Historical development, significance and application of marketing in agribusiness

Abstract

Market conditions in which the agricultural sector does business are continuously changing and developing. The agricultural sector competes with the competition when the only constants in agricultural production are great turbulences of agroclimatic conditions, and permanent changes in the market. Those changes are happening rapidly, which causes oscillations in business results, and it often leads to disappointment and desertion of the agricultural sector, especially by young, mobile, and working people. This chapter aims to offer a concept of modern marketing, so its implementation into the agricultural sector would contribute to more efficient and effective work. Also, it would lead to better results for all partakers of agricultural sectors, especially agricultural producers. Today, the battle for a better and more profitable position of agricultural producers in domestic and foreign markets is unimaginable without applying strategies and tools of modern marketing. To master the competitive advantage and maintain it on the market for a long time is a complicated process for the biggest and richest companies of today. It is especially hard and complex for participants from the agricultural sector because of the countless specificities of agricultural producers, and agricultural production itself. The finding of the review and research is that domestic agricultural producers are the main, but the weakest link in the chain of the agricultural sector. They are faintly, or not at all prone to using marketing management, strategies, and tools of marketing, like market segmentation, targeting, product differentiation, as well as combining elements of the marketing mix in their business activities and their value offer to customers. By doing this, they significantly make their market position more difficult, and they reduce competitiveness on both domestic and foreign markets of agricultural products, or in a broader sense, the whole agricultural sector. The most current trends of modern marketing practice are represented in this review, together with solutions for their implementation into the agricultural sector.