Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

240
RAINFED RICE A SOURCEBOOK OF BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES IN EASTERN INDIA
¢ Compute marginal rate of return (MRR) and express it in percent.
Here, the MRR is 586%, which means that for every Rs. 1 farmers invest,
they will get back Rs. 1 plus Rs 5.86 more if they adopt T2.
Calculate capital cost, which includes interest on capital and various
expenses involved in arranging money. This is also expressed in percent
and added to 20 for work incentive to farmers. If the capital cost for the
period of credit taken is 30%, after adding 20% it becomes 50%.
For acceptance of technology, the MRR must be higher than the capital
cost. In the present example, farmers can consider T 1 as a replacement of
their T 1 .
Yardstick for acceptance of technology
Apart from direct economic gain from any weed management practice, its
indirect impact should also be considered. Any practice which will have an
influence on reducing weed problems in the future, due to reduced
propagation rate, environmental and health safety, etc., should be given
priority when there is a choice among several approaches having identical
weed control efficiency. Groundwater pollution, reduction of the vertebrate
population in surface water systems and the long-term disruption of the
species equilibrium in the rice ecosystem are environmental factors for
consideration. Eye, skin, pulmonary and neurological problems are
significantly associated with frequent exposure to pesticides.
Accept and recommend those weed management practices which are
technically sound, economically viable and ecologically friendly.
Prepared by:
G.N.Mishra and R.D. Vaishya