Economics of Custom Hire Services in Mechanized SRI in Andhra Pradesh

The study has worked out the economics of mechanized SRI (MSRI) by simulating the customized hire charges for different operations of MSRI into the costs of the traditional method of rice cultivation using partial budgeting technique. The results have revealed that the benefit-cost ratios of traditional and MSRI methods were 1.31 and 1.15, respectively in NSP left canal command area and 1.74 and 1.44, respectively in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. The anticipated benefit-cost ratio due to adoption of MSRI technology was still encouraging in both command and rain-fed areas represented by economics of MSRI in NSP left canal command and Warangal district, respectively. Therefore, the study has concluded that MSRI technology could be a potential tool to avoid peak season labour shortages for beneficial rice cultivation in Andhra Pradesh.