Farming systems diversification in north konkan region of Maharashtra — an economic analysis^§

The location-specific existing farming systems have been studied for their profitability and extent of diversification in the North Konkan region of Maharashtra. The study is based on the primary data collected from 360 farmers, as well as secondary data on agro-climatic parameters. The study area has been delineated into different clusters/sub- regions using hierarchical agglomerative method. The farming in the North Konkan region has been found highly varied in nature. The enterprises being followed and farm situations are of different nature across different clusters. The farm economy has also depicted a wide variation as per-farm income has been found to range from 1135 to 218015 across different farming systems. The most profitable farming systems in study area are: (i) Paddy + Irrigated plantation + Betelvines (B:C ratio, 2.02), (ii) Paddy + Pulses + Dairying + Poultry (B: C ratio, 1.74), (iii) Paddy + Vegetables + Dairying (B:C ratio,1.62), (iv) Paddy + Irrigated plantations + Rainfed plantation + Dairying (B: C ratio,1.57), (v) Irrigated plantations + Dairying (B:C ratio,1.56), and (vi) Paddy + Irrigated plantations + Flowers (B:C ratio,1.42). The diversification has shown a positive co-relation with profitability which underlines the importance of combination of enterprises.