Assessment of contribution of cabbage in rural livelihood and constraints of production in Dhankuta, Nepal

Abstract

Cabbage production is an im¬portant farm enterprise for descent socioeconomic status and nutritional security of rural farmers in eastern hill of Nepal. The study was conducted to determine contribution of cabbage in livelihood of rural farmers and constraints in commercial cabbage production in Chhathar-Jorpati Rural Munic¬ipality, Dhankuta district of Nepal. A total of 60 cabbage producing households were randomly selected. Primary data were collected through 60 questionnaire survey. The data obtained were analyzed using MS-Excel and SPSS. Average land holding of farmers was 1.45 hectare. Cabbage occupied 67.99% of total land area under vegetables production with 60.06% contribution on annual income from vegetables and 23.69% contribution on total annual household income. Gross return and total variable cost per hectare were NRs. 195424.66 and NRs. 117566.70 respectively. The average gross margin per hectare from cabbage production was calculated Rs.77857.96; benefit cost ratio was estimated 1.66. Among total variable cost, labor cost (47.52%) was highest followed by nutrient (46.97%), seed (5.31%) and pesticides (0.21%) cost. Productivity of cabbage was 26.66 Mt per hectare. There is a huge potential for improvement of yield and benefit of crop, but the government should support farmers with subsidy in fertilizers and disease management programs.