The Gazetteers Department

The pattern and organisation of trade as prevailing at the end of the last century and beginning of the twentieth century underwent remarkable changes in the subsequent period. The organisation of trade was more in tune with the partially self-sufficient economy prevalent there. The wants of the people were in consonance with the availability of various goods produced locally. With changing times and changes in the concept of standard of living came the diversification of consumers' goods. This diversification coupled with improvement in transport facilities and consciousness led to diversification of demand for varied articles, which in turn led t o increase in their trade.

However, the composition of trade in agricultural produce has not undergone a significant change. Cotton, jowar, tur and groundnut are the most important items of wholesale trade at present as they were in the past. The changes in respect of the trade of agricultural produce mainly relate to the volume of their trade, methods of transactions, regulation of trade and growth of the co-operative marketing movement. In what follows is given a short review of the same.

The volume of trade in respect of all commodities has increased to a very great extent. This is more true in the case of wholesale transactions and exports. The most important landmark in the history of trade is the regulation of wholesale transactions under the Central Provinces and Berar Agricultural Produce Markets Act of 1932. This Act regulated the methods of sale and purchase, market charges, and vested the market committees with supervisory and regulatory functions consistent with the proper implementation of the Act. This has regularised fair market practices and created an organisational set-up to ensure compliance with a proper code of marketing. Co-operative movement in the marketing field has also brought about organisational changes from which the agriculturist has derived considerable benefits.

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