A study on costs and returns of jaggery production vis-a-vis sugarcane supply to sugar factories: An empirical evidence from Karnataka state

Abstract

The jaggery industry has been considered as one of the small-scale cottage industries in India. To examine the cost and returns of jaggery production and converting sugarcane processing into jaggery and also to estimate comparative economics and its break even analysis was carried out in Bidar and Belagavi Districts of Karnataka State. The primary data was collected from 60 jaggery producers and 60 sugarcane growers selling their produce to the sugar factories of Bidar and Belagavi districts during the agricultural year 2021-22. Multistage random sampling technique was used for the selection of sample respondents. Findings of the study revealed that, In Bidar district, the total cost incurred per jaggery unit during a crushing season was Rs. 6,58,317 of which, variable cost and fixed cost constituted 92.08 per cent and 7.92 per cent of the total cost, respectively, whereas in case of belgaum total cost was Rs. 1027375. The findings also estimated the Returns per rupee of investment was 2.24 which was higher than that of farmers selling their produce to sugar factories with a ratio of 1.96. Whereas in Belagavi district, returns per rupee of investment was 2.60 which was higher than farmers selling their produce to sugar factories with a ratio of 2.29. Hence the study concluded that jaggery production was a profitable business venture in the study area and suggested the need to undertake research for technology upgradation of jaggery units for increased efficiency and output.