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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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20231
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Subject: Agricultural Economics × Author: PURUSHOTTAM, BHOYAR AMRUTA × End date: 2024 × Start date: 2023 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF MANDARIN ORANGE IN MAHARASHTRA
    (RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) PURUSHOTTAM, BHOYAR AMRUTA; Singh, Shiva Pujan
    Mandarins are the most important crop globally and widely consumed as a wholesome fruit around the world for its delicious quality. In terms of world ranking, India stands as ninth largest producer of mandarin orange. India produced 10.5 million tons of mandarin orange in 2020-21, which accounts 3 percent of the world’s total production. It is the commercial citrus species in India, contributing 41 percent of the total citrus production of the country, followed by the sweet orange and acid lime. In India, mandarin orange ranks third in terms of production among all horticultural crops after banana and mangoes. Vidarbha region of Maharashtra globally renowned for producing the finest Mandarins and is the primary fruit crop in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, it is commonly known as the "Santra" and got GI tag in the year April, 2014. By taking these views into consideration, the present study, entitled “An Economic analysis of Production and Marketing of Mandarin Orange in Maharashtra” had been undertaken to conduct comparative study between the costs and returns, economic feasibility, marketing channel and their marketing efficiency in the area and the major constraints of Nagpur mandarin Orange in Nagpur and Amaravti district of Maharashtra. For this the primary data was collected from 150 farmers of study area out of which 75 respondents were taken from each Nagpur and Amravati district of Maharashtra. On overall farm level, the establishment cost of mandarin orange in Nagpur district was ` 2,69,831.41 and that in Amravati district, it was ` 2,64,292.62. The amortization cost calculated on total establishment cost was found to be ` 29,726.81 and ` 29,116.61 in Nagpur and Amravati districts respectively. For the maintenance of the orchard, the variable cost like hired labour, machine labour, family labour, manures, plant protection chemicals, irrigation charges were found to be `2,7100, ` 1,005.67, ` 2,460, ` 2,493.33, ` 936.49 and ` 526.67 respectively and in case of Amravati district, it was found to be ` 1,965.83, ` 1,038, ` 2,230, ` 2,762.67, ` 912.11 and ` 521.67, respectively. The total returns per hectare obtained in case of Nagpur was 9.27 tonnes, which was comparatively less as compared to Amravati district where the returns per hectare was 9.46 tonnes. The gross return was found to be ` 1,85,459.59 and ` 1,89,159.91 in Nagpur and Amravati districts respectively. The calculated net return was more in Amravati district which was ` 1,25,563.85 and in Nagpur, it was ` 1,20,662.84. The discounted Net Present Value (NPV) per hectare was observed more in Amravati. It was found ` 4,29,774.12 in Nagpur and ` 4,40,696.52 in Amravati district. The IRR was more in Amaravti district with 14.46 percent than that of Nagpur district which was with 12.98 percent. The BC Ratio was more in Amravati at 1.74 and comparatively less that was 1.66 in Nagpur district. The estimated PBP in Nagpur was 6.36 years that was more as compared to Amaravti which was 6.64 years. Three marketing channels were identified in the study area those are, Channel-I: Grower—Pre-harvest contractor—commission agent—wholesalers—retailer—consumer, Channel-II: Grower—pre-harvest contractor—wholesaler—processing unit—retailer—consumer, Channel-III: Grower – wholesaler—retailer—consumer. The total marketing cost was obtained to be more in case of Amravati district i.e., ` 5707.21 and comparatively less in Nagpur district i.e., ` 5533.87. The marketing margin was more in Nagpur district ` 9600 and in Amravati district, it was only ` 9577.67. In Amravati, farmer’s share in consumer’s rupees was more (55%) as that of Nagpur (52%). The overall marketing efficiency was computed comparatively high to be more in case of Amravati, i.e., 1.66 and in case of Nagpur, it was found to be ` 1.61. Comparing the constraints faced by mandarin orange growers in Nagpur and Amravati districts, it was observed that both regions identify "High initial investment" as a prominent challenge, Additionally, "Monopoly of traders" and "Fruit drop" hold significant positions in both districts, ranking second and third in Amravati, and third and fifth in Nagpur, respectively. The “Non-availability of quality planting materials” ranks higher in Nagpur(second) compared to Amravati (fourth), while "Non-availability of skilled labour during peak season" was more pronounced in Amravati (fifth) than in Nagpur(fourth). Notably, "Insect pest attack," "Demand of high labour wages," "Water scarcity," and "Wild animal, birds attack" showed comparable rankings in both districts. However, the "High cost of inputs" constraint ranked higher in Amravati (tenth) as compared to Nagpur(seventh). Comparing the constraints faced by middlemen of mandarin orange in Nagpur and Amravati districts identified "Market fluctuations" as the foremost constraint. "Commercial grading and cleaning" and "Lack of market infrastructure" share the second rank. The third rank was similarly occupied by "Lack of market information" in Nagpur and "Lack of market information" in Amravati district. Notably, both districts identify "High transportation cost" as a significant challenge, ranking fifth in both Nagpur and Amravati district.