A Study on Economic Analysis of Cotton Production in North Karnataka

Cotton, the 'White Gold' and 'King of Fibres' is a crop of prosperity and is considered to be an industrial commodity of worldwide importance. It is an important fibre crop of global significance, cultivated in tropical and sub tropical regions of around eighty countries, which accounts for 45 per cent of world fibre. In this paper it is attempted to study the cost and returns structure of cotton cultivation in North Karnataka. Keeping in view the objectives of the study a multistage random sampling procedure has been adopted for the selection of the districts and sample respondents. The total sample size was 240. The primary data was collected from respondents through personal interview method using pre tested schedules. Keeping in view the objectives of the study the tabular presentation method with averages and percentages was used. The farm category wise analysis of gross returns revealed that the gross returns obtained per acre by medium farmers were high (Rs. 36103.38/acre) as compared to small farmers (Rs.33318.69/acre) and marginal farmers (Rs. 31371.91/acre) in Dharwad district and medium farmers (Rs.21318.93/acre), small farmers (Rs. 20438.53/acre) and marginal farmers (Rs.20361.31/acre) in Haveri district. With respect to net returns obtained was also high in case of medium farmers as that of small and marginal farmers. Benefit cost ratio was also high in case medium farmers (1.72) followed by small farmers (1.61) and marginal farmers (1.58) in Dharwad district and medium farmers (1.68), small farmers (1.65) and marginal farmers (1.59) in Haveri district.