Inter zonal variation of farm Mechanization in Assam
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Date
2021
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Abstract
Farm mechanisation plays vital roles in reduction of drudgery of the
human labour and drought animals, enhancement of the cropping intensity, precision
and timeliness of efficiency of utilisation of various crop inputs and reduction of the
losses at different stages of crop production through the use of the use of various power
sources and improved farm tools and equipments.
With growing of pace of farm mechanisation, questions arise on the
issues such as degree of adoption and regional variation in the extent adoption of those
modern farm machineries and equipments, resource and energy use efficiency,
agricultural technology adoption and comparative economic advantage as a result of
adoption of different types of farm mechineries. With this point of views, the present
study was undertaken in Assam with the specific objectives viz., 1) Examine the extent
of adoption of farm mechanisation across different agro climatic zones of Assam,
2) Study the impact of farm mechanisation on technology adoption and energy use,
3) Analyze the resource use efficiency and comparative economics of farm
mechanisation and 4) Identify the constraints of farm mechanisation.
The study was conducted in five agro climatic zones in Assam (viz.,
Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone (UBVZ), North Bank Plain Zone (NBPZ), Central
Brahmaputra Valley Zone (CBVZ), Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone (LBVZ) and
Barak Valley (BVZ). The sampling design adopted in the study was multistage
stratified random sampling design .A sample of 100 farmers was collected for each of
the five agroclimatic zones in the ratio of 4 marginal: 3 small:2 medium :1 large so as to
make the total sample size 600.
The results of the study revealed that the overall mechanization farm was
86 per cent in selected agroclimatic zones of Assam, while 14.00 per cent farms were
operating with traditional practices of farm operations by using bullock and manual
labour. The highest percentage of mechanization was observed in NBPZ (89.17 per
cent) followed by CBVZ, UBVZ, BVZ and LBVZ accounting for 86.67 per cent, 85.83
per cent, 85.00 per cent and 83.33 per cent, respectively. Among the different categories
of farm mechanization, on an average, tractor hired farms (THF) occupied the highest
percentage (50.97 per cent) followed by power tiller hired farms (PTHF), power tiller
owned farms (PTOF) and tractor owned farms (TOF) with the percentage of 37.02, 7.95and 4.07 respectively. operation wise extent of farm mechanization showed that on an
average, the primary tillage/ ploughing, threshing and transportation were the major
operations mechanised by 86.00 per cent,79.83 per cent and 53.39 per cent farmers
respectively, while interculture operation, irrigation, harvesting and winnowing and
bagging were mechanised by 10.83 per cent, 27.00 per cent , 7.12 per cent and 31.83
per cent farmers respectively.
Adoption of HYV of Sali paddy (in terms of number of farmers) was
found to be highest in CBVZ (96.15 per cent) and lowest in UBVZ (81.55 per cent)
among the mechanized farm, while in non mechanized farm 33.33 per cent farmers
adopted HYV Sali rice, In mechanized farm, HYV Sali rice was adopted in 77.06 per
cent area as against only 39.31 per cent for non mechanized farms. HYV seed of
mustard, black gram, potato, boro rice and jute in mechanised farm was adopted by
53.62 per cent,40.74 per cent,37.93 per cent,65.69 per cent and 76.47 per cent farmers
respectively, while for non mechanised farm, it was observed 16.95 per cent and 40.00
per cent for mustard and jute respectively. On the other hand , HYV seed of Sali rice,
mustard, black gram, potato, boro rice and jute in mechanised farm was adopted in
77.96 per cent,66.61 per cent,46.53 per cent,45.74 per cent 62.24 and 66.82 per cent
area respectively, as against 39.31 per cent, 16.51 per cent and 44.83 per cent for Sali
rice ,mustard and jute respectively in non mechanised farm. Line transplanting
practices in Sali rice, was followed only in 6.19 per cent area in mechanised farm as
against 4.37 per cent for non –mechanized farms. Among the various agroclimatic
zones, line transplanting in Sali rice in mechanised farm was adopted in 2.51 per
cent,6.17 per cent ,10.11 per cent,11.12 per cent and 2.44 per cent area respectively in
UBVZ, NBPZ, CBVZ,LBVZ and BVZ. On the other hand, line transplanting in Boro
rice was adopted in 30.46 per cent , 57.09 per cent ,69.61 per cent,67.01 per cent and
65.17 per cent area respectively in UBVZ, NBPZ, CBVZ,LBVZ and BVZ with the
overall adoption of 57.43 per cent. Adoption of chemical fertilizer in Sali rice,
mustard, black gram, potato, boro rice and jute in mechanised farm was found in 44.74
per cent, 64.19 per cent, 21.33 per cent, 39.05 per cent ,68.30 per cent and 63.45 per
cent area respectively as against 15.15 per cent,16.43 per cent and 13.71 per cent area
for Sali rice ,mustard and jute respectively in non mechanised farm. Chemical methods
of plant protection measure was adopted in Sali rice, mustard, black gram, potato, boro
rice and jute under mechanised farm in 47.37 per cent, 21.65 per cent, 18.99 per cent,
64.98 per cent, 62.25 per cent and 69.52 per cent area respectively as against 22.91 per cent,6.78 per cent and 4.29 per cent area for Sali rice ,mustard and jute
respectively in non mechanised farm.
The average energy utilised for cultivation of Sali rice, mustard,
blackgram, potato, boro rice and jute was 5217.27 MJ/ha , 4488.17 MJ/ha , 2612.70
MJ/ha , 13293.43 MJ/ha , 11204.74 MJ/ha , and 7082.61 MJ/ha respectively in
mechanised farm as against 5050.65 MJ/ha3846.70MJ/ha and 6352.25 MJ/ha for Sali
rice, mustard and jute respectively in non-mechanised. Various energy efficiciency
ratios revealed that energy was efficiently utilised in cultivation of all the crops both in
mechanised and non-mechanised farm. Of course, mechanized farms were observed to
be more efficient than non mechanized farms from the point of energy utilization.
Average human labour and seed utilisation was less in mechanised farm
as compared to non mechanised farm for crops under study, whereas per hectare
utilisation of fertilizer, manure, plant protection chemicals and micro nutrients was
found less in non-mechanised farm than the mechanised farm.
Utilisation of human labour in Sali rice, mustard, black gram, potato,
boro rice and jute in mechanised farm was found in 86.26 Man days, 42.55 Man
days,53.56 Man days, 99.34 Man days ,96.87 Man days and 172.57 Man days
respectively as against 117.75 Man days,80.41 per cent and 190.30 Man days for Sali
rice, mustard and jute respectively in non mechanised farm.
The results of regression analysis for factors affecting crop production
revealed that in mechanised farm in UBVZ, seed, fertilizer and machine labour
significantly and positively affected the farm income, whereas in non-mechanised farm,
FYM and fertilizer were found to be positive and statistically significant. In NBPZ,
fertilizer, irrigation and machine labour in mechanised farm, and seed and human labour
in non-mechanised farm were found statistically significant. For CBVZ, seed, FYM,
irrigation and machine labour affected farm income significantly in mechanised farm, as
against fertilizer and bullock labour in non-mechanised farms. In case of LBVZ,
fertilizer, irrigation and machine labour were found significant in mechanised farms,
while seed and fertilizer were significant in non-mechanised farms. Area, seed, FYM
and machine labour significantly contributed to farm income in mechanised farm in
BVZ as against seed and fertilizer in non-mechanised farms.
Study on the comparative economics of crop production in mechanised
and non mechanised farm revealed that the average cost of cultivation per hectare at Cost C2 in Sali rice, mustard, black gram ,potato ,Boro rice and jute under mechanised
farm was Rs.46349.32, Rs.28745.28, Rs.25287.79, Rs.98827.93 , Rs.55439.25 and
88580.06 respectively, as against Rs.48386.80, Rs.30540.22 and 92675.21 respectively
for Sali rice, mustard and jute in non mechanised farm. .Gross return per hectare was
estimated at Rs. 63913.25, Rs.31771.69, Rs 35613.16, Rs.147107.39, Rs.69403.90 and
Rs.118218.18 respectively for Sali rice, mustard, black gram ,potato ,Boro rice and jute
under mechanised farm, while it was Rs 54817.88,Rs.29059.80 and Rs.110363.54
respectively for Sali rice ,mustard and jute in non –mechanised farm .Per hectare net
return in Sali rice, mustard, black gram ,potato ,Boro rice and jute under mechanised
farm was Rs.12928.40, Rs.151.88, Rs.7796.59, Rs.38396.66 , Rs.6420.41 and 20780.11
respectively, as against Rs.1592.40, Rs.4534.44 and 8420.81 respectively for Sali rice,
mustard and jute in non mechanised farm.
Lack of sufficient own funds to meet initial high costs of farm
machinery , and lack of adequate credit facilities and rigid repayment norms were the
common major problems faced by farmers in all the selected agro-climatic zones.
Among all problems, lack of sufficient own funds to meet initial high costs of farm
machinery occupied the 1st rank as faced by 90.83 per cent farmers