Comparative economic study of tulsi and paddy cultivation in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh

The present study for comparison of aromatic crop tulsi (Ocimum basilicum) and cereal crop paddy (Orzya sativa) cultivation has been carried out at farmers’ field of Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The tulsi is an essential oil bearing plant. Oil of this plant is highly valuable and is used in flavour, cosmetic and pharmaceuticals industry. Paddy has been cultivated in our country as a major food grain crop since long time. During the study period 50 farmers under cultivating tulsi and paddy has been selected from Sitapur District of Uttar Pradesh. The primary data were collected from the selected farmer’s field on profitability comparison between tulsi and paddy cultivation. Simple statistical tools and technique has been used for data analysis of the socio-economic profile, cost of cultivation, profitability. It has been observed during the study that tulsi gives higher returns over paddy. However, the input cost of paddy is higher than tulsi crop but the net return of tulsi was more profitable than paddy. The benefit cost ratio has been observed 2.70 and 1.34 of tulsi and paddy respectively. It is suggested from the study that maximum profit is generated through tulsi cultivation followed by paddy crop. This study can set an example of profitability model for entrepreneurship development in other part of country.