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Subject: Agricultural Economics × Author: K. Archana × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2010 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Dynamics of production and marketing of Bt cotton in Haryana vis-à-vis Tamil Nadu
    (CCSHAU, 2017) K. Archana; Kundu, K.K.
    Despite being one the top most cotton growing countries in the world, the cotton yields in India are one of the lowest. A major reason for this low productivity is the severe insect pest incidence which causes extensive crop damage. As a result of this situation, the farmers have been highly dissatisfied and have been looking for cotton varieties that have pest resistance. Hence, Bt cotton was introduced in India to reduce the pesticide consumption thereby the farmers of Haryana and Tamil Nadu were also adopted Bt cotton technology to reduce the pest damage and the cost of production. This raised the question of environmental safety and productivity concerns about Bt cotton varieties. Keeping in view the above discussion, the present study was undertaken in Haryana and Tamil Nadu state with the following objectives: i) To study the cost and returns of Bt cotton cultivation, ii) To analyze the marketing patterns and price spread through different marketing channels, iii) To examine the yield gap and constraints in production and marketing and iv) To examine cotton farmers’ perceptions towards risk, its sources and mitigating strategies. To derive the inferences of the study, the primary data were collected from 120 farmers i.e. 60 each from Haryana and Tamil Nadu acted as ultimate unit of the sample. The required data pertaining to marketing pattern, costs and margin were collected from 40 intermediaries i.e. 20 from each state and used in the analysis by simple tabular analysis. The area, production and productivity of cotton in India, Haryana and Tamil Nadu increase with average compound growth rates of 1.88, 6.29 and 4.33 per cent per annum and 0.76, 3.07 and 2.09 per cent per annum, 0.53, 3.68 and -3.03 per cent per annum, respectively from the period 1986-87 to 2015-16 but area shows negative trend (-3.03 per cent) in case of Tamil Nadu. The comparative analysis of Bt cotton calculated for the crop year 2015 showed that per acre cost of cultivation varied between ` 35890 and ` 31736 in Haryana and Tamil Nadu, respectively. But due to yield variation among the two states, the significant difference in per unit cost of production was observed. It varied between ` 5836 and ` 4492 in Haryana and Tamil Nadu, respectively. Net return per acre of Bt cotton is ` -8000 and ` 1376 in Haryana and Tamil Nadu, respectively. Return per rupee of investment was 1.32 and 1.56 in Haryana and Tamil Nadu respectively, where Tamil Nadu recorded significant cost benefit ratio. Per acre input utilization revealed that the use of bullock labour was observed more on small farmers followed by medium farmers and large farmers where as the usage of machine labour was found to be more on large farmers followed by medium and small farmers. The study of marketing pattern of Bt cotton showed nearly 30 per cent of the total producers were sold their produce in the market and the remaining 70 per cent farmers sold their produce within the village itself. Out of the 30 per cent of the producers who sold their produce in the market were partially sold about 20 per cent of the total production within the village itself and remaining 80 per cent of the produce was sold in the market. In the study, the following three marketing channels i.e. producer → ginning mill, producer → wholesaler → ginning mill and producer → commission agent → ginning mill were identified. The channel-I was found to be more efficient with farmers, receiving highest share in miller’s price followed by channel-II and channel-III in both the states. The yield gap analysis revealed that the economic losses were found relatively higher in case of Haryana when compared to Tamil Nadu due to wide gap existed between potential yield, highest yield attained on farm and the average actual yield. The main production constraints noticed were nonavailability of adequate good quality seed, non-availability of labour, poor quality insecticides/pesticides, unfavourable climatic conditions and lack of technical knowledge. The main marketing constraints were low price of Bt cotton produce, high regulation of market intermediates and lack of extension and marketing services. Majority of the farmers in both the states of Haryana and Tamil Nadu were risk neutral. The major risks experienced by farmers during the production of Bt cotton were pest and disease incidence in case of Haryana and lodging and rainfall at harvesting stage in case of Tamil Nadu. The major risk mitigation strategies adopted by farmers in Bt cotton cultivation were planting plant resistance varieties, availing credit and investing on other crops, complementing farm income with off-farm income and keeping one season fallow. Majority of the farmers of both the states Haryana and Tamil Nadu were not enrolled in any formal risk mitigating measures such as crop and weather based insurance schemes. Most of the farmers in Haryana were disposed the cotton sticks by burning for domestic purpose and in Tamil Nadu, it was by incorporating in the field itself.