Technical Efficiency of Wheat Production in Punjab: A Regional Analysis

The study has analysed the technical efficiency in wheat production across different regions of the Punjab state. It is based on the cross sectional data collected from a random sample of 564 farm households comprising 58, 318, and 188 households from semi-hilly, central and south-western regions for the year 2005-06. The mean technical efficiency of wheat production has been found as 87 per cent, 94 per cent, 86 per cent and 87 per cent in semi-hilly, central, south-western and Punjab state as a whole, respectively. The results signify that farmers of the central region do not have much scope to increase productivity of wheat through technical efficiency improvement under the existing conditions of input-use and technology. In the semi-hilly and south-western regions, the yield of wheat can be improved to the extent of 13 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively through adoption of better practices of technology. Across different regions, wheat area has contributed positively and significantly, the coefficient being highest and only significant variable for the central region. The coefficient of expenditure on insecticides and pesticides has been found significant for the semi-hilly region, demanding boost in the expenditure on insecticides and pesticides to increase wheat production in this region. The coefficient of fertilizer nutrients has been observed positive and significant for the semi-hilly and south-western regions, indicating that there is scope for increasing production of wheat by enhancing the use of fertilizers in these regions. Further, the technical efficiencies are positively and significantly related to age, education and experience of a farmer and percentage area under the crop.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Broiler Production in Punjab — An Economic Analysis

The cost and return analysis of different sizes of broiler farms in the Punjab state has been carried out based on the primary data collected from 140 broiler farmers for the period March 2008 to February 2009 in three districts, viz. Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Muktsar. The study has shown that the total fixed investments per bird have been highest on small farms, followed by medium and large farms. The total variable cost per bird has been reported highest on small farms, followed by medium and large farms. The total cost of meat production per bird has been found highest on small broiler farms, followed by medium and large farms. The net returns per bird over the variable costs have been recorded highest on large farms and economies of scale prevail on these farms. The meat-feed price ratio and benefit-cost ratio have been found to increase with increase in farm-size of broiler farms, which indicates better utilization of inputs on large farms. On the basis of net present value, benefit-cost ratio and internal rate of return, investment in broiler farming has been found profitable in all farm-sizes, it being most profitable on large farms, followed by medium and small farms. The small broiler farms have been observed highly sensitive to increase in costs and decrease in net returns. The study has observed that broiler farming is a profitable venture and has a bright future in the Punjab agriculture for improving economic status of the farming communityAgricultural and Food Policy,

Inadequacies of Institutional Agricultural Credit System in Punjab State

In spite of various measures to rejuvenate farm credit, the flow of credit to agriculture sector remained inadequate quantitatively and qualitatively. The study is based on a random sample of 600 farm households covering 11 districts in Punjab, comprising 107 marginal, 150 small, 53 semi-mediums, 87 medium and 103 large farmers and pertains to the year 2005-06. The total debt per sample farm household from both institutional and non-institutional sources has been found to be Rs 178934 in the year 2005-06. The institutional sources have contributed about 62 per cent to the total debt and non-institutional 38 per cent. Although the institutional credit has increased rapidly in recent years in Punjab, it still lacks behind the productive needs of the farmers in Punjab. A farmer on an average has to incur Rs 4016 for obtaining a loan from commercial banks, which amounts to 5 per cent of the total loan obtained by him. In the case of cooperatives, the transaction cost has been worked out to be 1.2 per cent of the loan and the cooperatives are located right in the villages. About 59 per cent farmers have reported the procedure to get loans from the institutional agencies to be complicated and time-consuming. On the contrary, availing non-institutional loan has been found easy and is the reason of preference given by 51 per cent farmers to it. Policy implications include issuing of a simple but comprehensive record book to farmers containing information relating to his land record and institutional transactions; computerization of land records by the state government; simplification of loan application form; and maintenance of proper records of loan applications and making disbursement of loan mandatory

Broiler Production in Punjab — An Economic Analysis

The cost and return analysis of different sizes of broiler farms in the Punjab state has been carried out based on the primary data collected from 140 broiler farmers for the period March 2008 to February 2009 in three districts, viz. Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Muktsar. The study has shown that the total fixed investments per bird have been highest on small farms, followed by medium and large farms. The total variable cost per bird has been reported highest on small farms, followed by medium and large farms. The total cost of meat production per bird has been found highest on small broiler farms, followed by medium and large farms. The net returns per bird over the variable costs have been recorded highest on large farms and economies of scale prevail on these farms. The meat-feed price ratio and benefit-cost ratio have been found to increase with increase in farm-size of broiler farms, which indicates better utilization of inputs on large farms. On the basis of net present value, benefit-cost ratio and internal rate of return, investment in broiler farming has been found profitable in all farm-sizes, it being most profitable on large farms, followed by medium and small farms. The small broiler farms have been observed highly sensitive to increase in costs and decrease in net returns. The study has observed that broiler farming is a profitable venture and has a bright future in the Punjab agriculture for improving economic status of the farming communit

Technical Efficiency of Wheat Production in Punjab: A Regional Analysis

The study has analysed the technical efficiency in wheat production across different regions of the Punjab state. It is based on the cross sectional data collected from a random sample of 564 farm households comprising 58, 318, and 188 households from semi-hilly, central and south-western regions for the year 2005-06. The mean technical efficiency of wheat production has been found as 87 per cent, 94 per cent, 86 per cent and 87 per cent in semi-hilly, central, south-western and Punjab state as a whole, respectively. The results signify that farmers of the central region do not have much scope to increase productivity of wheat through technical efficiency improvement under the existing conditions of input-use and technology. In the semi-hilly and south-western regions, the yield of wheat can be improved to the extent of 13 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively through adoption of better practices of technology. Across different regions, wheat area has contributed positively and significantly, the coefficient being highest and only significant variable for the central region. The coefficient of expenditure on insecticides and pesticides has been found significant for the semi-hilly region, demanding boost in the expenditure on insecticides and pesticides to increase wheat production in this region. The coefficient of fertilizer nutrients has been observed positive and significant for the semi-hilly and south-western regions, indicating that there is scope for increasing production of wheat by enhancing the use of fertilizers in these regions. Further, the technical efficiencies are positively and significantly related to age, education and experience of a farmer and percentage area under the crop