A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION ECONOMICS OF SPRING RICE BETWEEN DEVTAL AND SUWARNA RURAL MUNICIPALITIES OF BARA DISTRICT, NEPAL
ABSTRACT
The study, conducted in 2023, compared the economics of spring rice production in Suwarna and Devtal RM. Data from 120 households (60 from each RM) were analyzed using MS Excel, SPSS, and other statistical tools. Suwarna averaged 0.932 hectares for rice cultivation, compared to Devtal’s 0.687 ha. Most farmers in both RMs used a combination of organic and chemical fertilizers (96.7% in Suwarna, 75.0% in Devtal). Labor practices varied, with Devtal using 105.89 man-days and Suwarna 95.35 man-days. Suwarna’s average cultivation cost was NRs 111,093.52, while Devtal’s was higher at NRs 118,989.75. Devtal’s rice seed price was higher at 26.55 NRs/kg compared to Suwarna’s 24.74 NRs/kg. Suwarna had a higher gross margin (NRs 41,112.07) than Devtal (NRs 29,661.85). Suwarna also showed a higher BCR (1.62) than Devtal (1.44), though the difference wasn’t statistically significant. Influential factors in Suwarna included seed, tillage, and pesticide costs, with an R² value of 0.875. In Devtal, seed, labor, organic manure, and threshing costs were significant, with an R² of 0.871. Both RMs showed increasing returns to scale (1.207 in Suwarna, 1.190 in Devtal). The dominant marketing channel was producer-local collector-wholesaler-mills-consumer. Common production constraints were fertilizer availability and seed quality.