A Study of Production and Marketing of Potato in Kurukshetra District of Haryana

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the most important food crop of the world which has always been the poor mans’ crop. Potato is cultivated in the country for the last more than 300 years. The present study was conducted in Kurukshetra district of Haryana. The results revealed that the estimated total cost, gross return, net return, and B:C ratio of potato cultivation was `179449, 274944, 95495 and 1:1.53 per hectare, respectively. The value of the B: C ratio was found to be more than one which indicated that the cultivation of potato crops was economically profitable. The cultivation of potato crops also provided opportunities for employment of family and surplus labour in rural areas. State Government initiated a scheme Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana (BBY) to protect vegetable growers for the sustainability of vegetable cultivation. There was seasonal variation in potato prices dut to its semi-perishable nature and post-harvest sales. The direct marketing channel of potato (Channel-IV)was found to be most profitable among all other marketing channels due to the non-existence of intermediaries between the producer and the ultimate consumer. Channel-IV was found to be most efficient among all the channels. Due to perishable nature of potato, there is a need for adequate storage facilities so that farmers get remunerative prices as well as meet the consumers’ demand through the year.