ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION OF TURMERIC IN SURKHET DISTRICT OF NEPAL

Abstract

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a high value spice crop of high medicinal and economic concern in Nepal. The most important component found in turmeric which makes it valuable in the market is curcumin which is very helpful in the treatment of many diseases. For this study, proportionate sampling technique was taken to select a total of 120 sample farmers from the five study areas of surkhet district viz. Panchapuri municipality, Lekbesi municipality, Bheriganga municipality, Chaukune rural municipality and Barahataal rural municipality. The study showed that the BC ratio of turmeric production was 1.32 with the total production cost of NRs. 13083.18 and gross revenue of NRs. 17225.91. The low BC ratio was due to the high seed rhizome price which shares about 34.07% of total cost of production and low mechanization. The regression analysis of the obtained data showed that the input resources like human labor, bullock labor, FYM cost and miscellaneous costs are underutilized whereas the seed cost is over utilized. The coefficient of return to scale is 0.317709 which indicates the diminishing rate of return in turmeric production meaning if 10% of the input resource is increased, only 3.2% of production will be increased. Price of turmeric seed rhizomes have been increased by 62.07% in recent 5 years showing the high price variation in seed rhizomes in study area. Thus, to fight with various problems associated with turmeric production, government intervention, extensive trainings, and mechanization are strongly recommended.