aDepartment of Economics and Rural Development, Alagappa University, Karaikudi - 630 003, Tamil Nadu
bEconomics Division, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore - 632 014, Tamil Nadu
*Author for correspondence Email: na_narayana@hotmail.com; narayana64@gmail.com
JEL Classification: Q11, Q12, Q13, Q15
It is believed that the irrigated crops generate more profit than that of the same crops cultivated under rainfed or less-irrigated condition. How far does this perception hold true at a time when the farmers across regions have been groaning of rising cost of cultivation and inadequate profit from crop cultivation? Using the cost of cultivation data published by the CACP for the period 1971–72 to 2010–11, this paper has studied the economics of five important crops, namely bajra, maize, gram, groundnut and cotton, grown under two distinct conditions, viz. irrigated and rainfed/less-irrigated, in different states of India. The study has shown that there is no marked difference in the profitability (at constant prices) of cereal crops (bajra and maize) cultivated under irrigated and rainfed conditions. Unlike cereal crops, gram has unbelievably turned out to be a profitable crop to the farmers in both the irrigated and rainfed conditions. In the case of groundnut crop, the rainfed state of Gujarat has outshined the irrigated Tamil Nadu state where farmers have suffered losses more number of times as compared to their counterparts in Gujarat during the study period. The cotton crop has proved to be a massively loss-making crop under rainfed condition, but quite profitable under irrigated condition. The study has also revealed that due to fast increase in the cost of cultivation, the profitability of the crops has been severely hit mostly during the agrarian crisis period (1995–96 to 2010–11).
Cost of cultivation, farm profitability, irrigated crops, rainfed crops
