Economic Analysis of Vegetable Seed Production and Marketing : An Evidence from Kavrepalanchowk District, Nepal

Despite having a good scope of vegetable seeds as high value & low volume products, their profitable production is still elusive for the farmers. In this regard, a study was carried out to assess the economics of vegetable seed production and marketing in the Kavrepalanchowk district of Nepal. The primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured survey questionnaire. For the interview, a sampling frame of all seed producers in the district was prepared and using the simple random sampling technique, sixty seed-producers were selected. Further, ten traders were also surveyed with a semi-structured questionnaire. The study found the highest benefit-cost ratio in tomato (3.36), followed by kidney bean (1.55) and cress (1.34). Only a single marketing channel was reported in the study site. The farmers sell their produces to a cooperative which eventually sells the seeds to a seed company. The limited irrigation facilities, incidence of disease and pests, and limited market information have been reported as the major hindrances in the study area. Thus, the findings show the potential to scale up vegetable seed production by enhancing market linkage and better collaboration between various value chain actors