TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS OF POTATO CULTIVATION IN PUNJAB

Potato is an important cash crop of India. It is a short duration crop and fits well in different multiple and intercropping systems. Potato is the only crop which can supplement the need of food of the country next to cereals. There are regular fluctuations in the area, production and yield of potato. The area under potato was 33 thousand hectares in 1981-82 which increased to about 79 thousand hectares in 2010-11 in Punjab. This crop alone occupied about 63 per cent of the total vegetable area of the state in 2010-11. In 2010-11 potato production in the state is 1609 thousand metric tonnes and the yield was 25141 kg per hectare. Jalandhar is most technical efficient (1.00) district in potato cultivation followed by Ludhiana (0.99), Kapurthala (0.98) and Moga (0.98). Thus, rest of the districts of the state prefers to follow Jalandhar district to achieve efficiency level in potato production.