International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 299-311 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 303 Table 2 Socio-demographic characteristics of study area (b) Variable Overall (N=90) Small producer (N=50) Large producer (N=40) Chi square value p- value Male 55 (61.11) 25 (62.00) 30 (60.00) 0.058 0.809 Female 35 (38.89) 15 (37.50) 20 (40.00) Ethnicity Brahmin/Chettri 53 (58.89) 24 (60.00) 29 (58.00) 0.036 0.848 Janjati 37 (41.11) 16 (40.00) 21 (42.00) Religion Hindu 53 (58.89) 25 (62.50) 28 (56.00) 0.387 0.533 Buddhist 37 (41.11) 15 (37.50) 22 (44.00) Level of education Illiterate 43 (47.48) 20 (50.00) 23 (46.00) 2.596 0.627 Primary 36 (40.00) 15 (37.50) 15 (37.50) secondary 5 (5.56) 1 (2.50) 4 (8.00) Certificate 3 (3.33) 2 (5.00) 2 (2.00) University level 3 (3.33) 2 (5.00) 1 (2.00) Annual family income Less than 2.5 lakh 41 (45.56) 35 (70.00) 6 (15.00) 32.304*** 0.000 2.5 to 5 lakhs 23 (25.56) 11 (22.00) 12 (30.00) More than 7 lakhs 26 (28.89) 4 (8.00) 22 (55.00) Major economic activity Agriculture 67 (74.44) 26 (65.00) 41 (82.00) 5.818 0.213 Agriculture and business 12 (13.33) 6 (15.00) 6 (12.00) Agriculture and service 8 (8.89) 5 (12.50) 3 (6.00) Types of agriculture Subsistence 30 (33.33) 26 (52.00) 4 (10.00) 23.621*** 0.000 Semi-commercial 52 (57.78) 24 (48.00) 28 (70.00) Commercial 8 (8.89) 0 (0.00) 8 (20.00) Training received Received 15 (16.67) 5 (10.00) 10 (25.000 3.600** 0.058 Not received 75 (83.33) 45 (90.00) 30 (75.00) Note: *** indicate significant at 1% level Overall, significant differences were observed at the 1% level for types of agriculture and annual family income, while other parameters did not reach significance. In average 16.67% had received training, while 83.33% had not. Breaking it down by producer size, small producers 10% had received training, compared to large producers 25%. This p-value suggests that the difference in training received between small and large producers not statistically significant. 3.3 Comparison of costs for various agricultural inputs between small and large producers for mixed cropping (per hectare) The analysis revealed differences in costs associated with various inputs between small and large producers (Table 3). Overall, the average mixed mini-tiller cost was 750 NRs/ha (SD=1,605.79), with small producers averaging 739 NRs/ha (SD=978.73) and large producers at 759 NRs/ha (SD=1,980.13), showing no significant difference. For mixed bullock costs, the overall average was 14,577 NRs/ha (SD=7,355.06); small producers spent an average of 17,042 NRs/ha (SD=7,874.74) while large producers spent 11,497 NRs/ha (SD=5,293.36), with a statistically significant. The average mixed organic manure cost was 65,048 NRs/ha (SD=36,679.25), with small producers at 75,819 NRs/ha (SD=44,586.32) and large producers at 51,585 NRs/ha (SD=15,424.48), which was significant difference.
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