ANALYSIS OF MARKET STRUCTURE, CONDUCT AND PERFORMANCE OF BELL PEPPER PRODUCTION IN TUPI, SOUTH COTABATO

The study was conducted in Tupi, South Cotabato from June to October 2021 to analyze the market structure, conduct and performance of bell pepper in Tupi, South Cotabato. The study employed a descriptive statistics, Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve to determine the degree of market concentration in the study area. To analyze the performance of the market, Sheperd's formula was used.

In terms of market structure, the Gini coefficient for retailers and wholesaler- retailers was 0.48 and 0.62, respectively. This means that equality exist among retailers while inequality for wholesaler-retailers. As per product differentiation, it includes extensive sorting and grading that is highly based on the physical characteristics of the bell pepper. It was also found out that there were only two distinct market channels, the producer to wholesale-retailer to retailer to consumer and the producer to retailer to

consumer.

As per market conduct, traders' product purchase and sales was homogeneous and their pricing strategy is competitive pricing as they base their prices from their competitors. Meanwhile, there is no collusion in the market since the market is a pure competition market.

With regards to market performance of the traders, the marketing margin of wholesaler-retailers was 10.75 pesos and 10.00 pesos at retail and wholesale level, respectively. Meanwhile, the marketing margin for retailers was 22.25 pesos per kilogram indicating that retailers have a bigger margin than wholesaler-retailer. Results revealed that marketing efficiency of 11.36 for retailers and 2.15 and 1.93 for wholesaler-retailers, respectively, implies that there is profit surplus. Since there is profit surplus, there is inefficiency in the supply chain.