Loading...
Thesis
Browse
10 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 9 of 10
ThesisItem Unknown AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FARM PRODUCE PROMOTION SOCIETY (FAPRO)-A CASE STUDY(PAU Ludhiana, 2013) Udeshna Talukdar; Kamal, VattaThe present study was conducted to examine the economics of value addition and to estimate the extent of employment generation through value addition activities of FAPRO (Farm Produce Promotion Society). The study was based on both primary and secondary data. The secondary data were collected from audit reports and accounts maintained by the organization. The primary data were also collected from 40 turmeric growers and 10 beekeepers who were the members of FAPRO. Apart from the economics of cultivation at the farm level, the data were also collected on various activities being undertaken by FAPRO. The processing of turmeric gave net profits of Rs 2838/q with the resulting benefit-cost ratio of 1:1.31. The processing of honey gave net profits of Rs 4310/q with the benefit-cost ratio of 1:1.32. The capacity utilization of FAPRO was very low at 4.67 per cent for turmeric and 3.50 per cent for honey processing. Approximately 2300 man days of employment was generated at the FAPRO premises for processing of turmeric and honey. In addition, turmeric cultivation generated the demand for 33 man days per acre for its cultivation. A colony of 100 boxes also resulted into 162 man days of labour requirement. The lack of modern machines and equipment, under-utilization of installed capacity and problems of marketing were the major constraints of FAPRO. Improvement in the quality, increased expenditure on advertisement and publicity, improved packaging and increase in capacity utilization are necessary for improving the economic performance of FAPRO in future.ThesisItem Unknown PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF PUNJAB MANDI BOARD IN HANDLING OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES(PAU Ludhiana, 2013) Kamala; S S, ChahalThe present study was conducted to assess the financial, managerial and organizational efficiency of Punjab Mandi Board in handling of fruits and vegetables. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select markets based on volume of market arrivals. The farmers, intermediaries and market labourer were selected randomly from each sample market. The secondary data were collected on various parameters such as market arrivals, market fee, income, expenditure, etc were collected from the headquarters of Punjab Mandi Board and the selected market committees. The primary data were collected from the sample respondents through personal interview method pertaining to facilities, problems, etc. faced by them in the disposal and handling of fruits and vegetables. The data were analysed using compound growth rate and relative changes in real term, etc. There was a significant growth in both the share of fruits and vegetables to total market arrivals and per quintal market fee. A decline was seen in both real investment of Punjab Mandi Board on developmental activities and investment at current price, though, in the case of link roads and grading, the real investment has increased over time. The financial, managerial and organization performance of the Mandi Board and sample market committees was up to mark. As far as the market committees were concerned, the large markets were working more efficiently as compared to small and medium markets. The result pertaining to adequacy of various facilities revealed that the farmers, commission agents and market labourers were not fully satisfied. So, there is need to improve the working of the market committees in respect of physical facilities to fine tune up the present marketing system.ThesisItem Unknown AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CHILD LABOUR IN AGRICULTURAL TOOL MAKING UNITS IN MANDI AHMEDGARH OF SANGRUR DISTRICT OF PUNJAB(PAU Ludhiana, 2013) Navjot Kaur; Mini, GoyalThe present study was conducted to examine the socio – economic and work profile of child labour in agricultural tool making units in Mandi Ahmedgarh of Sangrur district of Punjab. Different factors affecting their employment and the contribution towards their family income was also analyzed. A total number of 31 sickle making units were found in Mandi Ahmedgarh. The primary data were collected from 102 children working in these units. The study revealed that all the children employed in sickle making units were male and their mean age was found to be twelve years. Nearly ninety per cent of the working children were migrants and were from lower social strata of the society. Nearly half of the respondents were illiterate and the parents of majority of working children were also illiterate. The working children were found engaged in the activities like iron moulding, assembling and nailing in the sickle making. Per day mean wages of the child labour were about rupees eighty three only. The main reason which forced the children to join the work force was poverty and lack of their interest in the studies. The working conditions were not good and the behaviour of employer was bad. The employment of children helped the parents to take loan from the employer and gave the freedom to the children to spend their pocket money at their own will. The working children were found indulged in bad habits like smoking, consuming liquor, gutka, gambling etc. Though a social evil, child labour was found helpful in removing the poverty of the family to some extent. The children wanted to be educated and to be successful in their life. The study suggested the provision of night classes for those who wanted to study along with their work so that they may become literate and contribute in the nation’s development.ThesisItem Unknown AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF MUSHROOM PRODUCTION IN PUNJAB(2013) Rajdeep Singh; J.M. SinghPunjab predominantly being an agrarian economy resulted in ushering an era of green revolution during seventies of previous century. However, during last decades, the stagnating farm incomes prompted Punjab’s peasantry for undertaking subsidiary occupations of farming such as mushroom growing. Keeping this in view, the present study was planned to examine the costreturn structure of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), factors affecting its value productivity and marketing mechanism in the Punjab state. Two districts, namely Amritsar and Gurdaspur, were selected which were having maximum concentration of mushroom growers and a sample of 80 mushroom growers were interviewed for the study. Also, to examine the marketing structure of mushrooms, equal number of wholesalers and retailers were randomly selected from Amritsar and Gurdaspur markets. Mushroom growers were divided into three categories on the basis of bed area spawned using cumulative cube root frequency method. The results revealed that majority of the mushroom growers were medium category farmers who took up mushroom growing to supplement their family income. Economic analysis brought out that non-recurring and recurring expenditure per square metre of bed area spawned declined with increase in mushroom farm size due to the economies of scale. Labor use pattern inferred that picking, packing and composting were labour intensive operations utilizing about 80 per cent of the total labour force employed. Gross returns were higher on medium mushroom farms due to comparatively higher average price realized by the growers while net returns were higher on large mushroom farms due to lower total cost. Input-output ratio was highest (1.80) on large mushroom farms while lower on medium (1.47) and small (1.35) mushroom farm categories. The regression analysis inferred that factors augmenting value productivity of mushroom were; judicious use of pesticides, labour use in picking, packing and casing operations. Marketing pattern revealed that the net price received by the growers was highest in producer-consumer channel while the marketing agency through which major chunk of produce transected was wholesaler. The production and marketing problems faced by mushroom growers were; inadequate and poor quality of spawn, lack of assured market, price fluctuation, lack of canning and processing units and refrigerated storage. The study emphasized the need of creating awareness regarding availability of crop loan for mushroom growing among marginal and small farmers, training needs of growers for disinfection of mushroom growing sheds, need of mechanized compost preparation plant, canning and refrigeration facility and creating awareness among masses about nutritional importance of mushrooms to increase its consumption.ThesisItem Unknown Resource use, employment and income among marginal and small farm households in Punjab(PAU, 2013) Sharma, Richa; Garg, B.R.The present study was undertaken to study the resource use and income on the marginal and small farms in Punjab, to develop optimum product-mix for these farms and compare it with existing ones, to find out credit requirements and access to institutional finance on these farms, to study the nature and extent of employment of these farm households and to identify factors determining income for the marginal and small farm households. The primary data related to availability and use of various resources on the marginal and the small farms, access to credit of the farmers, nature and extent of employment and sources of income of the marginal and small farm households were collected through personal interview method from the sample of 320 farmers in Punjab pertaining to the year 2009-10. The results brought out that the marginal and the small farmers not only had a small size of operational holding but also suffered from lack of various resources in farm production. There existed a scope to increase income on their farm provided new high yielding crop and other alternative activities were introduced to them along with provision of sufficient capital and technical knowhow for their production. The industry of agriculture was the main source of employment for the household members of the marginal and the small farmers. Only a few persons from these farm households could find employment in the other industries. There was felt an urgent need to strengthen non-farm sector in Punjab in order to siphon off unemployed or disguisedly employed household members of the marginal and small farmers from the industry of agriculture.ThesisItem Unknown An economic analysis of sugar industry in Punjab(PAU, 2013) Ambujam, Anuradha Devi; Chahal, S.S.The present study was carried out to ascertain the performance of sugar industry in Punjab. The study was carried out by selecting two sugar mills based on highest TCD each from cooperative and private sectors. So as to examine the causes of failures of sugar mills, the Zira Cooperative Sugar mill was selected purposively. In order to achieve the stipulated objectives both secondary and primary data were used. The data were analyzed by using various statistical tools such as compound growth analysis, regression analysis, ratio analysis, tabular analysis, etc. The major findings of the study revealed that the area, production and productivi21ty of sugarcane have declined both at state and national level. The state have lower growth rate of area under sugarcane and production than the national level while the growth of sugarcane yield was higher in the state level. Similarly, growth of sugar production, recovery of sugar and total cane crushed by the mills has been declining through time. The results indicate that there has been wide variation in area and production of sugarcane in the state as well as the national level. The production of sugarcane was affected by area and interaction effect of yield and area. The total cane crushed by the mills was found to be an important factor for production of sugar both at state and national level. The acreage under sugarcane was affected by both price and non-price factors. The farmers rapidly adjust the area under sugarcane both in short-run and long-run. The profitability, operational performance, solvency and liquidity of the mills were not satisfactory in both the sectors. Comparatively, the private sector had better physical and financial performance than the cooperative sector. The study identified various technological, socio-economic, infrastructural, financial and marketing problems faced by the cane growers. Further, the important constraints of the sugar industry such as low sugar recovery, shortage of sugarcane supply, inability to pay arrear to the cane growers in time, low level of profitability and non-viability of sugar mills were also identified. The case study of Zira Cooperative Sugar Mill revealed that the mill has been under financial stress right from its inception. The prevailing production, processing and marketing of sugarcane and sugar as well as the financial position of the sugar mills were not conducive to the various stakeholders. This calls for pragmatic policy which could benefit both the farmers and sugar mills.ThesisItem Unknown IMPACT OF PRICE INCENTIVES ON PRODUCTION AND PROCUREMENT OF PADDY IN PUNJAB(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2013) Sikitu Anyosisye; Chahal, S.S.The minimum support price (MSP) is fixed at incentive level, so as to induce the farmers to make capital investment for the improvement of their farm and to motivate them to adopt improved technologies to step up their production and thereby, their net income. In the absence of such a guaranteed price, there is a concerned that farmers may shift to other crops causing shortage in these commodities such as rice. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of MSP on production and procurement of paddy in Punjab. The study was entirely based on the secondary data pertaining to paddy area, production, productivity, market arrivals, procurement and minimum support prices for the period 1950-51 to 2011-12 which were collected from various issues of Statistical Abstract of Punjab, Agricultural Statistics At A Glance, Economic Surveys and www.indiastat.com. The Karl-Pearson coefficient of correlation (r) was computed to examine the degree and the direction of the relationship between MSPs and production/procurement. The results revealed positive relationship between MSP and production as well as MSP and procurement. As the results of assured price and public purchase of paddy over years, farmers have been motivated to expand the area under the same crop and adopted modern agricultural technology and consequently the increase in production. The highest compound growth rate (16.35 percent per annum) of paddy production was recorded during Green Revolution as a result of high growth rates of area and yield, 10.59 and 5.21 percent per annum, respectively. Also, the results indicate that, Punjab is still the major contributor of rice to the Central Pool in the country. Punjab contributed 34.41 percent during 1985-86 to 2010-11. However, its contribution has been declining over years because of the increased contribution of rice to the Central Pool from other states. Overall the study conclude that MSP as an incentive price has contributed to the increase in production and procurement of paddy in Punjab.ThesisItem Unknown FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS IN BATHINDA DISTRICT OF PUNJAB(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2013) Hanish SharmaThe study entitled "financial inclusion of farmers and agricultural labourers in Bathinda District of Punjab" aimed at studying the growth in formal agricultural credit, extent of banking facilities and reasons for financial exclusion by the respondents. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the block and two villages i.e. one banked village and one unbanked village. Total enumeration of farmers and agricultural labourers was done in both the villages. The study indicated a significant increase in the total deposits and advances in Punjab State and as well as in Bathinda District also. The level of income was found to be low thus expenditure and savings level were also low. 67% of farmers and agricultural labourers reported low income as the main discouragement factor from having a frequent and healthy links with formal credit system. Majority of the farmers took crop loan. Financial exclusion was still existed in the study area. The analysis brought out that the number of respondents financially inclusive up to the extent of one level were more in Poohli village than in Bibiwala village while up to the extent of level of two was also more in the Poohli village than in Bibiwala village. Non-institutional credit was also prevalent in the study area. The selected respondents of Poohli village were more aware and had better access to credit institutions than the Bibiwala village. Low income illiteracy, bribes to Patwari and agents, unawareness, high rate of interest, easy access to non-institutional credit sources complicated and time consuming procedures, absence of rural branches and hostile staff behavior were reported as the major constraints of financial inclusion by the respondents.ThesisItem Restricted RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY IN COTTON CULTIVATION IN PUNJAB(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2013) Bedi, Gurprem SinghThe present study had conducted with purpose to measure the technical efficiency in the use of inputs i.e. to extract the maximum output from a given level of inputs in cotton cultivation and to understand the factors which determine the efficiency of Bt cotton growers. In order to accomplish the specific objectives, a sample of 120 farmers from 12 villages of three districts of Punjab namely Faridkot, Muktsar and Mansa were selected through multi-stage random sampling technique. Data were collected by directly interviewing the farmers through a well-structured schedule. The Cobb-Douglas production function technique was used to estimate the elasticity coefficients of different inputs in determining the crop productivity and the Stochastic Frontier application was used to estimate the farm specific technical efficiency. The results of regression analysis indicated that the seed, human labour, tractor use, irrigation, urea and plant protection chemicals applied were statistically significant and had positive regression coefficients which meant that at current level these were under- utilized. The variance parameters, σ2 and γ, for the three categories of farms were significantly different from zero and had positive coefficients and statistically significant at one per cent level. This provides statistical confirmation that there were differences in the technical efficiency among farmers. Thus, the shortfall of realised productivity from the frontier was largely due to technical inefficiency and was mainly within the control of individual farmer. However, a relative higher value of γ for medium farms, which was found to be very close to one, indicated that dominance of efficiency effect over random error was much stronger for medium farms as compared to small and large farms. The study has clearly highlighted that there was an indiscriminate use of some of the factors of production in study area at different levels of farm. This necessitates proper management of these inputs at all farm levels. The issue of irrational use of some of the resources, particularly of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals in cotton cultivation needs to be addressed seriously. Resource use efficiency, Technical efficiency, Resource Productivity, Bt cotton farmers, Punjab