(Agricultural Economics), National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana.
The comments of the referee are gratefully acknowledged.
The AP Cess Fund projects account for six per cent of the total investment on oilseeds research in India. However, the pace of growth was not only just half of the Central Government budget allocation but there was considerable reduction in the allocations during late 80s and early 90s, which is not a healthy development from the point of view of infusing dynamism in research. The average expenditure per project varies from the Rs 4.81 lakhs in Andhra Pradesh to Rs 1.11 lakhs in MP, a state with highest area under oilseeds. Plant breeding (20.1%) among disciplines, and the Rapeseed & Mustard (44.7%) among crops, account for the highest percentage share in the total fund allocation. The scale of oilseeds cultivation in a state and previous record of projects completion were observed to be implicit determinants besides irrigation bias, of project allocations under AP Cess Fund scheme.
