Economic Evaluation of Cost and Returns of Potato Crop towards Livelihood Security of Farmers in the Nalanda District of Bihar

Abstract

"India is the world’s second – larger producer of veggies, after China. The primary vegetable grown in Nalanda is the potato. The goal of the current analysis was to analysis potato farming costs and returns using various cost models. The study was carried out in Bihar sarif and Noor Sharai block, which were chosen due to their high potato production and area. Number of farmers in each category based on probability proportional to size (PPS). Cost of cultivation of potato on the sample farms in Nalanda district of Bihar. Production is generally considered to be a function of area and yield. The selection of crop enterprise to be chosen in the farm and the location and distribution of resources within it depend to a great extent on the yield of the crop, its price and the cost of the inputs used for its production. These measurements for potatoes were developed as a result of taking into account the cost of cultivation and returns on various production aspects when choosing a crop. Per hectare, on an average ` 92552.03 was spent on potato. In the medium farm category, ` 100166 was spent on farming the highest. Followed by small farms ` 92867 and marginal farms ` 84623.09. The cost of various components of cultivation such as tubers (seeds) is the highest (22.95%) in the variable cost, followed by (19.46 per cent) Human labour. The remaining significant factor included the fertilizer (8.82 per cent), irrigation charge 7.77 per cent, machine charge 6.49 per cent, plant protection 3.79 per cent, manure 3.06 per cent, depreciation rate 1.62 per cent and land revenue 0.24 per cent and the percentage of rental value of own land includes cost of fixed cost (21.61 per cent), interest on fixed capital 2.95 per cent and interest on working capital 1.23 per cent."