FINANCIAL PROFITABILITY AND TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF CHILI CULTIVATION IN SOME SELECTED AREAS OF SYLHET DISTRICT OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

The study was planned to measure the financial profitability and technical efficiency of chili cultivators in selected Jaintapur, Gowainghat and Kanaighat upazila of Sylhet district. From 70 farmers, primary data has been gathered randomly during November to December. Both tabular and functional analyses were offered in this study. The study proved that chili cultivation is profitable. The total cost of cultivation was Tk. 426736 per hectare. Gross returns were Tk. 785343.93 per hectare and net returns were Tk. 358607.93 per hectare. Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) was 1.84 which reveals that one taka investment in chili cultivation generated Tk. 1.84. The Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function was used for this study to determine the technical efficiency of chili growers. The coefficients of parameters like human labor, fertilizers, and insecticides were positive where human labor and fertilizers are not significant but insecticides are significant and indicated a positive effect on chili cultivation. Seed and irrigation were negative and significant noted that negative effect on chili cultivation. Technical inefficiency effects the model, experience, farm size, extension have negative coefficients defining that this helps in deducting the technical inefficiency of chili farmers. The study also identified some issues like an insect- pests and diseases, use of fertilizer and pesticide, dearth of high yielding variety of seed mainly experienced by the chili cultivators and proposed some recommendations to enhance the present cultivation so that per hectare cultivation of chili would possibly be increased.