Abstract
This study was an attempt to calculate and compare the profitability of onions harvested as green and dry (mature) in Botswana. Half of the planted onions were harvested and sold as green and half were harvested and sold as dry onions. The cost of production of green onions was 32.78% higher than the cost of production of dry onions. The irrigation and marketing expenses contributed the highest difference in the cost of production of green and dry onions. The major cost item contributing to the cost of green onions production was marketing cost (32.86%) followed by irrigation cost (23.77%) and harvesting cost (18.53%) whereas the highest cost of production for dry onions was contributed by irrigation (38.58%) followed by marketing (19.45%) and planting (11.96%). The marketing cost for green onions was almost double (35.6%) as compare to the dry onions (18.2%). The total return from green onions was 50.90% higher than the returns from dry onions. Gross margin of onions harvested as green was 63% higher than the gross margin from dry onions, which indicated that the production of green onions is more profitable as compare to production of dry onions. The farmers preferred onion harvested as green because it generates regular and higher returns than onions harvested as mature. Government should support farmers through some policies such as Minimum Support Price (MSP) for dry onions, distribution of Mini FertiSeed Kit (Seeds of improved varieties and fertilizer package), construction of storages and formation of cooperatives. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 3 (1): 73-77, June, 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v3i1.16096
Highlights
Onions (Allium cepa L.) originated in mid-Asia what are Northwestern India, Afghanistan, Tajik, and Uzbek
The cost of green onions production was 32.78% higher than the cost of dry onions production
The major cost item of green onions production was marketing cost (32.86%) followed by irrigation (23.77%) and harvesting (18.53%) whereas the highest cost of production for dry onions was contributed by irrigation (38.58%) followed by marketing (19.45%) and planting (11.96%).The lowest cost of production was contributed by fertilization which was 0.82% and 1.09% for green and mature onions, respectively
Summary
Onions (Allium cepa L.) originated in mid-Asia what are Northwestern India, Afghanistan, Tajik, and Uzbek. Onions are important vegetable crops in most parts of the world, the varieties that are grown for bulbs. In terms of global weight of vegetables produced, at nearly 28 million tons per annum, only tomatoes and cabbages exceed bulb onions. Onion is one of the oldest bulb vegetables in continuous cultivation dating back to at least 4000 BC (Ahmad et al, 2008; Hayslip et al, 1987). Onions are grown mainly as food materials it has its medicinal value. The bulbs are boiled and used in soups and stews, fried or eaten raw. They are preserved in the form of pickles. Onion have long been used by many cultures for the treatment of various ailments such as skin diseases, ear pain, heart attack and strokes, and modern science is beginning to reveal more potential health and medicinal benefits of onions
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