Resource use pattern and efficiency of wheat production in Punjab Singh Randeep*, Singh Jasdev, Kumar Sanjay Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India *Corresponding author email: rsandhu-132480@yahoo.co.in
Online Published on 26 February, 2024. Abstract The farm level data collected under centrally sponsored scheme “Comprehensive Scheme for Studying the Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in Punjab” has been analyzed to examine the resource-use pattern and efficiency in wheat production in Punjab. The expenditure on machinery, fertilizers (NPK and other fertilizers and micronutrients) and human labour were the major cost components accounting for 40.46 per cent, 20.34 per cent and 17.41 per cent of total variable cost of cultivation of wheat on the overall farms. The farm size-wise analysis showed that total variable cost had inverse relationship with the farm size. The profitability in wheat, in terms of percent returns over variable cost on overall farms was about 70 per cent and its relation with farm size was observed to be direct with the highest on large farms (71.39%) followed by medium farm (69.92%) and small farms (66.37%). The results of Cobb-Douglas production function revealed that human labour, tractor use, irrigation, NPK fertilizers and other fertilizers were statistically significant and thus important factors in determining the wheat productivity in the state. Further, the study pointed out towards the excessive use of resources like human labour, irrigation, nitrogen and potash in wheat which needs to be reduced in order to increase the profitability of this crop. Top Keywords Resource use, Efficiency, Production function, Wheat production, Wheat productivity. Top |