Agricultural Marketing in Nepal
Generally, agriculture marketing refers to the place where agricultural products are purchased and sold. There are various activities like collection of agricultural products, quality determination, selling and buying management, development of the organized market, etc. Thus, agricultural marketing involves a number of operations and processes through which agricultural products and raw materials move to the ultimate consumers.

Nature or Features of Characteristics of Nepalese Agricultural Marketing
Agricultural marketing has occupied an important place for farmers. But agricultural marketing is not still organized and developed in Nepal. Farmers are never benefited from their agricultural products, because of the following nature of the agricultural market in Nepal.

1. Seasonal:
Agricultural production and marketing, both are seasonal activities in the rural area of Nepal. Agricultural products are affected by the situation of season. During harvesting season, there is oversupply so, price is always low. Due to the lack of storage facilities, whatever the farmers grow and produce, are brought to the market immediately.

2. Unorganized:
The agricultural marketing system in Nepal is not found organized. The farmers produced small quantities of commodities and sell in the village to fulfill their basic needs. Due to this, the unorganized market, the management system of measurement, price control, quality maintenance, and other facilities are unscientific.

3. Inadequate market centers:
In Nepal, market centers are inadequate in number, especially in hills and mountain regions. People have to travel long distances to reach the nearest market centers. This limits the possibility of trading agricultural products.

4. Small size of the market:
Due to subsistence farming, the volume of marketable surplus generated by farmers is very low. This situation discourages them to travel the better market wherein they could obtain a better price. The low surplus limits the size of the agricultural market in Nepal.

5. Influence of Indian market:
There is a long open border between India and Nepal. Due to this open border, agricultural marketing of Nepal is directly influenced by the Indian price and quality of commodities. Indian agro-products are cheaper than the products of Nepal which adversely affects the Nepalese agricultural market.

6. Price instability:
Due to the various reasons, the price of goods keeps on changing almost every day in the agricultural market of Nepal. In the same day, the price of the same products differs from one place to another.
There are other natures of agricultural markets like different measurement units, pre-dominance of middle man, etc.

Problems of Agriculture Marketing in Nepal
Nepal is an agricultural country so, a well developed agricultural marketing system is necessary for encouraging farmers for higher production from the land. But the agricultural system in Nepal is highly exploitative because farmers don’t get a reasonable price for their products. There are many problems related to the management and development of agricultural marketing in Nepal which is as follows:

1. Lack of transportation and communication facilities:
Especially, farmers in the village can’t carry their products to the market centers due to the lack of transportation facilities. Similarly, due to the lack of communication facilities, farmers are unable to get the market information like demand price, etc. so, they don’t know the actual price of their products. Thus, they have to sell their products in the primary market at a low price.

2. Lack of storage facilities:
The farmers have to sell their products immediately after harvest due to the lack of proper storage facilities. Generally, the price of agricultural products sharply falls during the harvesting season. Most of the food grains are destroyed or decayed if they are kept for the future. So, the farmers are compelled to sell their products at a low price.

3. No uniformity of weight and measures:
The standard uniform measurement system is not yet practiced yet in the rural area of Nepal. Most of the traders don’t use proper weight and measures. They still use traditional weight and measures such as mana, pathi, dharni, etc. and they also use stone, bricks, etc in buying goods which are not reliable and appropriate.

4. Existence of a middle man:
There are middlemen who purchase agricultural products from the farmers at a low price and sell them to the consumers at a higher price. Due to this, the middle man exploits the farmers by providing a low price of their products.

5. Problems of Adulteration:
Adulteration or mixing of inferior products with superior on is a common practice among the traders in Nepal. Sand in food grains. Water in milk, salt with fertilizers, etc. are commonly found adulteration method. Adulteration is generally practiced by a middle man.

6. Lack of effective farmers’ organization:
Generally, farmers sell their products separately on an individual basis. The buyers usually organized and farmers are unorganized. So, they can’t create joint demand and suitable condition for the welfare of them. Hence farmers are compelled to sell their products at a determined price by buyers.

There are other problems of agricultural marketing Nepal like inefficient marketing information, the effect of the Indian market, lack of monitoring system, lack of marketing coordination and planning, etc. small size of the market.