Rise of marigold floriculture, a new stirring door walk through economic, social, and entertainment factors in Eastern India: a combined approach of multi-group structural equation modeling and cluster analyses

Dipankar Biswas () and Rajib Sarkar ()
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Dipankar Biswas: Adamas University
Rajib Sarkar: Adamas University

Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, 2023, vol. 57, issue 1, No 8, 137-172

Abstract: Abstract Farmers’ livelihoods are deeply rooted in marigold floriculture, alleviate rural poverty, provide job opportunities, regular income, and food security. The study presents how farmers’ lifestyles and livelihoods affect this ornamental flower cultivation. We have surveyed 320 marigold farmers three times on their economic, social, and entertainment factors in 2019 in Eastern India. We use Structural Equation Model in the history of the floricultural realm for the first time. Our results indicate that economic factors have positive direct, indirect, and specific indirect effects on marigold floricultural land, average yield, and continuous income. Social factors have more indirect and specific indirect effects than direct effects on the same marigold production, sown area, and revenue. Entertainment factors partially mediate the positive relationship between economic factors and marigolds, and they fully mediate the negative relationship between social factors and the plant. In interaction, on the one hand, social factors dampen the positive relationship between economic factors and marigold floriculture, and at the same time, social factors strengthen the positive relationship between economic factors and entertainment factors. The socio-economic impacts vary in groups–moderators: one group of farmers cultivating irregularly per year gave importance on social sides, and the other group who grew them regularly benefitted in the economic field. Besides, the whole marigold farming system is controlled by the effects of continuous cultivation years and farmers' farming knowledge. Three kinds of Cluster Analyses prove that all livelihood conditions of regular producers groups are higher than that of the irregular groups. Lastly, marigolds are practiced in almost all villages. However, the yield rate is not always constant. So, the farmers select their methods to produce the highest consistent output while preserving sustainability.

Keywords: Marigold floriculture; Economic/social/entertainment factors; Cultivation years/knowledge; Multi-group; Structural equation modelling; Tow-step/K-means/hierarchical cluster analyses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11135-022-01347-3

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