PROFITABILITY OF WINTER VEGETABLES CULTIVATION IN SOME SELECTED AREAS OF BANGLADEH

Abstract

The present study was designed to analyze the production, cost, return and profitability of three winter vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower and tomato) production of six villages of Rajbari District in Bangladesh. To achieve the objectives, data were collected from 90 vegetable cultivars. Among the selected 90 farmers, 30 were cabbage cultivars, 30 were cauliflower cultivars and 30 were tomato cultivars. The sample farmers were selected through purposive sampling technique. The major findings of the study were: among the winter vegetables, cauliflower production was more profitable. Per hectare profitability of growing vegetables from the viewpoints of individual farmers was measured in terms of gross return, gross margin and net return. Per hectare gross costs of cabbage, cauliflower and tomato production were Tk. 127754, Tk. 139735 and Tk. 144246 respectively, and per hectare average yields of cabbage, cauliflower and tomato were estimated at 15265kg/ha 16788 kg/ha, and 12377 kg/ha, respectively. Per hectare gross returns of cabbage, cauliflower and tomato were Tk. 244240, Tk. 369336 and Tk. 309425, respectively. Per hectare net returns of brinjal, country bean and cabbage were Tk. 116486, Tk. 229601, and Tk. 165179, respectively. It shows that cost of production per hectare was higher for tomato than for cabbage and cauliflower. The study also shows that per hectare yield, gross returns, gross margin, net return and benefit cost ratio of cauliflower were higher than those of cabbage and tomato. Therefore, it is clear that cauliflower production was most profitable among the three crops. The major problems of cabbage and cauliflower production were insect infestation and for it was low market price. High yielding variety should be available before the growing season, it should be minimized the seed cost and proper govt. monitor needed for maximizing farmer’s profitability.