Economics of Lemongrass Cultivation in Jharkhand State

The present study was carried out to study the cost of cultivation and returns from lemongrass, oil bearing aromatic crop using different cost concepts, estimated from primary data collected from 75 cultivators. The cost of cultivation was calculated using operating expenses (Cost A1) at ` 51,713, while considering all types of costs (Cost C3) it reached to ` 68691 per hectare. The gross returns from cultivation of lemongrass in a hectare was found at ` 1,40,000 hectare, while net return over Cost A1 and Cost C3 was estimated at ` 71309 and ` 88287, respectively. The B: C ratio over cost A1 and cost C3 was calculated as ` 1.71 and ` 1.04, which indicated that lemongrass cultivation is profitable venture in the study area. Estimation of a regression model indicated positive and significant influence of expenditure on machine use, lemongrass slips and manures/ fertilizer on returns from lemongrass. There are two channels for marketing of lemongrass oil, i.e. (i) producer-local buyer-industry, and (ii) producer- industry. It was observed that marketing cost and price spread was higher in channel-I due to more number of intermediaries. The lemongrass cultivator can ease their marketing activities and enhance income through formation of cooperative society.