Resource use efficiency of celery production in Punjab

Punjab is one of the major celery-producing states of India, contributing about 90 per cent to the total production. The following study was conducted in 2020–21 among sixty farmers of Amritsar and Patiala districts of Punjab. Cobb-Douglas production function was fitted to find out the variables influencing the yield of celery crop. The output-input ratio came out to be 2.79 which highlights the profitability of celery crop. The major cost component of celery cultivation was human labor (75.04%). The average cost of cultivating celery was Rs. 42070 per ha and net returns obtained were Rs. 75665 per ha. Besides urea, crop duration, plant protection and machine hours came out to be significant factors in affecting the yield of the crop. The ratio of MVP to MFC was more than one for urea and machine hours and less than unity for plant protection depicting the under and over-utilization of the resources, respectively.