International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 44-58 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 44 Research Article Open Access Economic Analysis of Apple Production and Marketing in Raskot Municipality of Kalikot District, Nepal Arati Chapai 1 , Susma Adhikari 1 , Kiran Prasad Upadhayaya 2, Shova Shrestha 1, Nisha Bhandari 1, Prativa Acharya 1, Shasi Kumar Keshari 1 1 College of Natural Resource Management, Bardibas, Agriculture and Forestry University, 44800, Nepal 2 Agriculture Section, Madi Municipality, Chitwan, 44209, Nepal Corresponding authors: chapaiarati100@gmail.com; adksushma01@gmail.com International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.2 doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0006 Received: 21 Feb., 2024 Accepted: 20 Mar., 2024 Published: 06 Apr., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Chapai et al., This is an open-access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Chapai A., Adhikari S., Upadhayaya K.P., Shrestha S., Bhandari N., Acharya P., and Keshari S.K., 2024, Economic analysis of apple production and marketing in raskot municipality of Kalikot District, Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 14(2): 44-58 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0006) Abstract A survey research study on the economic analysis of apple production and marketing was undertaken in the Raskot municipalities of Kalikot district. The study aimed to analyze the past economics of apple production, including its marketing aspects, and identify the problems associated with apple production and marketing. A total of 78 farmers were selected through simple random sampling, while snowball sampling was utilized to choose 10 traders for the survey. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was employed to collect data from the respondents. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS and MS Excel. The majority of the respondents were Brahmin and literate. Agriculture had been the primary source of income for 55.12% of households. On average, surveyed households had 6.28 ropani of land under apple production, with an average of 136.47 bearing fruits and 33.28 non-bearing trees, including newly planted ones. Economic analysis over a 20-year period revealed a benefit-cost ratio of 1.90, a net present value of Rs 2,111,002.92, an internal rate of return of 33.3%, and a payback period of 7.3 years. During the study, it was found that the majority of farmers (94%) had sold their produce to contractors through hedging practices, with a marketing margin and producer share of Rs 172 and 21.81%, respectively. The primary problem identified for apple production had been the incidence of insect pests and diseases. Similarly, price variation had been a major issue associated with the marketing of apples in the study area. The study concluded that apple production in Kalikot had been financially feasible, emphasizing the need for further development in alternate pest and disease management strategies and intervention in the development of a marketing system to control higher price variation. Keywords Economic analysis; Production; Marketing; Net present value; Payback period; Internal rate of return Introduction Nepal, primarily an agricultural country, is geographically divided into three distinct regions: mountains, hills, and terai, each offering a diverse array of climatic conditions. These regions provide extensive opportunities for cultivating various crops such as vegetables, fruits, spices, flowers, and other plantation crops, holding immense potential for the production and improvement of agricultural subsectors. Agriculture has played a vital role in the livelihoods of the Nepalese people, and any efforts directed toward the development of the agricultural sector contribute significantly to the country's economic growth. It constitutes 36% of the GDP and employs 65.5% of the total Nepalese population (Nepal’s Agricultural Landscape, n.d.), making agriculture the backbone of the nation. Despite the vast agro-ecological zone in the country, conducive to the production of diverse agricultural commodities, only 21% of the total land is available for cultivation (https://moald.gov.np). Out of the total cultivated area of 3,091,000 hectares in Nepal, the area dedicated to fruit production is 164,623 hectares (https://molmac.lumbini.gov.np/publications/46). Over the years, there has been a continuous increase in the area covered by horticultural crops and their production. The area covered and the production of fruits increased by 123% and 142%, respectively, in FY 2018\19 compared to 2000\1; however, productivity still hovers around 9-10 MT\ha (STATISTICAL-INFORMATION-ON-NEPALESE-AGRICULTURE-2077-78.Pdf, n.d.). The increase in area and production is more pronounced for summer fruits, followed by citrus and then winter fruits. For vegetables, potatoes, and spices during the same period (FY2000\1 to FY 2018\19), the increase is 89%, 158%, and 37% for vegetables; 50%, 137%, and 58% for potatoes; and 151%, 337%, and 74%, respectively
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