Is paddy cultivation in Kashmir Valley still a profitable activity? Geo-economic analysis across physiographic divisions

Paddy cultivation in the Kashmir Valley has witnessed a massive shift towards commercial crops on account of profitability concerns in recent times. The present study investigates the economic viability of paddy besides explores constraints faced by paddy farmers at farm-household level. The study examines the role of land qualities in paddy cultivation by incorporating comparative analysis of physiographic divisions. Results show that paddy cultivation is labour intensive and associated with little net incomes. The results reveal that net earnings in rupees from paddy cultivation in valley floor, karewas, foothills and side valley are estimated to be 1591, 373, 213 and 1149, respectively. This is further translated in their corresponding cost–benefit ratio of 1:1.28, 1:1.06, 1:1.04 and 1:1.21. The results suggest moderate to low economic feasibility for paddy in valley floor and other physiographic divisions, respectively. Coming to the constraint analysis, the mean Garrett score revealed that paddy cultivation is mainly constrained by low profitability (63.13), followed by lack of high seed varieties (37.73), small land holding size (21.85), etc. The study calls for immediate government and policy intervention to provide smallholder paddy farmers sufficient subsidies, technology, credit, control over pricing and extension services for sustainable production of this staple food crop.