An Economic Analysis on Production and Marketing of Rapeseed in Kailali, Nepal

Abstract

A study was conducted in 2019 to analyze the economics of production and marketing of rapeseed in Kailali district of Nepal. This study used 127 rapeseed farmers which were selected by simple random sampling technique to study the production aspects and to study marketing aspects, 5 local traders, 5 wholesaler/commission agents and 3 processors were surveyed. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used for data analysis using SPSS and MS-Excel. Farmers were categorized into large farmer (n=45) and small farmer (n=82) based on rapeseed farm size category. The average area under rapeseed production was 0.53 ha. Rapeseed was found to be a profitable enterprise which has the benefit-cost ratio of 1.55. Benefit-cost ratio of large farms (1.74) was found to higher as compared to small farms (1.46). It was found that rapeseed sub sector contributes about 9.2 percent of household income in the study area. Human labor (40.08% of total variable cost) was an important and largely used input in the production of rapeseed. On an average, marketed surplus was found to be 55.2 percent of total produce. The marketed surplus was higher in case of large farms (58.4%) as compared to small farms (46.8%). It was found that Channel II (Producer-Local collector-Wholesaler/commission agent-Processor) was the most adopted marketing channel for rapeseed marketing. The marketing cost (NRs 340/quintal) and market margin (NRs 450/quintal) was found to be higher in case of Channel II. Unavailability of inputs, lack of irrigation facilities, low price of output and incidence of disease and pests were the major problems of rapeseed production and marketing.