1Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur – 584 104, Karnataka
2Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur – 584 104, Karnataka
The paper has assessed comparative costs and returns of tractor owned and hired farms by selecting 180 farmers from Bellary and Koppal districts in Tungbhadra Project Command Area of Karnataka. The crops selected were paddy, cotton, sugarcane and chilli. The productivity of selected crops has been found higher on the tractor owning farms due to timely and sufficient availability of tractor services. The net income has been observed higher on tractor owning farms but input costs are low on custom hiring farms. It may be due to the high fixed costs as well as repair and maintenance costs on tractor owning farms. Though the net returns have been found marginally higher in tractor-owned forms, the availability of different machines on custom hiring basis has helped the small and marginal farmers in undertaking fall operations on time and getting a better crop. The study has suggested that the government should provide support to custom hiring services in the area to help the resource-poor farmers and generate employment for the youth.
Farm-mechanization, custom hiring service, costs and returns, Karnataka
