Division of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir -180 009, India
Fruits occupies a place of importance in the horticultural wealth and economy of the country. The present study was conducted in Narwal market of Jammu district. The average monthly arrivals and prices for the period w.e.f 2007–08 to 2010–11 were collected from Narwal market of Jammu and it was found that the market arrivals and prices of fruits varies to each other. The analysis shows that the prices move contrary to arrivals. It has been found that the seasonal nature of fruits creates glut in the market which leads to sharp fall in prices during the post harvest season and affects the orchardists adversely. The highest market arrivals in the Narwal mandi of Jammu commensurate with the harvesting date of the produce and it was found that peak market arrival period in case of banana was from July with arrivals of 16008.33 q to October with arrivals of 27451.67 q whereas in case of papaya, the arrivals were highest (4525.00 q) in April and in guava in the month of March (2335.00 q). It was also noticed during the analysis that the major portion of the farmers’ produce was sold at the lower price in the post harvest period thereby lowering their incomes.
Prices, fruits, market, economics, seasonal variations, Narwal, Jammu
