Production Strategies of Tomato Growers to Maximize Farm Income: An Economic Analysis in the Framework of Game Theory

The study has analysed various production strategies adopted by the tomato growers of Kolar district of Karnataka in the framework of game theory to maximize their net income from tomato. Primary data were collected through personal interviews from a sample size of 150 tomato growers in Kolar district. A non-cooperative 2-player game between nature and tomato growers was considered and solved using the linear programming technique. The pay-offs were calculated separately for each strategy adopted by the players building a 3×3 payoff matrix. The nature presents three production seasons of khariff, rabi and summer. In response to this, tomato growers adopted the strategies of continuous growing of tomato throughout the year, early planting and single season crop. The income over variable cost of growing tomato under each strategy was considered as their respective pay-offs. The results have shown that 2 among the 3 strategies of both the players (nature and tomato farmer) were found feasible with different probabilities of their occurrence. Continuous growing of tomato and early planting turned out to be the preferred strategies with the probabilities of 40 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively. The final game value was found as 53916/acre of tomato cultivation, which can be considered as a reasonable net income over found as variable costs.