The cost of pesticide application was estimated using a partial budget analysis.
The cost estimation included the rental cost of land, the price of chemicals, the hire of sprayers, kerosene, petrol or diesel
charge for spraying, and labor cost of workers employed to carry out spraying (Table 5).
Total spraying cost varied widely on a per hectare basis.
The cost of pesticide application varied from US$ 50/ha in Gujarat for cabbage production to US$ 695/ha in West Bengal for cauliflower production.
This is not surprising considering the large number of pesticide applications in West Bengal.
Yet, even with pesticide costs being 31% of the production costs, production of cauliflower in West Bengal was still very profitable at US$ 5900/ha.