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Commodity Markets, Computers and Inclusive Development: A Study of Marketing and Price Formation of Cardamom with e-Auctions

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Inclusive Innovation

Part of the book series: India Studies in Business and Economics ((ISBE))

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Abstract

The plantation sector plays a key role in fostering inclusive development in India. This chapter aims at locating the spaces and processes of exclusion in the marketing of cardamom, a major plantation crop in Kerala, and the bearing that e-auctions have in addressing them. In locating the spaces of exclusion, the study uses conceptual categories of social exclusion envisioned by Amartya Sen, like passive, active, instrumental and constitutional exclusion, to evolve new ones like subordinated or unequal inclusion, illusive inclusion and sustained exclusion. In the conventional auction system, active exclusion prevailed on account of the practice of taking a fixed quantity as a sample from all the lots regardless of its size and delay in payment along with the absence of title deeds for a large number of growers. The existence of wide variation in the price realized by different size classes of holders has been articulated as a case of subordinated/unequal inclusion. It is shown that the e-auction has been successful in addressing the subordinated/unequal exclusion. However, harnessing ICT through e-auction could hardly address the active, passive and instrumental exclusion that has been sustained over the years. This tends to suggest that in the absence of appropriate institutional innovations, the issue of social exclusion cannot be addressed only by technological innovations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See for details https://main.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Annual_Report_21022019.pdf.

  2. 2.

    Today the product is highly domestic market oriented as more than 90% of the output is sold in the domestic market.

  3. 3.

    With technological advancements there are machines that help grading the product based on colour and boldness. Hence, the relevance of auction at present, in a sense, is questionable.

  4. 4.

    During the 1970s and 1980s on an average 60–70% of the domestic production used to be exported.

  5. 5.

    1975–76 with a production of 3000 mt, the export was 1941 mt. The sudden decline in export during 1976–77, in spite of a production of 2400 mt, was due to the imposition of the export duty of Rs.50/- per kg on cardamom.

  6. 6.

    This is an indicator of the quality of the product. It is often observed the product with green colour and bold in size has higher weight per litre.

  7. 7.

    This refers to the price below which the seller will not sell the product.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    K. J. Joseph

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  1. K. J. Joseph
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Correspondence to K. J. Joseph .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Rajeswari S. Raina

  2. Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad, India

    Keshab Das

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Joseph, K.J. (2020). Commodity Markets, Computers and Inclusive Development: A Study of Marketing and Price Formation of Cardamom with e-Auctions. In: Raina, R., Das, K. (eds) Inclusive Innovation. India Studies in Business and Economics. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3929-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3929-1_6

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