Enterprise system and profitability in honey production: A case of Chitwan, Nepal.

Poudel, L. P., P. P. Regmi, J. P. Dutta and J. P. Sharma. 2007. IAAS Research Advances Vol. 1. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. pp. 215-218.

Keywords:  Honey production, enterprise system, profitability

Out of total 135 commercial beekeepers, 35 were selected by proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The beekeeping enterprises were grouped into three categories on the basis of number of bee colony they had. The small, medium and large categories of beekeepers were having 5 to 15 bee colonies, 16 to 35, and more than 35 bee colonies, respectively. The selected respondents were interviewed with the help of semi-structured questionnaires. Result of the study showed that average honey production per enterprise and per hive were 1004.54 kg and 33.02 kg respectively, which were significantly different between the categories showing the scale effect in honey production. On an average, 88.57 % of sampled entrepreneurs adopted migratory beekeeping. Gross margin per kg honey was Rs. 77.09 and this was also significant between the categories showing the scale effect in profitability. Honey producers were facing several productions and marketing problems due to which they were discouraged in further expansion of the scale of production.