Growth in Cost of Cultivation versus Returns in Different Field Crops in India

Doubling farmers’ net income could be achieved by either reducing cost of cultivation or increasing grow returns or both. On an average, costs and gross returns have shown an increasing trend over the years, whereas net returns are on the decline. The growth in net returns over Cost C₂ was witnessed highest by onion (59.79%), followed by green gram (44.82%) and barley (39.49%). Among different Indian states, the growth in net returns over Cost C₂ was recorded highest by Kerala (90.27%), followed by Jharkhand (59.19%), and Karnataka (56.66%). Among 11-year average cost and returns of field crops, sugarcane provided the highest farm business income, followed by owned-farm business income, farm labour income, net income and farm investment income. The cost on inputs has shown an increasing trend over study period. To increase net farm income, farmers should adopt new technologies for enhancing productivity of farm enterprises and focus on reducing input costs by adopting Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA), organic farming, among others.