Value chain analysis of cowpea in nagalassery grama panchayat of palakkad district

Abstract

The study entitled “Value Chain Analysis of Cowpea Nagalassery grama panchayat of Palakkad district” was undertaken with the objective of identifying various stakeholders in the Cowpea Value Chain And mapping the value chain. The study was mainly based on primary data. The primary data wete collected from 45 respondents (30 farmers, 5 Whole salers, 5 Retailers & 5 Consumers). The secondary data was collected from websites, journals, records kept by Krishibhavan . . . etc Five actors are involved in the value chain of cowpea and they are input suppliers, farmers, Wholesale traders, retail traders & consumers. The study area selected was Nagalassery grama panchayat of Palakkad district, which is potential area for cowpea cultivation. Farmers were selected using Random Sampling Method from the panchayat. The calculations were made from the data collected during the months of May and June of 2014. Socio economic characteristics of the stakeholders, production, procurement and marketing details were analysed through percentage method. For analyzing the collected data Percentage Analysis, Frequency and rank order scale was used. Margin of different players were also calculated and retail trader fetches highest margin followed by farmers. All the actors of value chain are facing many constraints regarding the input supply, cultivation, credit/finance, and marketing. Government should take effective measures for solving all these problems. Even though there are having demand and all the factors are favouring the techniques and marketing of value added products have to be initiated. The findings suggest that aimed at strengthening linkages within the value chains, collective marketing and initiating the processing techniques may provide potential avenue for enhancing cowpea value chain in Nagalassery grama panchayat.