aDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu
bDirectorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu
cDepartment of Plant Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu
dDepartment of Agricultural Extension, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu
eDepartment of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu
*Author for correspondence Email: beswami@gmail.com
§The paper is drawn from one of the objectives of the subproject “Beating Begomovirus: Better livelihoods for farmers in tropical Asia with begomovirus-resistant tomato, hot pepper and mungbean and integrated disease management”, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
Vegetable crops have strong potential for income generation and making farming a viable proposition. But, the major constraints encountered by vegetable growers including perishability, market price fluctuation, and escalating cost of cultivation mar the prospects. This study has addressed farm profitability and value chain management aspects of tomato growers in the Salem, Dindigul and Krishnagiri districts of Tamil Nadu. A sample size of 300 respondents was used for the study. The study has revealed a skewed price spread at the farmers’ end. At the same time, Shepherd's index has also been found very low (1.22), indicating market efficiency to be dismal. Though the majority of tomato growers perceived the need of vegetable clusters, 47 per cent of them were unaware of market intelligence services spearheaded by the use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools. The study has suggested leveraging the use of ICT tools to develop vegetable clusters in the vegetable intensification pathways. This will bring in not only horizontal integration of vegetable growers but also vertical integration of all members of the supply chain.
Price spread, market efficiency, marketing efficiency, vegetable clusters, ICT tools, vegetable intensification, Tamil Nadu
