Grain Moisture Meter
Market
Market in Canada
Market in Nepal
The grain moisture meter has a demand in Canadian agriculture, but this particular product has large competition in this market. For starters, with more industrialized farms moisture detectors, there are other options of moisture detection that are more convenient to the producer. Many combine harvesters come with a on-board moisture detector, for example all new Case IH combines come with moisture sensors ("Axial-Flow Combines", 2015). Furthermore, Canadian producers can afford to buy a product that is more accurate and comes at a higher price. These alternative products are often made by a company that has more brand recognition such as Agratronix or Dickey-John. Both of these companies specialize in the production of agricultural instruments (“Agratronix,” 2015, “Dickey-John,” 2015) and are well known among the agricultural community.
Dickey John Grain Analysis Computer (GAC) 2500-UGMA
http://www.dickey-john.com/_media/thumb2_GAC2500_front_angle_lsm.jpg
The price point of this product is rather steep, and therefore the average Nepalese farmer is not the ideal consumer for this product. As this is the case, there are two ideal targets for this product. The first being larger farmers, and the second being groups of smaller farmers wanting to purchase this product to share. The Terai region of Nepal is a region where commercial agriculture is starting to become more prevalent (Joshi & Bauer, 2006). In this region 70% of farmer’s now sell their rice commercially (Joshi & Bauer, 2006). The result of this is more income, and therefore more money to invest into their operation. This increases the likelihood that these people would purchase this product. In regards to this product being purchased in a community, the product has unlimited usage and therefore can be used by many people at no added cost. This means if shared amongst many people the initial purchase price per person could be reduced and the benefit would still exist.
References:
Agratronix. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.agratronix.com/
Axial-Flow Combines. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.caseih.com/northamerica/en-us/products/harvesting
Joshi, G. R., & Bauer, S. (2006). Determinants of Rice Variety Diversity on Household Farms in the Terai Region of Nepal Association of Agricultural Economists Conference , Gold Coast , 1–17.