A 10 day ICAR Short Course on Marketing Research for Value Chain in Fisheries’, was organized by the Extension, Information & Statistics Division of CIFT, Cochin during 1-10 October, 2013. Dr. Nikita Gopal, Senior Scientist, EIS Division was the Course Director and Dr. S. Balasubramaniam, Head, EIS Division was the Co-Director.

Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling the product or service. It is a critical business function for attracting customers. Creating value is inherent in marketing, and this can be understood from the fact that, the concept of value chain is gaining importance both acdemically as well as in practical applications in the food industry/ The addition of value at each level of the markeitng chain is what is envisaged in this approach. This is market linked, and researching the market is, thus an essential component.  The course was intended to give the participants an exposure to the tools of marketing research which can be used within a value chain framework. Twenty seven partcipants from the states of UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala particpated in the Short Course.The partcipants were from diverse backgrounds including research and academics, Central and State Government Departments, private retail sector, NGOs, and students.

The Course had both theory and hands on sessions. Lectures covered the basic concepts of marketing reaserch and value chain, gave an exposure to export and domestic marketing scenario and research in the area, introduced the concept of supply chain management, had theoritical and practical statistical applications relevant to marketing research and presented business models in fisheries etc. Faculty were drawn from CIFT, CMFRI, MPEDA, and the private sector. Field visits to fisheries related Institutes in Cochin like MPEDA, NIFPHATT and CMFRI; and seafood factory and fish landing centres were organised. Participnats were exposed to quantitative tools using SPSS and SAS software. On the last day, participants made brief presentations on topics of their interest related to marketing research.

The course was inaugurated by Shri. N. Ramesh, ITS, Director (Marketing), Marine Products Export Development Authority, Cochin on 1^stOctober, 2013 and the Guest of Honour was Dr. R. Narayanakumar, Head, Socio-Economic Evaluation and Technology Transfer Division, CMFRI, Cochin.   Dr. T. K. Srinivasa Gopal, Director, CIFT presided over the valedictory function and handed over the certfiicates to the partcipants.

Inauguration of the ICAR Short Course by                                        Focus Group Discussion in progress
Shri. N. Ramesh, ITS, Director (Marketing),
MPEDA, Cochin

 (for more photos please visit photo gallery)