A comparative study on the economic viability of jute production by organic system of farming in West Bengal Chakraborty Agniswar Jha1,*, Bera B.2 1AICRPAM-NICRA, Directorate of Research, B.C.K.V., Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal-741235, India 2Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, B.C.K.V., Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal-741252, India *Corresponding author: agninomics@gmail.com
Online published on 5 January, 2015. Abstract Lower productivity (7.28%) of organic jute associated with higher prime cost of cultivation (11.27%) has made organic growers to earn a net return 20.42 below conventional average. Higher premium prices for organic is not enough to cover the dual set back in yield loss and larger prime cost of organic jute production. But the yield of jute produced by this eco-friendly farming system is marginally greater (1.37%) than that of inorganic managed farms. Higher premium prices along with increased productivity has helped the farmers to realise 9.30% more total return which has not only compensated the 19.76% more prime cost of cultivation, but also held them to obtain a net return of 1.55% above inorganically produced jute. Development of dedicated marketing channel and extensive programme for promotion of products produced from organic jute will ensure higher premium prices is required to incentivise growers to continue and expand area under this sustainable crop production system. Top Keywords Organic, inorganic, conventional, prime cost, yield gap, premium price. Top |