Sustainability of Wheat Cultivation in Irrigated and Unirrigated Areas of Banswara District of Rajasthan

The paper has studied the growth rates, input-use pattern and cost and returns and has identified the constraints in wheat production in the Banswara district of Rajasthan. A samples of 60 farmers (33 small, 17 medium and 10 large) was drawn by probability proportional to number of farmers in each farm-size group. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. The growth rates of area, production and productivity of wheat crops for the state of Rajasthan were -0.0232 per cent, 0.0058 per cent and 0.0278 per cent per annum, respectively and in Banswara, these were 0.1034 per cent, 0.0735 per cent and 0.0118 per cent per annum, respectively. The per hectare cost of cultivation in the irrigated and unirrigated wheat crops varied from 20801 and 13932 on small farms to 23523 and 16006 on large farms with the overall average of 22300 and 14975. The net income in irrigated and unirrigated wheat crops ranged between 23721 and 96972 to 36336 and 14278 per hectare on different size holdings. On overall basis, the net income was 29181 and 12039 per hectare in irrigated and unirrigated wheat crops.