International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Usha P Jaybhaye, Ranjit V Chavan, Tukaram B Munde, Dheeraj T Pathrikar, Ashwini S Bhosle and Ravi K Hatagale

abstract
Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) is a Producer Organisation (PO) that has farmers as its members. FPOs are supported by the Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to promote their formation. Comparative economics of pigeon pea through FPO's member vs non-member farmers, the physical inputs, costs and profitability were analysed in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. Multistage sampling design was used for the study. From Marathwada region of Maharashtra, the districts viz. Jalna, Sambhajinagar, Nanded, and Latur were purposefully selected. A total of 160 FPO's member farmers and 160 FPO's non-member farmers were selected for the study. To compute the cost and returns descriptive statistics and basic statistical instruments, such as averages and percentages were used. The profitability of pigeon pea farming reveals that member farmers consistently outperform non-members across key financial metrics. Members achieve higher gross returns (?137,211.91 vs ?116,917.87), lower production costs and better profitability indicators with farm business income (?102,792.48 vs ?79,304.89), family labor income (?77,431.83 vs ?57,673.15), and net income (?71,407.72 vs ?49,834.35) all favoring members. The output-input ratio for members is 2.09, compared to 1.74 for non-members, indicating higher efficiency.