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"India lives in her villages” - Mahatma Gandhi

Rural India consists of 70% of the total population as per the standard definition. But as a Rural Market Professional, it would be better described as 95% of the total market. Out of this 95%, around 25% is urban and the rest is rural. Catering to this big rural population is an opportunity as well as a challenge. The growth in rural India is fuelled by agriculture. The rise in use of fertilisers and other agrochemicals is a clear indicator of the growth in agriculture. There is a requirement of the infrastructural development to tackle the increasing yield of the crops. Road infrastructure, grain markets and other infrastructural development have been done to support the agrarian growth. The surge in industry have also helped the rural population to fulfil their dreams. With this development in the infrastructure and storage, the price and selling management have worked in a big way.

The development of private education in villages and nearby towns with CBSE and even ICSE schools have led to the development in educational standards in rural areas. A lot of awareness channels like mass media, TV channels and newspapers in regional languages have played an important role in transferring information to masses. In the last decade or so, the rise in use of mobiles and even smart phones have connected every village with the global information hubs. The role of social media, of course, needs to be discussed here in order to understand the rural market completely.

For more insights Read Book " Rural Market Unleashed " available on Amazon.in

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Rural India consists of 70% of the total population as per the standard de-finition. But as a Rural Market Professional, it would be better described as 95% of the total market. Out of this 95%, around 25% is urban and the rest is rural. Catering to this big rural population is an opportunity as well as a challenge. The growth in rural India is fuelled by agriculture. The rise in use of fertilisers and other agrochemicals is a clear indicator of the growth in agriculture. There is a requirement of the infrastructural development to tackle the increasing yield of the crops. Road infrastructure, grain markets and other infrastructural development have been done to support the agrarian growth. The surge in industry have also helped the rural population to fulfil their dreams. With this development in the infrastructure and storage, the price and selling management have worked in a big way.
The development of private education in villages and nearby towns with CBSE and even ICSE schools have led to the development in educational standards in rural areas. A lot of awareness channels like mass media, TV channels and newspapers in regional languages have played an important role in transferring information to masses. In the last decade or so, the rise in use of mobiles and even smart phones have connected every village with the global information hubs. The role of social media, of course, needs to be discussed here in order to understand the rural market completely.

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Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other media have also started their operations in local languages. Rural traffic, on these apps and sites, has increased many folds. Rural internet users have reached 120 million logging in through inexpensive devices. Using low-tariff data plans, they are sharing images and downloading songs and videos like never before. The numbers are going to surge. By 2020, rural consumers will constitute about 50% of India’s internet users to reach 315 million by logging in through inexpensive devices, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the US based management and business consultancy.

The surge in aspirations, incomes and resources in multiple ways are clear indication of the rise of rural India. Marketers need to understand and focus on this part of India in a different way. The colossal rural market of India is an attractive preposition but need quite carefulness while planning and implementing the campaigns. In the next chapters, we will discuss about it in detail. 

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Starting with tractors to thrashers to harvesters, agriculture is becoming intensely mechanised. Farmers are now opening up to new machines which are meant for specific purposes. A lot of farm equipment and machinery companies have developed their business in the last two decades. Technol-ogies like laser levelling of the land, precision agriculture, tissue culture and satellite based agricultural consultancy have started changing the scenario. Some of the emerging technologies that can literally change the agricultural landscape in the coming years are Soil and Water Sensors, Weather Tracking, Satellite Imaging, Pervasive Automation, Mini Chromosomal Technology, RFID Technology and Vertical Farming. Even today the electrical switches by L&T contain mobile based controls. Now a farmer can control the equipment from his home itself. Similarly in future, tractors will start indicating all sorts of troubles beforehand. Even the bacterial or viral activity in air can be sensed and whole village can use the preventive sprays to avoid disasters. The farmers are now welcoming new technologies and there is a large scope of these technologies in India. There are multiple types of equipment used in agriculture like harvesters combine, tippers, trailers, tankers, rotavators, seed drillers, oil tankers, truck containers, harvester combine, rotavators with roto seeder, hydro cutting presses, trailers, tillers, agricultural tillers, track combine harvesters, etc. These companies are growing much faster in the east and central parts of India.