Economics of Tur (Cajanus cajan) Cultivation in North Karnataka, India

Tur is the most important Kharif pulse crop of northern Karnataka. Over the years, the farming community is shifting to cultivation of cash crops due to higher profitability leading to decrease in acreage under pulse crops in general and Tur in particular. The current study was carried out in Vijayapur and Bagalakote districts of north Karnataka to analyze the profitability in Tur cultivation and to document various constraints faced by the Tur growers in the study area. The data pertained to the agricultural year 2014-15. The yield per ha of Tur crop in was 15.08 quintals. The average price received by the sample farmers per quintal of Tur was Rs 5825.50. The total cost of cultivation was Rs 60260.37. The net returns per hectare of Tur cultivation was found to be Rs 27588.17, leading to an undiscounted benefit to cost ratio (Profitability ratio) of 1.45. The sample respondents ranked non-availability of labour as the greatest constraint in manual harvesting and mechanical threshing of Tur with a Garrett score of 70.73. The problems ranked as second, third and fourth place were high cost of labour, delay in harvesting and loss of crop due to unexpected pre-monsoon rains, respectively. Efforts should be made to bring more area under Tur crop in the study area. In spite of more yield and higher price of output, the net returns for Tur growers is less due to their higher investment in labour for carrying out various farm operations. To address this problem, mechanization of various operations such as ploughing, harrowing, sowing, harvesting and threshing should be done.