Sources of Differences in Input Use:The Case of Fertiliser in India

In the present study an attempt has been made to figure out the sources of differences in fertiliser use in different states of India. The study reveals that while differences between Punjab and other states are explicable in terms of better technological adoption and better institutional and distributional facilities provided to this state, differences between Gujarat and other states which use less fertiliser, despite having good rainfall have been due to the credit and distributional facilities provided to this state. Major policy implications which emerge from this study are that in order to boost fertiliser demand in areas where the irrigation infrastructure is poorly developed, appropriate credit and distributional network policies are required. It is also suggested that irrigation infrastructure should also deserve high priority along with more and more efforts to bring area under high yielding varieties. Efforts should also be made to increase income of the farmer so as to enable him to adopt modern technology. Price related measures tend to be unrewarding. This study on India is equally important to other developing countries of the world also.