Comparative Analysis of Organic and Conventional Tomato cultivation in North-Western Himalayas

The present study was carried out in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. Primary data have been collected through survey method for the agricultural year 2018-19. Using the purposive sampling technique, the districts and villages were selected based on the highest area under organic farming. By using simple random sampling, a sample of 80 farmers were selected, out of which 40 were organic growers and 40 were conventional growers, who were further categorized as marginal, small and medium farms. The cost incurred was higher for the cultivation of tomato in conventional farming, whereas returns and output-input ratio was higher in organic tomato cultivation. In organic farming system, farmyard manure (44.70 per cent) constituted highest share in Cost A1 followed by plant protection (17.09 per cent), human hired labour (10.37 per cent), seed/plant (6.53 per cent), bio-fertilizers (4.72 per cent), stalking (2.33 per cent) and hired machinery labour (1.53 per cent). In conventional farming, farmyard manure (33.37 per cent) constituted highest share in total variable Cost A1 followed by plant protection (28.92 per cent), human hired labour (8.46 per cent), fertilizers (6.23 per cent) and seed/plant (6.20 per cent), stalking (2.29 per cent) and owned machinery labour (1.34 per cent). It was also found that human labour was more employed in organic farming as compared to conventional farming system. Education of farmers for scientific management of crops and provision of improved tools for efficient use of labour have also been suggested to lower production costs and make the organic vegetable cultivation more beneficial to farmers, particularly to the small and marginal farmers in the state.