Value Chain Analysis of Tomato in Chitwan District of Nepal

H Neupane, P Poudel and S Parajuli*

Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

*Corresponding Author: S Parajuli, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Received: May 23, 2018; Published: June 19, 2018

Citation: S Parajuli., et al. “Value Chain Analysis of Tomato in Chitwan District of Nepal". Acta Scientific Agriculture 2.7 (2018).

Abstract

  Tomato is the third most important vegetable after cauliflower and cabbage in terms of area and production in Nepal. In this regard, a study was carried out to explore the value chain of tomato cultivation in Chitwan district. 100 farmers were selected purposively on the basis of tomato cultivation and semi structured interview schedule were administered to collect the primary information. Along with the farmers 5 wholesalers and 10 retailers were also interviewed in the study area. By analyzing the variable cost of production, gross margin and B: C ratio (1.609) tomato production was found to be highly profitable. The value chain map shows that out of the total products, 74.8% goes to the wholesalers, 13.4% goes to the retailers, 4.4% to the direct consumers, 1.13% is used for the home consumption and 5.4% is lost during post-harvest handling. The post-harvest loss was comparatively higher in producers than wholesalers and retailers. It was found that 35% of farmers’ grade on the basis of size and color and packing was done in crate by all farmers. Producer share for channel producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumers was 70.71% and market margin was 24.51% for the wholesaler and for the retailer was 15.25% and in the channel producers to retailers to consumers was 76.41% and market margin was 14.8%. Availability of land, market access and suitable agro climatic conditions were the major strength. Similarly, presence of agricultural stations such as line agencies, agro vets, high demand of the product and the employment generation were the major opportunities.

Keywords: Value Chain; Market Margin; b/c Ratio; Producer Share

Copyright: © 2018 S Parajuli., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.