MSc

The research entitled “Economic impact of microbial inoculants on vegetable
production in Thiruvananthapuram district” was undertaken in Neyyattinkara and
Nedumangad taluks. The objectives were to study the extent of use of microbial
inoculants (MI) in vegetable cultivation, to work out the economics and efficiency of
microbial inoculants in vegetable production and to make a comparative analysis
with the conventional vegetable production. The crops selected for study were yard
long bean and amaranthus. The required information was collected from 30 each of
MI using and conventional farmers of yard long bean and amaranthus by simple
random sampling so that the sample size became 120. Percentage analysis was used
to measure extent of use of MI and economics of vegetable production. Resource use
efficiency was estimated using Cobb-Douglas production function and constraints
were ranked using Garrett‟s ranking technique.
A mixed cropping system was observed in study area. Annual crops like
vegetables, tapioca and banana and perennial crop like coconut were cultivated along
with yard long bean and amaranthus. Average size of holding of the selected farmers
was 46.03 cents. The average area under yard long bean was 17.46 cents and 11.56
cents respectively for MI using and conventional farmers. In case of amaranthus,
average area for MI using farmers was 10.83 cents and for conventional farmers it
was 6.86 cents. Fifty per cent of respondent farmers purchased MI from agricultural
college and about 42 per cent from KVK.
Analysis of the extent of use of MI revealed that only 27 and 17 per cent of
the respondents were following the recommended rate respectively in yard long bean
and amaranthus, whereas, 53 and 70 per cent were applying MI above the
recommended rate.
126The total cost of cultivation of yard long bean per hectare was more for
conventional farmers than that of MI using farmers. Cost A 1 was estimated as Rs.
1,42,016 ha -1 and Rs. 1,24,611 ha -1 respectively for conventional and MI using
farmers and cost C was Rs. 2,60,493 ha -1 and Rs. 2,39,860 ha -1 respectively. The
corresponding B-C ratios were 1.46 and 1.51 and net returns were Rs. 51,072 ha -1
and Rs. 1,22,716 ha -1 respectively. Major share of the cost was accounted for hired
labour which was 57 and 56 per cent respectively of cost A 1 for conventional and MI
using farmers. In the case of amaranthus, cost A 1 estimated for conventional farmers
was Rs. 74,113 ha -1 and for MI using farmers it was Rs. 61,730 ha -1 and cost C was
Rs. 1,24,947 ha -1 and Rs. 1,05,597 ha -1 respectively. The corresponding B-C ratios
were 1.17 and 1.19 and net returns were Rs. 21,469 ha -1 and Rs. 48,662 ha -1
respectively for conventional and MI using farmers. Here also hired labour occupied
the highest share for both the categories of farmers which accounted for 68 and 69
per cent respectively of cost A 1 .
The yield of yard long bean was found to be more for MI using farmers (6498
kg ha -1 ) and it was 6098 kg ha -1 for conventional farmers. The corresponding cost of
production was Rs. 19 per kg and Rs. 23 per kg respectively at cost A 1 . In case of
amaranthus also, MI using farmers obtained more yield (7835 kg ha -1 ) compared to
conventional farmers (7306 kg ha -1 ) and the respective cost of production were Rs. 7
per kg and Rs. 10 per kg at cost A 1 .
The production function analysis revealed that area had positive and
significant impact on returns in all the cases. Expenditure on MI showed a negative
and significant impact on returns, which may be due to over adoption of MI. Cost of
seeds, cost of panthal material and pest and disease incidence were identified as
major constraints in vegetable production.
Present study revealed that by using MI, cost of cultivation per hectare of
yard long bean and amaranthus can be reduced considerably when compared to
127conventional cultivation and profits can be increased. Since over adoption of MI was
observed among respondents, extension machinery must be strengthened to give
proper guidance to the farmers on the application of recommended dose of MI.