Study on economics of potato growing towards livelihood security.

Abstract

Potato plays a very significant role in the agricultural economy. It is economically significant not only for its contribution to the livelihood of thousands of farmers and for its dominance in the agricultural consumption basket of the households but also for its growing linkages to fast growing potato processing industry. The present study was conducted in purposively selected sub-divisions of Marh, R.S. Pura, Dayalachak and Samba in three districts of Jammu division, namely Jammu, Kathua and Samba. These are the main potato growing districts in Jammu division. Fifteen villages were selected from the selected sub-divisions by proportionate allocation method based on the maximum area under potato crop. From each selected village, 15 potato growers were selected making a total sample size of 225 potato growers. The potato growing is an income generating venture and in order to earn their livelihood, farmers have adopted commercial cultivation of potato. The study showed that majority of the farmers were literate with large size of family and small land holdings. The findings have revealed that the total average sale price of potato crop was Rs.549/quintal. Average gross income of potato crop was Rs. 142740.00/ha. In case of average expenditure of potato crop, it was clear from the data that average expenditure on potato crop was Rs. 82484.20/ha, whereas average net income from potato crop was Rs 60255.80/ha. Key words: Potato, expenditure, income.