Evaluation of socio-economic status and cost-return structure of major vegetable crops in Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh (India)

Abstract

The present study was carried out in Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh with the objective of finding out the socio-economic status and cost-return structure of the farmers. The multi-stage random sampling procedure was adopted to select the respondents. The costs and returns structure has been reported for the production of major vegetables, viz. tomato, cauliflower and peas in two vegetable-dominated developmental blocks of the district Kullu (Kullu and Naggar). Primary data has been collected through survey method for the agricultural year 2019-2020. The study revealed that per hectare cost A1 was highest for peas, followed by tomato and was the lowest for cauliflower. However, the per quintal cost of cultivation has been found to be the highest for tomato, followed by peas and cauliflower. Gross returns as well as net returns per hectare have been observed to be highest for tomato, followed by pea and cauliflower. The study suggests that to promote this enterprise, niche areas for off-season vegetable cultivation need to be identified as the vegetables grown in the district enjoy price advantage due to their off-season nature and efforts to tap irrigation potential in those areas should be enhanced. Education of farmers for scientific management of crops and provision of improved tools for efficient use of labour have also been suggested to lower production costs and make the vegetable cultivation more beneficial to farmers, particularly to the small and marginal farmers in the state.