Economic Analysis of Groundnut Cultivation on the Basis of Gross Margin: A Case Study of Pothwar Region in Punjab Pakistan

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a major cash crop of the Pothwar region. Different research had been carried out for the promotion and commercialization of groundnut. However, this study is formulated to compare the per acre gross margin, per acre yield, and area under cultivation of three different districts of Punjab i.e. Chakwal, Talagang, and Attock. Data is collected from 43 farmers of three districts of the Pothwar region i.e. Talagang, Chakwal, and Attock through a well-structured questionnaire Performa. In this study, we also economically analyzed the BARI-2016 variety of groundnut crop on the basis of financial metrics like return on investment, Net farm income, and benefit-cost ratio. Similarly, the main focus of this study was to compare the gross margin of the BARI-2016 variety to the Desi variety of the groundnut crop. For varietal gross margin comparison, this study employed the paired sample t-test technique. Descriptive statistics results showed that Chakwal's district per acre yield and gross margin are higher than other two districts. Financial matrices results directed that BARI-2016 variety has much potential for farmers with highest benefit-cost ratio. However, paired sample t-test results indicated that there is a significant difference between the per acre gross margin of the BARI-2016 and Desi variety. And the BARI-2016 variety's gross margin is higher as compared to the conventional Desi variety. Based on the findings, thereby farmers should adopt to cultivate new approved varieties of groundnut along with new production techniques to increase their per acre yield and gross margin which in turn will boost their level of income.