Cut Flower Production: A Source of Incremental Income for the Marginal Farmers of the State of West Bengal in India

The basic objective of this paper is to measure and compare the profitability of investments made by the small and marginal farmers of the state of West Bengal in floriculture shifting from the traditional cultivation of paddy. A comparison of IRR is made to establish the fact that cultivation of flowers yield higher returns farmers whose land size is so small that viability of paddy cultivation is raising a question mark. A detailed study of the price behavior of the flower crop has been carried out in which the factors leading to the volatility of the price and the dispersion of the range have also been discussed. Finally the incremental incomes of the farmers have been calculated with the help of imputed income from paddy cultivation and the reported income from the selected flowers. The study shows that the farmers stand gainers if they opt for flower cultivation.

Authors:

• Ruma Bhattacharyya

Keywords:

• Bazar Samity
• Floriculture
• Marginal Farmers.

References:

[1] Agricultural Census, West Bengal, various issues.
[2] APEDA, Ministry Of Commerce & Industry, Government Of India,
various publications.
[3] CMIE, (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy). 2001. Agriculture:
Economic Intelligent Service, Center for Monitoring Indian Economy
Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
[4] Dornbusch R, & S. Fischer, Macroeconomics, 3rd edition, 1984, pg. 206-
208.
[5] Government Of West Bengal, Economic Review, various issues.
[6] NABARD, National Agricultural Bank for Rural Development, various
issues on horticulture.
[7] Study On Farm management & Cost Of Production of Crops In West
Bengal, various issues.
[8] West Bengal State Horticulture Development Society, Different
Publications on flower production.