Author:
Suraksha Baral, Sushmita Bhatta, Sudarshan Adhikari, Saratendra Bajal

Doi: 10.26480/fabm.01.2021.42.45

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Potato farming is being practiced in Nepal from the long time. The objective of this study was to assess the production status and marketing channel of potato including its production problems and cost of production in Jhapa district, Nepal. The study was carried out in Kachankawal Rural Municipality, Haldibari Rural Municipality, Bhadrapur Municipality and Birtamode Municipality of Jhapa district. Sampling was conducted among the total of 100 registered farmers by simple random sampling method among which 60 were chosen for gathering information on production status and price variation, 30 for cost of production and 10 local collectors for the study of marketing channel. The data were analyzed using SPSS, Stata and Microsoft excel. The result of study showed that the productivity of potato was found to be 19.12 mt/ha in the study area. The gross margin was NRs. 3410/- per ropani with B: C ratio of 1.29. The main problems faced by potato growers were low returns, limited availability of quality seeds, storage problem, poor extension services, disease and insect problem and, shortage and high labor charges. The farmers didn’t have problems in finding market to sell their potatoes as the local collectors collected the potatoes from the farm gate. The main markets for the potatoes were Birtamode, Siraha and Saptari. The most common marketing channel was from producer to local collector to wholesaler to retailer to ultimate consumer. Therefore, the findings suggest that, the production and income can be maximized if existing problems are minimized and resources are made available in time and used properly.