FARM LEVEL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES, POST HARVEST LOSSES AND MARKETING EFFICIENCY OF MAJOR VEGETABLES: A STUDY IN THE DARRANG DISTRICT OF ASSAM
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Date
2015-07
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AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
Vegetables are important supplements to the human diet. India ranks 2nd after China in the world with total production of 162.19 million tones. In Assam area under vegetable is about 2.73 lakh hectares with annual production of 49.79 lakh MT.Vegetables are highly perishable food products in nature and in the process of supply from the farm level to the market level. The seasonal gluts and lack of infrastructure and marketing facilities in the developing countries have significant effect on the extent of post harvest losses of vegetables. In Assam not much information is available regarding the farm level adoption of production technologies and quantum of post harvest loss of vegetables at various stages of marketing and its impact on marketing efficiency. The present study was conducted in the Darrang district of Assam and was designed to collect information regarding the level of production technologies, assessment of productivity, technology gaps of some major vegetables, physical and value loss at farm level and at various stages of marketing and to examine the impact of post harvest loss on farmer’s net price, marketing costs, margins and efficiency of major vegetables.
The study was based on both primary and secondary data. Bechimari and Kharupetia two major vegetable growing areas were identified.Both tabular and functional analysis was done in analyzing data. Cost concepts used in farm management studies were applied to calculate costs in the present study and results indicated that cost of production increased with increase in size of the farm and regardingknowledge on different parameters of vegetable production it was observed that almost all farmers (99.33%) had the knowledge about the ploughing and application of organic manures (99.00%).The extent of adoption gaps for selected vegetables is estimated and 7 technology components were found. More than 30 percent of technology adoption gaps were observed in terms of technology components T4, T5 and T6 i.e. Manuring and fertilization, Number of irrigations applied & Intercultural and weed control.As vegetables are perishable in nature so during the process of distribution and marketing substantial losses are incurred. The post harvest loss was estimated first at farm level and then at market level and in case of market level it can be clearly observed that the physical loss was highest in itinerant level followed by wholesaler and retailer level. 4 major marketing channels of vegetables were identified namely Channel I:Producer–Consumer,Channel II:Producer–Retailer–Consumer,ChannelIII:Producer–Wholesaler–Retailer-Consumer,ChannelIV:Producer–Itineranttraders–Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer. Marketing efficiency was estimated in different marketing channels and it was found that Channel II was the most efficient channel and Channel IV was the least efficient channel.ButChannel IV was considered as the most effective one because farmers sold majority of their marketed surplus through Channel IV.
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