A Quantitative Approach to Profit Optimization and Constraints of Mixed Cropping Pattern in Bargarh District Of Western Orissa

Abstract

Mix-cropping is profitable to the farmers. However there are production and marketing problems challenging its adaptation for the mass .The present study aims at analyzing profitability and constraints of mixed cropping pattern (i.e. the production of fruit, vegetable and other non-cereal crop along with the basic rice crop) in the area under study. An attempt has been made with Linear programming Model to compare the profitability of actual and suggested (optimum) production mix farming method considering the primary data collected from 400 sample farm households of three different villages (irrigated, tailed-irrigated and non-irrigated) located in three different blocks of Bargarh district of Orissa. Despite the profitability nature of the mix-cropping pattern the farmers in the area under study are not in a position to adopt and adapt this type of cropping, they are highly concentrating on the rice based and biased cropping as evident from the research result; this may be due to certain constraints that discourage them to go for Mix-cropping.