Economic Analysis of Yield Gap and its Implicaton on Proftability of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.) Producton in Karnataka

The present study was carried out in Bengaluru rural and Ramanagara districts of Karnataka to determine the extent of Yield gap in rainfed and irrigated situation and its implication on proftability of fnger millet production. Primary data was collected from 30 rainfed and 30 irrigated farmers in each districts. Secondary data on experimental station yield and front line demonstration yield was obtained from All India Co-ordinated Small Millets Improvement Project, Bengaluru. Results revealed that yield gap was higher in rainfed situation (19.66 q ha⁻¹) compared to irrigated situation (7.16 q ha⁻¹). Yield gap II (Y_g II) was found to be 6.43 q ha⁻¹ and 4.82 q ha⁻¹in rainfed and irrigated situations, respectively. The results also implied that, if Y_g II is reduced by 50%, then the farmers who are comprehending the negative net returns under rain fed situation can reduce their loss to just 663 ha⁻¹ from 5912 ha⁻¹ and if the Y_g II is reduced by 75% the farmers would realize a proft of 1, 945 ha⁻¹. In irrigated situation the farmers can realize a higher proft of 11, 201 and 13, 344 ha⁻¹, if Y_g II is reduced by 50% and 75% respectively. There exists a synergistic relationship between yield gap and proftability. Reducing yield gap is one of the methodologies other than Minimum Support Price (MSP) to condense the distress of the farmers. Hence serious attempts are needed to narrow down the yield gap.