Economics of Onion Production in Jaipur District of Rajasthan

Key findings

• ▸Total cost of cultivation (cost C2) ran inversely to farm size: Rs 57,437.3/ha on small farms, Rs 52,809.0 on semi-medium, Rs 50,466.4 on large and least of all Rs 49,223.1 on medium farms, against an overall average of Rs 52,513.1/ha across the 75 sampled growers.
• ▸Because small farms also recorded the lowest bulb yield (306.4 q/ha against 355.2 q/ha on large farms), the cost of producing one quintal of onion was Rs 187.5 on small farms and only Rs 142.1 on large — a 32 per cent penalty — and the return per rupee of expenditure rose monotonically with size: 2.37, 2.63, 2.98 and 3.13.
• ▸Operational cost accounted for 74.3 per cent of total cost overall, and human labour alone for 36.0 per cent (Rs 18,922.7/ha) — the single largest item in onion cultivation. Small farms spent Rs 21,270.4/ha on human labour and Rs 8,097.7/ha on seed and nursery raising, against Rs 17,427.6 and Rs 5,537.3 respectively on large farms. Rental value of owned land was the dominant overhead item at 23.8 per cent of total cost.
• ▸Over the full 1981-2010 series, area, production and productivity of onion in Jaipur grew at 2.99, 4.14 and 1.11 per cent per annum, with area contributing more than productivity. That growth was not continuous: the final decade (2000-01 to 2009-10) recorded negative compound growth on all three counts (-7.94, -12.43 and -4.88 per cent per annum), which the author attributes to acute groundwater shortage for irrigation under erratic rainfall.

Abstract

The Onion is the major vegetable crop of Rajasthan. The study was conducted in Jaipur district of Rajasthan, where onion is an important crop. A sample of 75 onion growers, based on land holding size were selected viz., small, semi-medium, medium and large size. The average area, production and productivity of Jaipur district in the last 30 years (1981 to 2010) were observed 2118.2 hectares, 11857.0 tons and 58.8 q/ha, respectively. In Jaipur district area, production and productivity of onion in the overall period (1981-2010) have increased by 2.99, 4.14 and 1.11 per cent per annum. Production of onion in the Jaipur district increased at a compound growth rate of 4.14% per annum, which was contributed both by increase in area (2.99%) as well as increase in productivity (1.11%) but the contribution of area was more than that of productivity. The average bulb yield of onion was obtained by the small, semi-medium, medium and large farmers was 306.4, 312.6, 329.9 and 355.2 q/ha, respectively. Total onion bulb yield was produced by the all 75 respondents (onion growers) was 16314.87 q from the 48.07 ha area. On an average, total cost (cost C2) incurred in cultivation of onion was Rs. 52513.1 per hectare. The total cost incurred in cultivation of onion was highest on small farms (Rs. 57437.3/ha) followed by semi-medium farms (Rs. 52809/ha), large farms (Rs. 50466.4/ha) and least on medium farms (Rs. 49223.1/ha). The operational cost in cultivation of onion was highest on small sized farms and lowest on large sized farms. The overhead cost in cultivation of onion was highest on large sized farms followed by small, semi-medium and medium sized farms. The cost of production per quintal of onion was highest on small and lowest on large sized farms. The study concluded that the large size group of farms obtained the largest amount of profit. The results further revealed that the income measures viz., gross return, return over operating cost, net return, family labour income and farm business income recorded highest on large sized farms followed by medium, semi-medium and small sized farms in the Jaipur district.

Read the story