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Subject: Agricultural Economics × Author: SHARMA, SHIVANI × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN MID HILL ZONE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
    (UHF,NAUNI, 2021-02) SHARMA, SHIVANI; SHARMA, RAVINDER
    ABSTRACT Present study entitled “Economic Analysis of Agricultural Mechanization in mid hill zone of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. A sample of 60 farmers was selected randomly from 10 villages of Gopalpur and Balh blocks in Mandi district. Both primary as well as secondary data were used to fulfill the specific objectives of the study. Socioeconomic analysis of the farmers revealed an average size of 5.90 members with a literacy rate of 88.24 per with literacy index of 2.81. The cultivated land accounted for 97.43 per cent of total land holdings. The results revealed that mechanization index at overall farm category was 0.26 which varied from 0.21 to 0.53 among different categories of farms. The highest (0.53) farm mechanization index was found in medium farms and lowest (0.21) in marginal farms. It can further be observed that coefficient of variation was highest (39.00 %) in marginal farms and lowest (6.52 %) in medium farms. At the overall level, 46.15 per cent variation was found in farm mechanization. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the factors affecting farm mechanization the study area. Literacy index, type of family and land holdings were found significant factors affecting the farm mechanization in the study area. It was found that with the improvement in quality of education, farm mechanization index will increase by 0.009 units for every one unit increase in the literacy index. Literacy rate, occupation and crop yield index were found to have positive relationship with farm mechanization, however, these factors were not found statistically significant. The major problem for the slow pace of agricultural mechanization in the study area was lack of training in the use of farm machinery, maintenance cost of implements and excessively small fragmented land holdings and nonavailability of spare parts. Agricultural mechanization has been identified as one of the critical inputs for increasing the productivity of land by ensuring timeliness of agricultural operations, increased labour work output per unit time by reducing efforts and drudgery and improved quality of farm operations.