Economic Viability of Organic Farming: An Empirical Experience of Wheat Cultivation in Punjab § Singh Inder Pal, Grover D.K.* Agro Economic Research Centre, Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab * Author for correspondence, Email: dkg_59@rediffmail.com
§The paper is based on the doctorate dissertation, entitled ‘An economic analysis of organic farming in Punjab‘, submitted to Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in 2010. JEL Classification: Q12, Q16 Online published on 14 November, 2011. Abstract The present study has assessed the economic viability of organic wheat cultivation in Punjab by collecting primary data from 85 organic growers and 75 inorganic growers spread over 30 villages in the districts of Patiala and Faridkot for the period 2008–09. The area under organic farming has been found about 27 per cent of the total operational area in rabi season for the sample organic growers. The major share of organic area has been found under wheat crop, which accounted for 15 per cent of the total operational area of sample organic growers. The total variable cost on per acre basis for the cultivation of organic wheat has been found less as compared to inorganic wheat. The net returns over variable cost of organic and inorganic wheat have been observed as ` 21895/acre and ` 16700/acre for organic growers. The lower crop yield in organic wheat (6.7q/acre less) was well compensated by the higher price it fetched in the market. A wider varietal distribution has been observed for organic than inorganic wheat cultivation. The regression analysis has revealed that with one per cent increase in expenditure on farmyard manure + jeev amrit, biodynamic and machine labour, the organic wheat productivity would increase by 0.114 per cent, 0.703 per cent, 0.556 per cent, respectively, showing significant impact on value productivity. The study has observed that though organic wheat cultivation has been found more profitable for the growers in the study area, the significant reduction in its productivity level poses a serious challenge in term of food security for the nation. Top Keywords Organic farming, Wheat cultivation, Organic wheat, Punjab. Top |