Analysis of Intermediaries’ Influence in Citrus Supply Chain in Pakistan

Citrus production contributes significantly to livelihoods uplift and national economic development. However, the marketing system is criticised for inconsistent supply chain of citrus in Pakistan. This research aimed to bridge the research gap by soliciting intermediaries’ role in the citrus marketing process. Total 120 randomly selected citrus growers were interviewed face to face and collected data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Findings affirmed that middleman, processing factories and friends/relatives were the foremost intermediaries in citrus marketing. Majority of growers (94.16%) preferred selling their pre-harvest fruit to processing factories (55.75%), middleman (30%) and friends and neighbours (14.25%). High prices of inputs (84.3%), small lands (82.6%) and monopoly of the middleman (76%) were prominent factors limiting benefits as perceived by the respondents. Correlation analysis unveiled that most of constraints impeding growers’ benefits were inter-correlated. This implies that resolving one barrier could limit another. This study urges a need to regulate middleman in marketing system through legislation and government should develop systematic marketing channels and support to develop fruits industry or value addition.