Agricultural Economics Research Review

Vol. 24 July-December 2011 pp 345-350

Research Note

Economic Analysis of Menthol Mint Cultivation in Uttar

Pradesh: A Case Study of Barabanki District

Sanjay Kumar*, Ram Suresh, Virendra Singh and A. K. Singh

CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow - 226 015, Uttar Pradesh

Abstract
The present study has been carried out in the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh on economic analysis of
menthol mint cultivation in the year 2010. The economics has been worked out by comparing costs and
returns at different stages by the conventional method. The linear production function has been fitted to
evaluate the resources-use efficiency in the production of menthol mint. The study has shown that the
major portion of operational cost is shared by hired labour, interculture operations, distillation charges,
irrigation and machine / tractor charge. The overall benefit-cost ratio has been found to be 2.55, which
indicates a higher profit for farmers on less investment in mint cultivation. The independent variables like
human labour, machinery, manures and fertilizer, irrigation charges and intercultural operations have shown
a positive and significant impact on the returns of mentha crop in the study area. The major problems faced
by the farmers are high input cost, erratic supply of electricity, lack of adequate information, infrastructural
facilities, regulated markets and energy-efficient distillation units.

Key words: Menthol mint, Medicinal and aromatic plants, Mentha crop, Barabanki district, Economic
analysis

JEL Classification: Q 12, Q, 18

Introduction this crop is being cultivated are Badaun, Bareilly,

Sahajanpur, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Khiri, Barabanki and
Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are Ambedker Nagar. The estimated area and production
receiving considerable attention all over the world of menthol mint are given in Table 1.
because of their vast untapped economic potential,
especially in the use of herbal medicines (Kumar et The present study was specially focused on the
al., 2008a;b). The Mentha arvensis (menthol mint) is following aspects of the menthol mint cultivation: (a)
an important essential oil bearing plant and the l-menthol socio-economic status and resource structure of the
crystallized from the essential oil, de-mentholated oil farmers, (b) comparative economics of menthol mint
and specific terpene fractions thereof are widely used cultivation, and (c) production constraints and suitable
in food, flavour, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries policies for promotion of menthol mint cultivation.
(Singh et al., 2007). Menthol mint is cultivated in a
large area in the Indo-Gangetic Plains in the states of Methodology and Design of the Study
Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and For the study conducted during the year 2010, the
Bihar, with maximum area in Uttar Pradesh (Khanuja Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh was selected
et al., 2005). The major districts in Uttar Pradesh where purposively because of its highest area under menthol
mint cultivation. From the district, two blocks Dewa
* Author for correspondence, and Masauli and from these blocks, 60 farmers (30
Email: kumarsanjay74@yahoo.com from each block) were selected purposively. The
346 Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol. 24 July-December 2011

Table 1. Estimated area and production of menthol mint in [Equation (1)] was fitted to evaluate the resource-use
India during 1995 – 2009 efficiency in the production of menthol mint.
Year Approx. area Approx. production Y = aX1b 1 + X2b2 + X3b3 + X4b4 + ………….+ Xnbn
(ha) of mentha oil (tonnes) …(1)
1995 80000 7000 where,
1996 120000 9000 a = Intercept,
1997 170000 14000 X1 = Human labour (`/ha),
1998 133000 12000 X2 = Machine/Tractor hours (`/ha),
1999 125000 11000 X3 = Suckers / slip (`/ha),
2000 150000 14000 X4 = F.Y.M & fertilizer (`/ha),
2001 155000 14500 X5 = Irrigation (`/ha),
2002 150000 14000
X6 = Interculture (`/ha), and
2003 150000 15000
2004 150000 15000
X7 = Distillation charges (`/ha).
2005 160000 16000
2006 160000 16000 Results and Discussion
2007 170000 17000
Socio-economic and Resource Structure
2008 180000 18000
2009 160000 16000 Data from the selected farmers were collected and
Source: Singh and Khanuja (2007) analysed in respect of average family size, literacy
status, occupation, caste, average landholding size,
primary data were collected through personal interview cropping pattern, average farm assets and comparative
using a pre-tested questionnaire, while the secondary economics of menthol mint production and are
data were collected from the publication of government discussed below.
and other agencies. To study the economics of menthol The average family size was about 8.53 persons in
mint, simple cost accounting method was followed. The the Dewa block and 7.02 persons in the Masauli block
prices used in the analysis were average for the crop (Table 2). About 10.94 per cent population was found
harvesting period 2010. The linear production function to be illiterate in Dewa block as compared to 13.88 per

Table 2. Socio-economic and resource structure of mint farmers in Barabanki district

Particulars Dewa block Masauli block Average

Average family size (No.) 8.53 7.02 7.78

Literacy status family members (%)
Illiterates 10.94 13.88 12.41
Literates 89.06 81.12 85.09
Occupation (%)
Agriculture 66.67 76.92 71.80
Others (Dairy + Services) 33.33 23.08 28.21
Caste composition (%)
General 40.00 20.00 30.00
Other backward castes 40.00 63.33 51.67
Schedule castes 20.00 16.67 18.34
Average landholding (ha) 1.23 1.91 1.57
Cropping pattern in hectare (%)
Agricultural crops (paddy, wheat, etc.) 58.41 62.23 60.32
Aromatic crop (mentha) 41.59 37.77 39.68
Average farm assets (farm building, irrigation structure, 48223 103438 75830
tractor/equipment, distillation units) (`)
 Kumar et al. : Economic Analysis of Menthol Mint Cultivatin in Uttar Pradesh 347

Table 3. Cost structure of mentha cultivation in Barabanki district

(`/ha)
Particulars Dewa block Masauli block Average

Hired labour 3135 3396 3265

(19.86) (21.03) (20.45)
Machine/Tractor hours 1463 1266 1364
(9.27) (7.84) (8.55)
Seed/ slip 1255 1304 1279
(7.95) (8.07) (8.01)
Manure 1034 1206 1120
(6.55) (7.47) (7.01)
Fertilizers 1267 1238 1253
(8.03) (7.67) (7.85)
Irrigation 1563 1851 1707
(9.90) (11.46) (10.69)
Interculture 3088 3200 3144
(19.56) (19.82) (19.69)
Distillation charges 2087 1760 1924
(13.22) (10.90) (12.05)
Interest on working capital 894 925 909
(5.66) (5.73) (5.70)
Total cost 15787 16145 15966
(100.00) (100.00) (100.00)
Note: Figures within the parentheses are percentage to total

cent in Masauli block. More than two-third population operations (19.7%), distillation charges (12.0%) and
in the study area was solely dependent on agriculture irrigation (10.7%).
for livelihood. The average landholding size was found
to be 1.23 ha and 1.91 ha in Dewa and Masauli blocks, Economics of Mentha Cultivation
respectively. Menthol mint occupied an important The costs on and returns from mentha cultivation
position in the cropping pattern by representing about in both the blocks are presented in Table 4. The costs
40 per cent area during the year 2010. The major A1 & A2, B2 and C2 were found to be higher in Masauli
investment was made by the farmers on the farm asset than Dewa block. It was found that the farmers got
like tractor, farm equipments, irrigation facility and about 113 kg of mentha oil from crop in one hectare of
distillation units. land, which amounted to total return 56615 (Table 5).
The net return over cost A1 was more in the Dewa
Cost Structure of Mentha Cultivation block ( 43243 / ha) than Masauli block ( 38055 / ha).
The per hectare costs and returns of mentha The benefit-cost ratio was on cost A1 was also found
cultivation calculated at current prices have been to be more in Dewa (2.74) than Masauli (2.36) block.
presented in Table 3. The operational cost of mentha
cultivation was found to be slightly higher in Masauli Estimated Production Function for Mentha
block ( 16145 / ha) than in Dewa block because of Cultivation
higher expenditure on irrigation and manuring in Masauli The independent variables like human labour,
block. In operational cost, the maximum share was of machinery, manures and fertilizer, irrigation charges and
hired labour (20.5%), followed by interculture interculture operations had positive and significant
348 Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol. 24 July-December 2011

Table 4. Economics of mentha cultivation in Barabanki district

(`/ ha)
Particulars Dewa block Masauli block Average

Cost A1 15787 16145 15966

Rent paid in leased land 0 0 0
Cost A2 15787 16145 15966
Interest on capital assets 1200 1325 1263
Cost B1 16987 17470 17228
Rental value of own land 5000 5000 5000
Cost B2 21987 22470 22228
Estimated cost of family labour 697 582 640
Cost C1 17684 18052 17868
Estimated cost of family labour 697 582 640
Cost C2 22684 23052 22868

Table 5. Net return over comparative costs of mentha Table 6. Estimated production function for mentha
cultivation in Barabanki district cultivation
(`/ ha)
Variables Barbanki district
Particulars Dewa Masauli Average
block block Intercept (a) -5896.470
(4246.553)
Production Human labour (X1) 4.903*
Herbs (quintal) 310.65 288.60 299.62 (2.088)
Oil production (kg) 118.06 108.40 113.23 Machine/Tractor hours (X2) 9.893*
Total return @ Rs 500/ha 59030 54200 56615 (3.813)
Suckers/ Seed (X3) 0.245
Net returns over cost (8.585)
Cost A1 43243 38055 40649 Manures & fertilizer ( X4) 11.378*
Cost A2 43243 38055 40649 (4.168)
Cost B1 42043 36730 39387 Irrigation (X5) 3.456*
Cost B2 37043 31730 34387 (1.472)
Cost C1 41346 36148 38747 Interculture ( X6) 5.730*
Cost C2 36346 31148 33747 (2.816)
Distillation charges (X7) -0.329
B - C ratio (1.420)
Cost A1 2.74 2.36 2.55
R2 0.968
Cost A2 2.74 2.36 2.55
Cost B1 2.48 2.10 2.29 Notes: Figures within the parentheses are standard errors
* Significant at 5 per cent level of probability
Cost B2 1.68 1.41 1.55
Cost C1 2.34 2.00 2.17
Major Constraints Faced by Farmers
Cost C2 1.60 1.35 1.48
The major constraints faced by the mint growers
impact on the returns from mentha crop in the study in the study area were specified into three categories,
area (Table 6). The high value of R2 indicated that the viz. production, infrastructural and policy-related
selected variables explained most of the variations (Mal constraints (Table 7). The major problems faced by
et al., 2010). the farmers in production were lack of support price,
 Kumar et al. : Economic Analysis of Menthol Mint Cultivatin in Uttar Pradesh 349

Table 7. Constraints faced by farmers in menthol mint cultivation

S.No. Constraints Percentage
of farmers

Production constraints
1. Lack of training on cultivation methods, distillation and their awareness to farmers 60
2. Climate Change 85
3. Electricity problem 80
4. High input costs 85
5. Lack of trained labour for cultivation 75
6. Inadequate market information 80
7. Lack of support price system 90
Infrastructural constraints
1. Lack of basic infrastructure and regulated marketing system 98
2. Lack of improved and quality distillation unit 75
3. High processing cost incurred by farmers 85
4. High cost of good quality distillation machine 83
Constraints related to policy, trade, etc.
1. Lack of awareness about export market 91
2. Existence of intermediaries between farmers and processors/industries 75
3. Illegal trade etc. 86

high input cost, climate change, erratic electricity supply, about export market, climate change, electricity supply
inadequate market information and lack of trained man problem, inadequate market information, lack of support
power. Under infrastructural category, the major price and poor quality of distillation units. Since the
constraints were lack of basic infrastructure and local distillation units give lower and poor quality oil, it
regulated marketing system, high processing cost, high is imperative to improve the quality of distillation units
cost of good quality distillation machine and lack of for installation in the mint-growing areas. The study
improved and quality distillation units. The major policy- has also underlined the need for adequate attention
related constraints were lack of awareness about towards mitigating various constraints for overall
export market, illegal trade and existence of development of mint cultivation which has occupied a
intermediaries between farmers and processors and major place in cropping system in the study area.
industry.
Acknowledgements
Conclusions The authors are thankful to Director, CSIR-
The study has revealed that the major source of CIMAP for providing guidance and support during the
earning of farmers in the study area was agriculture. above study. They also thank the anonymous referee
Menthol mint as transplanted mint has been found a for suggesting improvements in presentation of the
filler crop during the zaid season in the district which paper.
is well fitted between rice-wheat cropping system. This
crop has been found to give a higher return to the References
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