IMPACT OF PARTIAL MECHANIZATION ON FARM PRODUCTIVITY, INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION: A CASE OF TRISAL UPAZILA IN MYMENSINGH DISTRICT

This study has examined the impact of partial mechanization on crop productivity, income and employment generation in Trisal Upazila of Mymensingh District. Gittinger's methodology (1994) was followed to appraise the profitability of the concerned equipment. The activity budget was used to find out the profitability of MV Boro paddy producing farmers considering `with' and `without' situations. The general findings of the study were that the investments in the selected mechanical equipment were profitable. The sensitivity analyses suggested that the profitability of the concerned equipment, as expected, was highly correlated with 10 percent increase in O& M costs and/or 10 percent decrease in benefits. The results revealed that the individual users and owner-cum-users group earned more income than the non-users group of mechanical equipment. It was also found that the per hectare labour use in MV Boro paddy production in equipment user groups was lesser than that of non-users group. This implied that there was a negative impact of partial mechanization on employment with respect to MV Boro production. However, multiple uses of mechanical equipment created more non-farm employment opportunities in rural Bangladesh like repairing workshop, driving and operating of DSSTWs, PTs etc., shops for equipment,,-spare-parts, fertilizers, diesel, insecticides and transportations