International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 44-58 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 55 Similarly, the line graph below shows the trend of apple production per plant up to the 20th year. The production per plant increased up to 15 years and was found to be decreased after 15 years (Figure 6). Figure 6 Per kg of apple production for years 5th to20th years 3.9 Cost-benefit analysis The cost and benefit for apple production were calculated for 20 years and the benefit-cost ratio for an overall period of 20 years was found to be 1.90.BC ratio observed within the different years of apple cultivation is shown in the figure. The benefit-cost ratio showed that apple cultivation was profitable with the B: C ratio being greater than 1 i.e.1.90. A similar result was found by Kafle (2017) in Jumla with a B: C ratio of 1.96. Detailed information on cost and benefit for the estimation of the benefit-cost ratio is shown in the Appendix (Figure 7). Figure 7 BC ratio of apple production from 5th to 20th year 3.10 Financial evaluation techniques Apple plant once established, continues to give production for up to twenty years. The plant starts giving returns economically only from the 5th year onwards. It needs large resources, and income spread over a period. Hence, costs and returns have to be analyzed carefully to assess the worthiness of the investment in the Apple enterprise. Therefore, techniques of project evaluation such as net present value, benefit-cost ratio, payback period, and internal rate of returns are employed in assessing the feasibility of apple orchard. In an analysis of the financial feasibility, the cost and returns from the sweet orange production were estimated using a 12% discount rate.
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