FRONTIER ENERGY USE FOR THE CULTIVATION OF WHEAT CROP IN PUNJAB

Two frontier production functions were applied to different categories of wheat growing farmers in Punjab. The technical efficiency for each category of farmer was determined. Actual use of various forms of ene rgies in wheat production were compared with the frontier energy used on different categories of farms. From the study, it was concluded tha t large farmers used energy in the best possible way to achieve maximu m yield. Therefore, steps should be initiated to rationalize the use o f various forms of energies in wheat production so as to improve the e fficiency of marginal, small and medium size farmers. Extension effort s should address the problem of energy conservation explicitly. (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science Ltd.