Resource use efficiency in sheep farming: A case study of district Tonk, Rajasthan

Sheep rearing is an important occupation of the people in Rajasthan as it fits in well with the economical and climatological conditions prevailing there. The scarce resources at the farm level have to be optimally utilized on the basis of their marginal value of productivity in order to maximize income from sheep husbandry. An attempt was made to work out the resource use efficiency on different farm sizes in Tonk district, by fitting the Cobb-Douglas production function. Human labour was found to be the most significant factor influencing value of sheep products on both small and large farm sizes. Use of labour was sub-optimal on small farms and near optimal on large ones. The increase in expenditure on miscellaneous items can add positively to income of large breeders. There exists vast scope for increasing the income of sheep breeders through proper co-ordination and utilization of available resources.