Economics of hybrid maize cultivation in Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh

The present study was emphasized to study cost and return of cultivation, the trend in area yield potential and resource use efficiency of hybrid maize of different categories of farm holdings in Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh. A sample of eighty farmers was surveyed (fourty five marginal, twenty five small and ten large) by three stage stratified random sampling method. The result indicated that cost of labour constituted largest component in total variable cost accounted about( 46.89%) followed by manure and fertilizer cost  (37.00 %), followed by seed cost (11.60%). Of all the components of fixed cost,  rental value of owned land and depreciation cost constituted maximum share about (81.90%) and (16.50%) respectively. The total cost increased with the increase in size of holdings. The total costs of production of maize per hectare was highest for large farmer of Rs. 32079.54/ha followed by small farmer of Rs. 28794.74/ha followed by small farmers of Rs. 27334/ha. There is excess use of labour by marginal farms. The excess labour may be diverted for cultivation of other crops. Large farmers  received higher income due to optimal application of fertilizer. Improvement of farm level efficiency relies on technical knowledge of crop as well as income diversification, institutional capacity building that can enhance assets ownership, extension and credit facility.