Appraising productivity and profitability of major vegetables in nawalpur district, Nepal

Although there is a huge potential for vegetable production in Nawalpur district, its productivity has not been scaled up. Therefore, a study was conducted in Nawalpur district to assess the productivity and profitability of major vegetables. About a hundred farmers were selected purposefully for the household survey. Two summer season vegetables: tomato, cucumber, and two winter season vegetables: cauliflower, cabbage were selected as major vegetables. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Socio-demographic characteristics, cost, return of major vegetables, profitability, and factors affecting the productivity of each vegetable were studied. Vegetable farming was found to be a profitable enterprise as the B/C ratio for all four vegetables was greater than one and among four vegetables cucumber was found the most profitable one with the B/C ratio of 1.46. In cost of production, labor cost was found to be the significant one incurring more than 40% in all four vegetables. The Multiple Linear Regression Model revealed that experience has a significant and positive influence on the productivity of cucumber and cauliflower, application of fertilizer has a significant and positive influence on the productivity of tomato, cucumber, and cauliflower. Similarly, the price per unit of output and farm size under vegetable farming has a significant and positive relationship with the productivity of tomato and cabbage respectively. The incidence of diseases and pests was a major constraint of vegetable production in the study site.