Resource use efficiency in groundnut production in Punjab: An economic analysis

The study was conducted to measure resource use efficiency of groundnut cultivation in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. The primary data for 2017–18 were collected from 60 farmers comprising of small farmers 32, 14 medium and large farmers 14 from three villages of Bhunga block of Hoshiarpur district. On an average total variable cost per acre in production of groundnut crop was estimated to be 11553.20. The returns over variable costs were found to be 4949.17, 6725.68 and 10828.16 for small, medium and large farmers respectively. The results of the Cobb-Douglas production function revealed that the regression coefficients of seed and pesticides had a positive and significant influence on returns from groundnut production while the coefficient of machine usage showed the reciprocated results The coefficients of multiple determinations indicated that 41.40, 18.20, 41.40 and 46.10 percent variation in crop yield among the classified categories. On an average, the ratios of marginal value productivity (MVP) and marginal factor cost (MFC) of seed were found to be more than unity which revealed the underutilization of these inputs whereas, in case of pesticide and machine usage the ratios were turned out to be less than unity signifying the over-utilization of inputs.