Comparative Economics of Contract and Non-contract Farming in Potato Cultivation in Pune District of Maharashtra

The economics of potato farming has been studied under contract and non-contract modes in Ambegaon and Rajgurunagar tahsils of Pune district in Maharashtra. The study has also highlighted the problems being faced by the contract farmers. For the study, 120 potato farmers (60 contract and 60 non-contract) were selected from six villages of Pune district. For contract farming data, a leading processing company, PepsiCo (India) Pvt. Ltd. in Pune district was selected. The study has revealed that yield was higher in contract farming, (184 q/ha) than in non-contract farming (131 q/ha) and the gross income received was also higher from contract farming ( 1,66,050) than non-contract farming ( 1,06,515). The study has further revealed that B:C ratio was higher in contract farming (1.44) than in non-contract farming (1.20). Thus, cultivation of potato was more profitable in contract than in non-contract farming. In contract farming, the producer's share in consumer rupee was 95.0 per cent, because only one middleman was involved in the chain. In non-contract farming, producer's share in consumer rupee was 45.6 per cent in Pune and 44.0 per cent Mumbai markets. The major problems reported included lack of awareness about potentiality of crop, poor irrigation facilities, severe incidence of pests and diseases, lack of availability of labour on time, poor storage facilities, delay in technical guidance, etc.