Enhancing Productivity and Profitability in Wheat through Rotavator in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

The rice-wheat cropping system of the Indo-Gangetic region acts as the backbone of Indian agriculture feeding and providing livelihood to millions. Resource conservation technologies (RCTs) like rotavator has several positive effects such as early sowing of wheat, reducing land preparation time and cost, increasing soil organic content by incorporating the paddy stubbles, higher profits etc. The rotavator adopters in the study area earned an incremental net income of Rs. 7664.95 per ha and also the total cost of cultivation was reduced by Rs 1379.86 per ha. On an investment of Re one, the rotavator adopters earn a return of Rs. 0.81 whereas the non-adopters earn only Rs. 0.56. Adoption of this RCT offers several economic benefits to the respondents thus, making them economically better off than the non-adopters. The main reason for adopting the technology is the early sowing of wheat, which directly leads to better grain quality and quantity. Despite so many benefits, there are a few constraints in the adoption of rotavator, the major ones being the high custom hiring charges, non-availability of the machine on time or hire basis and high purchasing cost of the machine. Rotavator has the potential to play a significant role in boosting wheat production nationwide by overcoming constraints.