Trend in Cost of Cultivation of Sorghum in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States of India

Abstract

Area and production of Sorghum in Andhra Pradesh state increased by 6.8% and 9.7% but decreased by 12.1% and 9.8% in Telangana state, respectively since the last few years whereas the average yield was increased by 2.6% in both the states. The cost of production of sorghum was raised by 11-14% but the market price was increased by 7.5% only. Cost of production C2 was overlapped with the market price up to 2012-13 but later on, the market price was lower than C2 whereas the cost of production A2 overlapped with Minimum Support Price up to 2011-12 but MSP was quite higher after 2011-12. Operational costs ranged from 62-66% and fixed costs are 34-38% out of the total cost of cultivation of sorghum. The inverse relationship between yield and cost of production has proved in the log-linear regression model at 5% level of significance, due to low productivity of crop, still, there is need to develop High Yielding Varieties at State Agriculture Universities of both the states, modern technologies are to be adopted by the farmers to improve the productivity. In view of the importance of crops the government has to raise the remunerative market price and public awareness is to be created about the nutritional importance of crops so that the cropped area might be increased. Processing industries are to be encouraged on a large scale which generates employment for the rural youth; some more need-based processing technologies are to be developed at research institutes.