVALUE:-
SINOCHEM‖（SINOCHEM ) brand is a well-known trademark in China and enjoys a
good reputation globally in the industry. In 2004, SINOCHEM, valued at RMB57.689

8
billion ,ranked fifth among ―Top 500 Most Valued Brands jointly selected by the
World Brand Laboratory and the World Economy Forum. In 2006, SINOCHEM‖ was
listed among the Top 20 Most Internationalized Chinese Brands in the Eyes of Chinese
People All over the World. In 2006, ―SINOCHEM‖, valued at RMB57.793 billion,
ranked sixth among the ―2006 Top 500 Most Valued Chinese Brands by the World
Brand Laboratory.

SINOCHEM IN INDIA
Monsanto India Ltd. to sell Butachlor & Alachlor businesses to Sinochem International
(Overseas) PVT. Ltd. Monsanto India Ltd. (MIL) announces its decision to sell and
transfer its Butachlor and Alachlor businesses that includes the transfer of the flagship
brands Machete, Fastmix and Lasso, to Sinochem International (Overseas) Pvt. Ltd., a
Singapore-registered subsidiary of Sinochem International, for and on behalf of the
entity under incorporation in India, at a total consideration of USD 8.40 million (approx.
Rs. 33 crores).

COMPANY’S MISSION

Company’s mission is to provide quality of chemical material suitable for the Indian
subcontinent, to booster the green revolution to the other parts of India

Sinochem Company aimed at providing high quality herbicides to the farmer community
at reasonable prices. Sinochem company aim has also been to convince the farmers
about the beneficial use of good quality herbicide to local brands and thus enhance
Production Company with global influence.

SINOCHEM FUTURE PROSPECTS

SINOCHEM International Corporation (―SINOCHEM Intl‖) is a large state-owned
listedcompany engaged in logistics, Industrial investment, trading and other operation
in Chemical Logistics, Rubber, Chemicals, Petro-chemical, Agriculture, Metallurgy, and
Energy etc.Agricultural chemical is a core business sector of Sinochem Int'l. After
taking over Monsanto Company's butachlor and alachlor businesses in India,
Philippines, Thailand,Vietnam, Pakistan and Taiwan (China) on March 1, 2008, the
preparation for the constructionof Sinochem India Co. was officially initiated.

9
 On Sep 3, 2008, Sinochem India Co. was established in New Delhi, marking a huge
step forward achieved by Sinochem overseas agricultural chemical project and laying
a sound basis for the company to fully carry out its agricultural chemical strategy
outside China. Sinochem International (Overseas) Pvt. Ltd. Acquired the Monsanto's
Butachlor and Alachlor businesses that includes the transfer of the flagship brands
Machete®, Fast mix® and Lasso®.

PRODUCT OF COMPANY
Agricultural chemical is a core business sector of Sinochem Int'l. After taking over
Monsanto Company's butachlor and alachlor businesses in India, Philippines, Thailand,
Vietnam, Pakistan and Taiwan (China) on March 1, 2008, the preparation for the
construction of Sinochem India Co. was officially initiated. Sinochem also try to
introducing new types of agricultural chemicals, seeds and fertilizers from China to
India.

Product line:

Trade name Technical name Pack size Nature

Machete Butachlore -50% E.C 1 lt, 5 lt Selective herbicide
Fast-Mix Butachlore -50% EW 1 lt, 5 lt Selective herbicide
Lasso Alachlor-50% EC 1 lt Systemic herbicide
Popular Glyphosate -41%SL 500 ml,1 lt Systemic herbicide
Reload Sulphur -80% WDG 1 Kg Fungicide
Choice Imidacloprid-17.80% SL 1Kg Insecticide
Swift PGR 5 Kg Micro-nutrient

COMPETITORS:

Sinochem Company is competiting from both national & multinational companies like
DuPont, Bayer, Tata Rallis, Upl & Dhanuka, Syngenta, Crop Chemicals India Ltd.,
Crystal, Gharda Chemical Ltd., Shivalik, Chambal fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.,
Insecticide (India) Ltd. & Jai Chemicals are the major competitors for the company.

10
These companies with early entry in the business of pesticide have large customer
base and were able to capture more market share.

MARKETING CHANNEL OF SINOCHEM COMPANY

Manufacturing

C&F Preferrential distributor

Distributor/ Sole stockist Dealer

Dealer/ Retailer Retailer

Farmer Farmer

CUSTOMER & MARKET FOCUS

The selling & marketing efforts of sinochem target the customer for demand generation
and its fullfillment based on well delineated customer groups and market segments.the
consumtion pattern of pesticides is enormously dynamic in nature due to its
dependence on the 3-living entities i.e crops,pests and farmers.Each of them responds
uniquely to change the others.this phenomenon cause constant changes in the
chemical consumtion across various geographical location and therefore market for
agro-chemicals.Hence market changes are monitored frequently by using-

a) Market upward information

b) Competitive performance assessment on seasonal basis

11
 c) Pre & post season market research

Customer contact program: 4 s

Sampark;

➢ To establish contact with farmer in a target geography for set of

product/services.
➢ To educate farmer on application & advantage of a set of products.
➢ To seek farmer comment,complaint, product &services expectations.
➢ A multifunctional team made up of sales & marketing,production and support
service personnels, 5-6 days just compaign 2-3 weeks before the consumtion
period.

Sambandh;

➢ To provide reminder to farmers on eve of purchase and consolidate

product/services advantages.
➢ To seek buying of retailers for target products.
➢ To finalise contact and service option available to farmer and dealers in season.
➢ Follow up of multifunctional team or specially trained sales team.

Samridhi;

➢ To provide constant information and assistance to farmers & retailers during

consumption period.
➢ Follow up of trained MDO and agri experts during season.

Santusthi;

➢ To analyse effectiveness of product and services recorded for farmer & retailers
satisfaction.

4. AREA OF STUDY

Mr. Dnyaneshwar shankarrao Ingle did his project work in Haryana. I tok information
from him. Herbicide/pesticide is the primary focus of growth for sinochem worldwide.
The company is building its base in herbicide for volumes as well as sales;
nevertheless, the performance so far in the adoption of herbicide has been

12
unsatisfactory. At present, promoting the lasso brand in maize, pea, sugarcane among
farmers who are not using herbicide is a big challenge for sinochem.However
performance of Machete are satisfactory in rice but need more focus to enhance
market share. Hence, the company is interested in preparing appropriate marketing
strategies for increasing the adoption of its Herbicide in Haryana, especially in
potential area like Karnal district. This study is being done for knowing the various
lacunas on the part of the promotional tool

13
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

DATA SOURCE

Secondary data collection from Mr. Dnyaneshwar shankarrao Ingle project work.

SAMPLE SIZE

200 farmers.

ANALYSIS OF DATA
Collected data was analyzed by use of simple statistical tools like percentage
and average. Results have been represented using Bar graphs, Columns, and Pie
charts. Comparative scaling has been used to identify the preference between different
marketing strategies repetitively.

• Presentation of analyzed data was done by tabular and graphical methods.

14
 3. OBJECTIVES

➢ Implementation of the planned promotional activities

➢ Evaluation of all the individual activities and study the customer response/
feedback on them.
➢ To suggest suitable brand promotional mix for increasing the adaptability of
Machete brand .

Assumptions;

➢ It has been assumed that the information given by the seniors is authentic
and genuine.

Limitations;

➢ Some information may be incorrect due busy of farmers & retailers during day
time Which information is taken by Mr. Dnyaneshwar shankarrao Ingle

15
 Findings and Analysis of data:-

For the analysis of data, suitable research techniques and statistical tools were
applied. The project was carried out to fulfill the specified objectives of the study.

Objective 1: Implementation of the planned promotional activities

These were the different promotional tools that had been used for the promotion of the
products:-

1. Farmer’s meeting
2. Indivdual contacts
3. Postering
4. POP display
5. Special occasion
6. Banners
7. Tele-communication
8. Van campaign

FARMER’S MEETING
• Selection of pre-identified villages from the priority clusters based on market size
and number of progressive farmers data collected during field days.

16
 • Delivering pre-decided uniform message during meeting.

 Plan Layout:

Selecting target village

Gathering farmer

Dissemination of message

Feedback

POSTERING
• In this process they selected most prominent places to get the best visibility in
interior villages, tube wells, market places, nearby seed shops etc.
POP DISPLAY
• In this all major distributor’s, dealer’s and retailer’s shop is decorated with their
banners & posters.
• They took special care for product display in shop as double or multi phase
display of our products.

BANNERS were also used as promotional tool. They put the banners at the point of
purchase and also on three wheelers to cover maximum area. These all tools
helped them lot to generate demand for Sinochem product in Karnal district of
Haryana

VAN CAMPAIGN
• Preparation of best possible route-map for each jeep based on location of
priority cluster to cover areas in less time.
• It helped in representative farmer’s movement, stock delivery and dealer contact.

17
 • Here small farmer’s meetings were conducted to convince farmers about
products.

Objective-2: Evaluation of all the individual activities and study the customer
response/ feedback on them.

Secondary data from distributors, dealers, retailers and farmers and concerned
organization have collected to compare promotional activities undertaken for Machete.
Perception of respondents related to various aspects was studied such as field
demonstration, extension services, farmers’ meeting, jeep campaigning, gift schemes,
packaging of product etc. by using ranking technique and Likert’s scaling techniques.

Buyer’s Behavior for Purchase of Herbicide

Preference of Promotional Tools as a whole based on weighted average of farmer

responses:-

Effect of Promotional Tools on Sale:-

As we know that the offerings by the Sinochem India Company Pvt. Ltd. Are not
altered during the study period and the packaging and other things was remain same
during this period so we can conclude that there was a great impact of Promotional
Campaign on the increase of sale.

18
Objective-3: To suggest suitable brand promotional mix for increasing the adaptability
of Fast-Mix/Lasso brand

Suggestions

➢ There should be effective advertisement so that farmer will aware about the
product.
➢ Old farmers should be targeted with Farmer Meetings.
➢ Young as well as >5 ha land having farmers should met individually.
➢ Packing must be user friendly with recommended doze, method of application
and pack size.
➢ Designed Pamphlets should carry a clear message.
➢ The company is working on the “me too” concept. So the company should come
up with new innovative salts.
➢ A team of experts from different department must be visited before and after
consumption period.
➢ Regular market follow up by trained staffs.
➢ Relationship management must be there with local village leaders, agriculture
department and co-operative society like Marfed.
➢ Packing must be user friendly with recommended doze, method of application
and pack size.
➢ Gift should be rational and emotional. E.g.-Bucket, School bag, Hand sprayer,
umbrella, towel etc.
➢ Win trust and feeling of channel partners & farmers by dedication.
➢ A good employee relationship should be maintained in order to motivate them to
work more efficiently.
➢ Literature being given to the farmers do not contain the full information about
how to use the product, which result in failure of the product, so full details
should be given about how to use the product in the literature.
➢ Dealers should also be well acquainted with the product uses and should tell the
farmer who buy our product.
➢ Post purchase service like visiting the field, etc will enhance the customer
relationship and a satisfied customer will bring 10 customer with him.
➢ A toll free number will add spice to our service so that farmer can contact us for
the uses of the products and various queries.
➢ Identify new liquidation point like Dairy unit, Big landlords etc in villages.

19
➢ A booklet of different product with details, of company must be available at
grass root as well as dealers, retailers points.
➢ Make availabily of Lasso & Atrazine( 1 lt+ 250 gm ) in a single pack for effective
weed control.

10. CONCLUSION

Karnal district is one of the potential markets of the Haryana. Company

developed different promotional tools and awareness program for promoting the
product which helped company to achieve its target. I started my project with
starting of kharif season called pre season phase. My main work in project
use different promotional tools and spread awareness about the company
product. Promotional tolls like Farmers meetings, Door to Door visit, Telephone
calling are effective tools to create demand for the Sinochem products. We
worked as a team with 1-3 field assistant with one management trainee. Sales
increased approx double to that of last year. We sold approx >150KL
Machete,Fast-Mix and Lasso packets combinedly in Karnal district. And To
increase further sales company has to look into the different suggestions. Project
helped me to learn many things about rural marketing, distribution channel,
sales process,promotional activities carried by different companies, problems in
rural marketing, different schemes given by companies to dealers, distributors,
retailers and farmers, buying behavior of the farmers etc.

20
References:

➢ Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India

➢ Department of Agriculture, Haryana
➢ www.indiastat.com
➢ Comprehensive District Agriculture Plan

21