Cost of cultivation and production of various crops in Punjab

Decreasing farm income and increasing cost of production is creating challenge in Punjab. A study has been conducted on the cost of cultivation, production and returns of various crops such as wheat, paddy, basmati, maize, barley, cotton, potatoes, guar, rapeseed and mustard (R&M) in order to identify the most profitable crops for the farmers in the three agro-climatic zones of Punjab. The result of the study revealed that machine and human labour found to be the major components of the cultivation cost. Potato was with the highest value of variable cost per ha. Returns from basmati and paddy were the highest profitable while; rapeseed and mustard (R&M) and potato are the least profitable crops. Also, the profitability of different crops in different zones shows that wheat, paddy, basmati, and R&M were at the highest level than the two other zones.