Farm Business Income and Net Household Income of Farm Households in Punjab-A Comparative Study of Ludhiana and Bathinda Districts

In a country where agriculture is the backbone of the economy, farmers are struggling to survive. There is big mismatch between the costs and returns faced by them, which has made agriculture a highly unprofitable and unattractive profession for the majority of farmers. Under these circumstances, efforts towards doubling their income is a welcome step and may lead to revival of agriculture so that farmers continue to remain in this profession and educated youngsters get encouraged to join it. This paper is based on the primary study conducted in cotton and wheat-paddy belt of Punjab. Farm business income (FBY) and net household income (NHY) in both these regions across all farm-size categories have been calculated to find what are the factors that cause a difference in the income realized by the farmers in these two regions. Some policy suggestions are also given.