Volume 6 Issue 2

Economic feasibility analysis of potato cultivation
in West Midnapur district of West Bengal

Author(s): K. SOREN AND B. K. BERA
Abstract: Increasing economic importance of potato cultivation in West Bengal was prominently reflected not only in estimated positive exponential growth rate values of area, production and productivity of the crop, but in higher magnitudes of these parameters over all India average for period 1980-81 to 2005-06. As regard to cost of cultivation, the crop required an initial investment amounting Rs. 68461.301 ha and yielded a total return and net return of Rs. 87409.31 and Rs. 14178.271 ha respectively with return-cost ratio of 1.19 measured by using farm management cost concept. Based on prime cost concept, these values were worked out to be Rs. 47812.61, Rs. 87409.31 and Rs.39222.77 with return-cost ratio of 1.81 in the same order. Cost of labour, fertilizer, seed and land preparation were major contributors to total cost arranged in ascending order of their percentage contribution. Potato cultivation was found to be both capital and labour intensive and inter-farm cost variation revealed that total cost, total return and net return were directly proportional to farm-size in both counts.

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