Technological Parameters in Aggregate Agricultural Production Function – A Study in Three Revenue Mandals of Nellore District: Andhra Pradesh

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Agriculture occupies a pivotal place in the national economy. Therefore, its performance is of vital concern to the planners. The size and speed of agricultural development would naturally determine the shape of things in the rest of the economy. The impact of new farm technology has not been enough to alter significantly the trend rate of crop production. Not only is our agrarian economy, capitally deficient but it is also backward in the field of technology. Our peasantry is still by and large using the age old techniques for production. The study aims to analyse the Aggregate Agricultural Production Function and Resource use efficiency based on entire sample of Farms in Three Revenue Mandals of Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh. Data was collected for the explanatory and explained variables with the help of survey method through personal interviews of the farmers selected through mixed sampling in three revenue mandals of Nellore district. Regression co-efficients are estimated to study the relationship between gross output and various factors of production. By studying the Marginal Value Products of factors of production, we assessed the relative importance of factors of production. The sum of the elasticities and their statistical significance was also studied. Agriculture occupies a pivotal place in the national economy. Therefore, its performance is of vital concern to the planners. The size and speed of agricultural development would naturally determine the shape of things in the rest of the economy. But the agricultural sectors grow at a rate much below its potential, the growth and requirement of the economy. It is really a great pity that a great agrarian country like India, where agriculture is the predominant occupation of the people, can hardly meet its requirement. The impact of new farm technology has not been enough to alter significantly the trend rate of crop production. Not only is our agrarian economy, capitally deficient but it is also backward in the field of technology. Our peasantry is still by and large using the age old techniques for production. Though modern technology has reached a section of the rural work force, the bulk of it still depends upon the inferior and most primitive technology. It is generally believed that even if some of the new techniques have reached villages; these have only been made use by some limited educated section of the village, whereas the larger one has remained unaffected. The main problems regarding the non-adoption of resources and modern skills among vast sections of farm population are, want of proper education and training. There are number of studies on the agricultural sector in Nellore district. Among these studies, the research on agricultural production is very limited. The empirical investigations are needed to study the agricultural production function. Hence the empirical and scientific investigational study of agricultural production function in the rural economy of Nellore district is an important phenomena. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the aggregate production function basing on entire sample of farms of three mandals, namely, Kaligiri, Muttukur and Pellakur of Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.