An attempt has been made in the relevant objectives of the research study an economic analysis of orange production in Nagpur district of Maharashtra. The result pertaining to this aspect was based on primary data collected through survey method from villages viz. Sawangi, Ghorad and Ubali of Kalmeshwar tahsil of Nagpur district for the year 2010-11. 30 orange growers were selected for the study. Farmers were distributed according to age of the orange orchard which was group I (6-10 year old), group II (11-15 year old), group III (16-20 year old), respectively. Per hectare establishment cost during five year and cost of cultivation during the year 2010-11 of orange orchard were Rs./ha 207604 and Rs./ha. 107824. Average gross return was Rs. 2042094. The highest net return obtained from the age group (II) of 11-15 year Rs. 165935. The benefit: cost ratio on the sample as a whole was 2.24.

: An attempt has been made in this paper to find out the production and marketing constraints of major cole vegetable crops. The study was conducted in Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh state with one hundred farmers who were selected randomly. Ten villages and 10 cole vegetable growers from each of selected villages were considered to collect the required information. The total numbers of constraints selected for the study were fourteen, which were categories as technical, institutional, economical and transportaional constraints. Out of these constraints, the major constraints were 'Scarcity of labour' followed by 'Problem of high infestation of different insects, pests and diseases in the crop', 'Lack of adequate training facility to farmers', 'Lack of technical knowledge', 'Lack of soil testing, facilities' and 'Lack of information regarding crop cultivation'. Some farmers perception was on constraints in marketing of vegetables and these were 'Lack of proper methods applied for harvesting of crop' followed by 'Lack of facilities regarding standardization grading', 'Lack of post harvest management' and 'Lack of regulated and co-operative market.

Contract farming is generally practiced by food processing firms wherein the risk is allocated between the company and its growers. Its key aspect is risk sharing and risk reduction. Hence we made an attempt to know the perception of acid lime growers and ascertain the prospects of contract farming. The sample comprised of 200 acid lime growers in 3 districts of Maharashtra, using random walk sampling technique. The data collected through a structured interview schedule were analyzed using the t-test of significance of difference between sample and population means. The study revealed significant relationship between occupation (t=1.596) and perceived acceptability of contract farming in citrus at 5 per cent level of significance. Similar relationship prevailed between annual income from acid lime (t=0.391) and perceived acceptability of contract farming in citrus. Guaranteed and fixed pricing structures was perceived to be the main advantage of contract farming which attracted attention of the maximum respondents (RBQ=175). As regarding risk factors, inadequate water for irrigation ranked the topmost factor followed by price uncertainty. In case of issues governing profitability, unfair market price has been ranked as the number one issue (RBQ=181.33) followed by over production and less market price (RBQ=178.33) to the produce. It is expected that this study will help policy makers to develop more appropriate marketing policies in India.

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