Economic analysis of mushroom enterprise in Chitwan district, Nepal

Abstract

The majority of the population (66%) in-country “Nepal” are engaged in agriculture. However, domestic production finds it difficult to meet the annual demand of the people. Hence, people are moving from subsistence agriculture to embrace mushroom farming. This study focuses on economic analysis and analysis of the present status of mushroom farming and enterprise in this country. The study was conducted in the land area of Kalika Municipality and Bharatpur Metropolitan City. 30 mushroom farmers with two huts and at least three years of experience were selected from the study area. The primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the farmers, focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII). The secondary data was collected through various published articles and documents. The data analysis was done using basic statistics and a regression function. The benefit-cost ratio is 2.54 and a high gross margin is NRs.490,876.65 per kattha per year. The return to scale (RTS) is 0.80. Five marketing channels are present among which wholesalers and local collectors contributed the highest percentage of the share. However, the dominance of the intermediaries, timely unavailability of inputs, price fluctuation, disease and pest infestation were the major constraints. Disease and pest control, formation of the producer organization, improvised cultivation practices, timely and affordable availability of quality can be the major solution measures. Whereas, suitable climatic conditions, high productivity and growing market demand are the strengths of mushroom production in this study area. Mushroom farming is found to be a profitable business concerning competitive and comparative markets.