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Benefit-cost analysis of high tunnels: a case study of Fatehjang field station of NARC, Punjab-Pakistan

Author Affiliations

  • 1Social Sciences Research Institute, PARC-National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad

Res. J. Agriculture & Forestry Sci., Volume 10, Issue (2), Pages 19-24, April,8 (2022)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the benefit-cost ratio of two high tunnels at the project site of the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) in tehsil Fatehjang of Punjab, Pakistan. The two high tunnels were established in 2012 by the Climate, Energy and Water Research Institute (CEWRI) of NARC with the financial collaboration of ICARDA and USDA under the project of “Watershed Rehabilitation and Irrigation Technology Improvements”. The tunnels' finances are calculated on a per square foot basis and the costs and returns presented are based on farm data collected from two high tunnels during the growing season from September to March. Each high tunnel had a surface area of 1620ft2 (20ft wide by 81ft long) and a height of 12ft. The fixed and initial investment cost of each high tunnel was Rs.72150, and the vegetables cultivated for demonstration in both tunnels were tomatoes, sweet pepper, cucumber, and pumpkin. In tunnel-A (250 transplants of tomato and sweet pepper each) and in tunnel-B (150 transplants of cucumber and pumpkin each) were grown. The study found that tomato, sweet pepper, cucumber, and pumpkin output were 692kg, 410kg, 450kg, and 670kg, and total net revenues received from tunnel-A and tunnel-B were Rs. 56700 and Rs. 40300. Tunnels-A and B have cost-benefit ratios of 1.69 and 1.27, respectively. According to the findings, tunnel-A had higher returns than tunnel B due to higher per-plant yield, particularly in tomatoes, which is one of the more profitable crops in a high tunnel. The major causes of less produce were soaring frost, which smashed the vegetables in the early stages, marketing of produce, which reduced the profitability of both tunnels because only 10% of vegetable produce was sold out at the fruit and vegetable market, and technical incompetence of farmers at the project site all contributed to lower yields.

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