Comparison of Cost And Returns of Major Food Crops Under Central Dry Zone of Karnataka

Abstract

A study was carried out for comparison of cost and returns of major food crops under rainfed condition and bore well situation in Central Dry Zone of Karnataka (CDZ) in 2014-15. In CDZ, paddy, ragi, maize and groundnut are the major crops. To analyse cost and returns, the techniques such as tabular method with percentage, numbers and market approach were used. Random sampling technique was employed in the selection of 90 farmers for the study, which comprises of 45 irrigated farmers and 45 rainfed farmers. The secondary data regarding area, production and productivity data of the madhugiri taluk of Tumakuru district were collected from the district website for the year 2013–14 for sample selection based on area dominance. The study showed that cost and net returns for borewell irrigated paddy were Rs. 56225 ha -1 and Rs. 34091 ha -1 , respectively. Among these crops, cost of cultivation was higher in rainfed and borewell irrigated groundnut (Rs.47274 ha -1 and Rs.51619 ha -1 ), respectively. The net returns realised under rainfed and borewell irrigated maize was found to be more i.e., Rs.11570 ha -1 and Rs.31405 ha -1 , respectively. Whereas, in case of ragi, net returns under rainfed condition was Rs. -2440 ha -1 and in irrigated condition it was Rs.13552 ha -1 . Comparison reveals that, the cost and net returns of all crops in CDZ were more than the Cost of Cultivation Scheme (CCS) estimates for Karnataka due to higher productivity of crops in Tumakuru district (CDZ) except in rainfed ragi (Rs.-2440 ha -1 ).