ADOPTION OF MINIMUM TILLAGE PRACTICES - SOME EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE

Minimum tillage practices are presumed to be environmentally more bene ficial than traditional technology. Some studies indicate that minimum tillage increases the private economic result. However, relatively li ttle interest has been devoted towards what factors contribute to the adoption of minimum tillage. In addition, no study has so far attempte d to analyze the economics of minimum tillage as a farm organizational problem. The household model is utilized in modeling the adoption of minimum tillage thereby considering farm organizational issues. A redu ced form solution is derived where the optimal decision is a function of factor and product prices and fixed factors such as land, machinery stock and managerial inputs. Data were collected through a mail surve y. The model was estimated utilizing legit techniques. Farm size, mana gerial experience and the soil characteristics were found to be the mo st significant factors explaining adoption behaviour. The opportunity cost of labour reflected through off-farm work turned out to be statis tically insignificant.