The Gazetteers Department

The traditional methods of trade were quite different from what they are today. They were mainly based on the partly self-sufficient economy existing then. The wants of the people were in consonance with the availability of various goods produced locally. With the passage of time and changes in the concept of standard of living came the diversification of consumers' goods. This diversification coupled with improvement in transport facilities led to diversification of demand for varied articles and this in turn led to an increase in their trade. As such, cloth, salt, spices, cutlery, building materials and food articles were imported. The volume and value of import and export trade were much smaller than at present.

Since 1930 the impact of the social, economic and political factors in the country was such that it brought a gradual change in the commercial complex of the district. The most important landmark in the history of trade was the regulation of agricultural marketing under the Bombay Cotton Markets Act of 1927 and the Bombay Agricultural Produce Markets Act of 1939. The latter Act regulated the methods and modus operandi of trade, and vested the market committees with supervisory and regulatory functions consistent with the proper implementation of the Act. The Act also regularised the market and commission charges, and thus, removed the malpractices and exploitation of the farmers. This created an organisational set-up to ensure compliance with a proper code of marketing. The Act was amended in 1963 by passing the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act of 1963 which is implemented in the district since 1967. According to this Act the primary trade transactions at all the principal markets in the district have been brought under regulation. This has encouraged the farmers, to sell their produce through the market committees. The emergence of the cooperative marketing societies has also been responsible for the growth of trade in an organised manner.

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