Economic analysis and resource utilization in tomato production: Insights from Kashmir region

India, the world's second-largest producer of vegetables after China, benefits from its diverse climate, enabling year-round cultivation. This study investigated the cost and economic efficiency of tomato cultivation in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, focusing on three farm sizes: marginal, small, and medium. A multi-stage sampling design was used to select 150 farmers from Srinagar and Budgam districts. Cost analysis followed the standards defined by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), and resource use efficiency was estimated using the Cobb-Douglas production function. The results indicated significant cost variations across farm sizes, with marginal farms exhibiting the highest net income and efficiency in managing production costs. Marginal farms had the lowest total variable costs at ₹273,833.58, followed by small farms at ₹314,753.41, and medium farms at ₹369,043.56. The per kilogram cost of production was ₹10.51 for marginal farms, ₹10.85 for small farms, and ₹10.84 for medium farms. Net returns per kilogram were highest for marginal farms at ₹9.44 compared to ₹9.14 for both small and medium farms. Specifically, manure and pesticide usage significantly affected output, with resource use efficiency values of 9.2484 and 13.4613, respectively, while seed, fertilizer and labour did not have a significant effect on output. Marginal farms achieved a net income of ₹435,417.65 compared to ₹412,934.57 for small farms and ₹420,803.83 formedium farms.