An economic analysis of marketing cost of cocoon and constraints faced by sericulture farmers: A study in the district of Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

The present study was conducted in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. With these objectives, 90 farmers were randomly selected from Pappireddipatti, Pennagaram and Dharmapuri blocks. It was found that the marginal farms spent less on the marketing of cocoon followed by small and big farms. The expenditure on the marketing of 100 kg of cocoon was Rs.473.44 in big farms whereas it was Rs.384.99 in marginal farms and Rs. 418.46 in small farms. Big farms are high marketing than compared with small and marginal farms. The study concluded that in constraints faced by the sample in mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing and marketing of cocoon. It indicated that all the sericulture farmers’ labour scarcity and high wage rate as the main problem in mulberry cultivation. An analysis of the production and marketing constraints faced by the respondents in sericulture indicates that water scarcity, high wage rate, and incidence of pests and disease were the major constraints in production while price fluctuation was the major constraints in marketing.