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1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Objective of the study is to get insights in to following questions Whether agriculture in village is economically viable or not? If yes for which crops? How the surplus is generated in agriculture in cultivation of different crops? How the surplus generated is distributed? To whom? How much portion of the surplus is retained by farmer? What are issues, challenges and risks that are involved or affect generation and distribution of surplus in agriculture?

1.1 What is surplus and distribution of surplus?


Surplus is defined as part of total value of outcome generated by farmer after deducting cost of cultivation and excluding interest payment for credit and payment for land lease. Cost of cultivation refers to payment for machinery, labor and inputs such as seeds, pesticides & fertilizers, transportation of input and output, processing and marketing cost excluding family labour and supervisory expenses. Distribution of surplus refers to part of surplus generated retained by Farmer, creditor and land lord and finally what part of surplus is retained by farmer.

1.2 Approach for the study:


To gather information and data for the study following methods are used Informal conversations and interviews Semi structured interviews Survey questionnaires Group discussions

Initially informal conversation and interviews with farmers are undertaken to gain overview of status of agriculture in village and to make good rapport with them. Through this information about cropping pattern, land holding, irrigation facilities, cultivation practices & problems faced by farmers and marketing practices is gathered. Also informal conversations are held with owners of Agri-service centrers to get information regarding availability and usage of inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. After that convenience sampling is done to select respondent for 1

survey questionnaire and semi structured interviews to know generation and distribution of surplus at individual level. During this, attempt was made to have respondents from different area of the village as farming is spread along boundary of the village. Group discussion was carried out to know about challenges and issues involved in agriculture and to check information gathered from informal conversions and interviews.

1.1 Limitations of the study


Following are the limitations and challenges faced in conduct of the study Resistance to outsider and surveyors: Village has experienced large scale inflow of migrant population for industrial jobs in recent years because of this they are sceptical about revealing information to outsiders. Also after 2001 earthquake in the region, many surveys from government and NGOs have been done in the area. But villagers think that outcome of surveys are not significant and surveyors only ask questions to them and nothing happens afterwards. This cause difficulty in initial rapport building and information gathering. Limited presence of the host organization: Host organizations activities are very limited in the area and there was very little awareness about organization among farmers. This also caused difficulty in initial rapport building and information gathering. Sarpanch under suspension and Talatis refusal to divulge information: sarpanch of gram panchayat was suspended under charges of corruption and thalathi refused to divulge any information about land classification and land use pattern. This created problem in getting statistical data about land holdings. Busy schedule of the farmers: As majority of the farmers in village were big farmers. And many of them have alternative occupations; they had very little time interact. Also Time of the study coincided with festivals of Navratri and Diwali which were the two big festivals celebrated by farmers in village. Farmers were busy in celebrating these festivals and hosting relatives also they were busy in harvesting of cotton and castor.

2. INTRODUCTION
2.1General information about Village:
Village covered under study is Moti Bhujpur (Bhujpur). Village Bhujpur is situated in mundra taluka of Kutch District in Gujarat state. Village is situated 13 km away from Mundra on Mundra Mandvi state highway. It is situated at 60 km from District headquarter Bhuj. Population of Village is 12932. Population is more than doubled in last decade because of industrial migration. It is situated just about 4 kms from Jindal Saw Pipe Limited, 12kms from Mudra port, Adani Wilmar and about 15 kms from Tata Power & Adani Power. It is densely populated village with 2800 households.

2.2 Climate and Geography


Village comes under Semi-arid coastal region of Gujarat. Coast line is just 10 km away from the village. Village receives average annual rainfall of around 300-400 mm during four months of monsoon period. Temperature fluctuations are very high with Maximum temperature reaching 48 degree centigrade in summers and minimum being 9 degree centigrade in winters. Average humidity is around 60 %. This climate is due to close proximity to Rann (Desert) of kutch and coastal line. There is one river called Nagmati which flows along boundary of the village but it becomes dry immediately after monsoon period is over. Therefore is not useful for irrigation purpose for rest of the year. No forest area comes under village.

2.3 Soil types:


Mostly Coarse sandy loam soil is found in village; almost 70% of total land is of this type only. Water holding capacity of the sandy loam soil is low and requires frequent irrigation for cultivation of Agriculture crops. Other types of soils such as coarse sandy and loamy are present in village but it covers very less land area.

2.4 Agriculture as occupation:


Traditionally agriculture and animal husbandry have been the primary occupations of the villagers. Traditionally rain-fed and subsistence farming was practiced in the area. Land consolidation of farm land started some 50 years ago. Darbar community who once upon time owned majority of agriculture land sold their lands to members of the ghadvi community because of problems in rain-fed farming and opportunities opened up in other areas. By this process 1

agriculture land got consolidated in to hands of Ghadvis. Ghadvis later on some 20 years back created irrigation facilities through bore well and shifted to irrigate farming. Also they diversified cropping pattern from cereals to cash crops and horticultural crops. Another factor that is rapid industrialization in and around village in last decade that changed the primary occupation of villagers to industry based or industry allied jobs. Land rates in the area suddenly shoot up to sky high and during this process many villagers sold their lands for lucrative land rates to land brokers and major chunk of the land changed to non-agriculture status. Now Agriculture land is consolidated in hands of big farmers only. Average land holding per farmer in the village is around 8-10 acres. Around 60-70 households are actively engaged in farming. Exact data of total agriculture land is not available. Only irrigated farming is practiced in the village. Farmers also engaged in other industry allied occupations. Farmers who have irrigation facilities only practice farming; otherwise land is kept fallow or used for fodder crops as rain fed farming is not economically viable owing to increase labour charges, unpredictable monsoons and lucrative opportunities in other sectors such as industries.

2.5 WADI system


Most of the farmers in the village follow WADI system of farming. In Wadi system of the farming cash crops and horticultural crops are cultivated on same piece land with irrigation facilities. Every wadi has a farm pond for storage of water. Cash crops are cultivated side by side to horticultural crops and rotated with cereals such as wheat or jowar for subsistence or fodder needs.

2.6 Cropping pattern


Cropping pattern followed in village is mixed cropping with seasonal and perennial crops. Mostly farmer cultivates for commercial purpose rather than for subsistence farming. Seasonal crops include cash crops such as cotton, castor and cereals such as wheat and jowar. While perennial crops includes horticultural crops such as Mango and Date palm. Farmers grow Cotton and Castor on commercial scale and cultivate these crops in khariff season. This is followed by cultivation of wheat for domestic consumption but not on entire area occupied by cash crops because of labour and irrigation problem. Some farmers cultivate Jowar in summer season as fodder crop for cattle. Farmers follow crop rotation, If cotton is planted on same piece of land on which last year cultivation of castor has been taken place to maintain soil 2

fertility. Along with these farmers cultivate Mango and Date-palm as perennial crop. According to farmers they follow this system to reduce risk and dependability on particular crop.

3 AGRICULTURE INPUTS AVILABILITY AND ISSUES


3.1 Seeds, Fertilizer, Pesticides:
There are three agri service shops in village along with one agriculture cooperative society in nearby village. Farmers in area are aware about high yielding varieties of cash crops and improved chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Shops and Co-operative society also stock and supply seeds of high yielding varities of cotton such as BT cotton from companies like Mahyco, syngenta. Co-operative society supplies chemical fertilizer like DAP and MOP to farmers and seeds distributed through government agencies. Farmers take advice from shop owners regarding which pesticide to spray for prevention and control of pest and disease attack. Agri service shop owners stock chemical pesticides from leading agri- chemical companies like Exel crop Ltd, Bayer India Ltd, Monsanto, Syngenta etc. Farmers experience shortage of DAP fertilizer with respect to their demand and hesitant to use urea in place of DAP. Shop owners give inputs on credit based on their relationship with farmer. No interest is charged and generally farmers pay back in one or two months. But mostly farmers procure inputs from cash purchases. Farmers also procure seeds and pesticides from Mundra which is taluka place if inputs are not available in village. Farmers extensively use organic fertilizer especially compost for cultivation of all crops. For that they generally procure Cow dung from Panjrapol (Place where old or unproductive cows and bullocks are kept) at rate of 1600 Rs per tractor load. There are three panjrapols in village and they produce enough cow dung to cater to requirements of the farmers.

3.2 Tractor and implements:


There are around thirty tractors in the village. Almost every farmer use tractor drawn implement for land preparation and organic fertilizer mixing the soil. Farmers use improved tractor drawn implements such Cultivators, Mould board plough, disc plough, Seed drill, Rotavator, blade and other harrows for cultivation for crop. This mechanization of agriculture helps them to save 2

labour cost and time. Though there are fifty tractors in the village, for agriculture use only 8-10 tractors available because many farmers engage their tractors in industrial or civil construction works for regular and periodic payments. Also tractor drawn implements are also limited in no as it is easy for the farmer to hire implements on daily basis than to purchase and maintain them as they require it for implements. Tractor hiring rates ranges between Rs 400-600 per hour for implement operation and otherwise for transport purpose it ranges from Rs 1000-2000 per day. Agriculture implements hiring rates changes according to implements, Specialized Implements such as Rotavator costs Rs 200-250 while other one cost 50-100 Rs per hour.

3.3 Labour:
Rapid industrialization in surrounding areas of village resulted in problems of labour shortage and increasing wage rate. Laboures in area are getting regular wage employment in industries or industry related occupations in nearby areas throughout the year. Also wage rate paid to them by industry ranges from 135-250 rs per day depending upon skills and experience. Through this labourers are getting cash in their hands periodically; also they feel industry jobs are easier than agricultural ones so they prefer to work in industries rather than working in agriculture jobs where they faced problems of seasonal employment and delay in payments. Farmers have to pay Rs 250 per man day for agricultural works and also this rate goes up to Rs 350-400 per person in peak periods. To tackle this problem farmers in the area are practicing system of revenue sharing for cultivation of Cash crops which is labour extensive. In this system Labours from Godhra and Panchmahal district in Gujarat migrate to village for six months and do all manual work in cultivation of cash crops. In turn they one fouth or one fifth of total value of output as compensation for their work. Though majority of the farmers are practicing this system, labour supply in this system is also decreasing year on year. In case of horticultural crops system of pre harvest contract system is followed. In which farmers hands over their orchards to Pre harvest contractors on lum-sum amount for the season. Farmers only look after irrigation provision, in some cases pesticide spraying, while contractor takes care of harvesting and marketing of the produce along with other cultivation practices. These pre harvest contractors are from Anjar taluka of Kutch district. They normally take 3-4 orchards under contracts and have their own labour force.

3.4 Irrigation facilities:


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As stated earlier only source of irrigation water is bore wells. Almost every farmer has got its own bore-well and electricity connection. They use electric submersible pumps draw water from bore-well. Farmers get electricity supply for 8 hrs a day alternatively in day and night over weekdays at charge of Rs 20000 per year irrespective of the usage. But there is very less success ratio in digging of new bore well either it will fail to find water underground or if finds it, gets saline water. Only particular areas in village got good quality ground water. Also water table has gone down to 400-600 ft and salinity problems have increased because of large scale depletion of ground water table for the purpose of drinking and industrial use. Irrigation problem coupled with the labour problem limits farmers from going for the cultivation cash crops for more than one season in year and it also limits them from extending cultivable area.

3.5 Credit facilities:


There are formal institutions for credit like Dena Bank present in the village. But majority of the farmers do not use credit facilities for agriculture purpose. This may be due to their sound economic condition as they are getting income from agriculture and other activities. Many Farmers have invested their money in to business like mobile/grocery shops, Garage, Hiring out vehicles and tractors for industries and owning auto etc. Also Some farmers have sold their lands to tap opportunity of increasing land rates and some are engaged in land brokarage because of increasing land rates in nearby areas of the village. Also there is strong community feeling in farmers as majority of them belongs to same caste and internal lending happens but they do not charge interest rates. Also farmers are hesitant to reveal information about loans. Some of the farmers have taken tractor loans from bank.

4 CULTIVATION PRACTICES FOLLOWED FOR COTTON & CASTOR 4.1 Land preparation and organic Fertilizer Mixing:
For cotton and castor, Farmers carry out tractor operations with three different implements to have good tilth for the crop growth. It involves ploughing with MB plough followed by cultivator operation, two times for the cotton and one time in case of castor and finally rotavator operation along with which organic fertilizer application is carried out. For Cotton , farmers use compost

prepared from two tractor load s cow-dung while in case of castor less amount of organic fertilizer is used approximately half of the cotton. On an average Land preparation and fertilizer mixing costs Rs 5000 for cotton cultivation and Rs 3000 for Castor cultivation.

4.2 Sowing:
Farmers use improved seeds for cultivation of cotton and castor. For cotton, farmers use around o.75 to 1 kg seeds per acre for cultivation. Widely used variety of cotton seed cost Rs 900 for 450 gm packet. While in case of Castor, farmers use seed rate of 1 to 1.5 kg per acre. Rate for castor seeds ranges from Rs 350 to 450 per kg.

4.3 Inter-cultivation operation:


Mannual weeding and earthing up operations are carried out in cotton cultivation to facilitate faster growth of the crop. Generally Mannual weeding operation is carried out thrice during crop season at interval of 20-25 days in cotton farming. And earthing up operation carried out 30 days after the sowing. In case of Castor only manual weeding is carried out twice during crop season. All this work is done manually.

4.4 Inorganic fertilizer application:


On an average Farmers use one to two bags of Diammonium phosphate (DAP) weighing 50 kgs each for cotton cultivation depending upon availability of fertilizer. Half the DAP is applied at time of the sowing, while remaining DAP is applied 45 days after sowing. DAP costs around 18 Rs per kg. But in case of Castor some farmers use DAP while some prefer to use only organic fertilizer, in case of farmers who use DAP for Castor applies 75 kg per acre at time of sowing only.

4.5 Pesticide spraying:


Cotton requires two to three rounds of pesticide spraying depending upon weather and pest attack at interval of 15 days. On an average pesticides cost Rs 2000-2500 per acre. Spraying of pesticides is done with use of manual sprayers. In case of castor only one or two rounds of pesticide spraying is carried out and on an average pesicides ost Rs 1000 per acre.

4.6 Harvesting and yield:


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Three harvesting cycles are carried out in Castor and Cotton generally at interval of 20 to 30 days. Harvesting is done manually and harvested produce is collected at drying yard generally in the center of the farm. On an average Cotton yield varies from 1 to 2 tons per acre while castor yield varies from 1 to 1.5 tons per acre. Yield also depends upon prevailing weather conditions. Untimely rains at harvesting timing and other activities hamper the yield.

4.7 Labour arrangement:


As explained earlier, all manual work is done by migrant workers from Godhra and Pancmahal district of Gujarat during cultivation and generally one fourth of the total value of outcome is given to labourers as comensaton.But in some cases when crop failure happens farmers pay some prescribed amount to labourers for their work generally this amount ranges between Rs 5000 to 7000 per acre.

4.8 Marketing of the Cotton and Castor:


There are cotton ginning mills operating in the nearby Mandvi and Anjar areas. Agents from these mills come directly to the farmer field and collect the cotton produce. Transportation is done by agents only. They come with transport vehicle and collects cotton produce from farmers in one locality. Farmers are aware about prevailing mandi prices through mobile contacts and gets Rs 2 to 3 less than prevailing mandi prices. But this practice avoids risk and expenditure in transportation of produce. Farmers are paid in cash or by check immediately or within one month. Same is case for the castor, there are oil mills present in at Mundra who collects the produce Last year farmers get Rs 35-40 per kg of the cotton while Rs 25-30 per kg for the castor.

5 GENERATION OF SURPLUS IN COTTON


Distribution of cost of cultivation for Cotton per acre per year

Cost per acre per year

Total outcome per acre per year

Surplus generated per acre per year Rs 24957

Rs 26892

Rs 51843 1

Above pie chart and table contains consolidated data showing average cost of cultivation incurred by Cotton farmer to cultivate cotton on one acre of land area in one season, also it contains distribution of cost in to different factors involved in production, total value of the output produced and surplus generated after deducting cost of cultivation from total value. Some observations as follows: Cost of cultivation of cotton per acre per year is Rs26892 while Total output Value that farmers gets is Rs 51843 per acre so cost constitutes 52 % of the total output value and surplus generated is around 48% of the total output value. Surplus generated in cotton cultivation per acre is 92% of the cost incurred by the farmer for cultivation of the crop. Expenses on labour constitute almost half the (49%) total cost of cultivation per acre so surplus generated is highly depend upon labour rates and availability. Usage and expense on Organic fertilizers is more as compared to Inorganic fertilizers. Pesticides and Machinery cost constitutes 11% & 10 % of the total cost respectively followed by cost of irrigation and seed material.

6 GENERATION OF SURPLUS IN CASTOR


Distribution of cost of cultivation for castor per acre per year

Cost per acre per year

Total outcome per acre per year

Surplus generated per acre per year Rs 18400

Rs 17000

Rs 35400

Above pie chart and table contains consolidated data showing average cost of cultivation incurred by Castor farmer to cultivate castor on one acre of land area in one season, also it contains distribution of cost in to different factors involved in production, total value of the output produced and surplus generated after deducting cost of cultivation from total value. Some observations as follows:

Cost of cultivation of cotton per acre per year is Rs 17000 while Total output Value that farmers gets is Rs 35400 per acre so cost constitutes 48% of the total output value and surplus generated is around 52% of the total output value.

Surplus generated in cotton cultivation per acre is 108% of the cost incurred by the farmer for cultivation of the crop. That means farmer get Rs 108 after investing Rs 100 for castor cultivation

Expenses on labour constitute more than half the (52%) total cost of cultivation per acre so surplus generated is highly depend upon labour rates and availability. Usage and expense on Organic fertilizers is more as compared to Inorganic fertilizers. Expenses on Irrigation cost are more as compared to other agriculture inputs.

7 LIMITATION FOR SURPLUS GENRATION IN COTTON & CASTOR


Price fluctuations in the Market: Both of the cash crops, Cotton and Castor experienced wide range of yearly and seasonal price function. Cotton prices vary from as low as Rs 10-15 per Kg to Rs 35-40 per kg. These prices are very much suspetible to changes in international trade of cotton and have direct impact on profitability of the cotton cultivation. If price of cotton drops below Rs 20 per kg, then even if with good yield, farmers will not able to cover cost incurred for cultivation. In case of castor also it is price sensitive and castor crop is getting good prices successively for 2-3 years but if prices falls it affects the profitability. Weather conditions: As cultivation of cotton and Castor takes place in monsoon season, Untimely or frequent rains during crucial operations badly hampers yields and threatens the profitability of cultivation. According to farmers, in these crops timely pesticide spraying is crucial operation, if farmer fails to spray pesticide on time because of bad weather, damage can go up to 30% of the yield. Heavy dependence on Labour: As cultivation of these crops is labour extensive, availability and labour rates play significant role in determining amount of surplus generated. Also Farmers have to limit cultivation of these crops to only one season in year because of labour shortage.

8 CULTIVATION PRACTICES FOR MANGO AND DATE-PALM 8.1Plantation:


Farmers cultivate Kesar variety of the Mango in area. For plantation, farmers use grafted plants of 1-1.5 years of age. Mango grafts are purchased from nearby private nurseries at cost of Rs 2550 per plant. Some farmers also hire grafters to do grafting on their field itself. For plantation a pit of 1*1*1 cubic meter is dug at spacing of 6m*6m or 7m*7m.So around 80 to 120 plants can be planted in one acre. Planting is carried out in monsoon season and at time of planting organic fertilizers like compost are used. After planting staking and gap filling operations are carried out. In case of Date-palm, Farmers use seeds for the plantation. Generally 200-250 plants are planted in one acre. First farmers prepare seedlings of Date-palm and then plant in the pits same as Mango. Date palm is dioecious plant, it has different Male and Female plants because of this farmer cannot confirm how many male plants or female plants he will get from plantation before age of 3 years when first bearing takes place. Also there is problem of segregation of sweet and salty variety of date-palm and only sweet variety of date-palms fetch market price. Usually farmer has to replace more than 50% of the total plants after three years of plantation because of above mentioned problems. Though other methods of propagation like planting with help of suckers and tissue culture plants are available but initial cost is very high, one plant cost Rs 2000-3000 in case of suckers. Therefore farmers prefer propagation through seeds only.

8.2 Maintenance activities:


Generally manual weeding and preparation of basins for irrigation are carried out two times in a year. First manual weeding is carried out at start of monsoon season before fertilizer application and second manual weeding is carried out just after monsoon season. Preparation of basins for irrigation is done just after monsoon season and before fruiting season. Generally farmers use only organic fertilizer such as compost for Mango and Date palm. Fertilizer application is carried out at start of monsoon season at rate of 10-20 kg per plant depending upon age of the plant. Two to three rounds of pesticide application are carried out in case of Mango, during the year but as there is pre harvest contract system followed by many farmers, pesticide application is done by pre harvest contractor only. In date palm farmers rarely use any pesticides.

8.3 Harvesting, Yield and Marketing:


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Both Mango and Date-palm starts giving marketable yield from 5 years of age and onwards. On an average a mano plant produces 30 kg of fruits per tree, but in case of date palms it varies from 30-70kgs per tree. As there is pre harvest contract system is followed, harvesting and marketing is done by contractor only. Farmers are paid with lump-sum amount depending upon no, age and quality of trees. Mango farmer on an average gets 40-60 thousands per acre while Date-palm farmer gets 80 thousands to 120 thousands per acre. Last year according to farmers market rate for mango was Rs 30 per kg and for date-palm it was Rs 60-70 per kg in nearby markets.

9 GENERATION OF SURPLUS IN MANGO


Distribution of cost of cultivation for Mango per acre per year

Cost per acre per year Rs 20772

Total Value of outcome per acre per year Rs 53900

Surplus generated per acre per year Rs 33129

Above pie chart and table contains consolidated data showing average cost of cultivation incurred by Mango farmer on one acre of land area in one year when mango orchard enters in to productive stage. It also contains distribution of cost in to different factors involved in production, total value of the output produced and surplus generated after deducting cost of cultivation from total value. Some observations as follows: Cost of cultivation of Mango per acre per year is Rs 20772 while Total output Value that farmers gets is Rs 53900 per acre so cost constitutes 38 % of the total output value and surplus generated is around 62 of the total output value. Surplus generated in Mango cultivation per acre is 1.5 times the cost incurred by the farmer for cultivation of the crop when mango orchard enters productive stage after 5 years of planting. Expenses on labour constitute more than half the (59%) total cost of cultivation per acre as local labour rates are as high as Rs 250-400 per man-day. Capital investment is expenditure that farmer has to incurred for first five years of non productive stage and is distributed over productive years. In case of Mango total 1

expenditure for first years on average comes to Rs 60000 per acre and productive life is around 40 years so for every year cost of Rs 1500 is taken as contribution to capital investment. As it was difficult to get data for expenditure of every non productive year, an approximate per acre expenditure is calculated through group discussion and taken it as reference for cost calculations. Irrigation costs constitute 11% of the total cost followed by machinery for transportation of inputs & other practices and organic fertilizers and pesticides.

10GENERATION OF SURPLUS IN DATE-PALM


Distribution of cost of cultivation for Date-palm per acre per year

Cost per acre per year

Total value of outcome per acre per year

Surplus generated per acre per year Rs 73380

Rs 21620

Rs 95000

Above pie chart and table contains consolidated data showing average cost of cultivation incurred by Date-palm farmer on one acre of land area in one year when Date-palm orchard enters in to productive stage. It also contains distribution of cost in to different factors involved in production, total value of the output produced and surplus generated after deducting cost of cultivation from total value. Some observations as follows:

Average Cost of cultivation of Date-palm per acre per year is Rs 21620 while Average Total output Value that farmers gets is Rs 95000 per acre so cost constitutes 23% of the total output value and surplus generated is around 77% of the total output value in productive years.

Surplus generated in Date-palm cultivation per acre more than three times the cost incurred by the farmer for cultivation of the crop when Date-palm orchard enters productive stage after 5 years of planting.

Expenses on labour constitute half the total cost of cultivation per acre as local labour rates are as high as Rs 250-400 per man-day. Capital investment is expenditure that farmer has to incurred for first five years of non productive stage and is distributed over productive years. In case of Date-palm total expenditure for first years on average comes to Rs 80000 per acre and productive life is around 20 years so for every year cost of Rs 4000 is taken as contribution to capital investment. As it was difficult to get data for expenditure of every non productive year, an approximate per acre expenditure is calculated through group discussion and taken it as reference for cost calculations.

Irrigation costs constitute 10% of the total cost followed by machinery for transportation of inputs & other practices and organic fertilizers. Surplus generated in case of date-palm is subject to many risks starting from propagation and other factors discussed below.

11 LIMITATION TO SURPLUS GENERATION IN MANGO & DATEPALM


High initial capital investment: For Cultivation of both Mango and Date-palm, initial capital requirement is very high. In case of mango it is up to 60000-80000 per acre while in case of Date-Palm it is 80000-100000 per acre. Farmers have to invest this much of capital for first five years without any return before he starts getting some monetary return from his investment. Also because of industrialization in area there are other lucrative opportunities to invest are present. Risk involved: Risk factor associated with this is very high, if natural calamities like Cyclone happens which is regular phenomenon in area because of proximity to the coast, huge losses occur particularly in case of Date-palms as Plants do not able to stand against 1

strong wind and gets uprooted. Also Date-palm faces problems in propagation as discussed earlier. Yearly yield fluctuations: Both of the crops gives yield only once in year and there is wide range of is yearly fluctuation in yield, this is because un-favorable conditions affects flowering and fruiting in case of Mango and Date-palm and that results in low yield. Yearly price fluctuation: Yield fluctuations in other parts of country affects price of produce in case of Mango and Date-palm. Particularly in case of Mango these fluctuations, play important role in determining price that farmers gets. Land locking:, Land area used for cultivation of these crops is get locked and farmers do not cultivate any other crop on that area for 15-20 years as canopy and root spread of these crops doesnt allow cultivation of other crop except for initial 1-3 years.

12 DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS
In village there is absence of the land leasing practices. This can be due to shortage of labour and lack of availability of good quality irrigation water. Some of the farmers have kept their owned land fallow because of above reasons. Also farmers are hesitant to take loans for agriculture because of their good financial status as explained before. Because of this farmers enjoy almost complete share of surplus generated in agriculture. Only one farmer out of the seven farmers surveyed has taken loan for tractor. He has taken tractor loan of Rs 250000 with interest rate of 10 % for 3 years and have to pay Rs91600 per year but has total surplus generation of Rs 418700 and usage of tractor is more for non agricultural works than in farm. On an average farmer get surplus Rs 300000 per year. This surplus generally finds its way as investment in enhancing farm resources base such as constriction of farm ponds, drip irrigation systems, buying implements or investment in other industry allied business (shops, Garage) and fulfilling daily consumption needs and for savings.

13 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS


In case of Mango and Date-palm surplus generated per acre per year is much higher than that in case of Cotton and Castor. As per last years favorable price and weather conditions, surplus generated in cotton and castor is almost equal to cost involved in cultivation while in case of Mango it is 1.5 half times costs while in case of date-palm it is more than double the cost involve. But at the same time high initial capital investment, other limitations and risks involved in cultivation of Date-palm and Mango drives farmers to cultivate both seasonal and perennial crops. Combination of these horticulture and cash crops ensures regular cash-flows, reduce risk involved and contribute to economic viability of agriculture Major challenge that is faced by Agriculture in area is of impact of industrialization. Land rates which were in range of Rs 40000-100000 per acre have gone up to 15 lakh to 20 lakh per acre. Problems of labour shortage and increasing labour rates are present. Increased willingness to engage in industry related occupations rather than to engage in agriculture is seen. Along with this problem of rapid depletion of water table and quality pose great challenge for economic viability of agriculture in the area.

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