Profitability of summer vegetables
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By Muhammad Waqas Alam
Chattha, Khuda Bakhsh & Asif Maqbool
WITH continuous increase in population, Pakistan is facing
food security problem since its independence because the
main focus of policy makers has remained on staple food
crops. On the other hand, such supplies do not meet the
dietary requirement of people, particularly those living in
rural areas.
In
such a scenario, there is a need to diversify our cropping
pattern from mono-cropping to enterprises which supply
essential nutrients in a short duration of time. Such
enterprises providing dietary nutrients at a cheaper rate
are vegetables. But the adoption of vegetables at commercial
level is not satisfactory due to ignorance of different
stakeholders and small percentage of cropped area under
vegetable cultivation.
Therefore, the per capita, per day consumption of vegetable
is almost half of the recommended level of 200 grams per
person per day. Besides providing crucial dietary nutrients,
vegetables generate far higher income than other crops such
as wheat, cotton, etc. and low-micronutrient staple food and
they help to improve the productivity and sustainability of
the cereal-based production system.
So, there is a great demand of labour for different
agronomic practices and thus, vegetable cultivation
generates higher employment at the farm level than cereals.
Vegetable production is also influenced by the location of
farms due to the fact that farms near to input market are in
a better position to purchase different inputs such as seed,
fertilizer, etc. at the appropriate time. On the other hand,
most of the vegetables are perishable in nature and suffer
from less loss if produced near the market.
Keeping in view all such factors, the present study had been
designed to determine the profitability of summer vegetables
on the basis of farm location and its impact on vegetable
yield. This study will help the stakeholders, especially
policy makers to make the well managed decisions about the
formulation of future strategies for the development of the
livelihood of vegetable growers.
Methods: Vegetables are generally grown in two seasons i.e.
summer and winter. Selection of summer vegetables is carried
out depending upon their concentration in different areas of
the Punjab. The study was confined to the Punjab province
only for three summer vegetables (bitter gourd, muskmelon
and tinda gourd) which are found in Faisalabad, Rahim Yar
Khan, Leiah, Khanawal, and Bahawalpur.
The major purpose of the study was to estimeate the cost of
production and to determine the profitability of selected
vegetables. The cost incurred on land preparation by farmers
near to market was considerably higher as compared to that
of far from market, since price per tractor hour was high
near to city in all three vegetables. In cases where bitter
gourd, tinda gourd and muskmelon were planted on raised
beds, the time consumed to prepare the beds was also
included in the tractor hours.
The variety and quantity of seed was an important factor for
achieving high yield of vegetables. The costs involved in
using the seed among both categories were different. In case
of near to market the cost of seed was Rs984.85, Rs167.13
and Rs335.64 for bitter gourd, tinda gourd and muskmelon,
respectively. While in case of far from market, the cost of
seed involved was Rs890.30, Rs171.44 and Rs361.08 for the
respective vegetables.
Costs involved in the purchase application of farmyard
manure were Rs369.54, Rs111.98 and Rs182.71 for bitter
gourd, tinda gourd and muskmelon, respectively on the basis
of near to market, while in case of far from market the
costs involved in applying the farmyard manure were
Rs389.54, 249.28 and 98.68 for the respective vegetables.
Most of the sampled farmers used relatively large quantity
of nitrogenous fertilizers. It indicated the ignorance of
the farmers about various nutrients required by the crop.
The cost involved in applying fertilizer by near to market
was Rs1830.88, Rs524.92 and Rs2569.82 for tinda gourd bitter
gourd and muskmelon respectively. While in case of far from
market the above cost was Rs2190.26, Rs594.24 and Rs2110.26
for these three vegetables. Sufficient and timely irrigating
a crop improves the yield per acre of any crop. Because
vegetables needed more irrigation that was why the costs
involved in applying the irrigation was high rather than
other crops.
The cost involved in irrigation was also higher on the
respondents’ farms near to market as compared to that of far
from market. Vegetables are more sensitive to insect and
disease attacks. Similarly, other costs incurred on plant
protection measure, labour, transportation and land rent
were far higher on the farms near to market than those of
far from market in all vegetables
Gross income from the cultivation of summer vegetables was
higher on farms near to market as compared to those far from
the market. The net income per kg was Rs2.75, 1.27 and 0.73
for respective vegetables in case of farmers near to market,
while in case of farmers far from the market the net income
per kg was Rs2.33, 0.59 and 0.32.
Fertilizer is another important input that enhances
vegetable yield substantially when applied at proper time.
Statistically significant coefficients were determined for
all three vegetables. However, percentage effect of
fertilizer was higher in case of muskmelon as compared to
bitter gourd and tinda gourd because these vegetables needed
fewer amounts of inorganic nutrients as compared to
muskmelon.
Dummy variable for farm size had an expected negative sign
showing that as farm size increased, vegetable yield
decreased. This was due the fact that vegetable cultivation
required a huge amount of financial resources at various
stages of production whereas the vegetable growers could not
afford such expenditures as farm size increased. For bitter
growing farms, this coefficient was statistically
non-significant.
Suggestions: Following recommendations are made for
increasing the yield of summer vegetables:
* Summer vegetable cultivation needs proper amount of
irrigation water at different stages. Results of production
function indicate that with increased use of irrigation,
vegetable yield would increase substantially. Therefore, it
is suggested that the farmers should make more and judicious
use of irrigation water.
* Vgetable growers use the inorganic nutrients below the
recommended level due to financial constraints. The results
of production function show that fertilizer is significantly
increasing vegetable yield. On the basis of these results,
the vegetable growing farmers can increase the yield per
acre by applying more fertilizer.
* Vegetables are sensitive to diseases and insects attacks.
Diagnosis of disease and insect attack at the right time is
the foremost element in crop management practices. A delay
will cause disaster to the crop and ultimately the producer
will suffer from this disaster. After diagnosis, the
selection and dose of pesticide required for specific attack
is the next step in crop management. Consulting with
extension staff or any other specialist may help in the
right selection of pesticide.
* The disease and pest attacks are one of the major
constraints in vegetable production. For chemical control of
major diseases and insect pest attacks the farmers should
follow the recommendation of the Agriculture Department of
the Punjab province. Timely, suitable and judicious use of
pesticide can help in controlling the above mentioned
constraints. Use of resistant or tolerant varieties of
vegetables can be viable alternative for farmers for
controlling insects or diseases.
* Weeds in any crop negatively affect the production. That’s
why the vegetable growers using more number of labour hours
for weeding and hoeing got higher yields. Herbicides using
for weed control is an expensive technique. Alternative to
weed control with herbicides include crop rotation, careful
and timely cultivation, intercropping to out-compete weeds
etc.
* The process of information exchange and communication
among researchers, extension staff and farmers depends on
adequate and timely activities in the area concerned.
Critical to the discovery, development, and application of
new and resource-efficient farming systems and technologies
is their characterization and interpretation in terms which
can be easily understood and implemented by farmers.
* Marketing as an institution needs to be established on
modern lines in the country. Vegetable growers should have
access to a large number of consumers. In cities, proper
wholesale marketing system should be established. The
transport infrastructure is another limiting factor in the
marketing of vegetables. As these are perishable
commodities, transport infrastructure should be
strengthened.
* As discussed earlier, vegetable cultivation needs more
funds to purchase inputs and perform various farm
activities. On the other hand, vegetable growers possess
small chunk of landholding, therefore, they have lack of
financial resources. So, these farmers need immediate
attention of the concerned authorities.
.
Courtesy: The DAWN
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