Comparative Economics of Tropical Rice Cultivation Across Farm Sizes: A Study of Nalgonda District of Telangana State

摘要

Thepresent study was carried out in Nalgonda district ofTelangana State which has a typical tropical climate to investigate the cost of cultivation and profitability of rice particularly across different farm sizes during 2013-14. Multistage stratified random sampling technique was adopted for selection of the sample where rice cultivators were stratified into five groups based on the size of operational holding. The cost of cultivation for all the farms was found to be Rs. 78159.65 lia'1 with loweston marginal farms (Rs. 72692.82 Iw1) and highest on large farms (Rs.85214.48 ha~(-1)) implying that cost of cultivation increased with increase in farm size. Human labour constituted the major component (35.44%) of the total cost of cultivation. The cost incurred on hired labour was found to increase with farm size whereas the cost incurred on family labour decreased with increase in farm size. The amount spent on fertilizers and plant protection chemicals was highest on large farms and least on marginal farms. Marginal farms in the study area were found to be more profitable in rice cultivation than large farms.