Journal of Global Agriculture and Ecology

Commercial horticultural nurseries play an important role in supplying quality planting material for landscaping, ornamental planting and horticultural production. However, establishing and operating nursery enterprises requires substantial investment in land, infrastructure, planting material, labour and other production inputs. Reliable information on the establishment costs, production costs and profitability of individual floricultural nursery products is therefore essential for assessing their economic viability. In Nagpur district, field-level evidence comparing the economics of major ornamental nursery products remains limited. The present study was undertaken to analyse the economics of selected floricultural nurseries in Nagpur district of Maharashtra, with specific emphasis on establishment costs and the costs and returns of selected nursery products. The study was conducted in Kalmeshwar and Katol tehsils of Nagpur district, covering 60 nursery owners. Primary data were collected through a structured interview schedule and analysed using suitable cost and return measures. The selected nursery crops included hibiscus, rose and bougainvillea. The results revealed that the total establishment cost was highest for rose at Rs. 27,99,943.71 per hectare, followed by hibiscus at Rs. 27,06,460.89 and bougainvillea at Rs. 25,57,468.46 per hectare. Land capital constituted the major component of establishment cost, accounting for 54.44 per cent in rose, 54.14 per cent in hibiscus and 55.64 per cent in bougainvillea. Transport vehicles and shade-net structures were the other major components of establishment investment. The per hectare total cost of production was Rs. 22,05,137.82 for hibiscus, Rs. 24,57,703.82 for rose and Rs. 19,75,503.82 for bougainvillea. Variable costs constituted the major share of total production cost, accounting for 88.03, 89.26 and 86.64 per cent for hibiscus, rose and bougainvillea, respectively. Pots and trays constituted the major variable cost component in all three crops. Rose generated the highest gross returns of Rs. 48,70,121.07 per hectare and net returns of Rs. 24,12,417.25, followed by hibiscus and bougainvillea. The benefit-cost ratio was highest for rose (1.98), followed by hibiscus (1.77) and bougainvillea (1.70). The findings indicate that rose was the most remunerative nursery product among the selected crops, while establishment expenditure was mainly influenced by land capital, transport facilities and protective structures.