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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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ThesisItem Open Access Value chain analysis of maize in Samastipur district of Bihar(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Singh, Julee; Singh, K.M.The present investigation was aimed for analysing the value chain of maize in Samastipur district of Bihar. The study was based on primary data collected from 150 stakeholders selected using simple random sampling method from selected district duly categorized into maize producers, village traders, maize wholesalers, maize processors, maize retailers and maize consumers. In the study, producers were the first value adding actors, farmers could earn on an average of the gross return per hectare Rs. 48447.32 by cultivating maize. Farmers sold their produce immediately after the harvest as very less farmers store the produce due to very less storage facilities. Farmers sell their produce at the farm gate at average price of Rs. 993 per quintal. Awareness among farmers for value addition was not so much pronounced in selected districts. There were four marketing channels of maize prevailing in the selected area. In channel-I the producer sell their produce to wholesaler, wholesaler sold the produce to processor, then processor sold its processed products to the retailer and finally retailer handed over them to consumer. So, here the producer‟s share in consumer‟s rupee was 21.34 per cent. This channel was adopted by 20 per cent of farmers. In channel-II village trader was involved between producer and wholesaler and further it was same as in channel –I. In this the producer‟s share in consumer‟s rupee was 19.32 per cent as this channel was adopted by 37 per cent of farmers in study area. In channel-III the produce was sold out to other states as this channel was adopted by 13 per cent of farmers. The channel-IV involves the retailer between the wholesaler and consumer. Here, the producer‟s share in consumer‟s rupee was 65.12 per cent. This channel was adopted by 30 per cent of farmers in study area. In channel-I and channel-II the total value addition is high because of processed products (poultry feed) were sold to the consumer as in other two channels the produce goes out of state or to the consumer itself. Unstable price, training of marketing system, irrigation, damage by animals etc. were identified as major constraints in the production of maize. Major marketing problems faced by farmers in the study area were lack of primary processing, transportation facilities, lack of awareness among farmers regarding FAQs, moisture meter and weighing machine, inadequate storage facility, adoption of grading and price fluctuation, etc. Many constraints were reported by different stakeholders (village traders, wholesalers, retailers) there were lack of market intelligence services distant market, lack of good quality roads, unavailability of marketing facilities, traditional system of marketing, storage losses, finance problem, etc. Some constraints were observed during survey in processing industries there were poor power supply, lack of skilled labour, infrastructure facilities, long supply chain and linkage with FCI/government institutions, etc. The problems/constraints as discussed above must be addressed and some decisions or steps must be taken to overcome these problems to raise the income level of the farming community.ThesisItem Open Access Study on production and marketing of cluster Bean in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Bhupender; Kumar, AmalenduThe present study aims at analyzing economic aspects related to “A study on Production and Marketing of cluster bean in Hanumangarh District of Rajasthan”. The study is based on primary data collected from 100 cluster bean growers spread over four randomly selected villages of two randomly selected blocks of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan by interviewing individual respondents who were classified into marginal, small, medium and large cluster bean growers on the basis of farm holdings. The Area, production and productivity of cluster bean registered positive growth rate of 2.68, 5.44 and 2.70 per cent per annum in India and at 3.23, 7.44 and 4.09 per cent per annum in Rajasthan during the 2000-01 to 2014-15 study periods, respectively. It was observed that total cost, gross income, net income of cluster bean production per farm household found increased with increasing size of farm holding. However, cost of Production per quintal of cluster bean found to be Rs. 2056.90, Rs. 2085.16, Rs. 1932.30, Rs. 2022.30 in case of marginal farm, small farm, medium farm and large farm categories, respectively. Total cost, gross income, net income of cluster bean production per farm household were found to be higher in case of large farm categories i.e. Rs. 16057.09, Rs. 64386.99 and Rs. 48329.90 respectively. Cost of production was higher (Rs.2022.30) in large farm category. The analysis indicated that large farm category was more efficient than marginal, small and medium ones. Benefit-Cost ratio was higher for large size farm category i.e. 4:1. The share of producer in consumers‟ rupee was observed to be lower in channel I (77.01 per cent) than that in Channel III (86.84) and channel II (88.18). It was further observed that total marketing cost was higher in channel I as compared to that in channel II and channel III. In value chain analysis of cluster bean, there were five major players that are identified in the study area. The farmers earn a net income of Rs. 2312.49 per quintal by spending Rs. 2026.01 on the production cost and selling the produce at Rs. 4423.40. The major players i.e. farmers, traders, millers, wholesalers, and retailer earn a profit of Rs. 2890.02, Rs. 171.77, Rs. 454.76, Rs. 192.54 and Rs. 225.62, respectively. The highest value addition per quintal was done by the miller which helped him to income Rs. 454.76 which is significantly higher than the other players. Inadequate supply of quality certified seed, non-availability of technical know-how, high cost of inputs, lack of adoption of plant protection measures, labour scarcity, and lack of irrigation facilities were major constraints in production of cluster bean. Major marketing constraints faced by cluster bean growers in the study area were higher rate of transportation, price fluctuations, inadequate availability of market news and intelligence, inadequate transportation facility, inadequate processing unit in local area and lack of storage facility.ThesisItem Open Access Value chain analysis of Chickpea in Andhra Pradesh(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Reddy, Katha Karthikeya; Singh, K.M.The present investigation was focused on scrutinizing the value chain of chickpea in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. The primary data needed for the study have been collected from 200 respondents through interview method in the blocks which have higher area under chickpea. The different stakeholders stated in the value chain of chickpea were village traders, commission agents, dal millers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. The overall compound growth rates in area (1.14 percent) and production (0.96 percent) of chickpea in the study area were found to be positive, but the growth rate in productivity (-0.17 percent) was found to be negative. In the period II, it was a steep decline in the production (-6.46 percent), which was due to severe decrease in the productivity (-5.52 percent) in the study area. The negativity in the productivity is due to the cultivation of chickpea in the marginal lands (or in rainfed conditions), no management practices being followed and use of age-old varieties which are susceptible to present climate conditions. The total cost incurred by the farmers on an average for cultivation of chickpea in the study area was found to be Rs.37575.32 per hectare. The total cost includes the operational cost and overhead cost, which contribute Rs.24042.94 per hectare and Rs.13532.38 per hectare accounting for about 64 percent and 36 percent to the cost incurred, respectively. The gross return earned by the farmer on an average was Rs.66587.68 per hectare by cultivation of chickpea. The cost incurred for the production of chickpea was found to be less in case of medium farmers (Rs.2504.82 per quintal) than the large farmers (Rs.2525.09 per quintal), due to the less cost incurred for cultivation (Rs.38824.78 per hectare) and yield (15.50 quintal/ha) is comparatively high to the area sown in case of medium farmers. The output input ratio was found to be 1.77 for the cultivation of chickpea; it has shown a steep increase with increase in the farm size. In the survey, three marketing channels were identified for chickpea. The channel II was followed by a greater number of farmers (48) compared to the other channels I (21) and III (31). The farmers were the first value adding actors in the value chain of chickpea. The marketing cost incurred by the farmer is high in case of channel III (Rs.100 per quintal) and the value is added to the produce with the activities like packing, marketing and storing. They added value of Rs.90 per quintal by packing, Rs.70 per quintal by marketing and Rs.90 per quintal by storing (speculation) of produce to sell in future. Farmers are less aware about the value addition activities which increase the value of the produce. Village traders are the second important stakeholder in the value chain of chickpea. Village traders used to collect chickpea from local farmers within or near the villages and this gathered produce is supplied to the dal millers. The marketing cost and margin incurred by the village trader is Rs.115 per quintal and Rs.104.68 per quintal (2.5 percent of the purchasing cost of chickpea by village trader) respectively. The value added by village trader on an average was Rs.164.68 per quintal (4.1 percent) and supplied to the rice millers in the same areas. Commission agents who act as a bridge between village trader and dal miller, charge a margin of Rs.127.25 per quintal and Rs.190.16 per quintal in the channel I and II respectively. The dal millers are the important actors in the value chain of chickpea, who incurred a marketing cost of Rs.200 per quintal, Rs.240 per quintal and Rs.290 per quintal in the three marketing channels I, II and III, respectively. The margin incurred by the dal miller is Rs.816.28 per quintal, Rs.836.58 per quintal and Rs.779.95 per quintal in the three marketing channels I, II and III, respectively, which is about 15 percent of the purchasing cost of chickpea by miller. The products recovered from one quintal chickpea include 78 percent dal, 18 percent husk and 3 percent broken dal. The most value added to the chickpea was by dal miller, which is Rs.1196.28 per quintal, Rs.1276.58 per quintal and Rs.1289.95 per quintal which accounts to a value addition percent of 28.20 percent, 27.8 percent and 33.5 percent in the marketing channels I, II and III, respectively. After milling, the processed produce was marketed by the wholesaler who purchases the processed produce from different milling units in bulk content. The marketing cost incurred by the wholesaler is Rs.210 per quintal, Rs.185 per quintal and Rs.180 per quintal, high in case of channel I. The margin charged by the wholesaler is Rs.428.88 per quintal, Rs.391.57 per quintal and Rs.344.9 per quintal in the three marketing channels I, II and III, respectively, which is about 6 percent of the purchasing cost of chickpea by wholesaler. The value added to the chickpea was by wholesaler, which is Rs.638.88 per quintal, Rs.576.57 per quintal and Rs.524.9 per quintal which accounts to a value addition percent of 11.74 percent, 9.8 percent and 10.21 percent in the marketing channels I, II and III, respectively. Retailers were found to be final value chain actor in the chickpea value chain, and they received less value addition compared to the processors. The marketing cost incurred by the wholesaler is Rs.255 per quintal, Rs.242 per quintal and Rs.210 per quintal, high in case of channel I. The margin charged by the wholesaler is Rs.559.6 per quintal, Rs.506.1 per quintal and Rs.454.34 per quintal in the three marketing channels I, II and III, respectively, which is about 8 percent of the purchasing cost of chickpea by wholesaler. The value added to the chickpea was by retailer, which is Rs.814.6 per quintal, Rs.698.1 per quintal and Rs.66434 per quintal which accounts to a value addition percent of 13.40 percent, 10.83 percent and 11.72 percent in the marketing channels I, II and III, respectively. Consumers were the ultimate person who had designated position in value chain, even though they were not main actors in value chain. The producer‘s share in consumer rupee is high in the channel II which is 60.3 percent as the price paid by the consumer (Rs.7141.41 per quintal) is also high. The marketing efficiency is high in case of channel II (1.63) compared to the channel I (1.32) and channel III (1.58). The total marketing cost incurred and margin obtained by different stakeholders is the total value added to chickpea in a particular channel. The value added is high in case of channel I which is Rs.3031.69 per quintal due to higher marketing cost (Rs.870 per quintal) incurred and margin (Rs.2036.69 per quintal) obtained by different actors. From the study, a conceptual model was developed by incorporating various stages to increase the efficiency of the present chickpea value chain in the study area. The change has been incorporated in the marketing cost incurred and margin obtained by different stakeholders in the channel. The total marketing cost has been reduced from Rs.757 per quintal to Rs.660 per quintal, whereas in margin it has been reduced from Rs.1874.41 per quintal to Rs.1268.62 per quintal. By incorporating these changes, the producer‘s share in consumer rupee has increased from 60.35 percent to 67.44 percent and the price spread has decreased from Rs.2741.41 per quintal to Rs.2003.61 per quintal in the chickpea value chain. The marketing efficiency has increased from 1.63 to 2.23, due to decrease in the total marketing cost and margin from Rs.2631.41 per quintal to Rs.1928.62 per quintal. From the present study, certain pros and cons are recognized in the value chain of chickpea. These difficulties need to be curtailed, in order to increase the net income to farmers and stakeholders involved in the value chain of chickpea. Some policies and suggestions need to be advocated in order to ameliorate the efficiency of the value chain of chickpea in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access Economic appraisal of small Tea farms of Sonitpur district (Assam)(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Das, Abhijit; Mishra, R.R.The present study aims at estimating the cost involved in production of green tea leaves for small tea growers and income generated thereof in Sonitpur district of Assam. The primary data were collected from 100 small tea growers drawn from fifteen randomly selected villages of two randomly selected blocks of Sonitpur district of Assam by conducting interview of individual respondents who were classified into lower-small, medium-small and higher-small tea growers on the basis of their land holdings. The secondary data were collected from various published and unpublished sources. The data related to area, production and productivity of green tea leaves were collected for the period of 2003-04 to 2017-18. For detailed analysis, the whole period was divided into three sub-periods i.e., period I (2003-04 to 2007-08), period II (2008-09 to 2012-13) and period III (2013-14 to 2017-18). The overall compound growth rates of area under tea for both the state of Assam and the district of Sonitpur were positive (0.06 per cent and 1.19 per cent respectively). But negative growth rate (-1.03 per cent) was found in area for the state in period-III (2013-14 to 2017-18)which was statistically significant at five per cent level of probability. Shift of land for non-agricultural purposes such as construction of roads, construction of buildings, growing urbanisation, et cetera may be the reason for negative growth rate. Compound annual growth of production of green tea leaves was found positive in overall period for both the state and the district. But negative growth rate (-1.86 per cent) in production was found in period-I (2003-04 to 2007-08) for the district, which was statistically significant at five per cent probability level. Use of low quality input materials and lack of awareness of appropriate production technology may be the reason for negative growth rate of production for that period. Productivity also showed similar trend in comparison with production. The overall growth rate of productivity was positive for both state and the district. Due to decline in production in period-I, productivity also showed negative growth rate (-2.49 per cent) in the district during that period, which was significant at five per cent probability level. The majority of small tea growers (65.00 per cent) were in middle age group (30-40 years). More than half (58.00 per cent) of the sample small tea growers had medium size of households (5-7 members).Huge proportion of sample tea growers (86.00 per cent) were educated up to graduation level. Larger proportion of sample small tea growers (35.00 per cent) belonged to forward castes followed by OBC (28.00 per cent), SC (19.00 per cent) and ST (18.00 per cent). Out of the total operational land holding 95.57 per cent of land was used for cultivation of tea, and only 4.43 per cent of land was used to produce other crops or kept fallow. Larger proportion (42.00 per cent) of sample small tea growers were dependent on tea cultivation for earning their livelihood. Major portion (61.38 per cent) of annual income was obtained from tea cultivation. More than half (57.00 per cent) of the sample households had their annual income exceeding Rs. 10.00 lakh. Larger proportion (59.00 per cent) of the sample respondents owned pucca houses. It was observed that total cost of cultivation for lower-small, medium-small and higher-small tea growers was Rs. 139339.47, Rs. 144767.21 and Rs. 152710.68 respectively. The total cost of the three categories of the small tea growers indicated that the total cost varied directly with the land size of small tea growers. The examination of efficiency parameters of tea cultivation indicated that yield (tonne per hectare), gross return (Rs. per hectare), net return (Rs. per hectare), benefit-cost ratio and cost of production of green tea leaves (Rs. per tonne) per hectare of tea plantation were 28.59, 483639.68, 338033.80, 3.30 and 16916.39 respectively. It was found that the highest value addition took place at Industry level, where the cost of value addition was Rs. 129.18 per kilogram, followed by wholesalers (Rs.35.92 per kilogram), retailers (Rs. 17.80 per kilogram) and green leaf collector (Rs. 3.20 per kilogram). The analysis also revealed that the net incomes of small tea growers and green leaf collectors were Rs. 2.63 and Rs. 1.86 per kilogram of green tea leaves respectively; and for processors, wholesalers and retailers these were Rs. 20.00, Rs. 2.50 and Rs. 4.00 per kilogram of made tea, respectively. It was observed that non-availability of workers in the peak plucking season, lower price of green tea leaves, non-settlement of land records of the small tea growers in the government offices and high price fluctuation of green tea leaves were the common problems faced by the small tea growers in the study area during production and marketing of green tea leaves.ThesisItem Open Access Production and marketing of Cauliflower in Samastipur district: an economic analysis(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2018) Kumari, Renu; Mishra, R.R.The present study aims at analyzing economic aspects with respect to Production and marketing of cauliflower in Samastipur district of Bihar, both primary data and secondary data from the base of the study. Primary data were collected from 100 cauliflower growers, located in five randomly selected villages of purposively selected Pusa block and Kalyanpur block of Samastipur district. The respondents were grouped into four farm size categories viz. marginal, small, medium and large farmers based on their size of holding. The results of the investigation indicated that average age of sample cauliflower growers was around 48 years. The number of family members in two-thirds of the sample households, varied between 5 and 7. About one-half of the respondents were secondary educated and one-third of them were educated up to primary level, while 8 per cent of them were illiterate. Majority of respondents were from OBC caste group. Average size of land holding was estimated at 1.56 hectares. It was found that proportion of cows and she-buffaloes increased with increasing size of farm. In contrast proportion of bullocks declined with increase in farm size. Indicating higher dependence of larger farm size households on machinery for agricultural operations. A positive correlation was noticed between the size of farms, value of implements and machinery. The gross- cropped area per sample households increased with increasing size of farm. Vegetables were grown in around one-fourth of the gross-cropped area. Out of the total area under vegetable major chunk was under cauliflowers. Agriculture, dairying, business and service were identified as important source of income to the sample households. Crop production emerged as the most important source of income, while contribution from total vegetables was 46.99 per cent of the total income. Cauliflower alone contributed 87.66 per cent of the total income from vegetables. Significant positive growth in area, production and productivity of cauliflower in Bihar was observed during the period 2001-02 to 2015-16, the area under cauliflower increased at the rate of 0.47 per cent per annum and 0.36 per cent per annum in period II and III, but in period I, it decreased at the rate of 0.04 per cent during period I. Growth in productivity of cauliflower registered an increasing trend during period I and II but it decreased at the rate of 2.14 per cent during period III. Production of cauliflower witnessed all most similar trend, during all the periods under consideration. The growth in area, production and productivity of cauliflower exhibited almost similar trend in case of Samastipur district. The cost of cultivation of cauliflower was estimated at Rs. 46257.71 per hectare, out of which variable cost accounted for 67.73 per cent and fixed cost made up remaining 32.27 per cent. In terms of cost concepts cost C3 was estimated at Rs.50883.49. About 99.00 per cent of the produced was found to be marketed surplus in cauliflower. Three marketing channels were identified for marketing of cauliflower in the study area. The channels were, channel-I (Producer-consumer), channel-II (Producer-wholesaler-retailer-consumer), and channel-III (Producer-commission agent (bazaar samiti)-wholesaler-retailer (distant market)-consumer). Out of the three channels channel-III was observed to be the most important channel as more than 50.00 per cent of produce was marketed through this channel alone. Producer‟s share in consumer‟s rupees was noticed to be higher (95.82 per cent) in channel-I, than that in channel-II (73.82 per cent) and channel-III (56.67 per cent). The marketing efficiency of channel-I, channel-II and channel-III was observed to be 22.91, 2.82 and 1.31, respectively. It indicated that marketing channel-I operated more efficiently in comparison with channel-II and channel-III. The mean level of TE, AE and CE suggested that there is considerable for decreasing inputs and thereby reducing the cost of cauliflower cultivation. Provision of liberal credit to the cauliflower growers installation of market information system. Development of infrastructural facilities (cold storage, pool-chain, refrigerated van) etc. Re-enactment of APMC act etcetera will go a long way in improving the marketing of cauliflower in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access Economics of Potato cultivation in Nalanda district of Bihar(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Madan, Manikant; Singh, K.M.The present study aims at economics of potato cultivation in Nalanda district of Bihar has been under taken to examine the trend in area, production and productivity of potato, cost and returns structure, price spread in marketing of potato and major constraints in potato production. The study based on primary as well as secondary data was carried out in four selected villages from two blocks of selected districts. A sample of 100 farmers constituting 25 farmers from each village selected randomly. Compound growth rates of area, production and productivity of potato were computed for different periods under consideration for the study area i.e. Nalanda district as well as for the state of Bihar as a whole. For the overall period (2001-2 to 2016-17), Potato registered annual growth rate of 2.61 percent in area, 5.63 percent in production and 2.95 percent in productivity in the state and similar trend was observed in the study area i.e. in Nalanda district, an annual growth rate of 5.68 percent in area, 7.95 percent in production and 2.15 percent in yield was recorded under investigation. The values were statistically significant. It is remarkable that in overall period area, production and productivity in the study area and state as a whole registered positive annual growth. Period wise results of trend analysis revealed that growth rate of area under potato was positive in the state during period-I (2001-02 to 2005-06) and in period-III (2011-12 to 2016-17), growth rate area under potato crop in the study area was found to be positive in period-II (2006-07 to 2010-11) and negative in period-I and period-III. On an average, per hectare total cost for potato cultivation was worked out to be Rs 144721.48. Per hectare operational cost was 78.65 per cent and per hectare overhead cost came out to be 21.35 per cent of the total cost. It was observed that the proportion of operational cost increased and overhead cost decreased as the size of farm increased. Input-wise analysis showed that human labour was the most important item of expenditure among various components of operational cost with 31.66 per cent share in total cost. It was followed by seed cost which worked out to be 24.07 per cent of the total cost. Farm-size-wise analysis of total cost of cultivation of potato indicated that, the total cost of cultivation was increased with size of farm increases. On an average, per hectare yield of potato came to 236.04 quintals, per hectare net income received by potato growers was Rs.110520.28; output- input ratio was 1.76. Inter-farm size wise analysis indicated that proportion of marketable surplus increased with increasing farm size. It was 97.49 per cent in case of marginal farms, 99.16 per cent in case of small farms, 99.68 per cent in case of medium farms and for large farms it was still higher, i.e. 99.84 per cent. Three channels were identified through which potato passed from point of production to the point of consumption. The data related to price spread in different channels showed that share of producer in consumer‘s price was higher (89.91 per cent) in Channel I, than that in Channel II (70.54 per cent) and Channel III (62.93 per cent) respectively. It was further observed that share of marketing cost in consumer‘s price was much lower in Channel I ( 10.09 per cent) than that in Channel II and Channel III( i.e. 19.52 per cent and 22.85 per cent) respectively. Marketing margin was higher in Channel III (14.22 per cent) than Channel II (9.94 per cent) respectively. It was further revealed that marketing efficiency for Channel I, Channel II and Channel III was 8.91, 2.39 and 1.69 respectively. It is amply clear from the table that marketing Channel I operated more efficiently in comparison with the other two channels (Channel II and Channel III). The problems faced by the sample potato growers throughout the production process, labour scarcity in peak season was considered as major problem with 71.13 average score in garret ranking. Lack of awareness regarding market price of potato was considered as the most important problem faced by the potato growers during marketing of potato.ThesisItem Open Access Economics of Sugarcane production in Samastipur and Begusarai districts of Bihar: a micro level study(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Saw, Bipin; Singh, Shiva PujanThe present study aims at studying the economics of sugarcane production in Samastipur and Begusarai districts of Bihar. The study is based on primary data and secondary data. Primary data were collected from 100 farmers selected from four villages spread over two selected blocks of Samastipur and Begusarai districts. The secondary data were collected from various publications of the state and the central governments and various research journals, bulletins and research reports. The secondary data pertained to the period 2000-01 to 2015-16, for the purpose of analysis the whole period was divided into two sub- periods i.e. period I (2000-01 to 2007-08) and period II (2008-09 to 2015-16). The analysis of growth rate of area, production and productivity revealed that area, production and productivity of sugarcane in Bihar increased significantly during period I and overall period (2000-01 to 2015-16). The selected districts recorded positive growth in area, production and productivity during overall period. Area and production of sugarcane showed negative and significant decline in Begusarai districts in period I while in period II the area and production increased significantly. It might be because of implementation of schemes aimed at promoting sugarcane production in the state. Another reason for this phenomenon may be inter cropping of short duration crops such as pulses and vegetables with sugarcane in the selected district. The study further revealed that there was high variability in area production in the two selected districts and high variability in production was mainly due to high variability in area in these districts. The analysis of related data revealed that cost of cultivation of sugarcane was Rs. 154968.57 per hectare out of which the share of operational cost, and overhead costs was 59.42 per cent and 40.58 per cent, respectively. Out of all the items of cost rental value of owned land emerged to be the most important one and accounted for 28.59 per cent of the total cost followed by human labour (17.01per cent) and seed (7.91per cent). Farm size wise analysis of cost of cultivation of sugarcane showed that the cost of cultivation of sugarcane increased with increasing size of land holding. The operational cost showed decreasing trend with increase in farm size while material cost showed the opposite trend. The study revealed that, Gross returns per hectare was Rs.220646.94 per hectare and Net return was Rs.65678.37 per hectare. Farm business income, family labour income and farm investment income were estimated to be Rs.122729.49 per hectare, Rs.77284.60per hectare and Rs.111123.27 per hectare respectively. On an average cultivation of sugarcane generated 774.59 man days per year. Out of that 435.26 man days i.e. (56.20 per cent) was claimed by male labours whereas 339.33 man days was share of female labours. Operation wise analysis of the number of man days generated in cultivation of sugarcane indicated that male labours played a dominant role in activities like land preparation, earthing up, weeding, irrigation, seed treatment and application of manures and fertilizers. On the other hand female, labours had a larger share in employment in harvesting of sugarcane (51.57 per cent) and a substantial share (43.15 per cent) in planting of setts. However, male labours had also a substantial share (48.43 per cent) employment generated in harvesting. Unavailability of labour during peak periods in sugarcane cultivation was the most important constraints in the opinion of the sample farmers. Lack of proper irrigation facilities was next most important constraint in sugarcane production as perceived by sample farmers closely followed by unavailability of different fertilizers on time. Other important constraints were lack of credit facilities, pest and disease hazards, high cost of pesticides and lack of knowledge in the eyes of the sample farmers.ThesisItem Open Access Production and marketing of Banana crop in Vaishali district of Bihar(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2019) Kumari, Suman; Mishra, R.R.The present study aim at studying the production and marketing of banana in vaishali district of Bihar, both primary and secondary data formed the base of the study. Primary data were collected from 100 banana growers, located in five randomly selected villages of purposively selected Bidupur block and Hajipur block of Vaishali district. The respondents were grouped into four size categories Viz. marginal, small, medium and large farmers based on their size of holding. The secondary data were collected from various published and unpublished sources. The data related to area, production and productivity of banana crop were collected for the period of 2006 – 07 to 2015 – 16. For detailed analysis the whole period was divided into two sub periods i.e. period I (2006-07 to 2011-12) and period II (2011-12 to 2015 -16). The study was designed with the main objective of estimating the costs involved in banana cultivation and returns from banana production. Significant positive growth in area production and productivity of banana in Bihar was observed during the overall period 2006-07 to 2015 -16, The area under banana increased at the rate of 0.96 per cent per annum and 0.84 per cent per annum in period I and period II for the state of Bihar. Growth in productivity of banana registered an increasing trend during period II but it decreased at the rate of -0.75 per cent during period I. Growth of production of banana also showed increasing trend production of banana increases at the rate of 2.97 per cent and 0.08 per cent per annum in period I and period II respectively. The growth in area, production and productivity of banana exhibited almost similar trend in area case of Vaishali district. But production (-2.13 per cent) and productivity (-2.54 per cent) decreased during period II probably because of infestation of viral disease are „fusarium wilt and panama wilt. It was observed that total cost of cultivation for marginal, small, medium and large banana grower was RS.129244, Rs. 126103, Rs. 135937 and Rs. 142114 respectively. On an average 55.00 of banana was produced on one hectare of land. The same time no. of banana was 4518. Gross income from per hectare of banana cultivation was estimated at 423694 Rs./ha and net return was 290544 Rs. per hectare. Cost of production of banana fruits was calculated at Rs. 221.0/ qtls. Cost of production of sucker was estimated at Rs.2.60 per suckers. Cost benefit ratio on an average was found out to be 1:3.17 About 98.46 per cent of produce was found to be marketable surplus in banana. Three marketing channels were identified for marketing of banana in the study area. The channels were, channel -1 (Producer – village trader – wholesaler –Retailer – Consumer), channel –II (Producer – wholesaler – Retailer – consumer) and channel –III (Producer – v8illage trader – wholesaler – consumer). Out of three channels channel – I was observed to be most important channel as more than ( 78.11 per cent) of produce was disposal off through channel I and remaing (73.50 per cent ) of produce was marketed through this channel III, than that channel – II ( 71.78 per cent ) channel –I (67.06 per cent). The marketing efficiency of channel – I, channel – II and channel – III was observed to be 1.16, 1.46 and 1.50, respectively. It indicated that marketing channel – III operated more efficiency in comparison with channel –II and channel –I. On an average cultivation of banana generated 149.64 man days per hectare per year. Out of that 102.23 man days i.e. (68.39 per cent) was claimed by male labours whereas 47.41 man days (31.69 per cent) was share of female labours. Operation wise analysis of the number of man days generated in cultivation of banana indicated that male labours played a dominant role in activities like land preparation, irrigation, ear thing -up, spraying of plant protection chemicals, fencing and harvesting. On the other hand female labours had a larger share in employment in weeding of banana (72.78 per cent) and a substantial share (46.98 per cent) in fertilizer application. However, male labours had also a substantial share (32.81 man days per hectare) employment generated in pit digging. The major constraints in production of banana were inadequate amount of rainfall during summer season, incidence of viral diseases and damage of crop due to high wind velocity. In the marketing of banana, farmers face the problems such as location of markets far away from farm, frequent fluctuation in prices of banana about prices of banana in different markets intermediaries and delays in payment after sale etc.ThesisItem Open Access Study on economics of Makhana production: a village level approach(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur (Bihar), 2018) Sharma, Amardeep; Mishra, R.R.The present study entitled with “A Study on Economics of Makhana Production, A village level approach” was undertaken in Manigachhi block of Darbhanga district and Andhrathari block of Madhubani district of Bihar. The study is based on both primary data and secondary data. Primary data were collected from 30 Makhana growers spread over ten randomly selected villages of two purposively selected blocks with larger area under Makhana using interview method. The respondents were classified into marginal, small, medium and large Makhana growers on the basis of pond area. The study revealed that overall area under Makhana cultivation in Darbhanga and Madhubani districts decreased by 1.59 per cent and 1.15 per cent respectively in 2017 over that in 2012. Production of Makhana in Darbhanga and Madhubani districts remained almost stagnant during the same period. However, the productivity of Makhana increased at the rate of 2.24 per cent in case of Darbhanga district and 1.42 per cent in case of Madhubani district during the same period mainly on account of improvement in technology. It was observed that majority of the respondents (70.00 per cent) belonged to middle age group (i.e. 30 to 50 years).More than one-half of the sample Makhana growers had medium size families with 5 to 7 members. Two-thirds of the sample respondents were found to be illiterate. All the Makhana growers came from a single caste called „Mallah‟. Members of this particular caste had in-born skill in fishing and Makhana growing. The average land holding of sample respondents in the study area was 1.59 hectares. In the study area, larger proportions of respondents (46.67 per cent) were mainly dependent on Makhana cultivation, fishing along with agriculture for their living. More than 60.00 per cent of respondents had annual income less than Rs.2.5 lakh. Makhana growing, farming, fishing and dairying were found to be important sources of income to the respondent households. Out of these growing Makhana was the most important activity giving more than 50.00 per cent of total income to the Makhana grower household. It was found that more than one-half of the marginal Makhana growers raised cows as raising cows was a low cost affair and gave handsome returns to the concerned households. Thus raising cows was a cheap source of additional income to these households and the income from raising cows helped meet day-to-day expenditure of these households. The study further revealed that cost of cultivation of Makhana was found to be Rs.57370.50 Gross return, per hectare of Makhana pond was observed Rs.171630.00. Net returns over Cost A was worked to beRs.117344.80, over Cost B it was Rs.105739.70 and over Cost C it was Rs.103617.24. Benefit- Cost ratio came out to be 2.16, 1.60 and 1.52 over Cost A, Cost B and Cost C respectively. On an average, per hectare of pond, family labour income and farm business income amounted to Rs.116381.96 and Rs.105379.57 respectively. While turn-over rate, percentage return over working capital and percentage return over fixed capital per hectare of pond worked out to be 299.16 per cent, 201.93 per cent and 200.36 per cent. Producer‟s share in consumer‟s rupee was higher in channel I (61.80 per cent) than that in channel II (50.86 per cent) and channel III (41.64 per cent). Total marketing cost was higher in channel III (Rs. 274.87) as compared to that in channel II (Rs. 177.00) and channel I (Rs. 114.34) while marketing margin was higher Rs. 75.82 in channel III than that in channel II and channel I. Marketing efficiency of channel I was estimated as 1.61 which was more than that for channel II and in I i.e. 1.03 and 0.71 respectively. No ownership of pond, lack of skilled labour and lack of recommended package of practices of Makhana were identified as major constraints in production of Makhana in the study area. Two main constraints i.e. lack of skilled labour and lack of processing machine in processing and lack of storage facility, high price fluctuation, non-fixation of MSP of Makhana were found major problems in marketing faced by Makhana growers in the study area.