Resource Efficiency and Price Parity of Principal Crops in Maharashtra

This study suggested that for obtaining the optimum yield of principal crops, the use crucial inputs like manures and N, P and K fertilizers could be increased and use of bullock labour and human labour could be decreased by use of mechanical means such as tractor, sprayers, dusters and harvester in order to reduce the cost of cultivation and increase efficiency of resources. The input costs were substantially increased by four to five times over output prices because of inflationary pressure on input costs. Therefore, the support price policy for food-grains should help the farmers in increasing farm income mainly through output price rise, but it has failed in reducing the variability in gross income. There is no parity between farm harvest prices to input prices, farm harvest prices to cost of production and income to cost of production in cereals, pulses and oil seeds with exception of gram, sunflower and groundnut for income to cost of production. There were seasonal fluctuations in arrivals and prices with a negative relationship with exception of gram, groundnut and sunflower in Solapur market and wheat, gram and groundnut in Pune market.