Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana – 141 004, Punjab.
The present study has analysed the costs and returns structure of high-value enterprises undertaken by a progressive marginal farm woman in Punjab. It has estimated the annual net income of the farm and has addressed the production and marketing problems faced by a farmer. This farm woman has adopted bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation, vermi compost production along with crop farming and dairying. Benefit-cost ratios have been found as 1.31, 1.29 and 2.04 for bee-keeping, mushroom production and vermi compost production, respectively. The returns from crops and dairying were about Rs 1.11 lakh which increased to Rs 7.13 lakh with the adoption of these high-value enterprises on the farm in the year 2008–09. These enterprises being capital-intensive and risky, demand institutional support in the form of loan at lower interest rate and subsidized insurance. It is high time to adopt these enterprises by the farmers when there is no scope of horizontal expansion of crop farming. The study has portrayed this farm woman as a role model for success in agribusiness.
