Economics of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon fluxuosus) cultivation, value addition and its financial feasibility in the state of Uttarakhand

RASHI MITTAL and S.P. SINGH

Department of Agricultural Economics,

College of Agriculture,

G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,

Pantnagar-263145 (U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand)

ABSTRACT

The present study aims at examining the economics of cultivation of Lemongrass and its value added product and to study its financial feasibility. The study revealed that the per hectare cost of cultivation of Lemongrass was Rs. 75742 during first year and Rs. 29957, Rs. 30794, Rs, 32336 and Rs. 33170 in II, III, IV and IV year respectively. It indicates that the crop is highly capital intensive. The total cost of extraction of oil (cost of cultivation plus processing cost) accounted to Rs. 87482 in the I year followed by Rs. 46951, Rs. 49569, Rs. 51906, and Rs. 50246 in the II, III, IV and V year respectively. The analysis of returns revealed that in the first year the crop had negative returns of Rs. (-) 33402 per hectare over the cost of cultivation and Rs. (-) 9956 over the cost of extraction of oil. The value addition due to oil extraction over the herbage was Rs. 23446 during first year and varied within a range of Rs.32098 to Rs. 34836 in subsequent years. The results on the production of lemongrass oil indicate that the investment in lemongrass is financially feasible.