Journal of Analysis and Computation (JAC) (An International Peer Reviewed Journal), www.ijaconline.com, ISSN 0973-2861 International Conference on Transformation of Business, Management, Economy in Digital Era.

AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

P. Sahaya Princy Research Scholar, Department of Commerce Kamaraj University, Madurai, ,

Dr. S.Hasan Banu Associate Professor, Department of Commerce Hajee Karutha Rowther Howdia College. Uthamapalayam, Tamil Nadu, India ABSTRACT Agriculture, which is considered the backbone of the Indian economy, has taken a back seat due to the apathy of government policies in the last two decades. The percentage of cultivable land has come down. The economic development of a country depends on the development of the agriculture sector in which the majority of its people have been engaged for quite a long time. Cultivation of betel vine is affected by many diseases and insects that results in great loss for the farmers. The agro-economical factors limiting the production were, no loan facility, no insurance, no subsidy for natural calamities, heavy investment, high labour cost etc., However, all the agronomic requirements may vary from place-to-place, variety-to- variety, season-to-season and due to several other factors but the scientific data pertaining to these factors are scarce. Therefore, the relevant information particularly, on climatic and agronomic requirements of the crop for a particular production system is required to be worked out through in-depth research. The crop is usually cultivated by the poor farmer generation after generation following the traditional methods. An effective extension work is required to be initiated to disseminate these research findings to the farmers so that they can maximize production, minimize cost of cultivation and also eliminate the risk of frequent devastation of the entire crop by the insect pests and diseases, particularly the latter ones

INTRODUCTION

The deep green heart shaped leaves of betel vine are popularly known as Paan in India. It is also known as Nagaballi, Nagurvel, Saptaseera, Sompatra, Tamalapaku, Tambul, Tambuli, Vaksha Patra, Vettilai, Voojangalata etc in different parts of the country. The scientific name of betel vine is Piper betle L. It belongs to the family Piperaceae, i.e. the Black Pepper family. The vine is a dioecious (male and female plants are different), shade loving perennial root climber. There are about 100 varieties of betel vine in the world, of which about 40 are found in India and 30 in West Bengal. The most probable place of origin of betel vine is Malaysia In spite of its alienness, the plant is much more popular in India than in any other country of the world since the antiquity. This would be evident from the numerous citations laid down in

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 1 AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

the ancient literature, particularly the Indian scriptures. In these citations, significance of the leaves has been explained in relation to every sphere of human life including social, cultural, religious and even day- to-day life, which is very much relevant even these days. For example, a well-prepared betel quid is still regarded as an excellent mouth freshener and mild vitalizer, routinely served on the social, cultural and religious occasions like marriage, Puja (religious festivals), Sraddha ceremony (religious function performed after cremation) etc. It is also used as a special item offered to the guests in order to show respect and for such traditional use of betel leaf in the Indian society, the leaf really stands alone without any parallel even today. In fact, this edible leaf has achieved an esteemed position in the human society right from the dawn of civilization, particularly in the countries like Bangladesh, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc., where leaves are traditionally used for chewing in their natural raw condition along with many other ingredients like sliced areca nut, slaked lime, coriander, aniseed, clove, cardamom, sweetener, coconut scrapings, ashes of diamond, pearl, gold and silver (Ayurvedic preparations), jelly, pepper mint, flavouring agent, fruit pulp etc.

AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

The betel vines (usually the male plants) are cultivated throughout India except the dry North western parts. Further, the female plants also rarely produce any flower or fruit in the Indian climate. In spite of that the vines are cultivated for harvesting the heart shaped green leaves. It grows best under the shaded, tropical forest ecological conditions with a rain fall of about 2250-4750 mm, relative humidity and temperature ranging from 40-80% and 15-40°C, respectively. A well-drained fertile sandy or sandy loam or sandy clay soil with pH range of 5.6 –8.2 is considered suitable for its cultivation. However, in the areas with lower rainfall (1500- 1700 mm) the crop is cultivated with small and frequent irrigations, i.e. every day in summer and every 3-4 days in winter, whereas adequate drainage is required during the rainy season. The vine is raised by vegetative propagation from the cuttings under partially shaded and humid environment under the agathi plants wherein the vines are grown on elevated beds imitating the natural ecological conditions suitable to the crop. However, height of the beds goes on increasing due to frequent earthing of the vines. Further, the cuttings from 3-5 years old vines are planted in the furrows (8- 10 cm deep) of sterilized soil with spacing of 50- 60 cm X 10-20 cm during rainy or autumn season. The vine is a highly labour intensive crop and a voracious feeder of nutrients requiring about 400- 600 Kg N/ha, 200- 300 Kg P2O5/ha and 200-250 Kg K2O/ha, which are supplied only through the organic sources, normally the oil cakes, but in some places chemical fertilizer like urea is also being used sparingly now a days. On the contrary, plant protection- chemicals are used in a larger scale because the crop is very susceptible to insect pests and diseases, particularly the latter ones. In fact, the crop requires special care for its cultivation like sterilization of soil, which is achieved mainly by solarization. Further, fungicides like Bordeaux mixture (0.5-1.0%) and Bavistin (0.1%) and the insecticides like Malathion (0.05%) and Endosulphan (0.05%) are extensively sprayed on the leaves to control the diseases and insect pests, respectively. However, all the agronomic requirements may vary from place-to-place, variety-to-variety, season-to-season and due to several other factors but the scientific data pertaining to these factors are scarce. Therefore, the relevant information particularly, on the edaphic, climatic and agronomic requirements of the crop for a particular production system is required to be worked out through in-depth research. The crop is usually cultivated by the poor farmers generation after generation following the

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 2 Journal of Analysis and Computation (JAC) (An International Peer Reviewed Journal), www.ijaconline.com, ISSN 0973-2861 International Conference on Transformation of Business, Management, Economy in Digital Era. traditional methods. However, the scientific methods are also slowly penetrating the system by the virtue of the research work carried out under the “All India Coordinated Research Project On Betelvine” sponsored by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. This would be evident from the Annual Reports, bulletins and research papers published by the scientists of the different centres of this project located in different places in the country. However, an effective extension work is required to be initiated to disseminate these research findings to the farmers so that they can maximize production, minimize cost of cultivation and also eliminate the risk of frequent devastation of the entire crop by the insect pests and diseases, particularly the latter ones. The figures may vary due to several factors like agro- climate, location of the farm, variety, demand and supply, season, variation in price of the leaves (which may vary significantly in the evening compared to morning), inflation etc. Such wild and unwarranted fluctuation in price of betel leaves may discourage cultivation of the crop and endanger the economic stability of the farmers. This may be safeguarded by evolving a well regulated marketing system for which research work particularly, on the marketing systems and intelligence and allied aspects relevant to the crop are required to be initiated. It is very interesting to note that in spite of such a high input requirement of the crop it’s cultivation is quite affordable even to the small farmers as because it can be successfully cultivated in a very small area, as small as three decimals. Such a small area may be termed as a household bank since the leaves can be plucked and sold straight in the market as and when hard cash is required. Further, since the leaves mature within 15-30 days therefore, 1-4 harvestings are normally done every month. Thus, cultivation of betel vines provide a continuous source of income to the farming family unlike the major crops, which provide income only once in a year or so. That apart, most of the major crops require some sorts of post-harvest processing for making the produce marketable but the betel leaves do not require any such processing at all. Moreover, the leaves may also be retained on the vines for about six months without any visual signs and symptoms of deterioration. This again provides an opportunity to escape the dull markets but the total production may get affected. Interestingly, the annual yield of a good crop is about 60-70 leaves/ plant and 6-7 million leaves/ ha.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The betel leaf plays a vital role in the Indian culture especially in traditional ceremonies such as offering money to the temple priests and exchanging betel leaves during family functions such as betrothal.It is an evergreen and perennial creeper which xis planted widely in India. No doubt, it increases the National economy and provides employment opportunity directly and indirectly to several people in rural areas. The origin of the well known Tamil phrase -” Thenur vethalai, Manoor sunnaambu”(Betel leaf from Thenur, Lime from Manoor) indicates the popularity of betel leaf grown in Thenur. The betel leaves from Thenur are sent to Alagarkoil for Lord Sundararaja Perumal. Farmers used to exclusively cultivate betel leaves. But owing to water scarcity and farmers shifting to other vocation have resulted in a drastic decrease in cultivation of betel leaves here. In this same area, a few farmers who cultivated other crops still dedicated a small space of their farm land for the cultivation of betel leaves, which they send to Kallalagar temple as per tradition. It is also believed that Europeans came to the village in the past to purchase betel

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 3 AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

leaf from them as it was believed to be the best in the region. The marketing of betel leaf has come down to a great extent due to decline in rain and migration of labour and the bad opinion among the people that chewing betel leaves with other ingredients like panparag can cause cancer. Cultural changes have also resulted in the decline of betel leaf usage among the younger generation. The above - mentioned reasons resulted in the decline of betel leaf consumption and in turn betel leaf cultivation by the farmers. These reasons induce the researcher to analyse the problems faced by the cultivators in marketing the betel leaf. Profile of the Study Area The study area of the research is Taluk of Madurai District. The City of Madurai lies on the flat and fertile plain of the river Vaigai, which runs in the Northwest-South east direction through the city, dividing it into two almost equal halves. The land in and around Madurai is utilized mainly for agricultural activity, which is fostered by the Periyar Dam. Madurai lies Southeast of the Western Ghats, and the surrounding region occupies the plains of South India and contains several mountain spurs. Paddy is the major crop, followed by pulses, millet, oil seed, cotton and sugarcane. Sholavandan taluk is an import taluk of Madurai District. Sholavandan lies on the left bank of the river Vaigai. It can be stated to be lying in some sort of a valley – between the Nagamalai hills and the Sirumalai. Sholavandan is also the name of the forest range under Madurai division. Due to the fertility of the soil and availability of Vaigai Water various types of crops, like rice, sugarcane, banana, coconut plantations and betel leaves are cultivated throughout the year. According to Madurai people Sholavandan is a small “coconut island”.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. To analyze the cost incurred in the production of betel leaf. 2.To give suggestions to improve the production and sales of betel leaf.

TABLE.1 Various Cost Components of Betel Vine Cultivation in the sampled Villages of Sholavandan Per Acre Cost (in Rs)

Sl. Mannadi Ayyanar Particulars Mullipallam TherkuTheru KallarTheru Average No. mangalam KovilTheru Operational

or Variable Rs Rs Rs Rs Rs Rs A. Cost Land 1. 35,617 27,857 66,090 42,375 69,050 48,197.80 Preparation Agathi Seed + 2. 13,852 13,678 15,045 16,800 18,150 15,505.00 Sewing Vine 3. 1,37,382 76,857 1,13,045 1,06,900 99,500 1,06,736.80 transplanting Fertilizer 4. 64,117 26,285 1,20,727 1,40,175 1,41,975 98,655.80 application Pesticides 5. 1,03,617 55,642 99,250 1,68,450 82,294 1,01,850.60 application

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 4 Journal of Analysis and Computation (JAC) (An International Peer Reviewed Journal), www.ijaconline.com, ISSN 0973-2861 International Conference on Transformation of Business, Management, Economy in Digital Era.

Irrigation 6. 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 16,000 19,200.00 charges Inter-culturing 7. 5,19,882 3,06,928 9,58,500 5,56,050 2,38,700 5,16,012.00 Operation Harvesting of 8. 3,16,941 2,70,000 2,73,272 3,13,000 2,76,000 2,89,842.60 the crop Packing, 9. Marketing, 2,60,832 1,42,236 2,03,840 2,19,840 1,78,360 2,01,021.60 Maintenance All Variable 10. Cost 14,72,240 9,39,483 18,69,769 15,83,590 11,20,029 13,97,022.20 (Sub-Total) A B. Fixed Cost Rental Value 11. 52,941 40,000 54,545 58,000 44,500 49,997 of Land Sum of Cost 12. 15,25,181 9,79,483 19,24,314 16,41,590 11,64,529 14,47,019.40 A + B Source: Primary data

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Designing a suitable methodology and selection of analytical tools are important for a meaningful analysis of any research problem. The section is devoted for the description of the methodology, which includes the choice of the study area, sampling techniques, the period of study, the collection of data, the method of analysis and tools of analysis. The data collection was carried out through personal interview using well-structured and pre-tested interview schedules. Interview schedules were prepared to collect the details from farmer. The secondary data have been collected through the general information related to the district such as total population, land utilization pattern, operational land holdings, soil type, cropping pattern, agro climatic conditions; rainfall and irrigation sources were collected from the Assistant Director of Statistics, revenue offices, Assistant Director of Agriculture and also from various Government publications and other published sources.

SAMPLING DESIGN Nearly 2000 farmers are engaged in cultivating betel leaf in this area. So the researcher proposes to select 25% of farmers for the study which aims at analyzing the cultivation methods and the problems faced by the farmers in production and marketing of the betel leaf in the study area. Proportionate probability convenient sampling method was used to select the respondents. So a total of 500 respondents have been selected for the research purpose. In total 500 growers from five villages namely Mannadi Mangalam, Mulli Pallam, Therku Theru, Kallar Theru, and Ayyanar Kovil Theru were selected for in depth study. Tools for Data Collection

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 5 AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

The researcher used the interview schedule for analyzing the marketing problems of betel leaf farmers in the study area. Other relevant data relating to the study has been collected from books, journals, government agencies and used as secondary data. Analysis The marketing problems relating to market of Betel leaves in the study area were analyzed with the statistical tools of Garret Ranking.

The per acre variable cost, on an average amounted to Rs.13,97,022.20 which was worked out to be 96.54 per cent of the total cost in cultivation of betel vine. The per acre expenditure on fixed cost on an average amounted to Rs.49,997 which was worked out to be 3.45 per cent of the total cost of cultivation. The sum of variable and fixed costs on an average, amounted to Rs.14,47,019 per acre. The village wise expenditure on cultivation indicates that in all the five sampled villages per acre cost varied with the situational variations of the villages. Expenditure on inter-culturing was highest in respect of all other expenditures, because it required various materials and a large number of labours. It can be listed as follows: 1. Periodical tying the vines with the standards, 30 times. 2. Cost of Fiber for tying the poles and vines 3. I scarf folding 4. II scarf folding 5. Cost of poles 6. Tying rope 7. Coiling the vines 2 times 8. Wand cost Keeping the plantation free from weeds, its immediate removal is necessary. After this activity, lowering of vine is done. The main aim of this practice is to give earth to the vines lying on the soil surface. Therefore, shattering is done with the help of supporting materials. Auxiliary branches are removed from the main vine regularly in monsoon season. This type of activities, generally increase the cost of inter-culturing. So, this inter-culturing is the first highest cost, in cultivation of betel vine. Expenditure on harvesting of the betel vine crop is found second highest amount of expenditure. The higher cost of harvesting may be due to its performance, by human labour and this practice requires a large number of labours. And this harvesting is done by picking the leaves periodically at regular intervals, throughout the year. The third highest amount of expenditure on cultivation of betel vine is packing maintenance, marketing, commission, transport. After harvesting, in this stage, the picked leaves are packed, maintained, marketed, and transported, for sales. The cost is high because, it is also a labour intensive job. The fourth highest amount of expenditure is vine transplanting. This operation Constituting a higher amount of expenditure because it is the most important Operation and highly labour intensive. The expenditure on pesticide application varied from village to village. There are numerous insecticides for the pests in the market. But pesticides are used when there is an outbreak of a pest attack. The expenditure on fertilizer application varied from village to village. The higher expenditure was borne by Villages III, IV, V. It is due to differ in their location making differences in cost of transportation. Immediately after land preparation, agathi seed sowing is done. Because, only after agathi plants are grown, the betel vine plants can be planted, for cultivation. Since, the betel vine is a shade loving

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 6 Journal of Analysis and Computation (JAC) (An International Peer Reviewed Journal), www.ijaconline.com, ISSN 0973-2861 International Conference on Transformation of Business, Management, Economy in Digital Era. plant, and it requires, high humidity and mild temperature for their growth. So it is always grown under the support of agathi plants. In fact, agathi plants are actually securing and supporting betel vine plants. Betel vine crop is mostly cultivated under irrigated condition in all the sample villages. Thus, irrigation was an important cost item in the cultivation of betel vine. But in case of villages I, II, III, IV the irrigation charges remaining the same, as Rs.20,000. In all the five sampled villages, irrigation is done through bore well. TABLE 2 Operation-wise Labour Utilisation in Sampled Villages (Cost) Operation-wise Employment Pattern of Betel Vine Cultivation (Per Acre) Ayyanar Mannadi Sl. Mullipalla TherkuTher KallarTher KovilTher mangala Average No Particulars m u u u m Rs . Rs Rs Rs Rs Rs

1. Land 22,794 15,857 22,409 22,875 30,050 22,797 Preparation 2. Agathi 6,397 7,714 7,909 9,900 9,450 8,274 Sowing 3. Lowering 11,029 12,000 52,272 19,125 39,000 Agathi 26,685.2 4. Vine

Transplantin 27,794 9,000 17,363 33,400 30,750 23,661.4 g 5. Fertilizer 12,000 12,000 40,045 48,775 10,170 24,598 Application 6. Pesticides 20,411 23,214 40,250 61,250 46,034 application 38,231.8 7. Inter- 4,59,028. 4,86,058 3,00,000 7,48,636 5,42,350 2,18,100 culturing 8 8. 2,90,477. Harvesting 3,20,117 2,70,000 2,73,272 3,13,000 2,76,000 8 Total 9,06,600 6,49,785 12,02,156 10,50,675 6,59,554 8,93,754 Labour Use

Source: Primary data

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 7 AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

As mentioned earlier Inter-culturing is the first and foremost important operation which requires a high amount of labour charges , indicated in table no.2 as Rs.4,59,028.8 on an average basis . So the Betel vine grower have to pay a lot of amount of labourcharges at the time of inter-culturing. Inter – culturing and Harvesting are the two main operations which requires a heavy cost to pay to the labourers. Apart from this the betel vine growers are also need to pay to the labourers for Land Preparation,Agathi Sowing, Lowering Agathi, Vine Transplanting, Fertilizer Application and Pesticides application.

AGRICULTURAL WAGES IN SAMPLED VILLAGES It was observed in field survey that in all the five sampled villages, the engagement of family labour was not higher in the total supply of labour. Only a limited number of family members engaged in the cultivation of betel vine. It was also observed that under betel vine cultivation only male and female labours were commonly employed and no child labour has been included in this field work. The nature of work of the male and female labours were different. The male labours were generally employed for hard work, i.e., land preparation, pit digging, leveling the beds, strengthen the beds by applying mud and inter- culturing works etc., While female labourers were generally employed for light hard work in comparison to their male counterparts i.e., 1st scaffolding, 2nd scaffolding , harvesting, packing, grading etc.,. In Mannadi Mangalam, Mulli Pallam, Therku Theru, Kallar Theru the average rate of wage was recorded at Rs.300 for male labour and Rs.150 for female labour per day. In Ayyanar Kovil Theru , the average rate of wage was recorded at Rs.250 for male and Rs.150 for female labour. TABLE.3 Operation-wise Labour Utilisation in Sampled Villages (Numbers)

Sl. Mannadi Ayyanar Particulars Mullipallam TherkuTheru KallarTheru Average No. mangalam KovilTheru

Land 1. 75 53 79 73 109 77.8 Preparation Agathi 2. 32 26 27 98 33 43.2 Sowing Lowering 3. 56 50 188 65 150 101.8 Agathi

Vine 4. 100 30 61 73 105 73.8 Transplanting

Fertilizer 5. 68 50 174 280 49 124.2 Application Pesticides 6. 37 40 148 203 159 117.4 application

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Inter- 7. 1665 1240 2954 2241 780 1776 culturing

8. Harvesting 60 80 80 70 60 70 Total Labour 2093 1569 3711 3103 1445 2384.2 Used Source: Primary data

TABLE .4 General Problems Sl. Total Problems % Rank No. Score 1. Non-availability of loan facility 36,295 72.59 1 2. No research center nearby 33,205 66.41 2

3. No insurance for betel vine crop 30,330 60.66 3

4. No subsidy loss of natural calamities 27,005 54.01 4

5. High labour cost 26,655 53.31 5

Lack of effort to neutralize cancer 6 25,040 50.08 6 propaganda on betel leaf 7. Heavy investment 21505 43.01 7

8. High cost of fertilizers and pesticides 18245 36.49 8 9. Non-availability of experienced labourers 17,420 34.84 9 10. Lack of availability of land 13,435 26.87 10

As seen from the table, non-availability of loan facility was ranked by the respondents as the most pressing problem among general problems (72.59%). The betel crop required heavy capital investment, from the beginning, till the end. So credit availability attracts the attention of the cultivators more. During the course of investigation, it was reported that in all the sampled villages, not a single sample grower obtained a crop loan from the government or institutional agencies for cultivation of this crop. Majority of the respondents reported that they obtained loans for cultivating this crop from non-institutional agencies, such as traders, middlemen, neighbor, friends and others who exploit them by charging high interests or offering low, prices for their products after harvesting. Most of the middlemen and traders, who provide

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 9 AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

loans to the growers against the advanced sale of their products, usually offer a price much below the prevalent market price. Such a practice is determintal to their economic interest. As per the table, the second rank was (66.41%) given to the problem of no research center nearby. Most of the farmers, have reported that soil is the important constraint in producing betel vine. In the study area soil is not at good condition at present. So to improve the quality of soil, a research centre is needed. And also, the growers are not aware of the pests, insects, diseases, and fertilizers to be used in the field. So research centre is very essential, element to develop the betel vine production. According to the ranking, (60.66%), third place was given to the problem of no insurance for betel vine crop. It is to be noted that despite being a highly vulnerable crop, there is no insurance facility available for the crop. As per the table, the fourth rank was given to the (54.01%) problem of no subsidy loss of natural calamities. If there is flood, heavy rain, new diseases, affect the plants, and because of that heavy loss occurs, the growers have to suffer, bear the loss. No subsidies are available to them from the government. As per the table, the fifth rank (53.31) was given to the problem of high labour cost. As per the table, sixth rank (50.08%) was given to the lack of effort to neutralize cancer propaganda on betel leaf.

The seventh rank was given to the problem of (43.01%), to the problem of heavy investment. In betel vine cultivation, from the beginning till the end, it requires heavy investment. And year after year the expenses are increasing. And also no loan or credit facilities are given to them from the part of the government. So they have to borrow from outsiders for high interest. . The eighth rank (36.49%) was given to the problem of High cost of fertilizers and pesticides. The growers in the sample area are following the suggestions given by the local sellers of fertilizers and pesticides. And the growers spend a huge amount in this regard The ninth rank was (34.84%) given to the problem of non-availability of experienced labourers. . The tenth rank was given to the problem of of lack of availability of land (26.87%). Suggestions 1. At present more than 90 per cent of betel vine cultivators are engaged in betel vine cultivation under lease land basis. As the land does not belong to them, the Commercial Banks and Primary Agricultural Co-operative banks refuse to sanction credit for the betel vine cultivators. The Government should take necessary steps to issue crop loan for betel vine growers through Commercial Banks and Primary Agricultural Co-operative Banks at concessional rate of interest so as to protect this sector of people and their employment. 2. Betel leaves should also be included in the list of priority crops and be covered under Crop Insurance claim. No Crop Insurance facility is available for raising betelvine product. In order to safeguard the produce, necessary steps should be taken by the Government to offer Insurance coverage for betelvine crop also. 3. A research centre is the utmost necessity to safeguard the betel vine crop from diseases and to get market information about the product. But in Sholavandan and in Madurai, up to this time no such research centre is started. 4. The foreign exchange earning potentiality of this crop may be improved through proper research on export systems and intelligence besides modulation of the export-policy decisions. 5. There is a wrong propaganda about the use of betel leaves among the people in rural areas that it will result in cancer. Therefore the Government should take proper effort to neutralize cancer propaganda on betel leaf.

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6. The input cost of fertilizer,pesticides,chemicals, manure etc., are increasing to an extent of 20 to 30 percent every year. It is utmost necessity to protect the industry by the Government by offering inputs at subsidized price. Sometimes the fertilizer price is going upto an extent of 100 to 150 percent due to hoarding practices of the traders during busy seasons. This practices should be checked and regulated by the Government.

CONCLUSION A well coordination between farmers, traders, scientists, administrators and policy makers must be initiated to boost up the national economy through proper exploration of this leaves. The central and state government should jointly take necessary steps to improve best management of betel farm activities and also establish a research and development board for awareness among betel growers. There is also no research based information on the effect of soil erosion due to weeding and cleaning around the betel vines. Periodic inspection of the farm is required to prevent diseases. Establishment of export promotion council is essential through which betel leaves can be exported to every corner of India and outside India. Awareness of plant protection practices to control pests and diseases are required. The government should take steps through NGOs and agencies to educate the farmers. Organized credit through commercial banks for the cultivation of betel vine would help the growers from depending on the credit from traders. To achieve good yield, selection of healthy plant materials are necessary. There is a definite need to select good quality material through new planting techniques with modern technology. The efficiency of the system can be improved by periodic inspection of the farm which is required to prevent the diseases. .

REFERENCES 1. Samantha, C: “A Report on the Problems and solutions of Betelvine Cultivation”. A Booklet published by Mr.H.R.Adhikari, C-2/16, Karunamoyee, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-64 (WB), India, 1994 2. Guha, P. and Jain R.K: Status Report on Production, Processing, and Marketing of Betel Leaf. (Piper Betel L.), Agricultural and Ford Engineering Department, IIT, Kharagpur, India, 1997. 3. Samantha, C. “A Report on the Problems and Solutions of Betel Vine Cultivation”. A Booklet Published by Mr.H.R.Adhikari, C-2/16, Karunamoyee, Salt Lake City, Kolkata – 64 (WV), India, 1994. 4. Chattopadhyay, S.B. and Maity, S: Diseases of Betelvine and Spices. ICAR, New Delhi, 1967. 5. Maity, S. Extension Bulletin. The Betelvine.All India Cooridinated Research Project on Betelvine.Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessarghatta, Bangalore, India, 1989. 6. Maity, R: “Economics, Commerce, and Problems of Betelvine Cultivations” … A Paper Presented in the “Seminar-cum-Workshop on Betel Leaf Marketing”, held at State Cashew Nut Farm, Directorate of Agricultural Marketing, Digha, Midnapur, (W.B.), India, June 5-6, 1996. 7. Guha, P. “Exploring Betel Leaves for Cottage Industry, pp.15-19.In Krishi.Khadya – O GraminBikashMela. A Booklet published by the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, 115, Kharagpur, India, 1997.

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 11 AGRONOMY AND AGRO-ECONOMICS OF BETEL LEAF PRODUCTION

8. Guha, P. Extraction of Essential Oil from Betel Leaves grown in and around Midnapur District, pp.15-23, In: Annual Report of All India Coordinated Research Project on Post Harvest Technology (ICAR), IIT, Kharagpur (Ed.) Food and Agricultural Engineering Department, IIT, Kharagpur, India. 2003. 9. Debnath, P.K.; Sengupta, K.; Sengupta, C.; Chatterjee, B.N, “Betelvine cultivation in West Bengal [India]”, Journal of Indian Farming, Vol. 35, No. 6, 1985, pp. 22-23. 10. A.K. Sarawgi and B.B. Beohar, “Production and Disposal Pattern of Betel Vine in Madhya Pradesh”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Marketing, Conference Special, 1999, p. 44.

Web Sources www.wikipedia.org www.enam.gov.in www.agrifarming.in www.dedellseeds.com

P. Sahaya Princy AND Dr. S.Hasan Banu 12