AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF POMEGRANATE IN MID HILLS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH – A STUDY OF KULLU DISTRICT
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Date
2020-10
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NAUNI,UHF
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The present study entitled “An Economic analysis of Production and Marketing of pomegranate in Mid Hills
of Himachal Pradesh – A study of Kullu district”. A sample of 60 farmers cultivating pomegranate was selected using
multistage random sampling. The farmers were categorized on the basis of their total land holding as marginal (<1 ha), small
(1-2 ha), medium (>2 ha) and as overall. Local markets of Bhuntar and Kullu were selected purposively for conducting
marketing study. A total sample of 5 wholesalers and 5 retailers from Bhuntar and Kullu market were selected randomly.
Results of the study revealed that literacy rate in the study area was found 83.43 per cent with literacy index of 3.05
indicating average quality of education. Average operational area was worked out to be 0.84 ha, area under pomegranate
orchard was 0.45 ha in the sampled farms. The cropping intensity was worked out to 148.24 per cent which is due to more
area under pomegranate plantation. The cultivation of pomegranate component was also seemed to be quite important; with
its contribution to total household income ranging from 60.52 per cent in marginal farmers to 76.15 per cent in medium
farmers. Per hundred plant total cost of pomegranate cultivating was estimated to Rs. 21970.35 at overall level and
practically found almost same in all categories of farmers. The maintenance cost of non-bearing plants was Rs. 39313.75,
Rs. 44389.59 and Rs. 51261.55 per hundred plants in the first to third year respectively. Maintenance cost during bearing
stage was increasing with the age fromRs. 53586.54, Rs. 57973.22and Rs. 60134.08 per hundred plants in the age groups of
4-7, 8-11 and 12-17 years respectively and then gradually decreased to Rs. 56667.57 in the age group of > 18 years of age.
The proportion of variable cost ranged from 64.49 to 67.54 in different years and share of fixed cost varied 32.46 to 35.51 in
the total cost. The payback period worked out to be 5 years for all the farm categories. Benefit-cost ratio was estimated to
2.12, internal rate of return (IRR) 42.97 per cent and net present value Rs. 499626.26. These measures clearly indicated that
pomegranate cultivation in the study area is a profitable venture. At the discount rate of 5 per cent and 10 per cent benefitcost
ratio was found to be greater than 1.5 and net present value was found positive with increases in costs and decreases in
returns 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively for all the farm categories. It has been observed that plant protection was
greater than unity, which means under-utilization and increase the use of plant protection chemicals will increase production.
The mean level of technical efficiency was 74 per cent which indicated that on an average only 26 per cent pomegranate
grower fell short of maximum possible frontier level of technology. The socio-economic characteristic variables of farmers
such as family size, farm workers and literacy rate have a significant impact on technical efficiency. Three main marketing
channels were found prevalent in the study area for marketing pomegranate crop. Among these channel-B, consisting
Producer – Wholesaler – Retailer - Consumer was found to be the most preferred channel as 54.09 per cent of the produce
was traded through this marketing channel. Diseases management, higher wage rates, shortage of skilled labour, high cost of
chemical fertilizers and plant protection chemicals, higher commission rate, wholesaler not taking consent while selling,
market very far off and lack of inadequate or incorrect prices were some of the production and marketing problems faced by
the farmers in the study area. The findings of this study strongly recommend optimum resource utilization to adapt to the
adverse conditions and achieve desired growth in pomegranate cultivation and ultimately productivity.