Orchid flower as a source of livelihood: An economic analysis

Sikkim is known for its beauty of nature and additionally availability of variety of flower add the importance of natural beauty. Since long, floriculture is one of the livelihood sources of many families. Among many flowers, cymbidium variety of orchid cultivation is becoming one of the good sources of livelihood for many farmers. As part of methodology, we selected 5 villages from South and east district of Sikkim covering 120 samples. with the help of qualitative and quantitative methods in which NPV, Break Even, Cost Benefit analysis was done. Study found orchid has a good prospect in terms of farmers share in earning and even to retailer, which indicate good source of livelihood. this paper analyzes the economics of cymbidium orchid cultivation and its marketing issues.