SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COTTON-WHEAT CROPPING SYSTEM.

Cotton-Wheat cropping system plays a vital role in India's agriculture. Medium and large farmers contribute more to this system but the productivity of smaller farms was higher than that of larger farms. American cotton was more costly, risky and more profitable as compared to desi cotton. Income from the cotton was found to be falling over the years. During the last 10 years, use of FYM has decreased from 52 quintals to 20 quintals per acre. Nitrogen application increased from 15 kg to 21 kg per acre and phosphorus increased from 7 kg to 8 kg per acre. Overall, fertilizer application increased in cotton crop but decreased in wheat crop. Technological need for good quality pesticides was felt by the farmers. All the three sowing techniques viz., zero tillage, rotary tillage and traditional method of sowing yielded almost equal cotton seed yield. Wheat yield was highest in rotary tillage. Cost of cultivation of wheat was Rs. 9626 per acre and margin was Rs. 2470 per acre. Cost of production of wheat was Rs. 484 per quintal. Cost of cultivation of desi cotton was Rs. 11000 per acre. The cost of production of American cotton cotton was Rs 2511 per quintal whereas that of desi cotton was Rs. 2691 per quintal. Thus, farmers incurred a loss of Rs. 788 per acre in case of desi cotton where as in case of American cotton, farmers earned a profit of Rs. 1248 per acre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]