Green Global
Foundation   Journal
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A COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF OKRA AND BITTER GOURD PRODUCTION IN MYMENSINGH DISTRICT OF BANGLADESH (Pages : 10 - 14)

The present study was designed to assess the relative economic performance of two summer vegetables, namely okra and bitter gourd. In total, 60 farmers (30 from each of the okra and bitter gourd growing farmers) were randomly selected from the villages, namely Baira and Ujankashiar char under Sadar upazila of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. Descriptive statistics, profitability analysis and Cobb-Douglas production function were employed to achieve the specific objectives of the study. The major findings of the study revealed that production of the two selected vegetables were profitable. However, okra production was found to be more profitable than that of bitter gourd. Per hectare gross costs of production of okra and bitter gourd were Taka 1,24,992 and Tk. 1,47,126, respectively and the corresponding gross returns were Tk. 2,15,010 and Tk. 2,32,000, respectively. Per hectare net returns of producing okra and bitter gourd were found to be Tk. 90,018 and Tk. 84,874, respectively. The results of Cobb-Douglas production function indicated that per hectare gross returns of okra and bitter gourd were significantly influenced by the use of human labour, tillage operation, seed, fertilizers, irrigation and insecticides. Based on the findings of the study, it was suggested to improve cultural and management practices of the selected vegetables farming with a view to increasing income and employment opportunity of the farmers. Thus, the rural farmers can improve their economic livelihood by cultivating both okra and bitter gourd.Download