Input use pattern of temperate fruits production in Himachal Pradesh: A comparative study of across farm size Kumar Sikander1, Chauhan Vishal2,* 1Honorable Member of Rajya Sabha and Former Professor (Department of Economics), Vice-Chancellor, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India 2Department of Economics, St Bede’s College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India *Corresponding author: vishal.chauhan333.vc@gmail.com (ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8837-6122)
Online Published on 21 October, 2023. Abstract Land, labour, Manures & fertilizers are the basic farm inputs in agriculture production. For increasing the crop yield farmers have to make better use of their inputs as they determine the farm cost, therefore, research had been conducted on the different farm sizes to understand the inputs use pattern for different temperate fruit crop production. The study was conducted in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh with a sample size of 200 farm households. It was discovered that per hectare application of fertilizers, manures, sprays and insecticides & pesticides in overall crops production is highest among marginal farms and hence is showing decreasing trends with increasing farm size and the possible reason for the same can be an expectation of high returns or landholdings. Above all holding of major farm implements is less among marginal farmers which plays a very key role in improving the performance of inputs and therefore improves farms' resource efficiency which is one of the key concerns in the Indian agriculture sector. Highligshts • Manure application reveals a declining trend with the increasing farm size. • Fertilizer Consumption per hectare is substantially higher on marginal farms. • The average holding of agriculture implements is increasing with the increase in farm size. Top Keywords Input use, Resource use pattern, Resource endowment, Resource efficiency. Top |