Abstract:
Tulsi plant (Ocimum spp.) cultivation is a recent land use practice in Bangladesh. The rural people have shown an increasing interest and convert their land use practice for the expansion of Tulsi plant as tea production in Northern part of the country. Expected higher financial return is one of the main drivers of its acceptance and expansion. This study analyzed the financial returns of Tulsi plant production as an alternative land use option compared to three common agriculture crop production (Potato, Tobacco and Banana) at Rangpur district in Bangladesh. Net revenue was highest for Tulsi cultivation and lowest for Banana and Tobacco but the Potato based revenue was intermediate. Furthermore, the revenues from the agriculture production were more sensitive to a range of uncertainties than the Tulsi plant cultivation. This research shows that, Tulsi plant production is financially competitive with the studied commercial crop options and offers returns of better reliability. The hypothesis assumed and which supported our results is that the Tulsi based revenues is more are higher than other crops. Therefore, the continued expansion of the Tulsi plant can be explained by higher returns and good market demands as Tulsi tea product in the study area. |
