Economic analysis of fruit drop in sweet orange in Nagpur district

Introduction

Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) is an economically important fruit crop cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical regions. India is among the major producers of sweet orange, with Maharashtra being one of the important producing states. The Vidarbha region, particularly Nagpur district, is a major sweet orange-growing area where the crop contributes significantly to farmers' income and livelihoods (FAOSTAT, 2024; NHB, 2023). In India, total area under sweet orange in 2024-25 was 239 thousand ha with production 4013 thousand MT and the productivity of sweet orange in india was 16.78 MT/ha. (2 nd Advance Estimates, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India, 2024-25) In the year 2024-25 area under sweet orange cultivation in Maharashtra state was 79.39 thousand ha with production 965.18 thousand MT and the productivity was 12.15 MT/ha. (2 nd Advance Estimates, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India, 2024-25) Fruit drop is one of the major constraints in sweet orange production. Although some fruit drop is a natural physiological process, excessive fruit shedding at different stages can cause substantial yield and economic losses. It is influenced by several biotic and abiotic factors, including moisture stress, high temperature, nutrient imbalance, insect pests and diseases (Bishnoi et al., 2023) [7] . Therefore, effective management of fruit drop is important for improving yield, fruit quality and profitability of sweet orange cultivation. Several Standard Operating Practices (SOPs) have been recommended by Dr. PDKV, Akola for managing fruit drop; however, the extent of their adoption and their effect on production and economic losses at the farm level need to be investigated with the following objectives. 1. To identify the major biotic and abiotic factors of fruit drop. 2. To analyse the economic losses at level of adoption of Standard Operating 3. Practices (SOP).

To identify the constraints for non-adoption of Standard

Operating Practices (SOP) released by Dr. PDKV, Akola.

Material and Methods

Nagpur district has favourable climatic conditions for growing sweet orange; therefore, the district was purposively selected for the study due to its concentration of sweet orange production. Out of fourteen tehsils of Nagpur district, four tehsils, namely Narkhed, Katol, Saoner and Kalmeshwar, were selected for the study on the basis of the potential area under sweet orange cultivation. From each selected tehsil, three villages were selected for the present study; hence, a total of twelve villages were selected.

For the present study, based on the level of adoption of Standard Operating Practices recommended by Dr. PDKV, Akola, for reducing fruit drop, 60 growers who had adopted the recommended Standard Operating Practices and 60 growers who had not adopted the recommended Standard Operating Practices were selected. From each selected village, ten sweet orange growers were selected; therefore, a total of 120 growers were selected for the present study from Nagpur district. To accomplish the objectives, primary data were collected from the selected sweet orange growers using a specially designed schedule through personal interview method. Information regarding fruit drop due to abiotic and biotic factors, as well as the adoption of Standard Operating Practices (SOPs) used to reduce fruit drop, was collected. The data pertaining to the Ambia bahar of sweet orange for the year 2024-25 were collected. The collected data, was analysed and presented in tabular form with the help of averages, percentages, etc. For identification of constraints, frequency distribution, percentages and a simple ranking method were used.

Estimation of economic and production losses due to fruit drop

Following tools were used (Ashraf et al., 2012) 1. Percent loss of income was estimated by following formula:

(total income per hectare-Loss of income per hecare)

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒 × 100 ) × 100 [7] , and Datir et al. (2023) [9] . It is observed from Table 2 that abiotic factors were the most widely reported causes of fruit drop, with 100.00 per cent of the growers identifying high rainfall and high humidity and high temperature/sudden changes in temperature as major contributing factors. Other notable abiotic factors included water stress and drought conditions 57.50 per cent, windstorms 37.50 per cent, and cold and fog 35.00 per cent. Among the biotic factors, citrus psylla 54.17 per cent and fruit fly 50.83 per cent were the major insect pests, while gummosis 63.33 per cent and brown rot 47.50 per cent were the major diseases reported by the growers. The major management-related factors included nutrient deficiency 55.00 per cent, followed by the time of application of pesticides and fungicides 47.50 per cent and type of irrigation 44.17 per cent. The results highlight the need for improved pest and disease management, along with timely and balanced cultural practices to minimize fruit drop in sweet orange. [13] , who conducted a comparative study on fruit drop losses and adoption barriers in mandarin. [11] and Meena et al. (2017) [10] .

Results and Discussion

Conclusion

Based on results obtained from the study, following conclusions are drawn. The major abiotic factors responsible for fruit drop in sweet orange were high rainfall and humidity, high temperature and sudden changes in temperature, windstorms, water stress and drought conditions, and cold and fog. The biotic factors were categorized into entomological and pathological factors, while management-related factors included nutrient deficiency, type of irrigation, timing of application of pesticides and fungicides, timing of application of FYM and NPK, and over-ripening of fruits.

The findings revealed that adopters experienced lower production and economic losses due to fruit drop than nonadopters. Adopters recorded a production loss of 7.08 quintals per hectare and an economic loss of Rs15,806.14 per hectarec, whereas non-adopters experienced higher losses of 17.39 quintals per hectare and Rs 41,717.83 per hectare, respectively. Among adopters, biotic factors contributed the highest share of production losses, followed by abiotic and management-related factors, while abiotic factors were the major contributors among non-adopters. Adoption of recommended Standard Operating Practices to control fruit drop reduce production losses by 59.34 per cent and economic losses by 62.12 per cent, while increasing productivity 19.96 per cent in sweet orange cultivation. These improvements highlight the critical role of recommended practices in minimizing fruit drop and enhancing growers yield and income. The major constraints limiting the adoption of recommended practices among sweet orange growers were lack of full awareness 91.66 per cent, unavailability of regular advisory services 85.00 per cent, and high adoption costs 73.33 per cent, followed by climatic challenges 66.66 per cent and problems in the identification of diseases and pests 48.33 per cent.

References

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