A Study on Cultivation and Marketing of Organic and Conventional Vegetables in the Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Aims: To find out the cost of cultivation, marketing costs, marketing margins, price spread, marketing efficiency and constraints faced by organic and conventional Carrot and Potato growing farmers. Study Design: Multistage Sampling was used. Place and Duration of Study: The Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu was chosen for the research. A primary survey was conducted to gather first-hand information related to the study. Methodology: The costs and returns, the Acharyas-Agarwal’s method and Shepherd’s method of Marketing efficiency and the Response priority index were used in this study. Results: The cost of cultivation of organically and conventionally grown carrot were Rs.6,28,165.24 and Rs.6,50,567.84 with B: C ratios of 3.56 and 2.15 respectively. The cost of cultivation of organically and conventionally grown potato were Rs.4,97,869.79 and Rs.5,48,894.71 with B: C ratios of 2.37 and 1.71 respectively. Organic vegetable marketing was done through producer-retailer-consumer and producer-consumer channels. For conventional vegetables, producer-wholesaler-retailer-consumer and producer-retailer-consumer were the marketing channels. The Acharyas-Agarwal’s and Shepherd’s method of  marketing efficiencies in channel-I and II for organic carrot were 1.97, 7.37, 13.07 and 13.07 respectively and for conventional, the marketing efficiencies in Channel – I and II of carrot were 0.98, 2.16, 1.52 and 3.47 respectively. The marketing efficiencies measured by the Acharyas-Agarwal’s and Shepherd’s method in channel I and II of organically grown potato were 1.71, 7.59, 15.97, and 15.97  respectively and for conventionally grown potato, they were 1.21, 2.36, 1.52 and 3.08 respectively. The major constraints faced by organic and conventional farming farmers were lack of awareness on certification procedures and pests and disease incidence respectively. Conclusion: As major inputs were prepared in the field, the cost of cultivation for organically grown carrot and potato is lower than for conventionally grown carrot and potato. They have high B:C ratios since organic produce fetches a higher price than conventional produce. The B:C ratio for conventional carrot indicates higher returns than potato. The channel – II in organic and conventional marketing of carrot and potato has higher marketing efficiency because they have less intermediaries.