Food and Agri Economics Review (FAER) 2(2) (2022) 55-59 Quick Response Code Access this article online Website: www.faer.com.my DOI: 10.26480/faer.02.2022.55.59 Cite The Article: Bishal Modi, Keshav Bhattarai, Deepak Khatri, Bikas Basnet, Asbin Bk (2022). Economics of Onion Seed Production in Western Rukum, Nepal. Food and Agri Economics Review, 2(2): 55-59. ISSN: 2785-9002 (Online) CODEN: FAERCS RESEARCH ARTICLE Food and Agri Economics Review (FAER) DOI: http://doi.org/10.26480/faer.02.2022.55.59 ECONOMICS OF ONION SEED PRODUCTION IN WESTERN RUKUM, NEPAL Bishal Modi, Keshav Bhattarai, Deepak Khatri, Bikas Basnet * and Asbin Bk Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal * Corresponding Author E-mail: bikasbasnet2001@gail.com This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History: Received 06 March 2022 Accepted 09 April 2022 Available online 13 April 2022 Onion seeds are a promising sub-sector for boosting productivity, poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security in Nepal although they are high-value and low-volume commodities. Our study is useful to estimate the economics of onion seed production in the Salyan District of Nepal. Sixty household respondents were randomly selected using cluster sampling for primary data collection through pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires, field surveys and verified by focus group discussion. Multiple linear regression and indexing techniques were used to analyze data on the SPSS program. Our study shows that the average cost of production of onion seed per kg NRs 622.83 with revenue NRs 400. The benefit-cost ratio was 0.64 for onion seed production indicating the loss caused by severe price fluctuations in recent years due to biotic stress, the influence of Indian seeds, an unhealthy chain of seed pricing and marketing. The cost of labor and plant protection is statistically significant with onion seed productivity. To boost onion seed production productivity and profitability, efficient and cost-effective resource management is required. Our study strongly suggests stakeholders and policymakers focus on price determination, integrated market linkage, input, and technical assistance to the farmer. KEYWORDS Economic, onion, seed, Production, Nepal 1. INTRODUCTION Nepal is a country with diverse topography and a wide range of microclimates (Bhattacharjee et al., 2017). Agriculture is the mainstay of the Nepalese economy, even though its topography contributes less than 20% (MoAD, 2016) of the total area suitable for cultivation(Bhattacharjee et al., 2017). Agriculture employs 65.6 percent of Nepal's population and provides 28.89 percent of the country's GDP (Adhikari, 2015; AICC, 2018)Vegetables are one of the key subsectors of Nepalese agriculture, which generated around 14.92 percent of AGDP in 2012/13 (Shrestha and Chandra Dhakal, 2020). Vegetables, including potatoes and spices, contributed about 25.54 % of AGDP (MoAD, 2016). In Nepal, the vegetable sector keeps expanding in terms of both acreage and production (Timsina and Shivakoti, 2018). There has been a 203 % expansion in the area, a 608 percent increase in overall production, and a 153 percent rise in vegetable production in the past 38 years (1977/78 to 2014/15) (VDD, 2016). Area, production and productivity trend of vegetable in Nepal from 2010/11- 2016/17 is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Trends of vegetable production in Nepal