Spatial Price Integration of Okra in Selected Markets of Gujarat Babu Amrutha1, Singh Narendra2, More S.Sachin3 1M. Sc. Student, Department of Agricultural Economics, NMCA, Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Navsari, Gujarat, 396450 2Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, ASPEE College of Horticulture & Forestry Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Navsari, Gujarat, 396450 3Ph. D. Student, Department of Agricultural Economics, NMCA, Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Navsari, Gujarat, 396450 *Corresponding author's email: amrutha.1991.amrutham@gmail.com
Online published on 13 December, 2017. Abstract Spatial price behaviour in regional markets may be used as a measure of overall market performance. If food markets are properly integrated they will give correct price signals through the marketing channels, which is beneficial to the farmers. Hence the study was undertaken to test spatial market integration of wholesale prices of okra in selected markets of Gujarat. The data used consist of monthly wholesale prices of five okra markets namely, Surat, Bharuch, Surendra Nagar, Navsari, and Vadodara of Gujarat for the period from 2004–2014. To test the null hypothesis of non-stationary against an alternative of stationary, we have applied Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test. Integration was tested by calculating bivariate correlation coefficient and multivariate cointegration method developed by Johansen and Johansen and Juselius. The analysis was done by using SAS 9.3 software. The results revealed that all the price series were non-stationary at the level and became stationary after first differentiation and they were integrated with the same order. From market integration results, we can say that all the okra markets were co-integrated and converge to long-run equilibrium. Five co-integration equations were found, which reveals good cointegration among okra price. Top Keywords ADF, cointegration, market, spatial price integration. Top |