Indian agriculture and economic efficiency

The study is an exploration into the 'Economic Efficiency' of farmers in a traditional agriculture in a backward Region with special reference to the tribal Region of Bihar and attempts to deter mine the potential increase in farm incomes through a reallocation of the factors of production presently at the disposal of farmers. It also attempts to estimate and analyse the relative impor tance of 'different sources of inefficiencies' and 'components of the economy' to the prevailing levels of economic inefficiencies across different farm size group.

The study has found the existence of significant inefficiencies in the different size groups of farms and has tried to quantify the different sources of inefficiencies. The technique of Linear Programming has been applied in the size study to estimate the different sources of inefficiencies in the different groups of farms.

The findings of the study are of immense importance for the planning of the farm sector of the 'Indian Economy'. The chief merit of this study is that it provides adequate statistical evidence and uses latest statistical techniques in analysing the problems. The survey of literature included in this book is very comprehensive and includes almost all studies relevent to the subject matter.

Moreover, the study assumes special importance in the light of current con troversies regarding the economic rationality of farmers in a developing economy.