Development of Web-Based Combine Harvester Custom-Hiring Model for Rice–Wheat Cropping System

A web-based custom hiring model was developed to help farmers and custom-hiring service providers take decisions regarding owning/custom hiring of combine harvester for rice-wheat cropping system. It also gives the break-even acreage for owning a combine harvester along with various cost economics. The model was evaluated for two situations: situation I with own area of 100 acres and custom-hiring catchment area of 160 acres combined under rice and wheat, and situation II with own area and custom-hiring catchment area being 60 and 276 acres respectively. For situation I the model guided the user to opt for custom-hiring, while for situation II it gave a decision to own a combine harvester.