Energy and cost audit of bullock farming system in wheat crop production-a case study in Sikkim

The energy input is considered as one of the most important yardsticks of the productivity of land. The animals are the major source of power for seed bed preparation and sowing of crops in terrace conditions of Sikkim. In order to evaluate the energy input cost and returns of wheat production and to develop farm power and machinery package and management practices which maintain timeliness in production agriculture at different levels of productivity, a study was conducted at the village-Samlik in east Sikkim for bullock farming system. The energy input for cultivation of wheat using improved equipment system was 342.34 MJ/ha over traditional equipment system in terrace conditions. The energy output-input ratio was higher (8.51) for improved equipment system as compared to traditional equipment system (4.17) for wheat crop production in terrace conditions. The source-wise cost economics showed an increase of Rs.7361/ha in case of traditional equipment system over improved equipment system for wheat crop. The operation cost economics revealed that the cost of operation for improved equipment system for production of wheat crop was Rs 4246/ha lower as compared to traditional equipment under terrace cultivation.