Vol. 7, Issue 8, Part A (2025)

The study focused on detailed economic and operational assessment of the Government Biological Pest Control Laboratory (BPCL), Seloo, functioning under the Department of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra. The study covers the fiscal year 2024-25 and focuses on key aspects such as capital investment, cost and return structure, break-even analysis, marketing expenditure, and production constraints. The total capital investment in the unit was ₹91.00 lakhs, with major allocations to infrastructure (38.46%) and machinery (37.57%). Fixed costs totalled ₹14.69 lakhs, and variable costs stood at ₹24.30 lakhs, primarily due to raw materials and labour charges. The unit achieved a total production cost of ₹44.93 lakhs against gross returns of ₹50.10 lakhs, yielding net returns of ₹5.16 lakhs. Among the four biofertilizer products produced Azotobacter and Rhizobium (for Soybean, Tur, and Gram) Rhizobium (Tur) was found to be the most financially efficient, with the lowest break-even quantity (302.36 L) and highest margin of safety (77.20%). Marketing was conducted through a direct channel, with transportation being the major expense. Despite challenges like inadequate infrastructure and skilled labour shortages, the unit operated at a high capacity utilization rate of 91.31%. The benefit-cost ratios of all products were above 1, confirming profitability. The study concludes that the BPCL Seloo unit is economically sustainable and has strong potential for future expansion with targeted improvements.