Comparative Profitability of Napier Fodder with Competitive Cash Crops in Selected Areas of Bangladesh

Abstract

The research was carried out to investigate the scenario of the fodder-cultivated farmer along with the profitability of Napier fodder cultivation in comparison to main cash crops like rice, jute and onions and the challenges in fodder cultivation. This study was done by collecting primary data through a baseline survey from 60 livestock cum fodder cultivating farmers by random sampling techniques. This study was mainly done in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj and Santhia, Pabna from June 2022- July 2022. Data were entered, sorted, compiled, and analyzed by using a Microsoft Excel worksheet. Descriptive statistics were performed to test the differences among the variables of fodder, rice, jute, and onion production by using SPSS Software, IBM-25 Corporation. The results of this study shows that the average age range of farmers was 41.68% between the ages of 41 and 60, whereas 38.33% of farmers were between 20 and 40 years ages. In the study areas, 75.00% of farmers had minimum primary to graduation or above educational level. Overall 56.67% of farmer’s main occupation was agriculture in the selected areas. Only 25.00% of farmers knew feed processing. The Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) in rice and onion were 1.81 and 1.66 in Shahjadpur and 1.78 and 1.52 in Santhia. In jute and fodder, BCR was 1.34 and 2.11 in Santhia whereas 1.28 and 2.00 in Shahjadpur, respectively. The profitability of fodder was higher than other selected cash crops. The maximum 80.00% of farmers had a lack of training on scientific ways of fodder production. This study concluded that fodder cultivation can play a significant role in more income generation in the studied milk pocket areas in comparison to rice, jute, and onion cultivation because they had a scarcity of fodder and high demand for it.