Production and Marketing of Off-Season Vegetables in Himachal Pradesh

The present study was conducted in Chhota Bhangal, one of the remotest area of district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. Since the region has vast potential for production and marketing of off-season vegetables. A two-stage random sampling technique was employed for the selection of 10 vegetable growing villages and the 60 growers from selected villages through proportional allocation method in the second and final stage of sampling. The findings of the study revealed that the total production on an average farm was highest for cabbage (57.53 q/household) followed by cauliflower (15.11 q/household). The plastic net bags, gunny bags and corrugated boxes were used as the packaging material for most of the vegetables. Channel I (Producer Local trader Commission agent-cum-wholesaler Retailer Consumer) was the most important channel for all the cole vegetable crops. In case of problems relating to production of vegetables, high incidence of pest and diseases was reported top most problems by the farmers. In case of problems relating to marketing of produce, unfavorable price received by producers was the most prominent problem recorded at first place using Garrett's mean score of 70.70 on an all farm situation.