Impact of organic farming on economics of sugarcane cultivation in Maharashtra
Organic farming is a system of farm management to create an eco-system which can achieve sustainable productivity without the use of artificial external inputs such as chemo-synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The potential of organic farming in generating socially and environmentally beneficial effects are impressive. However, it is essential to assess its performance in terms of its economics which ultimately influences the adoption. Therefore, the primary goal of this paper is to examine the impact of organic farming on economics of sugarcane cultivation in Maharashtra. The study is based on primary data collected from two districts covering 142 farmers, 72 growing Organic Sugarcane (OS) and 70 growing Inorganic Sugarcane (IS) in Maharashtra. The study finds that OS cultivation enhances human labour employment by 16.90 per cent and its cost of cultivation is also lower by 14.24 per cent than IS farming. Although the yield from OS is 6.79 per cent lower than the conventional crop, it is more than compensated by the price premium received and yield stability observed on OS farms. The OS farming gives 15.63 per cent higher profits and profits are also more stable on OS farms than the IS farms. The paper concludes by suggesting some key policy measures for rapid advancement of OS farming in selected regions of the state.