ECONOMICS OF PAPAYA CULTIVATION AT FARMERS' FIELDS

Based on the data collected via surveys conducted in Ahmadnagar and Solapur districts of Maharashtra, a financial viability study of papaya cultivation was conducted at various levels of technology adoption. Since commercial cultivation of papaya is limited to one year only, cost and revenues were calculated for one cycle of cultivation (i.e., one year). Different cost components for manpower and material, and revenues were calculated on per hectare basis. Manpower cost for low adopters (Rs. 40,788) was lower than that of high adopters (Rs. 44,570), while average requirement of labour was Rs. 42,685. Weeding contributed about one-quarter of total labour cost. High adopters spent 16% more money on materials than low adopters. Average requirement of material was Rs. 93,070. Fertilizers (including manures) contributed about 34% of total material cost. Cost (C 2) of papaya cultivation was Rs. 191,983 for low adopters, Rs. 217,673 for high adopters, and the average cost was Rs. 204,848. Revenues generated were also higher in high adopters (Rs. 645,079) than low adopters (Rs. 508,850), while average revenues generated were Rs. 577,086. Since revenues generated were higher than total cost, papaya farmers registered net profit of Rs. 316,867 for low adopters, Rs. 427,406 for high adopters, and the average profit was Rs. 372,238. Overall B:C ratio was 2.82, while it was 2.65 for low adopters and 2.96 for high adopters. The additional returns for high adopters were Rs. 110,539 against the additional expenditure of Rs. 25,690. The economic analysis revealed that papaya cultivation was highly profitable in the surveyed area of Maharashtra even for low adopters. However, farmers pointed out certain problems in papaya cultivation those can be addressed by the following policy modifications: (i) Encourage use of virus-free planting material, (ii) Training of village level workers, and (iii) Establish assured marketing channels for poor and marginal farmers.