Inter-Regional Variations in Labour Productivity in Indian Agriculture : A Simultaneous Equation Approach

With the help of a simultaneous equation model this paper examines the factors influencing variations in the components of labour productivity in Indian agriculture across 53 NSS agro-climatic regions in three triennia viz., 1962-65, 1970-73 and 1975-78. The model is estimated separately for high and low labour productivity regions. The results show that cropping pattern, irrigation and percentage of area under rice crop were the dominant factors determining variations in yield, cropping intensity and man-land ratio respectively. However, the importance of these factors varied according as whether the region is a high or a low productivity region.