economics of on-farm development - Institute for Social and ...

The pr<strong>of</strong>itability <strong>of</strong> crops depends upon, among other things, timely and
adequate supply <strong>of</strong> water. The data presented in table 6.19 shows the income
from various crops across the three reaches <strong>of</strong> the Peechi command area. For
instance. the returns on investment in the crops grown in head and middle
reaches are high when compared to those in the tail-end. A relatively more
assured supply <strong>of</strong> water in the head and middle reaches tends to motivate farmers
to apply more doses <strong>of</strong> yield-enhancing inputs. It could be seen from the above
table that the cost <strong>of</strong> material inputs per acre <strong>of</strong> banana is as high as Rs. 4880 in
the head reaches as against Rs. 2717 and Rs. 1647, in the middle and tail reaches
respectively. The pr<strong>of</strong>itability is quite high when compared to other crops.
Undependable supply <strong>of</strong> water for the tail enders deprives them to reap the
benefits <strong>of</strong> a crop whose pr<strong>of</strong>itahility is more. The maximisation <strong>of</strong> productivity
potential <strong>of</strong> a crop and the consequent increase in income depends upon a great
deal on adequate supply <strong>of</strong> water. This is also linked, as mentioned earlier, to the
OFO works that a farmer takes in his fields.
Among the crops. banana is highly pr<strong>of</strong>itable in the head and middle
reaches, the percentage <strong>of</strong> net returns being 242 per cent in the head and 210 per
cent in the middle reaches. However, the net returns per acre from paddy is
higher than that from banana and coconut in the tail reaches. which could be
explained in terms <strong>of</strong> the lack <strong>of</strong> availability <strong>of</strong> sufficient water for these crops.
The impact <strong>of</strong> OF!) on the yield <strong>of</strong> different crops gruwn in the Peechi
irrigation project has been examined by comparing the plots where OFO was
adopted and where it was not adopted and the details are presented in table 6.20.
It is noteworthy that the net additional earnings from crops grown in the plots
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