Resource Use Efficiency in Paddy Production in the Salinity Affected and the Unaffected Areas of Alappuzha District in Kerala: An Economic Analysis

Rice is one of the foremost and principal food crops in the world, feeding more than four billion people primarily in Asia and India stands second in the production of rice after China with highest production. Even though rice is a staple food of Kerala, it occupies less than 7.7 per cent of the total cropped area. Kerala is known for its cultivation of paddy below the sea level. Salt water intrusion is the major problem in these areas. In this context, the present study aims to examine the efficiency of resource-use in paddy production in the salinity affected and the unaffected areas of Alappuzha District in Kerala. The study was based on the primary data collected from 50 rice farmers, viz 25 from salt water affected and 25 from unaffected areas and Cobb Douglas production function was used to estimate the resource use efficiency. The study revealed that the inputs viz., hired labour, manures and fertilizers, soil ameliorants, plant protection chemicals, machine and bullock labour power had a positive and significant effect on the rice yield in both salinity affected and unaffected areas. The returns to scale worked out for unaffected and affected farmers was 2.24 and 1.31 respectively. Chow test revealed that there is a significant difference in coefficients between the factors affecting yield of paddy among the salt water affected and the unaffected farmers. Marginal productivity analysis revealed that economic efficiency of all the variables except manures and fertilizers was more than one, indicating their sub-optimum usage and there exist the chances of improving the yield by the enhanced application of these inputs.