COSTS AND RETURNS OF CASTOR CULTIVATION: CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS OF FARMERS IN GUJARAT

Abstract

India ranks first in terms of castor area under cultivation, production and productivity and dominates the international castor oil trade, seed and its derivatives Amongst the states of India, Gujarat ranks first in area under castor cultivation and the castor production of India. The present paper attempts to analyse the cost and returns pertaining to castor cultivation in Gujarat with special focus on various categories of farmers to understand that how lucrative is castor cultivation especially across various categories/size of (marginal, small, medium, large) farmers in Gujarat. It has been observed that there is a statistically significant difference in cost of castor cultivation between / across the categories of (marginal, small, medium and large) farmers. The cost (C2) of castor cultivation was estimated to be highest for medium farmer followed by large farmer, marginal farmer and small farmer. It has been found that there is a statistically significant difference in returns from castor cultivation between / across the categories of (marginal, small, medium and large) farmers. The per hectare gross income as well as net income was determined to be highest for medium farmers, followed by marginal farmers, large farmers and small farmers. It was perceived that cost of castor cultivation and returns from castor cultivation differed with the category/size of farmers.