An Economic Analysis of Onion Marketing in Uruzgan Province of Afghanistan

Abstract

The study was carried out to estimate the marketable surplus, marketing cost, price spread, and marketing efficiency of onion in three districts of Uruzgan province. The data were collected from 120 farmers, 120 consumers, 30 wholesalers, and 30 retailers in 2023. The findings showed that the average production of onion was 5597.08 kg/Jerib. After holding 1.84 per cent for domestic purposes, the farmers were left with 98.16 per cent as a marketable surplus. The price spread across different marketing channels showed an inverse correlation with the number of intermediaries involved. Among market channels, Channel-II (Farmer-Retailer-Consumer) had the highest marketing cost. As marketing costs and margins increased, the producers' share in consumers' rupee decreased. The marketing efficiency decreased with the number of intermediaries. The net price received by the farmer was highest in the direct marketing Channel-III (AFN 5.65 per kg of onion). Lack of grading, storage, and transportation facilities were the significant constraints in marketing onion in the province.