To gauze the BRAND RECALL of BIOSEED BRAND

amongst the seed retailers of major markets of Andhra

Pradesh.

Introduction:

At the start of the year 2009/10 the world’s focus is on India- as the world’s
second largest producer of cotton. With the recent technological
advancements and market liberalization India has emerged in the 21st
century as the major player in the world cotton market. India devotes more
land to cotton than any other country and claimed 30.4% of the world’s
cotton acreage. Most of the land acreage is rain fed and only about 35% of
the land is irrigated. The cotton is cultivated in many states of India. Among
them the major are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.

Bt Cotton was introduced by Mayhco (Maharashtra Seeds Company) in the

year 2002.Since then Bt Cotton is cultivated by the Indian farmers and
reaping great benefits. There are many local hybrid varieties of Bt Cotton in
India competing for the above stated huge cotton seed market fighting for
their space. MAHYCO, Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, Tulasi Seed Ltd, Vibha Agro
Tech Ltd, are some of the major players among the Indian hybrid cotton
seed market.
 Project Introduction:

The project throws a light on the brand recall of the BIOSEED brand in the
cotton market, which already has a huge success in the hybrid maize market
in Andhra Pradesh.
BIOSEED is the brand of the Shri Ram Bioseed Genetic India Ltd which is a
subsidiary of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd. The seed business is a strong
R&D led operations that develops, produces and markets high quality hybrid
seeds. The company has invested in establishing a robust R&D
infrastructure in Hyderabad & Philippines.
The company entered into the cotton hybrid seed market in 2007. In Andhra
Pradesh the company has three brands namely
1. Bajrang
2. Gabbar
3. Chiranjeevi
In Andhra Pradesh Adilabad is a major market with over sale of 1000000
hybrid seed packets followed by Guntur & Warangal.
This project is undertaken to gauze the brand recall of the Bioseed brand of
seed retailers in Andhra Pradesh. Brand recall of a particular product of a
company is of vital importance since indicates the number of people who are
aware of particular product and it also highlights the effectiveness of the
various promotional activities taken by the company.

A brand is said to have a recall if it comes to respondents mind when its

product class (hybrid cotton seeds) is mentioned. It indicates stronger brand
position in the consumers mind.
 Objectives:

1. To understand where Bioseed Brand is placed in the mind space of

retailers.
2. Which of the other brands have a major share mind space of retailers?

Methodology:

The study is conducted empirically using both primary and secondary data.
Primary data was collected through a well structured, questionnaire. The
data was collected through personal interview. Seed retailers from various
region where interviewed for the necessary data. Seed retailers from six
different markets of Andhra Pradesh
1. Adilabad Town (Adilabad)
2. Boath (Adilabad)
3. Bhainsa (Adilabad)
4. Vikarabad (Ranga Reddy)
5. Parigi (Ranga Reddy)
6. Mominpet (Ranga Reddy)
were taken. Around 80 seed retailers were questioned for the data. The
nature of the study was exploratory; the real factual data is collected without
the biasness of the researcher. The brand recall questionnaire was an unaided
one- the respondents knew the interviewer as an independent one, not the
one from a particular company (Shriram Bioseed).
Secondary data was collected from company’s website and internet.
 OBSERVATIONS

1. Most of the business is run through credit, which means the retailer is
at loss of reputation and sometimes cash if the crop fails to yield.
2. Banners and posters of various brands of different companies are
displayed in the heart of ever town, but Bioseed company posters
were seen in the outskirts.
3. Most of the retailers who have recognized the Bioseed brands are a

small time, mid range dealers in the seeds. Even the distributors of the
Bioseed Company have a far less amount of sales compared to the big
retailers.
4. Adilabad is very huge market compared to any other. One has to tap
unto its potential, and can gain a lot from it. But the brand recall is
very less in this critical area.
5. The retailers, who recalled the Bioseed brands, gave a feed back that
the company does not involve in promotional activities and thus
performing poor in the market.
6. Some of them complained about poor supply.
7. The retailers can push a farmer in taking or trying out the new brands.
They have the capability to at least give a start to the company.
8. Some of them are reluctant to buy the brand Chiranjeevi because of
the recent developments in the telangana region concerning the
telangana’s separate state issue.
 9. One should not forget the fact that most of the farmers are illiterate
and will not be taking their decisions on their own and is greatly
influenced by reference groups.
10.Nuson Seeds-James is anew brand launched last year and gaining the
marketing Rangareddy district. Word of mouth is the reason for the
good popularity of the brand and is spreading..

Outcome

The final outcome of the study is that brand MALLIKA of Nuziveedu

Seeds Ltd is the most preferred brand among the cotton hybrid seeds
followed closely by brand BRAHMA of Paras seeds. MAHYCO’s
MRC7351 brand enjoys a good popularity.
Sadly, Bioseed brand isn’t recalled by 70% of the respondents. If cued about
the company, the response was encouraging but still most of them don’t
have the stock of it.
The response for the sales of the company seeds is average by the most of
the retailers.

Recommendations:

1. More active participation in marketing activities. A brand is

popularized by extensive marketing.
2. The activities should start a month or two months before the start of

the season.
 3. Packaging is not a big issue. As the farmer is less attracted towards
attractive packing.
4. Some of the farmers can be handpicked and invited to crop

demonstration, so that they can have healthy practices in cultivation.

In this market word of mouth is the greatest publicity which any
company can get.
5. Take the feedback from the farmers, keep track of them if possible; a

customer lost is a great loss.

6. The retailers can really push the farmer for trying new products, the
farmer is influenced by reference groups, and one should maintain
healthy relationship with retailers.
7. Create a sales incentive program for the sales force. Deadlines and
incentives work.

Conclusion

Accomplishing the project on Brand Recall was an excellent and

knowledge gaining experience. Despite the small size of the sample I had an
insight into the hybrid cotton seed market in Andhra Pradesh.
Bioseed though not the greatest of the hybrid cotton seed companies, is still
in the race and has a potential to reach the peak through consistent efforts.
I would like to thank my project coordinator Mr.Sanjiv Sharma and Mr. Goa
for their guidance and support.