Rural Marketing - Ins and Outs
“Rural Advertising is more of an education than advertising. Its main objective is to improve people's lifestyle with new ideas and technologies.”
Rural areas are opening up to new technologies and new products. With the rise in businesses, multiple channels of financing have opened up. Besides banks, many NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Company) have also started functioning in rural areas. There are multiple types of loans that have started like home loans, car loans, tractor loans, etc. Many automobiles companies and even tractors have started their own financing divisions or companies to boost the sales of their products. Rural India is also working on its health part as a lot of multi-speciality hospitals have come up in rural areas besides normal clinics. With the rise in many sectors besides agriculture, a lot of employment opportunities have started picking up. Women education and empowerment have played a major role in building the rural economy of India. The rise of NGO’s and self-help groups have also improved the living standards of many rural families.
Adaptation of New Technologies in Agriculture:
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. Technologies 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.
Financial Institutional Support in Rural India:
Finance has always been the back bone of every business. The opening and expansion of banking services in rural India have certainly changed the game. The rate of interest has come down drastically. Secondly, number of government schemes like Kissan Credit Card have worked very well in favour of rural India. The entrepreneurs from Rural India have also got a great push due to easy finance and refinance opportunities. Online banking and number of payment transfer apps like Paytm and Google Pay is also helping the growth in rural economy. The finance of automobiles, tractors and home loans have boosted the economic growth to a large extent. Direct online payment in the farmers account is also possible because of the vast banking network expansion in rural India. There are a total 47,443 rural bank branches in around 6 lakh villages. Although a lot still needs to be done but with regular expansion of banking in rural areas, the growth will be much higher in the coming days. Even when the country is hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, the rural areas are still working and could fuel the growth engines of India. Other than banks, NBFC’s have disbursed a good amount of loans in these areas.
Role of Insurance:
The Indian law states that insurance companies should be accommodative of persons in the rural sector or social sector, persons in the economically vulnerable or backward classes of the society, workers in the unorganised or informal sector etc. (as specified by the IRDA). The insurance sector has also expanded its portfolio in rural India with the help of the banking sector. The budget has made provisions for paying huge subsidies in the premiums of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the number of beneficiaries will increase to 50% in the next two years from the present level of 20%. As part of the PMFBY, Rs.9000 crore (US$ 1.35 billion) has been allocated for crop insurance in 2017-18. There are many types of insurance available in rural India like Cattle Insurance, Sheep and Goat Insurance, Poultry Insurance and Aqua Culture Insurance. There are a number of private insurance players who are working in these areas with the help of the banking sector. There is a spike in health and life insurance after the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country.
Health and Medical Facilities in Rural India:
In a Gaon Connection Survey, every third person living in rural India (36%) prefers going to a private doctor. Let us look at the figures to find out what is in store for rural India in the health sector.
In India, there is one government allopathic doctor for every 10,000 people, one government hospital for every 2,000 people and one state run hospital for every 100,000 people. The WHO report, published in 2016, said 31.4% of those calling themselves allopathic doctors were educated only up to Class 12 and 57.3% doctors did not have a medical qualification. The percentage of live births where the mother got medical attention at delivery either at a government or private hospital rose from 73.1% in 2012 to 81.9% in 2017 at the all India level. Similarly, 47% got attention before their death in 2017, up from 34.6% in 2012. As per a survey, there are only around eight diagnostic labs per 100,000 people in India and diagnostic facilities have a very low reach in small towns and villages.
The figures are dismal but clearly shows the scope for the health care companies, hospitals and the medical testing labs. I see a great potential in all 6 lakh villages where 70% of India resides.
Employment Opportunities In Rural India:
As I have mentioned, many sectors have started growing in rural India which automatically provide huge opportunity for employment and entrepreneurship. The growth of banking, insurance, education, health, manufacturing and agricultural innovation have created huge opportunities for growth and prosperity of rural people. Advertising in rural India consisting of printing, film making, artists and implementation agencies also generate a lot of jobs. The usage of the advanced agricultural and infrastructural implements like JCB’s and harvesters need a lot of skilled work force. The automobile companies like Mahindra, Suzuki and others sales and maintenance network is also generating a lot of employment. These opportunities are making rural India prosperous day by day. This prosperity is converting rural India into a big market leading to a virtuous circle of prosperity.
Rise in Women as Decision Makers:
With the rise in middle classes in rural India, the role of education has improved a lot. Now people are considering a girl’s education equally important. girls have started studying at masters level and even professional levels. This phenomenon has led to the rise of women as decision makers. Traditionally, rural India has been considered to lag behind in responding to new ideas as compared to its urban counterpart. With the rise in education and jobs in nearby towns in rural India the girls and boys have started doing jobs and they are becoming independent financially. While taking the core decisions which were being taken by elders earlier like purchase of Agro inputs, seeds and fertilisers even tractors and cars, youngsters are taken into account because of their education and knowledge. Once I was travelling towards Mumbai from Punjab by train. I met a farmer from Punjab travelling to Gujrat to purchase some land. He was accompanied by his daughter. She was in the tenth class. I asked him why he was taking his daughter with him. He said “She is educated, it will be easier for me to communicate with them if she is with me”
That change of mind-set is visible and has to be taken into account.
Role of Cooperatives and Self Help Groups:
The role of cooperatives cannot be ruled out in the growth of rural economy. Cooperative movements like Amul is the one of the biggest examples. In fact, dairy and sugar co-operatives have made India a ‘Major Nation’ in the world with regard to ‘milk’ and ‘sugar’ production. Today, India can claim to have the largest network of co-operatives in the world numbering more than half a million, with a membership of more than 200 million. The cooperative credit facilities and distribution of fertilisers and agrochemicals have been a huge success. The cooperative sugar mills in Western Maharashtra have changed the fortunes of the farmers in that belt. Although cooperatives have failed in many parts of the country due to political interference and corruption, still this movement has changed the entire country’s mind-set towards agricultural growth.
Self-help groups have mostly worked for women empowerment. In the stimulus package announced by the union finance minister to fight COVID 19, collateral free loans have doubled for women self-help groups (SHGs) from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. This will help 63 lakh SHGs covering 7 crore families. There are 44.61 lac women SHGs as of March, 2019. The following news appeared in the Tribune News Service, Chandigarh on March 6. After leaving her government job as a Mathematics teacher in the early 90s, Ludhiana based Gurdev Kaur Deol decided to empower rural women and girls. It started as a small group in the form of a self-help group and today she is transforming the lives of 300 families by marketing their produce through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
She is not a lone example. There are many women and NGOs who are engaged in transforming the lives of rural women through self-help groups. The women who were unemployed earlier are now earning anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000 per month. This income is making women more decisive and independent. Self Help Groups are building nation.
Rural marketing is the approach to see these opportunities and help people of rural India to realise their dreams and aspirations. There is a huge plethora of areas and geographies where the marketers can start, move and grow with the growing economy of rural India.
Rural India is calling, “Come with us let’s grow together.”
For more insights Read Book " Rural Market Unleashed " available on Amazon.in