MARKETING PROBLEMS FACED BY COIR UNITS: A STUDY IN THANJAVUR DISTRICT OF TAMIL NADU

India being a land of villages with more than two-thirds of her population living in rural areas, rural industrialization could play a key role in the country as it produces forward and backward linkages in the rural economy. In this context, the Rural Small Scale Enterprises (RSSEs) based on local raw materials, skills and technology have been identified as one of the key sectors in the country. Among the rural small-scale industries, coir industry is the oldest agro-based rural industry which has grabbed the attention of both the enterprising entrepreneurs and the government alike today. However, in the present globalised scenario, like any other industry, coir industry is also prone to problems and constraints. Both at the state and at the national levels the problems like inadequate finance to meet the increasing cost of production, non-availability of raw material such as coconut husk in the years with scanty rainfalls, obsolete production technology, difficulties in the adoption of modern technology, labour scarcity during the harvesting periods of agricultural crops, absence of an effective marketing system, lack of marketing infrastructure, concentration of markets and demand in select regions, production in only sunny days, irrational selection and mismanagement of human resources in all its functional areas, environmental problems and unhealthy competition between mechanised units and non-mechanised units and lastly the not-so encouraging government support, apply brakes in the further growth of this sector in the country. The industry in Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, also witnesses the major problems seen at the macro-level but at varying degrees. Hence, this study is an attempt to study major marketing problems faced by coir units in Thanjavur District.