Production and Marketing of Senna in Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu: Problems and Prospects

Medicinal plants are gaining importance and are promoted for commercial cultivation in India in order to meet the increasing demand within the domestic and export markets. Tamil Nadu holds a major share in cultivation and export of more than 50 medicinal plants. This empirical research paper aims to study the production and marketing of Senna in Thoothukudi district and problems faced by the farmers and traders and to make some possible suggestion and policy implications in order to overcome the problems. Interview schedule was prepared and pre-tested, for the sample farmers. The primary data was collected from the sample respondents (farmers) through personal interview. The tools of analysis used in the study are percentage analysis, and Garretts' Ranking Technique. The cost of cultivation of Senna per hectare was Rs. 27,183.04 and the gross return per hectare was Rs. 56,500. The net return per hectare was Rs.29,316.96. Non-availability of labour the major problemfaced by the farmer inmarketing of Senna was the high cost of transportation and nonavailability of labour was faced under production.