Economic Appraisal of Kinnow Production and its Marketing under North-Western Himalayan Region of Jammu

An economic analysis of kinnow has been presented through studying their costs and returns. The average first year establishment costs per acre for kinnow has been worked out to be ` 5298, while its total establishment costs has been found as ` 12707. The overall per acre per year returns from kinnow orchards have been worked out to be ` 6632. The overall economic viability of the kinnow fruit, mainly net present value, internal rate of return, benefit-cost ratio and payback period have been computed as ` 7929, 15.42 per cent, 1.52 and 7.6 years, respectively. The average per quintal marketing cost at producers’ level has been found to vary to the extent of ` 450, ` 375, ` 303 and ` 223 for channels I, II, III and IV, respectively. The average per quintal marketing cost borne by the wholesaler in channel II was ` 61, while as it was ` 30, ` 32 and ` 19 in channels I, II and III, respectively at the retailer’s level and in channel-IV, whole of the marketing cost was borne by the producer as there was direct marketing of produce. A comparison of price spread through different marketing channels has revealed that producers’ share in consumers’ rupee was the highest (about 81%) in channel-IV, due to self sale in the local market. The marketing efficiency has been found to be highest in channel-IV. The producer got maximum benefits in channel-IV, therefore this channel should be followed to make producer highest beneficiary; although this channel has its own limitations.