A Study of Opportunities and Challenges for Betel Leaves Farming in Palghar District

Abstract

The study focuses on understanding the prospects, problems, and satisfaction levels of betel leaves farmers in the study area. Betel leaves farming is an important traditional agricultural activity with cultural, medicinal, and economic value. Palghar District has suitable climatic and soil conditions that can support betel leaves cultivation, and the crop provides opportunities for income generation, employment creation, market demand, and rural livelihood development. The study is based on primary data collected from 75 betel leaves farmers through a structured questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale. The major variables considered in the study include opportunities, challenges, and farmers’ satisfaction. The findings of the study reveal that betel leaves farming in Palghar District has significant opportunities, with a mean score of 68.80, indicating positive perception among farmers. However, the study also found major challenges, with a mean score of 72.69, showing that farmers face difficulties such as high cultivation cost, pest and disease problems, crop damage, unfair market prices, lack of irrigation, and inadequate storage, transportation, and marketing facilities. Correlation and regression analysis show that opportunities have a positive and significant impact on farmers’ satisfaction, while challenges have a negative and significant impact on satisfaction. Therefore, the study concludes that betel leaves farming has good potential in Palghar District, but its growth depends on better government support, improved marketing facilities, technical guidance, and effective solutions to production-related challenges.