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2005 - 200922010 - 20171
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Subject: Rural Banking and Management × Author: KAU × Start date: 2005 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Economics of dairying in Thrissur district
    (Department of Rural Banking & Finance Managemnet , College of Cooperation, Banking & Management, Vellanikkara, 2017) Greeni, T Thankachan; KAU; Molly Joseph
    Dairy is a vital part of the global food system providing economic, nutritional and social benefits to a large proportion of the world’s population. It has assumed one of the most important roles in providing employment and income generating opportunities for rural population.The advent of dairying has been a boon for dairy farmers and of particular importance to those segments of the society that have been traditionally weak, the small landholders, landless labourers and women. Agriculture, being only seasonal, the dairy industry provides off-season work, steady income and keeps the rural population employed throughout the year. The study titled ‘ Economics of Dairying in Thrissur District’ has been conducted with the objectives of examining the pattern of dairying adopted by farmers, identifying the sources, types and extent of assistance and incentives provided to the dairy farmers and studying the impact of assistance and incentives on the sustainability of dairying. The assistance and incentives provided to the dairy farmers, the pattern of dairying adopted and the impact of assistance and incentives on the sustainability of dairying have been studied at the district level of Thrissur using both secondary and primary data. Secondary data regarding the various assistance and incentives received by the farmers have been collected from Dairy Development Department, Animal Husbandry Department and Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (MILMA) (Thrissur Dairy). Data regarding the societies have been collected from the Procurement and Inspection (P&I) wing of Thrissur dairy. For collecting primary data, multistage random sampling method was employed. 133 respondents were selected from five taluks of Thrissur district. In the first stage, from each taluk, two Anand Pattern Co-operative Societies (APCOS) have been selected for which the societies in the taluks have been ranked based on the quantity of milk supplied to MILMA during the last three years. From the rank list prepared, societies which ranked first and the last have been selected. Thus the sample size of APCOS has become ten, i.e., two societies each from five taluks. In the second stage, from each of the societies, 10 farmers who are pouring members for the last three years have been selected randomly. As a control group for comparison, three farmers who are not the members of the society, but residing within the area of operation of the society have been selected. Thus the sample size is 130 dairy farmers, consisting of 100 member farmers of APCOS and 30 non 2 member farmers. In addition to this, three commercial dairy units from the study area, with a minimum cattle holding of 20, have also been included for the study. Pre-tested structured interview schedule has been used for collecting data from the respondents. The major statistical tools used for the study were one sample t test, independent samples t test, Kruskal Wallis H test, Mann Whitney U test, ANOVA , post hoc test for multiple comparison and Cobb- Douglas production function. The pattern of dairying adopted by the farmers is discussed under two heads- feeding practices and breeding practices. For studying the feeding practices adopted by the farmers, the study takes into account the feeding schedule specifications prescribed by the Productivity Enhancement Department of National Dairy Development Board, Anand and also the actual feeding practices adopted by the farmers. Comparisons with the standards have been made both member - wise and category - wise. Based on the cattle population, while comparing the actual quantity given and the recommended quantity, it could be observed that concentrates and paddy straw are not given upto the recommended quantity whereas green grass is provided more than the prescribed quantity. Among these, the quantity of concentrates and green grass given by the farm respondents are more than the required quantity whereas the quantity of paddy straw given is found to be less when compared to the other three categories.With respect to the breeding practices, artificial insemination method is being adopted by all the respondent farmers and the various kinds of breeds that have been found in the study areas are Holstein-Friesian, Jersey, Crossbreed cattle, Vechur cow, Sunandhini and Kasargod dwarf cow. The sources from which the farmers are receiving assistance and incentives include MILMA, Animal Husbandry Department and Dairy Development Department.The various assistance received by the respondent farmers are availability of paddy straw at concessional rate, mediclaim insurance for dairy farmers, subsidy for cattle shed development, rubber mat subsidy, Ksheeravardhini scheme, cattle insurance premium subsidy, interest subsidy for bank loan, summer incentive, assistance for fodder scheme, milk shed development programme and cattle feed subsidy. Among these, the summer incentive scheme which is being provided by MILMA is found to be the most acceptable and fully availed scheme among members. None of the respondents is found to be receiving any of the selected assistance from Animal Husbandry 3 Department. However the farmers are receiving various services free of cost such as artificial insemination, free medicines and vaccination. The impact of assistance and incentives is studied upon the members and non members in their production, marketable surplus, gross income, cost and net income. Member - wise and category - wise analysis of data have been done. It was found that cost - wise, there is significant difference among members and non members. As the members are receiving various assistance and incentives, it enables them to reduce their costs. But it is not getting reflected in their net income. Cobb-Douglas production function was employed separately for total respondents and also for total members. From Cobb- Douglas production function, it was observed that one rupee increase in feed cost leads to 19 paisa increase in production for all respondents, and 22 paisa increase in production for members. This tilts to the fact that the members who are affiliated to the society could make a significant impact in their feed cost through various assistance received by them. However, the advantage available to them through these assistance and incentives does not lead to increase in their net income. This indicates that though they can reduce their cost, dairying is not sustainable unless it is reflected in their net income. It was found that the extent of amount of assistance and incentives is meagre for dairy farmers who are receiving the support from MILMA and Dairy Development Department since they obtain below 10 per cent of their total cost as subsidy amount. While examining the attitude of dairy farmers towards the assistance and incentives, majority of the respondents have no opinion. The major reason for this attitude is their lack of awareness about the support programmes or their hesitant attitude towards institutional agencies. It could also be observed that the assistance and incentives received by the dairy farmers have no impact on the employment generated by dairying in a household. Since majority of the respondents under study undertakes dairying as a subsidiary occupation which gives them either a subsidiary income or a means for meeting their day to day livelihood expenses, it could not make an impact in the asset creation of dairy farmers. Both category - wise and member - wise benefit cost ratio was analysed and it was found that majority of the respondents have benefit cost ratio ranging from one to two. 4 For ensuring sustainability of dairying, there should be significant impact on the net income of farmers. Whenever there is a rising feed cost, a proportionate increase in return should also be ensured. Subsidy rates and amounts should also increase that would enable them to reduce the cost to the extent where they can make a significant impact on the net income. There is also an increasing need for creating more awareness among the dairy farmers about the existing schemes of assistance and incentives which are available for them. For reducing the production gap for milk in the State, the existing dairy farmers should be retained and the younger generation to be attracted for which dairy farming should be made sustainable through proper institutional support enabling them to earn a reasonable net income.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Market potential of value added coconut products
    (Department of Rural Marketing Management, College of Co operation Banking and Management, Vellanikkara, 2006) Sali, K S; KAU; Mohanan, M
    In India, due to multifaceted uses, coconut is referred as ‘Kalpavriksha’ and provides livelihood to more than 10 million people. Among the major coconut growing states in India, Kerala enjoys the pride of place both in area and production of coconut. However, there is a trend for reduced farm income due to fluctuating prices. Therefore, the coconut industry and the farmers depending on them are striving to survive in the economy. In this scenario, best option appears to be diversification and value addition. In this context, present study was undertaken with the following objectives: 1. to measure the market awareness of value added coconut products; 2. to examine the customers perception towards selected value added coconut products; and 3. to assess the market potential for selected value added coconut products. For the study, four divisions from Thrissur Corporation area were selected randomly. A sample of 100 households, 25 from each division were randomly selected. The selected products were coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut milk powder, coconut palm jaggery, coconut chips, coconut vinegar, elaneer soda and neera. The study was mainly based on primary data collected from the sample respondents through personal interview method by administering a pre-tested structured schedule. The data thus obtained were analysed by using the tools like bivariate table, percentages, ranking, regression and indices. The study revealed that the newly designed and launched products failed to attract the customers attention. It was also revealed that at present the role of advertisement is negligible in creating awareness. The shopkeepers and friends and relatives were considered as the most important sources of information regarding the products. In the perception analysis, it was found that majority of the respondent have least favourable perception towards various attributes of the products because many respondents are not aware about the products or they are ignorant about the attributes of the products. The study revealed that coconut oil has high market potential. But the market potential of coconut milk and coconut milk powder were very low. At the same time, coconut chips and coconut vinegar showed a high market potential eventhough the awareness is less. In the case of elaneer soda and neera, both awareness and market potential found to be very low.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Marketing of commercial flowers- a study in Palakkad and Thrissur districts of Kerala
    (Department of Rural Marketing Management, College of Co operation Banking and Management, Vellanikkara, 2005) Sangeetha, K; KAU; Sukumaran, A
    The study on ‘Marketing of commercial flowers – a study in Palakkad and Thrissur districts of Kerala’ was undertaken with the following objectives: 1. To identify the marketing channels of commercial flowers, 2. To assess the marketing efficiency of the channels, and 3. To suggest appropriate distribution strategy for commercial flowers. Orchid, anthurium and bush jasmine, the three major commercial flowers of Kerala, were considered for this study. The study was conducted in the Central Zone focusing on Palakkad and Thrissur districts. These two districts were selected as these fall in the two different agro climatic conditions and socio economic backgrounds. Both the districts have sizable number of floriculturists. Moreover, among the identified districts, Palakkad was having relatively large number of producers of bush jasmine and Thrissur was having a good assortment of orchid and anthurium flowers. The list of floriculturists dealing in orchid, anthurium and bush jasmine for two districts were collected from various sources such as Agriculture Department, Krishibhavans and Floriculture, Department of College of Horticulture. A sample group of 20 floriculturists of each flower from each district constituted the total 120 respondents. Floriculture was preferred as a self employment venture by most of the respondents. Government also promote floriculture units through “Women Empowerment Programme” by giving subsidy and training. Bush jasmine growers were more experienced (more than 10 years) than orchid and anthurium growers (4 to 6 years)It is very much suitable for unemployed women as all activities concerned with orchid and anthurium cultivation other than spraying are done by the floriculturists themselves. In the case of bush jasmine also all activities other than planting are done by the floriculturists. The channels of distribution existing in orchid and anthurium marketing in Palakkad and Thrissur districts were as follows: Channel I : Producers  Pushpakrishi Vikasana Samithi/cut flower society  Consumers. Channel II : Producers  Local Florists  Consumers. Channel III : Producers  Florists (outside state)  Consumers. Channel IV : Producers  Consumers. Among the four channels, the most preferred channel by them was Channel I and the reasons for preference were fair & reasonable price and steady demand. The channels of distribution existing in bush jasmine cultivation were as follows: Channel I : Producers  Pushpakrishi Vikasana Samithi/cut flower society  Consumers. Channel II : Producers  Local Florists  Consumers. Channel III : Producers  Consumers. Among these 3 channels, the most preferred channel by them was Channel II and the reasons for preferences were convenience and quick payment. But for orchid, anthurium and bush jasmine marketing, Channel I is considered the most efficient one. Grading and packing were not practiced by the floriculturists. They were also not having any role in fixing flower prices because of their unorganized nature and low quantity of production. Non-availability of the quality planting materials was the major problem in orchid and anthurium cultivation and in case of bush jasmine cultivation it was plant diseases. Major problems in marketing of flowers were lack of assistance from government and exploitation by the channels. In order to solve these problems, the floriculturists have to be organized under a strong government organization as a ‘Mother Unit’ which guarantees all assistance in case of production problems and marketing of flowers against timely and guaranteed payment.