Year: 2015 | Month: June | Volume 60 | Issue 2
Economics and Employment Generating Potential of Gherkin Cultivation in Karnataka
Tanveer Ahmed
B.V.C. Reddy
Tanveer Ahmed Khan
G. Govindaraj
Sudheesh Kulkarni
DOI:10.5958/0976-4666.2015.00041.8
Abstract:
Gherkin (Cucumis anguria L.) is popularly known as “pickling cucumber” belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. The present study was conducted to assess the level of inputs use, economics and employment generating potential of gherkin cultivation in Karnataka state. Multi-stage sampling design was followed to collect primary data from Gherkin growers. Descriptive statisticsand Economic indicators like gross return,net return, B:C ratio and breakeven yield were assessed. The results revealed that, there was an inverse relationship between size of the gherkin area and output per acre. The champion farmers realized higher yields and income compared to other farmers and it was mainly due to better soil dressing and adopting appropriate cultural practices(crop rotation and border crop). Champion farmers realized positive and higher gross profit per acre (` 20490), whereas medium farmers realized (` 2076). The Low yield farmer incurred loss to a tune of ` 10427 per acre. The loss among low yield farmers could be attributed to the reduced crop cycle (75.33 days), harvesting days (35.63 days) and low yield (2511.20 kg/ac). The rate of return per rupee of expenditure was highest among champion farmers (1.41), followed by medium (1.03) and low yield low yield farmers (0.67).The employment generation especially for harvesting was highest among champion farmers (274 mandays) followed by medium (110 mandays) and low yield farmers (71 mandays).From the results it could be inferred that, the gherkin cultivation is not profitable always. The crop requires intensive management throughout the year and any divergence in management practices results in the huge loss to the farmers and it is difficult even to recover the variable cost of cultivation. Hence, appropriate training should be imparted to increase yield and income.
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