Studies on Policy Option for Quality Seed Production and ... - NFPCSP

Table 4.2.20 Estimated production function for wheat seed/grain in DinajpurExplanatory variable Standardized Coefficient tConstant 6.913*** 11.395Farm size 0.164** 2.437Seed rate -0.032 -0.484Compost/cowdung 0.084 1.223Urea 0.110* 1.689TSP 0.052 0.494MP 0.090 0.844Irrigation no. 0.302*** 4.377Human labour no. 0.208*** 3.033Seed class 0.213*** 3.021R² 0.44F-value 12.02****** Significant at 1 % level; ** Significant at 5 % level; * Significant at 10 % levellittle effect on crop yield. On the other hand, the qualities of the non-urea fertilizers (like TSP, MP,gypsum etc.) that are sold in the local market are more questionable in terms of their nutrient contentsCompared to the standard level. It is also observed that sometimes the crop yield is reduced due to otherfactors like weed infestation, insect/disease attacks etc. Probably because of these reasons and mostvitally the under-rate use of the non-urea fertilizers including compost/cow dung manure could notmake significant effects on wheat grain production as compared to urea application that was observedunder the present study.4.2.22 Frequency distribution of wheat yieldThe variation of wheat yields at the farmers’ level is shown in Fig. 4.2.6, which reveals that most of thefarmers obtained the wheat yield ranging from 2250 kg/ha to 2750 kg/ha. A few of the farmers gotcomparatively higher yield (above 3000 kg/ha). The pattern of wheat yield as observed at farmers fieldsalthough followed a normal distribution, it has more narrowly skewed to the right side demonstratingthat the frequency of plots yielding less than 3000 kg/ha was much more higher in number than thehigher yielding cases. Therefore, this trend very clearly indicates that there is more possibility ofimprovement in wheat yield at field level by optimising management packages including fertilizer,irrigation and other inputs.64