International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.3, 186-194 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 193 2.4.1 Potato production constraints High cost and lack of quality inputs, scarcity of irrigation water, disease mostly potato late blight, insect problem like red ant, potato tuber moth were some of the major production problems faced by farmers. It was revealed that clearly high cost and lack of quality inputs was a primary concern (I=0.87) followed by disease/insect/pest problem (I=0.78), scarcity of irrigation water (I=0.72), labor shortage (I=0.31) and natural hazards at the lowest level (I=0.27) in the study area (Table 6). Table 6 Ranking of production problems of potato growers in the study area Items Intensity of problems Weight Index Rank 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Disease/Insect/Pest problem 7 37 14 2 0 46.8 0.78 II Scarcity of irrigation water 11 14 32 3 0 43.2 0.72 III High cost and lack of quality inputs 38 8 11 3 0 52.2 0.87 I Natural hazards 0 0 1 18 41 16.2 0.27 V Labor shortage 2 1 2 36 19 18.6 0.31 IV Source: Field survey, 2023 2.4.2 Marketing constraints Wholesalers/retailers dominancy over market, low market price was some of the major marketing problems faced by farmers. It was revealed that clearly wholesalers/retailers’ dominancy over market was of primary concern (I = 0.87) followed by low market price (I = 0.77), lack of market information (I = 0.7), transportation problem (I = 0.41) and lack of shortage at the lowest level (I = 0.32) in the study area (Table 7). Table 7 Ranking of marketing problems in the study area Items Intensity of problem Weight Index Rank 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Low market price 12 27 18 2 1 46.2 0.77 II Lack of market information 11 18 21 6 4 42 0.7 III Wholesalers/retailers dominancy over market 34 12 11 2 1 52.2 0.87 I Transportation problem 2 3 6 31 18 24.6 0.41 IV Lack of storage 0 2 4 19 35 19.2 0.32 V Source: Field survey, 2023 3 Concluding Remarks Gross margin being positive, benefit cost ratio 2.02 that is greater than 1 show that potato cultivation is a profitable enterprise in Rasuwa. The average productivity in the study area was found to close with the district’s productivity. Chemical fertilizers and labor cost accounts the higher portion of the total cost. Farmers were not so knowledgeable about the price structure and had weak bargaining power. Therefore, if the farm gate price is provided more, profit maximization would occur. A major volume of the produce is sold to local collectors in bulk. Middlemen plays a crucial role so farmers could not receive the profit they need to. Major problems are high cost and lack of quality inputs and low market price. Late blight of potato, potato moth attack during storage, monkey attack, lack of irrigation water, costly inputs were some of the major problems faced by the farmers. Authors’ contributions SKK carried out the design and implementation of the survey, conducted field observations and data collection, and contributed to the interpretation and analysis of the results and the writing of the manuscript. RS contributed to the interpretation and analysis of the
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