A Study on the Production and Marketing of Horticulture Crops in Nagapattinam District – Tamil Nadu

Agriculture is the backbone of our Indian economy. Agricultural development is a precondition of our national prosperity. It is the main source of earning livelihood of the people. Nearly, two-thirds of its population depends directly on agriculture. Agriculture provides direct employment to 70 per cent of working people in the country. It is the main stay of India's economy. So, it is very important to study about various aspects of horticultural crops cultivation. Horticultural crops cultivation is to improve the standard of living and the capacity of people to spend for food, housing, clothing, education, medicine and the other amenities of life. In Tamil Nadu, Nagapattinam district is one of the major area that produce and sell the horticulture products among other horticulture crop producing states in India. The review of various studies shows that earning potential in crop cultivation is high. But, the growers are not interested in cultivating the crops as they face a large number of marketing problem. In order to understand and analyze these problem, this study examines the production and marketing practices of horticulture crops growers, marketing cost, margin, price spread and marketing efficiency of horticulture products in Nagapattinam district.