Resource Use Efficiency and Constraints in Adsali Sugarcane Production in Kolhapur District of Maharashtra

Abstract:

Adsali sugarcane is the longest-duration and most input-intensive of the sugarcane planting systems grown in western Maharashtra, making the efficient use of costly inputs central to its profitability. The present study examines the resource use efficiency and the major production constraints of Adsali sugarcane cultivation in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, based on primary data collected from 90 farmers classified into small, medium and large-size groups for the reference year 2024-25. A Cobb-Douglas production function fitted with human labour, machinery, sugarcane setts, manure, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and irrigation as explanatory variables explained 76 to 88 per cent of the variation in sugarcane yield across the size groups, with nitrogen, phosphorus and irrigation emerging as the most consistently significant determinants of output across every farm-size category. Returns to scale exceeded unity in every size group (1.07 to 1.13), indicating increasing returns to scale and scope for expanding output through coordinated scaling-up of input use, particularly on large farms. The ratio of marginal value product to marginal factor cost (MVP/MFC) showed irrigation, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to be considerably under-utilised across all farm sizes, with irrigation returning the highest ratios (up to 31.00), while sugarcane setts on small farms and potassium on large farms returned negative ratios, indicating over-application and scope for cost saving. Garrett's ranking technique identified high labour cost (score 63.33), high fertilizer cost (63.23) and climate-related problems (62.02) as the foremost constraints faced by Adsali sugarcane farmers, followed by high irrigation cost, delayed payment by sugar factories, pest and disease incidence and high machinery hiring charges, suggesting that cost pressure and risk, rather than lack of technical awareness, chiefly limit input-use efficiency. The study recommends soil-test-based balanced fertilization, expansion of subsidised micro-irrigation, custom hiring services for labour- and machinery-intensive operations, and stronger enforcement of payment timelines by sugar factories to narrow the gap between economically optimal and currently practised input use and thereby improve farmer welfare.