SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND MARKETING STATUS OF PINEAPPLEGROWERS IN DIMAPUR DISTRICT OF NAGALAND, INDIAAmod Sharma, SentsuthungYanthan and Sujay KumarAbstract The study on socio economic status of pineapple growers is a project which was aimed atfinding out thesocial life of the pineapple growers especially in these areas, where pineapple has been a source of incomefor many of the farmers. In this context, various data were collected from different sources. The primarydata were collected from 120 farmers and market functionaries in the selected district of Dimapur. Foranalysis of the data, tabular analysis, growth rate analysis and financial ratio analysis was carried out. Theper ha total cost of cultivation of pineapple was worked out at Rs10,000/-The average yield of pineapple inthese areas was 14 mt / ha, with returns of more than 1 lakh. The variation in yield was attributed to variables such as human laour, fertilizer, use of weedicides, growth regulators and planting materials. Inthe context of market, the produce was sold to the wholesalers and retailers, who in turn sold them todifferent agencies outside the state. These intermediaries involved incurred significant transportation andmarketing costs, but they could easily recover their losses once they sold their produce. The profit made bythe wholesale and retailers for one tonne of the produce was worked out at Rs 6,638.81/- and Rs 2,108.57/-, respectively indicating that they were earning as much as the producer farmers. This patternwas observedin majority of the respondents indicating the need for a proper market facility where the farmers could selltheir produce to the consumers directly. Moreover pineapple being a perishable commodityrequired goodstorage facilities, which can be solved by establishing several processing facilities in these areas whichwould add value to the produce and also would increase the returns significantly to the farmers. |