An Economic Assessment of Rainfed Farming in the Jammu Region of Jammu and Kashmir State

Abstract

India ranks first both in the possession of total arable land as well as in the possession of the farmers that practices rainfed farming. Therefore, in this context, the study of rainfed farming becomes imperative for the sustainable development of agriculture in India. Rainfed agriculture is the farming practice that rely primarily on rainfall for its water requirement. A study entitled An economic assessment of rainfed farming in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state was carried with the objective of finding out the economics of major crops and enterprises, resource use efficiency of the crops and agricultural-allied enterprises and constraints faced by the farmers in this region. The study wasconducted in Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Rajouri districts of the Jammu region. Sample size of 240 farmers. newlineThe study revealed that majority (59.17 per cent) of the farmers belonged to the joint family system, 70.42 per cent of the farmers belonged to the general caste. Further, their participation in the government schemes were quite skewed. The cropping intensity was found to be highest in case of Kathua district i.e., 163.70. newline The net returns of wheat were Rs. 6788.36 per acre with the cost-benefit ratio of 1:1.70. In case of mustard crop, Kathua district has shown good results with net returns of Rs. 9216.43 per acre and cost-benefit ratio of 1:2.00. As far as the rice crop is concerned, Jammu district has shown the cost-benefit ratio of 1:1.77 with the net returns of Rs. 10974.91 per acre. The net returns per acre were Rs.6857.17 for the maize crop in case of Jammu district. Apart from these four major crops cultivated in these four districts, the specific- grown crops have shown high profitability for the farmers. The net returns per acre were revealed to be Rs. 6801.59, Rs. 8796.64 and Rs. 7859.83 in case of bajra, urd and sesamum crops, respectively. The net returns for the vegetables were found out to be high as compared to that of the other cash crops. In the potato cultivation, net returns were found out