RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

60
50
40
30
2 0
10
Yellow small
Yellow t a l l (medium)
White s m a l l
Yellow t a l l
White big
(medium)
0
A p r May June Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
1977
1978
Figure 7. Seasonal variation in sorghum fodder prices.
cartload (i.e., o n e h u n d r e d bundles) b e t w e e n t h e
village and t h e Hyderabad m a r k e t are e x p r e s s e d
as a function of distance in miles for different
t y p e s of s o r g h u m s t r a w jointly and relative to
y e l l o w tall s t r a w (Table 8), a distance coefficient of
0.52 is f o u n d ; i.e., for every 10 miles t h e margin
increased by Rs. 5.20 per cartload of s o r g h u m
s t r a w . In other w o r d s , as distance increases, t h e
village price decreases in line w i t h t h e transportation
cost of about 0.52 R s / m i l e .
Variation in Price Due to
Quality of Sorghum Straw
Yellow s o r g h u m s t r a w f e t c h e s a higher price per
unit o f w e i g h t t h a n w h i t e s o r g h u m s t r a w (the
farmers consider y e l l o w s o r g h u m s t r a w t o b e
m o r e nutritious). A m o n g y e l l o w s o r g h u m straw,
t h e s t r a w of shorter varieties f e t c h e s a higher
price than t h e tall varieties. O n e reason could be
that tall varieties cannot be f e d directly to t h e
animals because t h e stalks are long a n d hard. It
has to be cut by a m a c h i n e into small pieces
b e f o r e it can be c o n s u m e d . The HYV s o r g h u m
stalk price is about 3 0 % l o w e r than t h e price of
local s o r g h u m stalk in Hyderabad in N o v e m b e r (it
w a s about 4 0 % l o w e r i n Dokur village for 1 9 7 7 /
78). Because of this price discount, only negligible
quantities of HYV s o r g h u m stalk arrived in t h e
market. According t o c o m m i s s i o n a g e n t s , buyers
are willing t o b u y H W s o r g h u m stalk provided
t h e y are g r e e n . A f t e r drying, HYV stalks are
considered to lose their f o d d e r value a n d t h e
animals are reluctant to eat HYV stalks.
Value of Grain and Straw of Sorghum
The present s t u d y enables us to e s t i m a t e t h e
relative values of grain and f o d d e r f r o m traditional
a n d high-yielding varieties. Given t h e yield of
s o r g h u m grain and t h e yield of stalks f r o m a
particular plot, t h e total value of o u t p u t can be
c o m p u t e d b y multiplying w i t h t h e appropriate
m a r k e t prices.
For this purpose, averaged grain a n d fodder
yields for t h e years 1976, 1977 and 1978 for black
a n d red soils w e r e obtained f r o m f a r m i n g s y s t e m s
e x p e r i m e n t s at ICRISAT Center for local and HYV
s o r g h u m . The fodder and grain prices for s o r g h u m
for the m o n t h of D e c e m b e r 1977 w e r e used in
Hyderabad and Kandi markets. (The Kandi w e e k l y
m a r k e t is located about 55 km a w a y f r o m Hyderabad.)
The results of the c o m p u t a t i o n are pres
e n t e d in Table 9 and s h o w that t h e value of
fodder for HYV s o r g h u m is only about 2 5 % of t h e
total value of o u t p u t (main product and byproduct)
w h e r e a s for t h e local variety it is 5 5 % .
Consequently, t h e value of grain is 7 5 % for HYV
s o r g h u m and only 4 5 % for t h e local variety.
H o w e v e r , t h e total value of o u t p u t for HYV
s o r g h u m i s only about 2 0 0 - 3 0 0 r u p e e s / h a higher
t h a n that of traditional varieties. Even if t h e
c o m p a r i s o n is based on t h e l o w e r prices for local
y e l l o w s o r g h u m and HYV s o r g h u m g r o w n during
t h e kharif s e a s o n , t h e advantage in favor of H Y V
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