Bio-input usage in Rice cultivation in Tamil Nadu: Decomposition analysis

The economics of bio-inputs usage in paddy cultivation have been studied and the use of chemical and biological inputs in rice production has been compared in the northeastern agroclimatic zone of Tamil Nadu. The cost of cultivation and decomposition analyses have been used to analyze the data collected from the sample size of 100 farmers, 50 adopters and 50 non-adopters. The cost of paddy cultivation has been found as Rs 17710/ha for adopter and Rs 17242/ha for non-adopter farms. The expenditure on manure has been found to be 9.86 per cent for adopter, and 7.56 per cent for non-adopter farms. In non-adopter farms, the expenditure on fertilizer (2.99%) and plant protection chemicals (3.9%) has been found more than that on adopter farms. The net return has been found to be Rs 17001 and Rs 14325 for adopters and non-adopters, respectively. The BCR has been found higher for adopter (2.02) than non-adopter (1.89) farms. The decomposition analysis has revealed a difference of 12.30 per cent in gross return per hectare of paddy crop between adopters and non-adopters of bio-inputs and in this difference, bio-inputs alone attributed 45.27 per cent. The variation due to input usage has been found as —13.94 per cent where the negative sign indicates that the non-adopters could reduce the difference in gross income by using additional inputs. A major share (68.67%) of variation in gross income has been attributed to other external factors which have not been included in the model.