Technical efficiency and Economic viability of small and marginal farms in Punjab
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Date
2021
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The present study has been designed to study cost of cultivation of major crops of the state to
review the technical efficiency and economic viability of the marginal as well as the small
farms of Punjab. The sample of 280 farmers (121 marginal and 159 small farmers), spread
over all the major agro-climatic zones of Punjab was collected for the year 2014-15, 2015-16
and 2016-17. The study highlighted that in the Punjab state, the per hectare cost of cultivation
of crops namely paddy, wheat, maize and cotton was observed to be slightly lower for small
farms in comparison to marginal farms. The crop farming based on cost C2 showed negative
returns on both the categories of farms in all the zones, except Central Punjab. An estimate of
yield gap revealed that paddy and maize witnessed maximum yield gap in zone-II and I
respectively, while cotton and wheat showcased maximum yield gap in zone-III. The mean
technical efficiency of crop production for the state was 75.78 per cent. It has been found that
factors like experience and education of the farmer were the most influential determinants of
technical efficiency of crop production in the state. In Punjab, 83.47 per cent of the marginal
farmer and 61.01 per cent of the small farmers were non sustainable. The economic size of
holding was worked out to be 4.94 acre which indicates that on the basis of crop income,
farmers having 4.94 acres of land will be able to sustain in long run. The study further
highlighted that 71.07 per cent of the marginal farmers and 24.53 of the small farmers were
not economically viable depending only upon the income earned from crop and dairy farming.
Income from off-farm sources is the only factor, which helps the farmers to become viable.
The study revealed that income from off-farm and dairy sources should be enhanced while
domestic expenditure must be trimmed down in order to turn the non-viable farms into viable
ones.
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Citation
Sharma, Isha (2021). Technical efficiency and Economic viability of small and marginal farms in Punjab (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.