PRODUCTION ECONOMICS AND MARKETING OF POTATO IN OKHALDHUNGA, NEPAL

Potato is a major staple food crops in the hilly region of Nepal. To assess the production economics and marketing of potato, a study was conducted at Siddicharan municipality and Molung rural municipality of Okhaldhunga, Nepal in 2019. Altogether 60 samples, 30 from each location were selected randomly. Economic analysis was performed through cost benefit analysis and Cobb Douglas Production function. Among the different variety used by the farmers, Kufri Jyoti was the most preferred variety. The main constraints in potato production were shortage of irrigational structure followed by low information on use of chemical fertilizer, lack of labor at the time of harvesting, insufficient quantity of manure, prevalence of middle man, high cost of transportation, and unavailability of improved seed. The mean difference between the farm gate price and market price of Siddicharan and Molung was 7.33 and 5.96, respectively, which were statistically significant at p<0.1. The overall average benefit cost ratio was found to be 1.23 in which Siddicharan and Molung had BC ratio of 1.55 and 0.99, respectively, which was significant at p<0.01 which indicated that farming in Molung was not profitable. Overall the seed cost, labor cost, FYM cost, and bullocks cost should be increased by 900%, 186.95%, 101.88%, and 626.31%, respectively, and chemical cost, machinery cost, and transportation cost should be decreased by 99.98%, 73.11%, and 99.57%, respectively. Return to scale was found to be 0.227 which implies that it was increasing at decreasing rate of return.

The oleaginous astaxanthin-producing alga Chromochloris zofingiensis: potential from production to an emerging model for studying lipid metabolism and carotenogenesis

The algal lipids-based biodiesel, albeit having advantages over plant oils, still remains high in the production cost. Co-production of value-added products with lipids has the potential to add benefits and is thus believed to be a promising strategy to improve the production economics of algal biodiesel. Chromochloris zofingiensis, a unicellular green alga, has been considered as a promising feedstock for biodiesel production because of its robust growth and ability of accumulating high levels of triacylglycerol under multiple trophic conditions. This alga is also able to synthesize high-value keto-carotenoids and has been cited as a candidate producer of astaxanthin, the strongest antioxidant found in nature. The concurrent accumulation of triacylglycerol and astaxanthin enables C. zofingiensis an ideal cell factory for integrated production of the two compounds and has potential to improve algae-based production economics. Furthermore, with the advent of chromosome-level whole genome sequence and genetic tools, C. zofingiensis becomes an emerging model for studying lipid metabolism and carotenogenesis. In this review, we summarize recent progress on the production of triacylglycerol and astaxanthin by C. zofingiensis. We also update our understanding in the distinctive molecular mechanisms underlying lipid metabolism and carotenogenesis, with an emphasis on triacylglycerol and astaxanthin biosynthesis and crosstalk between the two pathways. Furthermore, strategies for trait improvements are discussed regarding triacylglycerol and astaxanthin synthesis in C. zofingiensis.

An Economic Analysis of Milk Production and Profitability of Dairy Farms in Haryana

The present study was carried out in the Sirsa and Bhiwani districts of Haryana state, purposively selected to work out milk production economics and its disposal pattern. The multistage stratified random sampling technique was used for the selection of the respondents. From Sirsa district 41 small, 36 medium and 23 large farmers were selected whereas from Bhiwani district 45 small, 39 medium and 16 large farmers were selected. Thus, in all 86 small farmers, 75 medium and 39 large farmers constituted the total sample of 200 respondents. Milk yield of crossbred cattle was found to be higher than the buffaloes. Net returns (?/animal/day) in the case of buffaloes and crossbred cow were highest in small, followed by medium and large herd size groups in both selected districts. On an average, 50.62 and 61.50 percent of the total milk produced was sold as fresh milk in Sirsa and Bhiwani district, respectively. Rest of the milk (38.76 percent) was used for family consumption and 10.62 for other purposes (conversion to ghee).

PRODUCTION ECONOMICS AND MARKETING OF LARGE CARDAMOM (AMOMUM SUBULATUM ROXB.) IN CHAINPUR, SANKHUWASABHA, NEPAL

A study on production economics and marketing of Large cardamom in Chainpur, Sankhuwasabha was conducted from December 2018 to June 2019. Altogether 60 farmers were selected randomly from the PMAMP Cardamom command area of Chainpur municipality of Sankhuwasabha. Besides, 12 traders were also selected. A focus group discussion, key informants interview (KII) and direct observations were carried out to generate primary data along with Household survey with the use of semi-structured pre-tested interview schedule for the study. The secondary data were collected from literature like reports and publications of different institutions. The yield of cardamom in the study area has fallen now by more than 50% than the maximum realized yield to 220 kg ha-1. Cardamom was found to be labor intensive in the study area. Coupled with low market price and low productivity, many farmers felt a loss. However, economic analysis of the area indicated the cardamom farming is profitable. The sensitivity analysis with 20% decrease in price also found the farming to be profitable and viable. The farming is labor intensive and the average annual production cost per hectare was NRs 50,124 considering hired labors only and NRs 74,358 considering both hired and family labor cost per hectare. Among many causes of decline in productivity, many farmers ranked disease as the most devastating. The monopoly of Indian marketers at Birtamod was considered as the topmost reason for price fluctuation. The study evolved the immediate need of crop management by disease control to increase production and marketing intervention for consistent price of the Large cardamom.

Production economics: theory of the firm.

This chapter introduces the scope of production economics and explains the major relationships studied in production economics, namely: factor-product, factor-factor, and product-product relationships. The impacts of advances in technology on the three central relationships are also discussed, as well as the implications for the agricultural industry.