Commercial Production Practices, Returns and Risk-bearing Ability in the Small-scale Gardening of Agar Plants in Selected Areas of Bangladesh

Abstract

Commercial gardening of Agar Plant (AP) is an emerging part of agribusiness enterprises in Bangladesh which is existence in some cases at a small scale of limit, demanding the proper strategies for prompting AP commercial production. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to identify the commercial production practices, producers’ returns and the risk-bearing ability in small-scale gardening of agar plants. Bharlekha upazila in Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh was selected as the study area. Data were collected from randomly selected eighty AP producers of that area during the year 2017.The average life of the plants is around 16 years, and the production activities are the seed and sapling collection and growing; land selection and preparation and sapling planting; intercultural operation; nail setting on agar plants; and harvesting and selling which are mainly done by the AP producers. There is a strong backward and forward linkages have been identified. Results showed that the AP plant production enterprise is highly profitable only in the long-term period of 16 years time, which is not possible in short-run. Also, the break-even analysis of AP production resists a large drop of yield and price before incurring a loss, which gives the farmers a comfortable margin of safety and a risk bearing ability. The study recommended that the government and non-government organizations should come forward to provide directions and supports for promoting and sustaining agar plant production on commercial basis throughout the country.