PRODUCTION ECONOMICS AND MARKETING ANALYSIS OF POTATO (Solanum tuberosum L.) FARMING IN CHANGUNARAYAN, BHAKTAPUR

Potatoes are an important cash crop in Nepal. Research was conducted from Feb 2022 to July 2022 in Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur, Nepal. The pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the primary information; Focus Group Discussion and Key Informant Interviews were performed. Furthermore, relevant literatures were reviewed for secondary information. The simple random method of sampling (SRS) was used. Altogether, 100 samples were collected and processed. The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel software were used for data analysis. Most of the farmers, about 35%, used local varieties of potato followed by improved (Janakdev, Khumal Rato, Desire, TPS etc.), Indian (C4, Rabindra 1) and unknown varieties. The gross margin is positive and benefit cost ratio, greater than one (2.13), which indicates the financial viability of potato production in Bhaktapur. However, seed cost has occupied the major portion of cost of production (33.3%). Furthermore, disease and pest problem were the most commonplace and severe problem (I=.71) in potato production followed closely by lack of availability of the quality seeds (I=.61) and lack of proper market (I=.6), and finally, moderately severe problems were found to be: lack of proper irrigation facilities (I=.57) and lack of labor (.54). Clearly, unavailability of the storage facilities was primary concern of the farmers ranking first (I=.47) followed by market unavailability (I=.39), price fluctuation (I=.37), perishable nature of potato (.36) and at the least level, lack of transportation (I=.23). No proper post-harvest activities were observed. The provision of technical knowledge to control diseases as well as the proper allocation of improved quality seeds would help to increase the profitability and productivity of potatoes.