Trends in input-output relation and structural changes in input cost of major crops in West Bengal

The structural change of input cost refers to the change in the intensity of labour and capital (seed, fertilizers, pesticides, machineries etc.) used in agriculture. An attempt has been made to analyse the structural changes of input cost along with the trends in input-output relation of the three major crops (paddy, jute and potato) in West Bengal during 1999–00 to 2019–20 by using data of the Cost of Cultivation of Principal crops in India, Directorate of Economics & Statistics (DES), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It is found that the structural intensity of input cost shifts towards a more capital-intensive direction during 1999–00 to 2009–10, but then the situation is reversed to more labour- intensive in terms of input cost during 2009–10 to 2019–20. To investigate the reasons, the study found that the higher labour cost is the main reason for this. Though the physical unit of labour per hectare decreased during the second phase (2009–10 to 2019–20), the high wage rate increased the share of labour cost and the total cost of cultivation. In the trend of the input-output relation of the state’s agricultural production, the study observed a decline in the input-output ratio (profitability from cultivation) for the crop paddy and jute, but it increased for the potato. The higher growth of input cost over output price during reference periods is the main reason for the decline in profitability of the crops in West Bengal.