Vegetable production is a profitable business in India, however it is difficult to judge how they are safe for human consumption as farmers spray large amount of pesticides which not only increases the cost of cultivation but also leaves residual toxicity in vegetables. To address these challenges, protected cultivation technology ., poly house, shade net, micro tunnel etc., have been worldwide accepted in horticultural sector and there will a tremendous scope to study about economic analysis of vegetables under shade nets. The present study was conducted during 2016-17 to analyse the economics of vegetable production under protected cultivation. Capsicum and tomato are the major crops growing under protected cultivation. Kolar, Malur and Mulbagal taluks of Kolar district of Karnataka by involving 80 vegetable growers. The study found that fixed cost for shade net was found to be . Rs. 34, 03,264. The investment on shade net structure was shared ( %) followed by depreciation of the value of shade net, drip irrigation and fertigation system ( %), interest on fixed capital ( %), and maintenance cost of structure value of the shade net structure with drip irrigation system ( %). variable cost of capsicum, labour cost was high for harvesting and packing ( %) followed by pruning (), PPC spraying ( %), training ( %) and fertigation (). The total labour cost was about , 493. The labour cost for tomato cultivation was highest for harvesting and packing () followed by training ( %), pruning () and PPC spraying (). The total labour cost for tomato cultivation is about , 181. The variation in gross income and net income of both the crops was mainly due to stable price in market for capsicum as compared to tomato. Finally concluded that capsicum crop is more profitable than tomato under shade net which will gives confidence among small holders to make agriculture as a profitable sector. | Cost and returns of vegetable production under protected cultivation in kolar district of Karnataka, India
