Economics of Tomato Cultivation in Jaipur District of Rajasthan

The area under tomato cultivation in Rajasthan is 16,588 ha, with a total production of 55,508 tonnes (2008). The present study was conducted to analyse the growth rates and price spread in different marketing channels in tomato marketing. The study was conducted in Jaipur district and Chomu tehsil was selected on the basis of highest area and production. Two villages, viz. Nangal Bharda and Hathnoda were selected on the basis of highest area under tomato cultivation. A sample of 60 farmers was drawn by probability proportional to number of farmers in each size group. The sample comprised 36 small, 15 medium and 9 large farmers. Both primary and secondary data were used to analyze the results. The growth rates of area, production and productivity of tomato crop for Rajasthan were 0.03, 0.051 and 0.024 per cent per annum, respectively. In Jaipur, growth rates were 0.051, 0.077 and 0.028 per cent per annum, respectively. The marketing cost in different marketing channels borne by farmers were Rs 55.35 in channel-I, Rs 53.57 in channel-II and Rs 40.3 in channel-III. The share of producer in consumer rupee were highest of channel-II (56.79 per cent) and lowest in case of channel-I (52.50 per cent).The prices spread in different marketing channels were 47.50 per cent in channel-I, 43.21 per cent in channel-II and 43.65 per cent in channel-III.