Browsing by Author "Neethu, S"

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    Economics of production and marketing of Rambutan in Kerala
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture,Vellanikkara, 2026) Neethu, S; Seenath Peedikakandi
    Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), a tropical fruit native to South-East Asia and a member of the Sapindaceae family, has agro-climatic suitability to the midland and highland regions of Kerala. The state has been witnessing tremendous increase in area under exotic fruits including rambutan. During 2023-24, rambutan cultivation in Kerala covers 839.12 ha of land, yielding 7,734 metric tonnes. Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Kottayam are the leading rambutan growing districts of the state. The study entitled “Economic analysis of production and marketing of rambutan in Kerala” is an attempt to estimate the economics of rambutan cultivation; assess the efficiency of rambutan production; study the marketing of rambutan and identify major constraints in rambutan cultivation and marketing. The study was based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected from the leading rambutan growing districts of the state, viz. Pathanamthitta (229.37 ha), Ernakulam (220.37 ha) and Kottayam (141.70 ha). The region is falling under the AEU 12 (Southern and Central foothills). From these three districts, one block each was selected for the study considering the highest area under the crop. The blocks selected were Ranni, Kothamangalam, Eratupetta. Farms (40 each from each block) with at least 15 bearing rambutan trees of age above 5 years were randomly selected for the study. The lists of rambutan farmers provided from the Krishi Bhavans (KBs) of the selected blocks were used as the sampling frame. Apart from the farms, data was also collected from contractors (5), wholesalers (5) and retailers (5) from these districts for marketing analysis. Thus total sample size of the study was 135. Secondary data was collected from the Department of Economics and Statistics and other published and unpublished sources. Socio-economic details of the farmers were analysed using descriptive statistics and it was found that rambutan growers had an average age of 59 years, majority being males, having 5-10 years of experience in rambutan cultivation, < 1 hectare of landholding size and annual income of Rs. 4-6 lakhs. Most of the respondents were graduates and had family sizes of 3-6 members. Sample orchards had an average plot size of 0.87 ha, with trees having average age of 8 years and a planting density of 157 plants/ha and also rambutan contributing towards major share of farm income (85%). Being a perennial crop, rambutan cultivation has annualised establishment cost as well as annual maintenance cost. It has gestation period of 2 years and an economic life of 15 years. The study revealed that the total establishment cost, annual maintenance cost, and total cost of rambutan cultivation were Rs. 714623/ha, Rs. 141746/ha/yr and, Rs. 239993/ha/yr respectively. Three-year averaging was carried out while calculating yield to avoid fluctuations in yield due to weather variations. Average yield of rambutan in the study area was found to be 6.5 t/ha/yr. The gross return from cultivation was Rs. 8.5 lakhs/ha/yr, with a net return of Rs. 6 lakhs/ha/yr. BCR was found to be 3.5, confirming that rambutan is a profitable fruit crop in the study area. The Resource Use Efficiency (RUE) of rambutan cultivation was estimated taking farm level variables such as yield (Y), area, age of trees, number of trees, quantities of manures and fertilisers. The fitted Cobb-Douglas production function had R 2 value of 0.94 explaining 94 per cent of the variability. The analysis also revealed that a one per cent increase in the age of trees, number of trees, manure and fertiliser would increase the yield by 0.39, 0.53, 0.67, and 0.19 per cent, respectively. In contrast, the coefficient for area (-0.35) indicated negative influence on yield due to management inefficiency. The total return to scale was 1.34, indicating increasing returns to scale. Additionally, RUE (ratio of Marginal Value Product (MVP) to Marginal Factor Cost (MFC)) for manure (14.81) and fertiliser (20.56) was more than 1, indicating underutilisation of resources. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) revealed that the mean technical, allocative and economic efficiency of farms as 70 per cent, 63 per cent, and 43 per cent respectively. The study further compared efficiency across different irrigation regimes. Micro-sprinkler irrigated farms recorded higher mean technical, allocative, and economic efficiency (70%, 63%, and 45% respectively) compared to conventionally irrigated farms (69%, 55%, and 40%). Three channels were identified for marketing of rambutan within the state, the most common being Channel I (Producer-Pre-harvest contractor-Wholesalers-Retailers) and Channel II (Producer-FPC-Wholesaler-Retailer). Price received by producer was highest in Channel II (Rs. 132.50/kg) followed by Channel I (Rs. 130.27/kg) and Channel III (Rs. 132/kg). Channel I and Channel II were comparatively more efficient than Channel III (Producer- Pre-harvest contractor-Exporter). The price spread was found to be the highest in Channel III (Rs. 318/kg), followed by Channel I (Rs. 131.07/kg) and Channel II (Rs. 130.35/kg). The producer’s share in the consumer’s rupee was the highest in Channel II (50.41%), followed closely by Channel I (49.85%), while the lowest share was recorded in Channel III (29.33%). The constraints in production of rambutan were found to be unfavourable weather variations followed by high initial investment, wild animal attack, bird attack and occurrence of pest and diseases. Significant marketing constraints faced by farmers were difficulty in direct selling, lower shelf life, defective and faulty payment, exploitation by middlemen, delay in payment and lack of market information. The constraints faced by market intermediaries were difficulty in covering the trees with polythene net for fruit protection, high transportation cost, lower shelf-life, price fluctuation and limited scope for value addition. Focused research trials for developing a well-defined package of practice for the crop is essential. Research initiatives for developing technologies for improving shelf life and value addition, hassle-free technology for operations like tree covering with nets, harvesting and pruning, etc., are recommended. FPCs mediated harvesting operations and marketing through collective approach are also suggested.