International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

The aims of the study to assess the socio-economic profile of coconut growers, estimate the cost and returns of coconut cultivation across different farm sizes, examine the marketing channels and associated costs, and identify the major production and marketing constraints in Kollam district of Kerala. A multistage sampling method was used to select 110 coconut farmers from seven villages in Kottarakkara block. The farmers were classified into marginal, small, semi-medium, medium, and large categories based on landholding size.

During the pre-bearing stage, per hectare input usage showed that marginal and small farms relied more on family labour, manure, and fertilizers, while hired labour use increased with farm size. The average establishment cost (Cost C2) was estimated to be ?5,50,664 per hectare. Marginal farmers incurred the highest cost (?5,72,269.23), followed by small (?5,71,148.30), semi-medium (?5,57,282), medium (?5,31,639), and large (?5,20,982.70), indicating a clear declining trend in costs with increasing farm size. In the bearing phase, input use continued to decline with increasing farm size, with the average maintenance cost (Cost C2) at ?1,78,913.99 per hectare. Again, marginal farmers had the highest maintenance cost at ?1,93,282.69, whereas large farmers incurred ?1,65,485.86. Gross income was highest for marginal farmers (?3,28,553.10), but due to higher costs, they reported the lowest net income (?1,16,932.41). In contrast, large farmers, despite lower gross income, achieved the highest net income (?1,22,491.81) due to cost efficiency. The Benefit-Cost Ratio improved with scale, from 1:1.55 (marginal) to 1:1.66 (large), indicating increasing profitability with larger farm sizes.