Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
Debraj Saha, Soham Bachaspati, Munjam Arun Kumar and G Dey

Abstract:
The Study was conducted in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. Primary data were collected from 50 sample farmers (agricultural households) which were selected by the technique of Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement from 348 agricultural households belonging to Cooch Behar-II block of the district. Crop wise net return was estimated from gross return and Cost C. Tabular method of analysis was extensively used in this study. A multiple regression analysis with explanatory variables like size of agricultural holding, cropped area under vegetables, cropping intensity, income earned from non-farm sources, crop diversification and per hectare cost of cultivation was also attempted in this study. Household income was considered dependent variable in the analysis. The results indicated a positive relationship between average size of earners and average size of family. Household income was found to come from different sources, e.g. crop production, livestock enterprises, non-farm occupations and investments. In crop production the highest net return per hectare was accrued from banana. The other non- food grain crops generating net returns per hectare in descending order were garlic, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, water melon, wax gourd, cucumber, potato, radish, pointed gourd, chilli, beat and jute. Among the food grain crops the highest net return was accrued from lentil.. Among fruit crops banana yielded the highest net return. Average income per household from crop production was found to increase across the larger size classes of farms. Household income earned from dairy was found to decline across larger size classes. As a whole, income earned from this source accounted for 24.25 percent of the total household income. Percentage contribution of income earned from poultry farming and goat rearing were observed to be low. Income earned from crop production was found to influence the distribution of farm income among the households in different size classes. As a whole farm income generated 87.86 percent income of the total household income. Non- farm income accounted for 12.14 percent of the household income with wide differences among the size classes. Similarly wide disparities in average income per earner and per capita income were observed in different size classes. Among the factors taken for multiple regression analysis the size of agricultural holding, cropped area under vegetables and non- farm income were found to significantly influence the level of household income.