Does Productivity Matter in the Adoption of Hybrid Rice? A Comparative Study

Abstract

The present study was designed to analyze comparative economics of hybrid rice and basmati in the core rice growing area of Punjab. Cross-data was collected through well-structured questionnaires from 80 farmers during May and June 2011.Study results reveal that higher yield and less time required for maturity in production were the main reasons for planting of hybrid rice. Hybrid rice occupied 3.6 acres whereas area under basmati was 5.9 acres of the total farm area. Farmers obtained above 60 percent increase in yield of hybrid rice. Results show that cost of production of basmati rice was estimated as Rs.37364 per acre and total revenue was Rs.44768 per acre. The benefit cost ratio of basmati rice was 1.20 and that of hybrid rice was 1.80, implying that hybrid rice has brought comparatively more economic benefits to the farmers as compared to basmati in the study area. Shortage of buyers, much costly poor quality hybrid seed, late payment and higher transportation costs are among major constraints in rice production and marketing.

What Motivates Rice Farmers to Adopt Hybrid Rice Technology in Assam, India?

“…In case of non-adopters, it was observed that (Table 2), the poor cooking quality of hybrid rice was the major problem. Similar findings by Saeed et al, (2013) reported that the disadoption of hybrid rice was due to serious problem of marketing and lower price and also disliking of hybrid rice due to poor quality of grain and inferior taste. High cost of seed which was also needed to be purchased every year, low price of the hybrid rice per quintal compared to other rice varieties, overlooking the higher production, infestation of the pest and disease were also among the reported problems.…”