Profitability of onion seed production in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra

The present study entitled, ‘Profitability of Onion Seed Production in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra’ is based on a sample of 90onion seed growers drawn from Shrigonda, Nagar and Parner tehsils ofAhmednagar district. Three villages from each tehsil were selected randomly and from six villages, 15 onion seed growers were selected from each village on the basis of the actual area under onion seed. All onion seed growers were categorized into three different groups (five in each group), i.e. Category I (below 0.05ha), Category II (0.05 to 0.15 ha) and Category III (0.15 ha and above). Thus, the final sample consisted of 90 onion seed growers. The primary data collected for the agriculture year 2021–22 was analyzed by using mathematical and statistical calculations. At the overall level, the per hectare cost of cultivation of onion seed worked out to be Rs. 549224.68. The cost ‘A’ was Rs. 265391.85, contributing 48.33 per cent of the cost ‘C’. In cost ‘A’, the major item of cost were bulbs, i.e. Rs. 139792.34, contributing 25.45 per cent of the cost ‘C’. The expenditure on total hired human labour, bullock labour, machine power, manure and plant protection charges was worked out to Rs. 54466.67, Rs. 1200, Rs. 24000, Rs. 5995.67 and Rs.1442.25 which accounted for 9.92, 0.22, 4.37, 1.09 and 0.26 per cent of the share in cost ‘C’, respectively. At the overall level, the per hectare gross return was found to be Rs.1448098.61 and the B:C ratio at cost ‘C’ was 2.63. It clearly indicated that onion seed cultivation is a profitable venture.