Sudarsan Panta , Satish Pandey , Prakash Dhungana , Lalit Pokhrel , Shishir Pant , Sita Regmi

Agriculture and Forestry University, Faculty of Agriculture, Rampur, Chitwan, 44209, Nepal
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 2   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2026.16.0006
Received: 15 Dec., 2025    Accepted: 10 Feb., 2026    Published: 23 Mar., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Panta S., Pandey S., Dhungana P., Pokhrel L., Pant S., and Regmi S., 2026, Profitability and constraints of French bean production in Kalikot District of Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 16(2): 68-76 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2026.16.0006)

French bean cultivation is an important agricultural enterprise in the high hills of Nepal; however, farmers face substantial production and marketing cons.raints. A study was conducted in the Kalikot district to assess the profitability and key constraints of French bean production. Data were collected through household surveys from 100 bean-growing households selected through proportionate stratified random sampling across different local levels in the Kalikot district. The results revealed an average productivity of 76.10 kg per ropani, with 59.5% of the total production marketed and the remainder used for household consumption and seed purposes. The average cost of production was NRs 11,350 per ropani, while gross returns amounted to NRs 15,372, yielding a gross margin of NRs 4,062 and a benefit cost ratio of 1.35, indicating that French bean cultivation is economically profitable. The independent sample t-test results showed significantly higher productivity among trained, literate farmers, and farmers who were members of cooperatives. Multiple regression analysis (R² = 0.7588, p < .001) identified cultivated area, irrigated land, annual income, and training as significant determinants of total bean production. Major constraints in production include high disease and pest incidence (0.856), particularly anthracnose (0.880) and aphids (0.853), while the key marketing challenge was unorganized marketing systems (0.748). The study concludes that targeted interventions in training, disease and pest management, and market organization can substantially enhance the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of French bean production in Kalikot, Nepal.

French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.); Benefit cost ratio; High hills; Production economics; Smallholder farming