Vol. 12, Special Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Anjali Tiwari and SK Srivastava

Abstract:
Plant protection has an indispensable role in modern agriculture. Absence of plant protection nullifies any positive effects of other inputs leading to heavy losses to the farmers. However, excessive use of these chemicals has its own perils; pollution of soil, air and water, alteration of the ecosystem, killing beneficial organisms to name a few. Tomato is an input intensive crop and input use greatly depends on the land holding of the farmer. The study was conducted in the plains of Nainital district of Uttarakhand. A total of 120 farmers (30 belonging to each farm size group) were selected for the study from the two selected blocks, viz. Haldwani and Kotabag. CACP cost concepts were used to estimate the cost of tomato cultivation. The cost of cultivation was found to increase with an increase in farm size. Medium and large farmers earned considerably higher returns as compared to small and marginal farmers. Per hectare cost of pant protection decreased with an increase in farm size.