A study on jaggery production export status and doubling farmer income in potential district of Maharashtra

Sugarcane is the main raw material required in the preparation of sugar and jaggery. India is the largest producer of the sugar and jaggery in the world. Since ancient times, jaggery has been an important item of food and even today. Trend analysis shows sugarcane production was increases but in the year 2007–08 slight variation, further results have shown that the price of jaggery is directly related with the production of sugarcane in the study area. At the same time by using the power function it is expected the jaggery price for the year 2015–16 and 2016–17 will be 2895.375 per quintal and 2972.589 quintal respectively. There are some quality factors which determine the price of the jaggery from both wholesaler and trader point of view and from wholesalers ’point of view it was observed that, color, packaging and uniformity were major factors to determine jaggery prices while as oer exporters ’point of view season, color and packaging were major factors to determine jaggery prices. Further the major problems faced by the different stakeholders i.e. jaggey producers, traders and exporters were also studied. It was observed that most severe problem faced by jiggery producers and traders was high fluctuation in prices, followed by high commission charges, malpractices during transportation and delay in payment. From exporter point of view, most severe problem was price fluctuation in international market, followed by lack of quality products, and fluctuation in international demand. The study revealed that with addressing these issues growers can be benefitted and further an attempt can be made towards doubling their income.