MSc

The present study entitled “Risk management strategies in commodity value
chains: A study of pineapple cultivation in Ernakulam district in the context of COVID19” was conducted during 2021-22, with specific objectives of the study of volatility in
production and price of pineapple in the context of Covid-19, profiling the risk
perceived by the pineapple farmers and the factors affecting value chain disruption and
the study of the adaptation strategies followed by the farmers.
Ernakulam district was purposively selected for the study as the district holds
the maximum area under pineapple cultivation. From the district, Muvattupuzha, block
panchayath was purposively selected based on the maximum area under pineapple
cultivation. From the block panchayath, three grama panchayats such as Avoly,
Manjalloor and Kalloorkkad were selected randomly. Forty farmers were randomly
selected from each grama panchayath thus making a total sample size of one hundred
and twenty. Primary data was collected from farmers using a pre-tested interview
schedule. Secondary data related to the study was collected from Krishi bhavan, Grama
panchayat and other governmental and non-governmental agencies
As pineapple was cultivated as a ratoon crop for three years in the study area,
the cost of cultivation of pineapple for three years was estimated based on ABC cost
concepts. The Cost C for first, second and third year of pineapple cultivation was
estimated as ₹ 7,29,831, ₹ 4,16,654 and ₹ 4,00,295 respectively. During the first year,
major share of cost A2 was contributed by cost of suckers followed by cost of human
labour. The returns of pineapple in the study area were estimated as ₹ 9,55,350, ₹
7,99,054 and ₹ 5,03,822 for first, second and third year respectively. Benefit cost ratio
of pineapple farming at cost C for first, second and third years were estimated as 1.32,
1.95 and 1.28 respectively.
The volatility in price of ripe and green pineapple was studied using Generalized
Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model. It was studied for
three periods viz; pre Covid (Jan 2017 to March 2020), Covid-post Covid (March 2020
to September 2022) and overall period (Jan 2017 to September 2022). It was found that
the prices of both ripe and green pineapple showed a higher persistence of volatility in
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Covid and post Covid period compared to other periods. Among the green and ripe
pineapple prices, higher volatility was observed in prices of green pineapple compared
to ripe pineapple for all the periods. The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to study
the volatility in the production of pineapple in the Ernakulam district and it was
estimated as 16.88 per cent. The S value of Mann-Kendall trend test was calculated as
-0.397, which indicated a significant negative trend over the years in the production of
pineapple in Ernakulam district. The Cuddy-Della Valle Instability indices of area,
production and productivity of pineapple in the study area was estimated as 10.26, 6.09
and 7.23 respectively.
Standardized Covid -19 Risk Perception Index (SCovRPI) was developed to
assess the risk perception of pineapple farmers during Covid 19. Fourteen major risks
faced by farmers during Covid 19 were identified and ranked from one to fourteen,
based on their SCovRPI values. Realisation of low price, restriction in transportation,
low demand for pineapple in market, disruption in farming activities and nonavailability of adequate labour were the major risks perceived by pineapple farmers
during Covid 19 period.
Pineapple farmers and other value chain players were interviewed to identify the
existing value chain operations and possible disruptions of pineapple value chain during
Covid 19 lockdown. Low demand in market, labour shortages, restrictions in
transportation, lack of proper storage facility, limited facility for processing and value
addition and export restrictions were identified as the major factors causing disruptions
in pineapple value chain.
Binary logistic regressions were used to ascertain the impact of pineapple
farmers’ socio-economic traits on the farmer’s adoption of adaptation strategies and the
result suggested that family size, area of leased land and rent paid for leased land had a
significant impact on farmers’ adoption of “reduction in cultivated area” as an
adaptation strategy and age of the farmer and annual income had a significant influence
on farmers choices on “reduced use of input”. Likewise, farmers adoption of ‘sale of
fixed assets’ as an adaptation strategy was significantly influenced by the age of farmer,
experience in farming, area of leased in land and lease amount.
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Price volatility and lack of sufficient processing and marketing facilities were
the major problems faced by pineapple farmers during Covid 19. Setting up more
processing units and rejuvenating the existing processing units in the study area may
help the farmers from the volatility of prices. The exploitation of export opportunities
and utilization of the Geographic Indication (GI) status of Vazhakulam pineapple would
help the farmers to open new marketing opportunities and realisation of higher prices
for their produce. An increase in the procurement of pineapple by the government and
revising the base prices fixed by the government to at least ₹ 20-22 / kg may also be
helpful for pineapple farmers to overcome the difficulties of Covid 19.