Comparative Economic Analysis of Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) vis-à-vis Paddy-Wheat Crop Rotation: A Case Study of Punjab: 25239
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https://doi.org/10.35716/IJED-25239
Author: Taranveer Singh Minhas, Poonam Kataria and Arjinder Kaur
Author Address: Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-1410014 (Punjab), India
Abstract
Assured
minimum support prices and high profit margins have turned the cropping system
in Punjab into a paddy-wheat monoculture. This has degraded soil health,
depleted groundwater, and threatened the agri-ecosystem of the state. This
study assessed the economic feasibility of stevia using primary data from 30
stevia growers and 30 paddy-wheat farmers across six niche districts. Over the
five-year stevia cycle, total variable cost was ?6,08,679 per acre, and gross
returns were ?9,61,340. Net returns were ?3,52,661 per acre, with a
benefit-cost ratio of 1.58. Stevia growers earned ?9,176 per acre more than
paddy-wheat farmers, with labour and seedling costs as the largest inputs.
Stevia is suitable for the marginalized land in the Sub-Mountainous Zone, where
the trade-off is between nothing versus something.
Keywords
Cost-return, benefit: cost ratio,
crop diversification, paddy-wheat, stevia cultivation.
JEL
Codes
Q12, Q13,
Q16, Q18.