Can farm mechanization enhance small farmers’ income? Lessons from Lower Shivalik Hills of the Indian Himalayan Region

Abstract

Indian agriculture being fraught with fragmented land holdings, the economic viability of farm mechanization has forever remained a debatable issue. Here we determine the socio-agro-economic impact of seed-cumfertilizer drill and zero tillage through different methods with ex-ante and ex-post approaches. Results depict that labour costs had reduced by almost 80% and seed usage by 20%. The seed-cum-fertilizer drill and zero tillage adopter saved Rs 3764.10 and 4047.54 respectively, from 1 ha. The machinery also increased the yield of HD 2967 wheat variety by 13.39 and 6.0 q/ha, and decreased seed rate by 27.71 and 24.20 kg/ha respectively, as evident from the results of the SUR model. The growth of the farm machinery sector is hindered by machine cost, resource-poor farmers and inaccessibility of agricultural technology. A few suggestions on the critical aspects are made here based on the application of technology in different states of India to implement suitable policies for the economic benefit of farmers