International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 44-58 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 56 3.11 Net present value Net Present Value gives an idea about surplus money that would be generated from Apple at a given discount rate. It varies with the discount rates and the level of investment. In the study, NPV, calculated by discounting the net cash flow at a 12% discount rate for 20 years of apple production was 2,111,002. A positive NPV represents that the apple cultivation in the study area was profitable. 3.12 Internal rate of returns IRR for apple production was calculated to be 33.3% which was greater than the discount factor of 12%.IRR being greater than the discount factor/opportunity cost indicates that apple cultivation is a profitable business in the study area. 3.13 Payback period The time value of money was not considered for the calculation payback period. The payback period for the apple production was calculated to be 7.3 years in the study area. 3.14 Marketing system Agricultural marketing involves several activities and processes through which harvested products from widely scattered products move to the ultimate consumers. Producers, traders, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers are the main agents involved in the production-consumption chain in the marketing system. The marketing system of Apple was studied in the study area of Kalikot district. The majority of the respondents reported selling their produce directly to the contractor/middleman while few of them were found to sell their produce on their own to the retailers. Kalikot apples were mostly collected by middlemen who could be village traders or individual large contractors who make contracts with farmers before harvesting time. As the majority of the farmers sell their produce directly to contractors, postharvest practices like grading and packaging were rare in the study area. However, 2% of the respondents reported following grading practices before selling their apples to the retailers and stated getting higher prices for their produce through grading. 3.15 Marketing channel In the marketing of Apple, major intermediaries involved were contractors, wholesalers, and retailers. The apple produced in the study area ultimately reached the consumers through these intermediaries. Primarily two types of marketing channels were identified in the study area. Channel-1: Producer > Middlemen > Wholesalers> Retailer >Consumer; Channel-2: Producer > Retailer > Consumer. Channel-1 was involved in the marketing of apples in bulk to the distance market (Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, etc) while channel-2 was used to sell produce in smaller quantities within the local market. Out of these two channels, Channel -1 was found to be most prevalent in the study area as 94% sell their produce in bulk to the contractors. 3.16 Market margin and producer share Market margin and producer share reflect the efficiency of the marketing system. Out of the two marketing channels, Channel-1 had a greater percentage of producer share (37.5%) and farm gate price of Rs 60 /kg. Higher retail of 220/ kg accounts for a greater market margin in Channel-1(Table 17). Table 17 Market margin and producer share of the two marketing channels Marketing channel Farm gate price (NRs /kg) Retail price (NRs/Kg) Market margin (NRs/kg ) Producer share (%) Channel-1 48 220 172 21.81 Channel-2 40 150 110 26.67 Source: Field survey, 2023
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