Year: 2019 | Month: March | Volume 64 | Issue 1

Energy Consumption and Sensitivity Analysis of Paddy Production under Different Farm Sizes in Southern Dry Zone of Karnataka, India

Prasanna Kumar P.S. Chinnappa Reddy B.V. Umesh K.B. Ranjith Kumar P.S.
DOI:10.30954/0424-2513.1.2019.30

Abstract:

The study was carried out to assess the energy use pattern and its efficiency in paddy production under different farm sizes in Karnataka. Data were collected from 90 sample farmers, by using a pretested schedule through personal interviews. The results indicated that the total energy used for producing paddy was 8,957 MJ per acre with an energy input cost of ` 17, 008 per acre. Among different components of energy use in paddy production, chemical fertilizers accounted for the highest amount of energy to the extent of 5240 MJ per acre (including N, P2O2 and K2O). The sample farmers had used excess fertilizer energy of 2050, 349 and 60 MJ per acre of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash respectively, as compared to the recommendation of package of practice. The elasticity coefficients provided by the Cobb-Douglas production function indicated that draught animals, labor, seeds, FYM and PPC were statistically significant among small farms. Irrespective of the size of farms, labour was significantly contributed to the output energy. Hence, the effective use of labour energy input plays an important role in paddy production. The ratio of MVP to MFC was less than one for fertilizers irrespective of the size group of farms indicated that fertilizer energy was over used in paddy production. Elasticity coefficients of different forms of energy indicated that impact of renewable energy sources was much higher than that of non-renewable energy sources in paddy production. Hence, to improve the paddy yield, economic performance of the crop and environmental sustainability, farmers have to use more of renewable energy. The energy efficiency showed that the energy ratio (6.98) and energy productivity (0.29) of small farmers were highest as compared to medium and large farmers. This implied that small farmers efficiently used energy vis-à-vis medium and large farmers.





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