The study was conducted among 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms using multistage sampling technique to assess the technical efficiency in rice production among mechanized and traditional farmers in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts.  The Cobb-Douglas functional form of the stochastic production frontier was employed to obtain the technical efficiency in mechanized and traditional rice farms. The overall technical efficiency of the mechanized and traditional rice farm ranged from 40.31 to 92.23 and 31.21 to 85.02%t with the mean technical efficiency of 80.56 and 70.11% respectively. The scope of increasing output by adopting the technology adopted by the best performer was 19.44% in mechanized and 29.89% in traditional rice farm respectively. Majority of the farmers were operating at an efficiency level 70-80% and 60-70% in mechanized and traditional farms respectively. The average technical efficiency of mechanized rice farm was higher than that of traditional rice farm and the difference was significant. There was scope of increasing output through rational use of existing resources in both farm categories. Manures, chemical fertilizers had significant and positive effect to total yield of rice kg/ha. The effect of machine use to total yield of rice was positive and significant. Rice farms adopting machines were more technically efficient compared to traditional rice farm.

A field experiment was carried out with an objective to study the effect of nitrogen levels in the growth and yield performance of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (PDR 14 or Uday) at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from October 2008 to March 2009. The experiment of nitrogen levels was carried out with five treatments of 0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg/ha with three dates of sowing in three replications in split plot design. The soil of the experimental plots was sandy loam with acidic (pH 6.33) in nature. The effect of nitrogen levels on growth pattern and grain yield was found significant. Significantly higher grain yield was obtained with 120 kg N/ha (2.57 t/ha) as compared to control (1.39 t/ha), 40 (1.84 t/ha), 80 (2.04 t/ha) and 160 (2.01 t/ha) kg N/ha, respectively. The yield increased significantly with nitrogen up to 120 kg/ha and then declined at 160 kg/ha. So, in order to achieve higher productivity of French bean, 120 kg N/ha can be considered as an optimum level of nitrogen application in the humid sub-tropical condition of inner Terai, Chitwan of Nepal. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 10(1): 31-40.

A study was conducted in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya district of Nepal to assess the benefit cost (BCA) analysis of small farm machineries (transplanter, reaper and power tiller) used for rice cultivation. Out of total respondents of 274 under mechanized farm category selected using Raosoft Software of sample size determination, 74% reaper owner (20),  67% power tiller owner (20) and 100% transplanter owner (09)  were selected for analyzing benefit cost analysis using simple random sampling. BCA analysis showed that the NPV, B/C ratio, IRR and Payback Period of investing in transplanter were NRs 452743.62, 1.61, 24% and 2.75 years at 12% discount rate respectively. Similarly, NPV, B/C ratio, IRR and Payback period for reaper and power tiller were NRs 422541.93, 2.89, 123% and 1.14 years and NRs 619,719.34, 2.32, 65% and 1.46 years at 12% of discount rate respectively. The investment on reaper and power tiller would be profitable for their higher Benefit Cost ratio and IRR, and lower payback period. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that investments in reaper and power tiller would be profitable even if decrease in benefit or increase in cost or decrease in benefit and increase in cost by 20% is considered. However, in case of transplanter, the IRR would be less than the discount rate when benefit decreases by 20% and cost increases by 20%. Due to high investment at the initial stage, the payback period was longer and IRR was also less than 30% per annum in transplanter which indicated that investment would not be made for transplanter unless price of transplanter is lowered through regulation of price and provision of subsidy. It is suggested to motivate farmers for adoption of small farm machineries in rice cultivation through provision of differentiated rates of subsidy and technical capacity build up.

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The main objective of the study was to assess cost, returns and labor use status between mechanized and traditional rice farms in the Tarai of Nepal. The study was conducted using multistage sampling technique in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts covering 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms. Farm budget analysis was used to compute the cost and yield returns from both type of rice farms. The study revealed that the per hectare average human labor used by traditional farm was significantly higher (141.6 man days/hectare) than mechanized rice farm (72.7 man days/per hectare). The per hectare average machine hour used in mechanized farm was 14.0 hours. Number of bullock labor required in traditional rice farm was more than 4 times higher than in mechanized rice farm and was significant. Per hectare total cost of production in mechanized and traditional farms was NRs 85,434.6 and NRs. 95,993.6, respectively and the mean difference was significant. The mechanized rice farm had significantly higher income (NRs. 112711.1/ha) than traditional rice farm (NRs.102064.9/ha). The benefit csot ratio per hectare was significantly higher in mechanized farm (1.32) as compared to traditional(1.06). The variable cost saved in mechanized farm in comparison to traditional rice farm was NRs. 20,366.8 per hectare, which was 24.80 % and was significant. The study indicated that the use of farm machines for rice cultivation would significantly save the human labor cost, reduce cost of production, increase the yield thereby removing drudgery; addressing the labor shortage issues and making mechanized rice farm more profitable.