| dc.description.abstract | The demand for edible oil is increasing at an annual rate of 6 per cent suggesting that the productivity of oilseeds needs to be substantially increased in order to bridge the demand-supply gap. So, there is a need to step up productivity of groundnut and sunflower because these two crops account for more than 40 per cent of edible oil supply in the country. Large yield gaps exist between yields realized in demonstrations on the farmers' fields and the state productivity which is of the order of 86 per cent in Andhra Pradesh for groundnut and 267 per cent in sunflower in Karnataka. In order to understand the possible reasons for low productivity in these two crops, a modest attempt has been made to know the direct and indirect effects of various technological, weather and edaphic factors on productivity of groundnut and sunflower and to suggest remedial measures. The study was carried out in Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh for groundnut and Bijapur district of Karnataka for sunflower, which represent the largest area under these crops in the country.
The results of the study are summarized below: 5.1.1 Groundnut
1. The status of physico-chemical properties and nutrient status of initial soils where groundnut is grown in Ananthapur revealed that soils were neutral to alkaline in reaction. The soils of 53 per cent of farmers' fields were neutral in pH and the rest were alkaline. Nitrogen was low in 96 per cent fields, none of the soils were rich in nitrogen. For phosphorus, 65 per cent of the soils were medium and 98 per cent were medium to high for potassium. Only 5 per cent and 27 per cent of the soils were in the category of high phosphorus and potassium respectively, and 30 per cent of the soils were low in phosphorus. As regards the micronutrient status, zinc and copper content were deficient (88% and 98%) in most samples whereas, iron and manganese were available in sufficient quantities (78% and 95%) respectively.
2. Farmers were growing only 3 improved varieties viz., JL-24, TMV-2 and K-134 although a dozen improved varieties are recommended for cultivation. Among the varieties cultivated, K-134 was a recently released variety but only 10 per cent farmers were aware of this variety; followed by JL-24 grown by 68 per cent farmers; TMV-2, a very old variety, still grown by 13 per cent farmers and 8 per cent farmers were still growing local varieties. The productivity of K-134 was the highest in the farmers' fields compared to other varieties.
3. As regards crop management, nearly 20 per cent of farmers still followed minimum management (without cash inputs and plant protection), 25 per cent adopted 75 per cent of recommended nutrient management, and only 12 per cent adopted the complete package of recommended package of practices. This last group of 12 per cent farmers obtained an average yield of 1357 kg/ha which is 37.2 per cent higher than the state average.
4. As far as nutrient management is concerned, only 16.7 per cent farmers applied the optimum dose of FYM at the rate of 10 t/ha and also obtained higher yield (1142 kg/ha) compared to farmers applying less than 5 t/ha (625 kg/ha). For inorganic manures, only 20 per cent farmers used optimum nitrogen application and 28.3 per cent farmers applied optimum phosphorus. The native available potassium is high in soils and majority of farmers do not apply any potassium. However, a small per cent of farmers applied around 10 kg/ha, and also realized higher yields (11.7%).
5. Forecasting models for groundnut production were fitted with good fitment for predicting the yield of groundnut and working out mid-season corrections.
The fitted Cobb-Douglas production function revealed that the FYM, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at optimum levels by the farmers showed highly significant effect with elasticity coefficient of 0.02 which shows that it is important in enhancing productivity. But, farmers used 4.59 t/ha, 9.1 kg/ha, 21.5 kg/ha and 2.33 kg/ha of FYM, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium respectively, which was far below the recommended levels of FYM 10 tonnes, N 20 kg, P 40 kg and K 50 kg per hectare. Frontier production function for technical efficiency revealed that the average technical efficiency is of the order of 79.6 per cent as a whole, which indicates that with increased efficiency of management, output can be increased by 15 per cent to achieve an average level of efficiency of 86.6 per cent. The majority of groundnut growers in the sample are operating at an efficiency level of between 70–80 per cent of the potential and only 13.3 per cent were operating at over 90 per cent.
8. Regression analysis was carried out for high output and low output farmers. The high output farmers applied maximum inputs such as FYM, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the rate of 6.7 t/ha, 14.7 kg/ha, 32.8 kg/ha and 4.5 kg/ha respectively and realized higher yield of 1046 kg/ha compared to low output farmers whose average yield was 570 kg/ha. The weather parameters, in general, were not having any significant influence on productivity except higher relative humidity, due to high rainfall during cropping period, which may not be favourable to the crop as it increases the incidence of foliar diseases. Though FYM and phosphorus were found to have highly significant influence on yield, their usage levels were low compared to recommended level of 10 t/ha and 40 kg/ha respectively. This group constituted 41.7 per cent of the total sample.
9. Farmers sold their produce to Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) or oil mill or local trader. The share of each of them was 27 per cent for APMC, 35 per cent for oil mill and 38 per cent for local trader. Many farmers sold their produce immediately after harvest and realized Rs. 160/q less than the farmers who stored their produce for 3–6 months.
10. The factors contributing to yield in low and high output farmers showed a 65.7 per cent difference in the yield levels. High output farmers achieved 73.4 per cent higher output due to the use of the superior production technology. Of this, 62.2 per cent came from higher use of inputs such as FYM, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
11. Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) revealed that groundnut is a competitive crop. Therefore, no efforts should be spared to enhance the competitiveness of the crop. Developments in R&D elsewhere in the world can undermine the competitiveness that the country presently enjoys in groundnut production. However, the shortage of edible oils in the country calls for improving farming efficiency by bridging existing yield gaps through the optimal use of inputs and other production technologies.
5.1.2. Sunflower
12. The status of physico-chemical properties and nutrient status of the initial soils of Bijapur revealed that soil reaction (pH) varied from neutral to alkaline. Eighty per cent of soils were alkaline in pH and the rest were neutral. For major nutrients, 95 per cent of soils were low in nitrogen, 48 per cent were low in phosphorus and generally high to medium for potassium. The micronutrients were deficient in Bijapur soils. Zinc deficiency was widespread (100%); and more than 60 per cent of soil samples were deficient in iron and copper but were found to be sufficient in manganese content.
13. Many private and public bred hybrids were in cultivation. Among the varieties cultivated, excepting Morden, which is an open-pollinated variety, others were hybrids. Among hybrids, only KBSH-1 was public bred and the rest were private bred. The MSFH 17 – a private hybrid – was the most popular one (28%) followed by KBSH-1 (18%), PAC 36 (15%), PAC 8699 (13%) and Sandoz (8%). The other hybrids or varieties had a share of 3–5 per cent each. Among the hybrids cultivated, Sunbred 212, KBSH-1, MSFH 17 and PAC 36 were superior yielders in that order.
14. As far as crop management is concerned, only 16.7 per cent of farmers adopted the whole package of recommended cultivation technology and also realized highest yield of 1509 kg/ha, which was 305 per cent higher than the state productivity of 373 kg/ha. Nearly one-third of the farmers grew sunflower under minimum management without adopting any of the improved cultivation practices and realized a very low yield of 214 kg/ha. The remaining farmers partially adopted technology, particularly nutrient management from less than 25 per cent up to 100 per cent, which formed the major chunk of 50 per cent. In fields where recommended dose of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was applied, the yields were high.
15. Application of optimum quantities of FYM improved yield significantly. Majority of farmers applied nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutrients in sub-optimum quantities. For nitrogen application, 41.7 per cent of farmers applied less than 10 kg/ha, 23.3 per cent applied 10–30 kg/ha and only 35 per cent applied in optimum quantities. This was also reflected in the yields realized by the farmers. Similar was the situation for optimum use of potassium and phosphorus.
16. Forecasting models for sunflower production were fitted with good fitment for predicting the yield of sunflower and working out mid-season corrections.
17. The Cobb-Douglas production function approach revealed that the FYM had a positive and significant influence on the yield of sunflower. While the influence of nitrogen was positive, the effect of potassium on the output of sunflower was negative, but both these coefficients were non-significant. Level of phosphorus used has a positive and significant influence on the output in sunflower. The weather parameters namely minimum relative humidity and maximum temperature were both found to have significant influence on yield. This influence, i.e. higher temperature as well as minimum relative humidity were desirable for obtaining higher yields. The model was found adequate with R² = 0.86. The marginal productivity of resources used were calculated for the inputs and the results showed that FYM, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium to be highly productive even though they were underused in production – FYM at the rate of 2.4 t/ha as against the recommended 10 t/ha, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the rate of 21.6, 20.4 and 9.5 kg/ha far below the recommended dose of 40, 50, 40 kg/ha respectively.
18. The Frontier Production Function for technical efficiency revealed that the average technical efficiency is very low which was of the order of 33.2 per cent for the sample, which indicates that with increased efficiency of management, output can be increased by 66.8 per cent through better management. Nearly 66.7 per cent of the sample survey were operating between 20–40 per cent of the potential and only 5 per cent were operating at over 80 per cent efficiency level.
19. The lowest productivity of sunflower in Bijapur was due to low level of technical efficiency with nearly 67 per cent of farmers operating at 20–40 per cent efficiency. With the improvement in technical efficiency of this large group, a significant improvement in overall productivity of the state is possible. The increase in efficiency will have to come through efficient management and higher use of resources/inputs.
20. There was a significant difference in the prices offered by the various purchasers. The price offered by KOF was highest, followed by APMC and least by local trader. The local trader offered on an average Rs. 100–300 less than APMC or KOF.
21. The product quality and price revealed that both test weight and oil per cent in seed had a significant influence on the price. Sale of produce, after storing for some time, helped farmers to realize higher price.
22. Decomposition of production factors in sunflower worked out for the two groups viz., high output farmers and low output farmers indicated that former used better varieties and other improved technology practices. Higher input use also contributed to higher output. High output farmers realized 59.5 per cent of their higher output due to the higher use of inputs, such as FYM, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
23. Sunflower production in India lacking comparative advantage globally is indeed a cause of concern as it is an important crop of vast rainfed tracts, where farmers have little or no alternative crops to cultivate. Despite low productivity, the farmers are able to derive profits due to the remunerative prices offered. However, this may not continue for long due to the subdued prices prevailing in the international market of sunflower. The crop needs to be supported through vigorous R&D for enhancing productivity, competitiveness and to safeguard the interest of sunflower farmers.
5.2. Future Line of Work
The study can be extended to cover the entire oilseeds sector so as to gain a holistic perspective of the oilseed production. Further, the study may be extended to irrigated situations to assess the production factors.
Simulation modeling for sustainable oilseeds production may be attempted as an approach in modeling the groundnut and sunflower cultivation in the country. | |
