Growth of area, production and yield of potato, tomato, chilli and ginger from 2001-02 to 2020-21
Table 1 shows the growth rates of area, production and yield of Potato, Tomato, Chilli and Ginger from the year 2001-02 to 2020-21. It was observed from the Table that the compound annual growth rates of area under the four crops were found to be positive and significant. This positive trend in the growth of these crops has a significant impact on Assam’s economy
(Bhuyan et al., 2023).
Potato (2.28%) was recorded for the highest growth in area under the crop, followed by Chilli (2.13%), Tomato (1.73%) and Ginger (0.02%) respectively. Potato is one of the most important and widely cultivated vegetable crops of Assam and ranks fourth in terms of acreage under individual crop in the state, as stated by
Borah et al 2016. Growth rates of production of all the four crops were recorded as positive and significant throughout the period. While the yield growth was positive for only three crops, i.e Potato (0.18%), Chilli (2.78%) and Ginger (2.34%). The yield of the tomato crop recorded a significant negative growth (-0.15%) for the entire period. It may be due to the non-incorporation of new high-yielding varieties for the cultivation of the crop by the farmers. By developing suitable tomato varieties as per the climate and soil conditions of Assam and by creating awareness about the new varieties among the farmers, yield improvement can be made possible in the long term.
Variability in quantity arrival and price of the potato crop for the year 2022
Potato is a highly demanded vegetable crop in the markets of Assam. Table 2 represents the variability in quantity arrival and the price of the crop for the major wholesale markets of selected four districts. It was observed from the Table that the highest (71.75 %
) variability in quantity arrival was observed for the Barpeta district and the lowest (21.09 %) was for the Jorhat district. A similar result was observed for the Barpeta and Jorhat markets by
Baruah et al, 2023.
The analysis on price variability for the crop in the four districts markets represented that Barpeta district recorded highest variability in price, along with the variability in the arrival of the crop. Nalbari district recorded the lowest variability (24.10%) in price among all other districts. A significant negative relationship between quantity arrival and price for the Potato crop was observed for the markets of the Nalbari district only. On the other hand, the other three district markets were recorded for positive correlation between the quantity of arrivals and the price of the crop which was at the same time found significant at a five per cent level. As the demand for the crop is very high so correlation coefficient reflected a positive relationship for most of the markets. Fig 1 (A, B, C, D) represent a clear picture of the quantity arrival of potatoes and the changes in price throughout the year. For the Potato crop price change was less as compared to the arrival of the crop. A similar result was observed in the study conducted in West Bengal by
Bera et al., 2017.
Variability in quantity arrival and price of the tomato crop for the year 2022
Table 3 represents the variability in quantity arrivals and price of the Tomato crop for the major wholesale markets under selected four districts of Assam. The study reflected that the highest variability in quantity arrivals was observed for the Kamrup district (74.00%) and the lowest was observed for the Jorhat district (27.33%). On the other hand, the variability in price was found highest for the Barpeta district (46.28 %
) and lowest for the Jorhat district (32.52 %). The correlation coefficient analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between quantity arrivals and the price of the crop in Nalbari district (-0.72). The other three districts represented a positive correlation between the arrival of the crop and the price. Barpeta and Kamrup districts represented a significant positive relationship between quantity arrivals and price of Tomato. Fig 2 (A, B, C, D) represented the commodity arrivals and price fluctuations of the Tomato crop for Barpeta, Jorhat, Kamrup and Nalbari districts. It was observed that for Nalbari district quantity arrivals were less as compared to other districts, for that price was high for most of the months in the year. The price of Tomato started to increase from April until October, but from November price declines, as in winter arrivals of tomato increases due to the harvesting time
(Laxkar et al., 2022).
Variability in quantity arrivals and price of chilli for the year 2022
Table 4 represented the variability in quantity arrivals and price of the chilli crop in the four selected districts of Assam. The arrivals of vegetables in the market affect their prices to a large extent (
Chaudhary et al, 2019). The study reflected that the highest variability in quantity arrivals was observed for Barpeta district (115.35%). On the other hand, lowest variability (27.43%) was observed for Jorhat district. The variability in price for the crop was found highest (36.28%
) for Kamrup district and lowest was observed for Barpeta district (31.89%). The correlation coefficient indicated a significant negative relationship for quantity arrival and price of the chilli crop for Nalbari districts, but for Barpeta district the relationship was negative but not significant. While, Jorhat and Kamrup districts recorded positive correlation between quantity arrivals and price of Chilli. Fig 3 (A, B, C, D) represented the clear picture of the price fluctuations with the arrival of the crop in different times of the entire year. It is clear from the graph that with the increase in the market flow, price of Chilli goes down. It means commodity flow is as per the market demand of the crop.
Variability in quantity arrivals and price of the ginger crop for the year 2022
Variability in Quantity arrival and Price of the Ginger crop was represented in Table 5. From the Table it reflected that variability in quantity arrivals was found highest (103.81%) for Barpeta district while lowest (22.15%) was observed for Nalbari district. On the other hand, variability on the price of the crop was found highest (18.93 %) for Jorhat district and lowest (10.54%) was observed for Kamrup district. Correlation coefficient was recorded negative for quantity arrivals and price of the Ginger crop in Jorhat district with a statistical significance. While other three markets reflected significant positive relationship for quantity arrival and price of the crop. Fig 4 (A, B, C, D) represented the quantity arrivals and the changes of the price of the ginger crops in the four districts of Assam. As the ginger is the highly demanded crop and the commodity flow was very less as compared to demand so price was almost found high throughout the year. Off-season vegetable flow may also fetch higher prices and cause positive relationship with the arrival of the commodity
(Kumar et al., 2005).