| Abstract |
The present study entitled “An economic analysis of production and marketing of turmeric <br/>in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh” was carried out in Palakkad district of Kerala and Visakhapatnam <br/>district of Andhra Pradesh. The specific objectives of the study were to study economics, input use <br/>pattern and resource use efficiency of turmeric cultivation in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, to <br/>estimate the marketing efficiency and to analyse the constraints in production and marketing of <br/>turmeric. <br/>Both primary and secondary data were used to examine the specific objectives of the study. <br/>Palakkad district and Visakhapatnam district were purposively selected as these districts were the <br/>major producer of turmeric in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, respectively.Alathur and <br/>Kuzhalmannam blocks of Palakkad district and Chinthapalli and G Madugula blocks of <br/>Visakhapatnam districts were purposively selected based on high acreage and production of <br/>turmeric. From the selected block panchayath, one grama panchayath was selected based on high <br/>acreage and production of turmeric. Finally, 35 farmers were randomly selected from the selected <br/>panchayats in the Visakhapatnam district, and 15 farmers were randomly selected from the <br/>selected panchayats in the Palakkad district. Apart from these, 10 market intermediaries from <br/>Palakkad district and 20 from Visakhapatnam district were selected to elicit market-related <br/>information. <br/>The total operational cost of turmeric was Rs. 1,74,430 in Palakkad district and Rs. <br/>1,14,022 in Visakhapatnam district. In total operational cost, 71.63 per cent was attributed to the <br/>labour cost in Palakkad district, whereas it was 42.19 per cent in Visakhapatnam district. The low <br/>share of labour cost was mainly due to the low wage rate prevailing in the Visakhapatnam region.<br/>The total fixed cost for the cultivation of turmeric was Rs. 26,794 in Palakkad and Rs. 10,480 in <br/>Visakhapatnam. The gross income from turmeric was Rs. 2,70,000 in Palakkad district, whereas <br/>it was Rs. 1,68,000 in Visakhapatnam district. <br/>The total cost of cultivation (cost C) of turmeric incurred by the farmers in Palakkad and <br/>Visakhapatnam districts was observed to be Rs. 2,01,224ha-1 and Rs. 1,24,410ha-1 respectively.<br/>The net return at cost C for Palakkad and Visakhapatnam farmers was Rs. 68,775 ha1<br/>and Rs. <br/>43,589 ha1<br/>, respectively. The estimated Benefit- Cost (BC) ratio was almost equal in both districts <br/>i.e., 1.34 in Palakkad and 1.35 in Visakhapatnam district. <br/>Analysis of input use patterns in turmeric cultivation revealed that the total labour required <br/>to perform various operations in turmeric cultivation was 241 man-days and 160 man-days, <br/>respectively, for Palakkad and Visakhapatnam districts. In Palakkad district, the major labour <br/>absorbing operation was harvesting and it accounted for about 34.69 per cent of total labour <br/>requirement, followed by land preparation, curing, and intercultural operations. Similarly, in the <br/>Visakhapatnam district, harvesting operation also required more number labours and it accounted <br/>for 27.72 per cent of the total workforce, followed by planting, weeding, and irrigation. <br/>Resource use efficiency in turmeric cultivation was estimated using the Cobb-Douglas <br/>production function, and it was fitted separately for Palakkad and Visakhapatnam districts. In <br/>Palakkad district, the independent variables like area, number of labourers, farmyard manure and <br/>muriate of potash were significantly and positively affected the yield of turmeric. While in <br/>Visakhapatnam district, area, seed and machine service were significantly and positively <br/>influenced the yield of turmeric. <br/>Allocative efficiency was examined to know whether the resources in the farm were <br/>efficiently utilized or not. Marginal productivity analysis showed that resources like farmyard <br/>manure, labour and muriate of potash were underutilized, whereas the resources like factomphos <br/>and lime were over-utilized in Palakkad district. Similarly, in the Visakhapatnam district, seed and <br/>machine services were having greater potentiality for further use as these resources were <br/>underutilized in the study area. <br/>Among the two identified channels in Palakkad district, channel-II (Producers - Trader cum <br/>semi processors - Processor cum primary wholesaler- Retailers) was the most preferred channel <br/>among producers due to its relatively low marketing cost, marketing margin and high marketing <br/>efficiency. Three marketing channels were identified in the Visakhapatnam district. Among three, <br/>Channel I (Producer- village merchant- trader cum semi processor- processor cum semi <br/>wholesaler- retailer- consumer) was the predominant marketing channel in the study area.<br/>Although Channel I was the dominant marketing channel, Channel III (Producer- trader cum semi <br/>processor- processor cum semi wholesaler- retailer- consumer) was the most efficient channel due <br/>to its low marketing cost and marketing margin.<br/>High wage rates and shortage of labour were considered as the major production constraints <br/>faced by the turmeric farmers in the Palakkad district. While in Visakhapatnam district, lack of <br/>remunerative price and lack of suitable machinery services for different operations were the major <br/>production constraints faced by the farmers. In the case of marketing, price fluctuations and <br/>inadequate storage and marketing facilities were the important constraints faced by the farmers <br/>and traders.<br/>Turmeric cultivation is found to be profitable in both districts, hence government may take <br/>suitable measures to bring more land under turmeric cultivation through area expansion <br/>programmes and such other programmes. To address the problem of labour shortage, incorporate <br/>agricultural operations in the ‘MGNREGA’ programme and may also be addressed with the use <br/>of low-cost machinery hence policies may be formulated to provide suitable machinery for the <br/>farmers through respective Krishi Bhavans. Strengthen the infrastructure facilities near the <br/>production sites and facilitate the farmers to perform on-farm post-harvest handling operations <br/>through the formation of several Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). The establishment of a <br/>regulated market in the Visakhapatnam district may help the farmers to realize a better price for <br/>the produce by eliminating the involvement of market mediators. |
