Economics of Zero Tillage and Conventional Methods of Rice and Wheat Production in Haryana

Adoption of zero tillage technology by farmers in India has occurred mainly in the rice-wheat crop production system. It was adopted primarily for the wheat crop. The spread of technology was rapid in the north-western states which are relatively better endowed with respect to irrigation, mechanization and relatively large size of land holdings. In India, widespread adoption of zero tillage method of cultivation was started in Haryana state. It is emerged as a way to achieve enhanced productivity and profitability while protecting natural resources and environment. In this study, an attempt has been made to analyze the comparative economics of zero tillage and conventional methods of rice and wheat cultivation in Haryana state. The study revealed that the net return was higher in zero tillage mainly due to reduction in operational cost by 14% than conventional method of rice cultivation. In case of wheat, both yield and net returns were significantly higher in zero tillage by 5.54% and 24.72%, respectively. The respective saving of human labour, machine labour and irrigation were 12.95%, 41.75% and 17.60% in rice production by zero tillage method. Similarly, use of human labour, machine labour and irrigation were saved by 13.93%, 45.88% and 15.98%, respectively in zero tillage than conventional method of wheat production. Zero tillage technology enabled farmers to increase returns and save crucial inputs cost. Hence, this technology promises to be an important alternative for generating higher farm income and saving of scarce resources in resource starved regions