EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. Students’ Name: Pabitra Kumar Rath (23034); Ajit Kumar Jha (23053)
II. Organisation: Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)
III. Reporting Officer: Mr. Vinay Kumar
IV. Faculty guide: Prof. Debiprasad Mishra
V. Project Title: Designing sustainable marketing plans for the marketing of organic
compost manufactured by the women groups in the working areas of AKRSP (I).
VI. Objectives:
 To estimate the demand of the organic compost in the areas of study.
 To obtain the information about the market structure, the competitors of the
Vasundhara brand in the market, their product, pricing strategy, market
segmentation, channels used and their promotional strategy.
 To obtain information about consumers’ choice attributes while buying organic
compost.
 To suggest marketing plan for Vasundhara brand.
VII. Scope of Study: The study was limited to the Cities of Ahmedabad and Surat,
Bharuch district, Surendranagar, Sayla, Chotila, Rajkot, Dhangadra and Limbadi.
VIII. Methodology: For farmers, semi structured questionnaire was administered followed
by in-depth interview. For dealers and retailers a checklist was used which was
followed by in-depth interview.
IX. Sources of Data: Farmers, dealers and retailers were the primary sources of data,
while literature from AMC, AKRSP (I), books and some Internet sites were secondary
sources of data.
X. Major Findings: Total use of organic compost in Gujarat is only 15-20% of the total
fertilizer used but it is increasing rapidly. There are three main segments of organic
compost users farmers, households and institutional buyers. But farmers’ segment is
the most profitable segment. There are many brands of organic compost available in
the market. Their prices vary between Rs. 120 to Rs. 180. Most of the branded
products are sold through dealers’ network, but dealers are free to keep as many
brands as they wish. Farmers want consistent, odorless and good result giving
product.
XI Conclusions and Recommendations: (a) The four factors, which influence demand
in rural India, are - access, attitude, awareness and affluence. (b) The farmers should
be made aware of the benefits of using organic compost. (c) They should be provided
with best quality product. (d) In urban areas small packs of granulated compost should
be launched. (e) The dealers’ network should be used to make organic compost easily
available to the consumers at affordable price. (f) All the marketing activities should
be done by the federations. (g) The benefits of the products should be communicated
effectively to the consumers through effective media using promotional strategies. (h)
Make the brand as well as the product visible. In villages wall paintings, folk songs,
demonstrations and local idioms should be used to convey the message, while in
urban areas flower shows, ads on cable TV and in local newspapers will be effective.
(i) One to one communication with the dealers and the consumers is the key factor to
success.

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