Cost of C ultivation of Different Varieties of Banana Cultivated in T irupattur Taluk of Vellore District

Abstract

Banana is a major food crop and an essential source of income for several households in the country. However, the production of different varieties of bananas has shown variation in terms of area, production and productivity since 1991. To find out the reasons of this situation, this study has been conducted to investigate the factors affecting the production of different varieties of banana in Tirupattur taluk of Vellore District in Tamil Nadu. In this study the special focus was on the cost incurred on different process of cultivation and its impact on production and returns. A well structured questionnaire was framed and data related to the study was collected from the sample respondents. The collected data was then analyzed using SPSS and the inferences were drawn accordingly. The results of the study show that the cost of cultivation has got greater influence in the overall production. While using the regression analysis the regression coefficients explicitly depicts that cost incurred on preparation of land, cost incurred on fertilizers and cost incurred on fertilizers have more impact when compared to other costs. There is also a high level of positive correlation between the sizes of land area under cultivation to that of total production in the study area. Based on the positive aspects the government should emphasize on, in order to increase the production of different varieties of banana in Tirupattur taluk. On the other hand this study has not covered the whole area of Vellore district. Further researches are needed in order to provide more information to the farmers who would like to invest in bananas cultivation in different parts of the district, state and the country as a whole.