Academy of Agriculture Journal 2: 9 (2017) Contents lists available at www.innovativejournal.in ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE JOURNAL Available online at http://innovativejournal.in/aaj/index.php/aaj Resource Use Efficiency In Cultivation Of Major Crops In Malappuram District Dr. Indu. M.R. ARTICLE INFO Corresponding Author Dr. Indu. M.R. ABSTRACT Efficiency is an important concept in production economics when resources are constraint and opportunities of adopting better technologies are competitive. The efficiency in the use of various resources affects the productivity of crops, their costs and return structure and profit. Agricultural productivity depends on resource use efficiency of cultivated crops. ivity of crops in Kerala shows wide fluctuations in past decades. The studies dealing with resource use efficiency in Kerala agriculture is sporadic. 2017, AAJ, All Right Reserved Introduction: The success of agricultural development largely depends on the availability and the proper use of resources particularly of land, labour and capital. Efficiency of resources which can be defined as the ability to derive maximum output per unit of resource. A return from crop production depends not only on the crop performance but also on the availability and the proper use of resources. In case of inefficient resource use, the production can be increased by making adjustment in the use of resources for profit maximization. The contribution of each factor in increasing productivity and its economies on farmer s field need to be worked out as to convince the farmers about the judicious use of that input. The study mainly deals with the efficiency of resource use in the cultivation of the five competing crops, namely, paddy, banana, coconut arecanut and tapioca in Malappuram district. Six independent variables which affect the productivity of these crops are taken for the study. Review of Literature: Muraleedharan.P.K (1987) in his study of Kole lands in Trichur district by using cobb douglass production function,explained that the cultivators have not been able to allocate their inputs Efficiently and there seems to be considerable scope for augmenting profit from kole cultivation by optimum use of inputs. ards the optimum level. Singh.S.P and Beena Job (1996) examined the resource use efficiency in cash crops (onion and sugarcane) of Pune district using multiple regression analysis in the form of cobb douglass production function. The study concluded that profitability of onion can be increased bythe use of additional human labour and fertiliser, whereas increased use of bullock labour reduced the production of the crop.manuers and fertilisers are excessively used in the production of sugarcane. D.C.Pant and B.L.Nagar (2005) measured the resource use efficiency of soybean in Rajasthan by fitting the cobb-douglass production function. In medium farms farm yard manure, human labour and fertiliser had positive coefficient whereas only farm yared manure and human labour were statistically significant on large farms. S.K.Srivastava and L.R.Singh (2005) conducted a study to evaluate resource use efficiency of major crops in We stern Uttar Pradesh by using cobbdouglass production function. Irrigation was found to be positive and significant in wheat production whereas it was negatively significant in paddy cultivation. Bullock and machine power was found to be in sub-optimal use in sugarcane Academy of Agriculture Journal, Vol.2, Issue.8, 2017, Page No: 90-95 Page 90
crop. The use of seed is not efficient in paddy and wheat cultivation. Nutrient use was found to ber efficient in all the major crops. N.K.Kale etal (2005) studied resource use efficiency in chilli cultivation in Konkan region by fitting cobb-douglass production function. The study observed that human labour, bullock labour and number of irrigational had significant influence on the value of output whereas fertiliser had negative impact on production function. N.S.Dhaliwal (2005) attempted to examine the resource use efficiency of various inputs used for sugarcane cultivation in Central Punjab highlighted the scope for increasing the investment on nitrogen, phosphatic fertiliser, and irrigation and plant protection measures and curtails the expenditure on seeds in the production process. Arti Sharma and Jyothi Kachroo (2009) tried to analyse resource use efficiency in maize cultivation in Jammu district. The study revealed that fertilisers, farm yard manure, human labour, capital and seed contributed to maize output. Udayakumar Hosamani etal (2010) studied the resource use efficiency of pesticides in paddy production in Karnataka. The study indicated that resources are not optimally used in paddy production. The use of labour and plant nutrients result negative returns in production. Pan.R.Setal (2011) studied the resource use efficiency in the production of different varieties of brinjal in Jharkhand by estimating the marginal value product of inputs. The study recommended that the growers of brinjal variety swarna pratibha should reallocate the excess fund to manure and fertilizer, chemicals and human labour in order to optimise the returns. Similarly area of land, human labour and seed are positively contributed to the production of another variety SwarnaShyamili. Vinod Kumaretal (2011) in their study of resource use efficiency in Himachal Pradesh agriculture by using cobb-douglas production function concluded that, more inputs are used in low hills compared to mid and high hills. Human labour in case of paddy in low hills, seed, farm yard manure and bullock labour for maize and farm yard manure and fertiliser for wheat in mid hills, farm yard manure for maize and fertiliser for wheat in high hills had significant and positive influence on productivity. PP Nikhil Raj and PA Azeez (2011) examine the resource use efficiency of paddy cultivation in the irrigation command area of Malampuzha river valley project by fitting cobb douglass production function. The elasticity coefficient of area under paddy cultivation, and labor was found significant and positive. The allocative efficiency analysis for resources showed that only farmyard manure is underutilized. R.R. Chapke etal (2011), examined the resourceuse efficiency in sorghum production in Andhra Pradesh. Findings revealed that the farmers were inefficient in using the resources. The seeds and irrigations were found to be over-utilized, while fertilizers, labourers and agrochemicals were found to be under-utilized. The returns from sorghum were likely to increase if more of inputs such as fertilizers, labourers and agrochemicals were used. Using more labourers in such labour intensive cultivation would enable increase of the returns from this crop. Goswami.S.N etal (2012) made an attempt to study resource use efficiency of rice farming in Gondia district of Maharahtra by taking the cobbdouglas production function and marginal productivity of factors. The study exposed that the utilisation of human labour was high in small farms and it was positively correlated with the extent of irrigation.the availability of irrigation water had a strong and positive influence in higher gross and net returns. E. Lokanadha Reddy and D. Radhakrishna Reddy (2013) made an attempt to study the resource use efficiency of input factors in paddy cultivation in Nellore district by taking the ratio of marginal value product of factors to their marginal cost. From the study it is observed that human-labour, HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and manures underutilized in small farms whereas, bullocklabour, expenditure on tractor and pesticides over utilized. In medium farms expenditure on tractor, human-labour, HYV seeds, and pesticides are underutilized and chemical fertilizers and manures are over utilized. In large farms bullock-labour, expenditure on tractor, HYV seeds, chemical fertilizer, manures and pesticides are underutilized. Sunny Kumar etal (2013) in their study of resource use efficiency of important vegetables in Punjab by using cobb douglass production function concluded that fertilizer was found be significant variable affecting the productivity of chilly crops, while expenses on insecticides turned out to be significant among potato and cauliflower crop. Labour for peas and cauliflower and fertilizer for potato and chillies are underutilized. The study emphasized the need to curtail the over Academy of Agriculture Journal, Vol.2, Issue.9, 2017, Page No: 90-95 Page 91
use of irrigation for peas and chilli crops while insecticides for cauliflower. Ravi Shrey ands.h. Kamble (2014) studied resource use efficiency of cotton on small farms in Marathwada region by using cobb douglass production function. The study found thatfamily labour, bullock labour, machine labor and manure were underutilized whereas seed, fertiliser and plant protection chemicals are used in excess in cotton cultivation. M.D.. Mokidul Islam1and D.C. Kalita (2016) tried toestimate the resource use efficiency of wetland rice cultivation in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya during the cropping season of 2010-11 using Cobb-Douglas production function. This implies that land, fertilizer, FYM/vermicompost and irrigation were under-utilized while all other inputs were over- utilized. Objective of the Study: To study the resource use efficiency of input factors of major crops such as paddy, tapioca, coconut, arecanut and rubber in Malappuram district. Data and Methodology: The data used for the study is collected from 259 samples in Malappuram district using survey method.ion function analysis is used for determining the efficiency of various resources used in the production process. The Cobb- Douglass production function is used for the study. modified form of the Cobb-Douglass production function related to the five crops paddy, banana, coconut, arecanut, tapioca was as follows. Ya= a x1 b1 x2 b2 x3 b3 x4 b4 x5 b5 x6 b6.arecanut Yb= a x1 b1 x2 b2 x3 b3 x4 b4 x5 b5 Banana Yc= a x1 b1 x2 b2 x3 b3 x4 b4 x5 b5..coconut Yp= a x1 b1 x2 b2 x3 b3 x4 b4 x5 b5 x6 b6 Paddy Yt= a x1 b1 x2 b2 x3 b3 x4 b4 Tapioca Y=The gross monetary income (annual flow) of the farmers as a result of the farm enterprices.in the case of paddy cultivation, Yp included the gross monetary value of paddy and straw. In banana cultivation the gross monetary value of banana, off-shoots obtainable after the harvest of banana bunches, etc. were included in Yb. Yt includes the gross monetary value of tapioca, green leaves etc.ycincludes the gross monetary value of coconut, coconut leaves, husk, coconut shells etc.ya shows the gross monetary value of arecanut, husk etc. X1=Area of paddy land in cents. The paddy farm of Malappuram district is very small in size. So, in order to facilitate the handling of the numbers and to improve the degree of accuracy area is converted in to cents by multiplying the acre in to one hundred. X2=Monetary value of labour units used for the cultivation. Different kinds of labour are used and they are paid according to their efficiency. So monetary measurement was found appropriate. X3=Monetary value of manures used for the cultivation. Home produced manures are also accounted. X4= Monetary value of chemical fertiliser used for the cultivation. X5= Monetary value of irrigation used for the cultivation. The labour cost incurred for irrigation, expenditure on electricity for operating pump set, rent paid in the case of panchayat motors is included. X6= Monetary value of pesticide used for the cultivation All the other expenditures are not considered in the function, for they are not directly involved in the determination of the gross production. b1,b2,b3,b4,b5andb6 are the production elasticities of the representative independent variables, x1,x2,x3,x4,x5 andx6. a is the production constant. The production function equations are fitted in all the five crops for the district data. Equations are also fitted for the regional data of each. Resource use efficiency is examined by comparing the estimated marginal value products of various inputs with their respective factor costs.the marginal value product () of inputs was estimated by taking partial derivate of return with respect to input concerned at the geometric mean level of inputs. The marginal value product () was computed with the help of following equation: value product () = bi Y Xi Where Bi= production elasticity with respect to Xi input Y= Geometric mean value of gross return (output values in rupees) Academy of Agriculture Journal, Vol.2, Issue.9, 2017, Page No: 90-95 Page 92
Xi= Geometric mean value of Xi (input values in rupees) In order to evaluate the economic efficiency of farmers as users of resources, the ratios of marginal value productivities of different resources to their factor costs were calculated. A ratio, that is equal to unity, indicates the optimum use of that factor. A ratio of more than unity indicates that the output could be increased by using that resource and a less than unity ratios indicates the unprofitable level of resource which should be decreased to minimize the losses. Arecanut: Area 0.103 0.022 0.022 Fertiliser 0.018 0.012 0.012 Manure 0.046 0.001 0.001 Irrigation 0.016 0.018 0.018 Labour 0.114 0.001 0.001 Insecticide 0.073 5.442 5.442 Labour 0.542 0.010 0.010 R 2 0.235 Returns to Scale 0.732 The value of R 2 is 0.235 which shows factors in the model have no role in the production of banana. Manure and labour are positively contributed to the production of banana. One percent increase in the expenditure on manure and mandays of labour will increase the gross income by 0.152 and 0.542 percent.the sum of elasticities obtained is 0.732, shows decreasing returns to scale.thethe use of fertiliser,manure,irrigation and labour will increase the output level whereas extension of cultivation to new area will reduce the production level.the use of these inputs contribute only 23 percent of output.diminishing returns to scale operates in the production function.the factor cost ratio of all factors are less than one indicating their over utilisation. Further use of inputs will definitely reduce the level of output. Coconut: R 2 0.543 Returns to 0.37 Scale The coefficient of determination R 2 was 0.543 for arecanut indicating that 54 percent variation in yield of arecanut is explained by the inputs. One percent increase in the expenditure on area,manure,labour and insecticide will increase the output by 0.103,0.046,0.114,0.073 percent.increase in the use of these inputs will cause proportionate increase in the output of arecanut. The sum of elasticities obtained is 0.37, shows decreasing returns to scale.the analysis of factor cost ratio indicates that only insecticide is underutilised. Further investment in insecticide will increase the production level. Banana Area -0.008-0.008-0.008 Fertilizer 0.008 0.001 0.001 Manure 0.152 0.007 0.007 Irrigation 0.038 0.006 0.006 Area -0.366-0.116-0.116 Fertiliser 0.017 0.081 0.081 Manure 0.248 0.099 0.099 Irrigation 0.081 0.167 0.167 Labour 0.58 0.007 0.007 Insecticide 0.079 4.924 4.924 R 2 0.691 Returns to Scale 0.639 The regression coefficient and the factor cost ratio shows that further production of coconut will definitely reduce the level of output.all other inputs will increase the production.among them application of manure and labour will make significant result.the analysis of economic efficiencyreveals that only insecticide is under utilised.diminishing returns to scale operates in the production function. Insecticide is underutilised in banana cultivation.if one rupee is spent on insecticide the output will increase by 4.924 percent. The coefficient of determination R 2 was 0.69 indicating that 69 percent variation in gross Academy of Agriculture Journal, Vol.2, Issue.9, 2017, Page No: 90-95 Page 93
output from coconut cultivation is explained by the variables except land in the model. The coefficient of manure, irrigation and labour have positive and significant. One percent increase in expenditure on these variables will increase the output of coconut by 0.248,0.081 and 0.58 percent respectively. Besides the increased use of land shows negative returns in the production of coconut. One percent increase in the expenditure on area decrease the output by 0.366. The sum of elasticities obtained is 0.639, shows decreasing returns to scale. Paddy: Area 0.031 0.003 0.003 Fertiliser 0.18 0.549 0.549 Manure 0.117 0.900 0.900 Irrigation 0.081 0.120 0.120 Labour 0.626 0.008 0.008 Machinery 0.081 0.028 0.028 Insecticide 0.05 1.668 1.668 R 2 0.682 Returns to Scale 1.17 Paddy is one of the major food crops in Kerala.All inputs such as area, fertiliser, manure, machinery,labour, irrigation and insecticide are positively contributed in paddy cultivation.increasing returns to scale operates in production function. The coefficient of determination R 2 was 0.682 indicating that 68 percent variation in output of paddy cultivation is explained by the factors in the model. Land and insecticide have no role in the production of paddy.the coefficient of fertilizer, manure, irrigation, labour and insecticide are positive and significant. Of this, labour shows high magnitude of coefficient, One percent increase in expenditure on labour will increase the gross income by 0.626 percent. The sum of elasticities obtained is 1.17, showing increasing returns to scale.the economic analysis showed that only insecticide is under utilised. Tapioca: Area 0.088 0.088 0.088 Manure -0.421-0.040-0.040 Labour 1.018 0.007 0.007 R 2 0.675 Returns to Scale 0.985 Labour is underutilized and manure is overused in the production of tapioca.. One percent increase in expenditure on labour will increase the gross income by 1.018 percent. One percent increase in expenditure on manure will decrease the gross income by 0.116 percent. The sum of elasticities obtained is 0.985, shows constant returns to scale.the coefficient of determination R 2 is.0.675 which means the use of factors contribute only 67 percent of output.the factor cost ratio indicate that all factors are overutilised. Findings: In arecanut cultivation all the factors are overutilised.the only way to increase productivity is to increase the use of insecticide by judiciously using other inputs. The area under coconut cultivation can be reduced.since it has practical difficulties cultivation method using more amount of labour and insecticide is recommended. Additional use of inputs definitely increase the level of paddy production.farmers should use more amount of insecticide and labour. The area under banana cultivation should be reduced.labour is the only factor which is to be increased for better production. The area under tapioca cultivation should be reduced.labour power used in cultivation practices can be increased.hiring of labour is not profitable for tapioca production.only family labouris needed for the job. Academy of Agriculture Journal, Vol.2, Issue.9, 2017, Page No: 90-95 Page 94
Conclusion: In general it can be concluded that all factors except labour and insecticide are underutilised in the production of the selected crops.labour shortage is the result of change in social system of Kerala. From the study it is noticed that farmers are not aware about the use of insecticide especially in cash crops.one notable feature observed in the study is that paddy cultivation shows increasing returns to scale means any increase in the factors of production will definitely increase the level of production.paddy production will be more profitable of the resources are used at optimum level.for achieving this result scientific cultivation practices and guidance is needed from higher authorities including officials,scientists etc. Academy of Agriculture Journal, Vol.2, Issue.9, 2017, Page No: 90-95 Page 95