Suhag, K. S.Kuldeep Chand2016-11-092016-11-092011http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/84636The present study was carried out in Dabwali and Sirsa tehsils of Sirsa district of Haryana with the objectives of examining the magnitude and utilization pattern of tractors, testing economic viability of tractor, studying factors affecting demand of tractors in Haryana and identification of problems in the purchase and use of tractors. From each selected tehsil two villages (Choutala and Asakhera from Dabwali and Randhawa and Arniawali from Sirsa tehsil) were selected randomly and further 20 tractor owner farmers from each village were selected to comprise a sample size of 80 tractor owner farmers. A consistent increase in the number of tractors has been observed in Haryana state. Panchkula (232.78) had maximum number of tractors per 1000 hectares of cultivated land. The average annual use of tractors was found 784.41 hours, out of which for 321.90 hours (41.04 per cent) the tractors were used for own work and for 462.51 hours (58.96 per cent) the tractor was used for hired out operations. Tillage was the major agricultural operation in respect of use of tractor. Total cost of tractor was ` 209795.33 per tractor per year, of which variable cost accounted for ` 121519.50 per tractor per year (57.92 per cent) and fixed cost accounted for ` 88275.83 per tractor per year (42.07 per cent of total cost). The total cost of tractor per hour was estimated to be ` 267.45. Total returns from the tractor use were ` 397791.79 per tractor per year, of which average returns from owned operations accounted for ` 149646.42 (37.61 per cent of total returns) and average returns from hired out operations accounted for ` 248145.37 (62.38 per cent of total returns). Benefit cost ratio for tractor investment was 1.89, net present worth was ` 1280418.42, internal rate of return was 37.03 per cent and payback period was 4 years which indicate viability of investment in tractor. Sensitivity analysis by raising total cost and total returns by 5 per cent and 10 per cent showed that even after increase in cost, investment in tractor remains viable. Out of eight explanatory variables, gross irrigated area, area under high yielding varieties, cropping intensity and price of tractor were found significant and affected the demand of tractors. These factors contributed for 90.74 per cent variation in tractor demand. The total number of tractors in Haryana were estimated to be 5,17,424 for the year 2029-30. There were two financial (lack of essential matching implements/machineries and their use and operator/user should be capable of doing minor repairs), one infrastructural (small land holding) and two economic and financial problems (cost of new tractor is high and tractor is used for only few days in a year) which were the major problems faced by the farmers in the purchase and use of tractor.enCosts, Economics, Area, Crops, Demand, Manpower, Marketing, Productivity, Investment, IrrigationThesis