Economic impact of microbial inoculants on vegetable production in Thiruvanathapuram district

Abstract

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.