ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF ORGANIC PADDY PRODUCTION IN CENTRAL INDIA

An attempt has been made in this study to examine the cost and return analysis of organic and inorganic farming practices for paddy cultivation in Jabalpur district of M.P. The finding of the study revealed that on an average the total cost of cultivation (Cost C3) of paddy under organic and in-organic were observed to be Rs. 8521 and Rs. 14324 respectively. The average yield per hectare of paddy crop was found maximum in inorganic farms (21.92q/ha) against 14.88 q/ha in organic farms. Medium farmers harvested maximum yields of paddy under both the situations and lower yields were in large farms. The price of organic paddy was found relatively higher than inorganic paddy in the study area. Net income and output-input ratio was higher in organic farm. Thus, incremental net income was only Rs. 2186 per ha is realizing that organic farming was economically viable and profitable over inorganic paddy farming in the study area. Net income on different farm size in organic situation ranged from Rs. 8203 to Rs. 10122 and Rs. 6067 to Rs. 8249 per ha in case of inorganic paddy. It is suggested that sincere efforts be made by the extension personnel to motivate the framers to adopt improved production technology to minimize the yield gap.