Study advises against long-term monocropping

Hyderabad: Telangana moving towards a monocropping culture, wherein a majority of farmers are moving towards cultivating paddy as a result of increased irrigation from new projects, might result in a long-term decline in revenue due to decline in soil fertility, a study by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, found.

The study cited the cases of Punjab and Haryana, where soil fertility levels suffered due to similar practices.

The study, titled ‘Analysis of Irrigation Enhancement, Crop Diversification and Farm Profits: Evidence from Telangana State’ said that the ever-growing monkey menace in the state was also adding to the concern.

“The human-animal conflict, especially with monkeys, is one of the major factors determining the choice of cultivating the crop, especially vegetables and horticultural crops, as they are more likely to damage these crops when compared to paddy,” researchers Dayakar Peddi and Suresh Reddy said in the study.

The study was aimed at examining the determinants of crop diversification and farm production functions, finding that the decision to adopt alternative crop choices was significantly affected by plot-level characteristics, such as irrigation and agricultural implements, and market access variables, such as road connectivity and distance to the nearest city.

It found that if farm households had access to irrigation via the new irrigation projects by improving the groundwater table, the farm level net revenue significantly improved compared to those relying on surface irrigation.

The primary contribution of the study results to the literature is twofold: “First, access to irrigation improves net revenue of farms, but revenue may decline if monocropping is practised in the long term. Secondly, providing farm households with access to irrigation by increasing the groundwater table offers for crop diversification and efficient water usage mechanisms.”

The researchers also found from the farmers that if the government improved access to developed market infrastructure and the MSP, they would cultivate other crops.

“The discussions held with the stakeholders as a part of the study highlighted that the MSP plays a pivotal role in choosing a crop and another important aspect is the knowledge of the factors influencing farm profits is crucial for policymakers and extension agents in the state,” they said.