An economic study and resource use efficiency of brinjal production in Bangladesh

Abstract

This study assessed brinjal producers' socioeconomic characteristics, profitability, and resource use efficiency. The study was carried out in Boalmari and Faridpur sadar upazila in Faridpur district, Mithapukur, and Gangachara upazila in Rangpur district, Kaligonj upazila in Shatkhira district, and Jashore sadar upazila in Jashore district. Data were gathered via the use of an interview schedule from a sample of 60 respondents chosen at random between the dates of January 1st and March 31st, 2021. A Cobb-Douglas production function (CDPF) analysis was performed with descriptive statistics to explore the factors influencing brinjal production. In this study, majority of respondents (46.67%) were found middle-aged (31–45 years old). A major percentage of brinjal farmers (45%) were illiterate, while 23.33% had secondary education. About 41.67% of brinjal farmers had a medium family (5-6 persons), while over 30% had a big family of more than 6. Fertilizers, seed, and insecticides were the major variable costs during the brinjal production. The findings also revealed that the total production cost, gross returns, gross margin, and net return per hectare were Tk. 169877, Tk. 534594, Tk. 388767, and Tk. 364717, respectively. The brinjal cultivation was found profitable as the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was found 3.14. The CDPF analysis revealed that the machinery utilized was negatively significant for brinjal production, whereas the coefficients of hired labor and urea were favorably significant. Except for the overuse of insecticides, resource usage efficiency showed that all the resources were underutilized for brinjal farming.