Cost Benefit Analysis of Strawberry Production in District Khairpur Mir’s Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study was carried out with the objectives to evaluate the costs and revenue obtained from strawberry, cultivated in District Khairpur Mir’s, Sindh province of Pakistan. Aim of this study was to find out physical and revenue productivity and to compute net returns and input output ratio of this crop. For this study, sixty strawberry growers were selected through purposive sampling technique; where, they were interviewed by using a detailed questionnaire. Results show that average age of selected respondent was 43.25 years, about 75 percent of growers were literate and 25 percent were illiterate. The growers have about 3.08 years of strawberry growing experience while 20 percent of farmers had their first experience of strawberry cultivation. The results further show that per acre average revenue was Rs.574025 and average expenditure (per acre) was Rs.244173.25, where they earned net profit of Rs.329851.75 per acre. The strawberry grower had obtained input output ratio of 1:2.35 and the cost benefit ratio was calculated as 1:1.35. This study reveals that the major constraints faced by the growers in the study area, were shortage of water, lack of modern technologies, and lack of storage facilities and higher interest rate of agricultural loans. It is, therefore suggested that the government has to take effective steps to counter those problems by providing technical information, training and easy credit facilities. Agriculture extension assistance should be mobilized to work with strawberry growers with advanced technologies in Sindh Province.