Page 1 of 9
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 8
August 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 442
Input Use of Paddy Farming under Owner Cultivated Land and
Tenant -Cultivated Land in Batticaloa District
Kajenthini Ganeshamoorthy
Department of Economics, Faculty of Commerce and Management,
Eastern University, Sri Lanka
vpkaji@gmail.com
Abstract
Paddy is a most important food staple and
mainstay for the rural population in
Batticaloa district. Though, absence of land
is prevailed in Batticaloa district. Therefore,
farmers have been engaging on both owner –
cultivated land and tenant- cultivated land to
cultivate paddy. Batticaloa district in which
there is a difference in regarding assessing
the government assistance. The difference in
term of ownership between owner cultivated
land and tenant cultivated land, may be lead
to variance in to use of more inputs between
tenant farmers and owner farmers.
Therefore, the present study tries to set out
the use of input among owner farmers and
tenant farmers in Batticaloa district. For this
study, the primary data was collected by
using structure questionnaire during the
Maha season 2016/2016. The snowball
sampling method was utilized to select
sample and ordinary least square regression
was utilized to analyze the data. The results
show that there is a significance difference
between owner- cultivated land and tenant -
cultivated land in term of yield and profit.
Particularly yield and profit are higher in the
owner- cultivated land than tenant- cultivated land. Similarly, the difference also
has found that input use and cost of input use
between both lands. Cost of input shows
higher difference than amount of use of
inputs in Batticaloa district. Particularly cost
of inputs is higher on owner- cultivated land
than tenant -cultivated land. Entirely the
results show that there is a significance
difference between owner- cultivated land
and tenant -cultivated
land in term of yield and profit it may
attributed due to being difference in term of
input usage and cost of input.
Key words: owner- cultivated land, tenant -
cultivated land, input, Batticaloa district,
Paddy farming
01. Introduction
Paddy farming is a direct source of income
for the majority of the rural farmers as well
as an indirect source of income for the
providers of support services, paddy millers
and traders of paddy and rice
(Gamawelagedara et al, 2011). Similarly,
Paddy is a most important food staple and
mainstay for the rural population in
Batticaloa district which comprise around
61,321 hectares of paddy land There are
49,850 agricultural families in Batticaloa
district, among the agricultural families most
of the farmers engage on paddy farming
(District Secretariat, Batticaloa 2015).
Besides in Batticaloa district, not all of
farmers have own land to cultivate paddy
crop. Therefore, farmers who face a lack of
paddy land they rely upon tenancy givers, as
they all have no own land to cultivate seed
paddy. As well as farmers who own land,
they too sometimes lease land from others to
increase the space for their crops (Rahman
and Othman, 2010). Thus, farmers also gain
more lands to raise their space of paddy
cultivation in Batticaloa district. In this case,
farmers attempt to obtain paddy land to
engage on for the purpose of cultivating seed
paddy as well as increase the share of paddy
cultivation. Consequently, in Batticaloa
district owner farmers as well as tenant
Page 2 of 9
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 8
August 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 443
farmers engage on owner-cultivated land and
tenant- cultivated land to cultivate paddy.
When farmer secure with tenure, they tend to
invest in their paddy land, which lead to
promote productivity of land (Emmanuel and
Victor (2014). Similarly, the stability of
tenure may induce farmers to tend
sustainable land use practices and invest in
soil productivity (Oladele et al, 2011).
Nonetheless, In Batticaloa District tenant- land may not provide feasible to farmers to
induce stable growth regard paddy
production since most of the tenancy
agreements have no form of written. It
associates mostly with oral agreements and
made alone without any legal evidence.
Therefore, like owner farmers, tenancy takers
do not obtain assistance as well as privilege
from the government of Sri Lanka regarding
paddy farming due to the informal tenancy
system. If the government of Sri Lanka
assists for paddy sub-sector in the form of
cultivation loan, fertilizer subsidy,
purchasing the stock by paddy marketing
board, compensation, etc tenant farmers do
not access them because of fact that absence
of ownership.
When farmers form cooperatives to ensure
greater access to fertilizer, improved seeds,
agricultural credit and extension services,
those would be inducing to sufficient capital
involved on paddy production Chendo and
Joseph (2014). Though, Batticaloa district in
which there is a difference in regarding
assessing the government assistance. The
difference in term of ownership between
owner cultivated land and tenant cultivated
land, may be lead to variance in to use of
more inputs between tenant- cultivated land
and owner- cultivated land. In particular,
tenant farmers may not use more quantity of
inputs like owner farmers. In input use and
paddy production of tenancy in land, which
require adjustment in the prevailing form of
tenancy characteristics to obtain optimal
utilization of available inputs (Prakash, 2013)
in Tilekar, 2000). Thus, previous studies also
had given important to input use of both
owner-cultivated land and tenant -cultivated
land. The present study also tries to set out
the use of input among owner farmers and
tenant farmers in Batticaloa district.
As previous literature had mentioned that if
land is not secured farmer unable to invest in
more inputs. According to Fujimoto (1996),
the share tenancy appeared to create serious
implication to tenancy takers corresponding
to using input if the contract was maintained
by absentee landowners. In this line,
preceding scholars also showed the
difference in term of input use among
landlord and tenant.
Prakash et al. (2013) estimated production
pattern and input use pattern under both
owner farmers and lease in farmers in
Tungabhadra project area. According to the
study, owner- cultivated land in total cost of
cultivation and net returns was not similar
with total cost of cultivation and net returns
of tenant- cultivated land. In particular, if
both farmers use seeds more than
recommended quantity, tenant farmers use
higher quantity of seeds than owner farmers.
Though, in order to earn extra yield, lease in
farmers use more amount of fertilizer and
pesticides than owner farmers. Similarly,
owner cultivator less than compare to tenant
farmers in use of growth promoters and
micronutrients. Moreover, owner farmers use
also more of farm yard manure compare to
tenant in farmers though author showed that
there was no significant difference in use of
organic manure among owner farmers and
tenant farmers. Tenant – cultivated land also
found to high wage and non – availability of
labour compare to owner-cultivated land. In
contrast, tenant farmers use more laborers
and machinery than tenant farmers. tenant
farmers use less machinery than due to higher
cost co machinery. This study found to
difference in use of labour, yard manure,
seeds fertilizer and pesticides between owner
cultivated land and tenant-in land were not
significant. However, there is difference in
use of inputs between tenant farmers and
owner farmers.
Page 3 of 9
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 8
August 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 444
Lakshmi et al., 2009 revealed that, the
government policies like fertilizer subsidy,
agricultural credit, minimum support price
policy that increases the share of input in
Indian agricultural system. Consequently,
smallholders increase the share of inputs over
the years than other farmers. In this
circumstance agricultural policies make
worse the negative effect of land inequity on
productivity. The study also indicates that
share of inputs has been increased over time,
nevertheless a large number of smallholders
do not access to these inputs due to inequity
of land, which is the primary reason for the
inequity to negative effect on agricultural
productivity.
Rakhshanda and Awudu (2014) emphasized
that “tenure security tends to increase the
intensity of investment in long-term soil- improving measures” and when investment
increase in soil maintenance, it also leads to
an increase in the agricultural productivity
significantly. Besides, their results revealed
that tenure security decrease the intensity of
chemical fertilizer. Thus, they point out that
when tenure security exert and non- farm
work increase, it would be affected positively
and significantly on the agricultural
productivity. Overall, owner-cultivators are
willing to invest more in soil-improving
measures, due to higher security of land
rights but less in chemical fertilizer. On the
other hand, fixed-rent tenants’ willingness is
less to invest in soil-improving measures, but
higher in chemical fertilizer. Thus, they state
that the ownership induces to enhance the
long term agricultural investments and higher
productivity via security effect of land.
Conversely, insecure land right restricts the
investment causes create disincentive to
farmers to spend resources on land improving
inputs. It leads to low productivity of land.
Chendo and Joseph (2014) confirmed that
farmers practiced more on individuals’ land
1
Communal mean as right of commons may exist
within a community where each member has a right
to use independently the holdings of the community
tenure system than communal1
land tenure
system. Furthermore, they found out that
different between the productivities of paddy
farmers on the different land tenure systems
were statistically different. The results
showed that rice production of individual
land tenure system is relatively more
productive and profitable compare to on
communal land tenure system. Finally, they
concluded that use of inputs on paddy
cultivation, which will assist to diminish the
occurrence of insufficient capital involved in
production.
Chandrasiri, (2010) argued that since most of
the informal land transaction was between
tenancy takers’ friends or relations. Further,
there was no ill effect between relatives.
Particularly, tenancy takers utilize more the
advance technologies consist of fertilize,
chemicals and labour than the owner
cultivators. Hence, informal transaction
induces effectively the use of inputs, water,
advance technology and labour to obtaining
higher productivity and profits
Though, most of the scholars had found
difference in term of input use under the
owner-cultivated land and tenant-cultivated
land. Further, if farmers have secure land,
which would lead inducement to long- term
investment on land as well as to increase the
input use.
02 Research Objectives
The main objective of the study is to
investigate whether tenant- cultivated land
differ in use of inputs from owner- cultivated land in Batticaloa district.
03.Methodology
The quantitative research approach has
applied for the study by using primary data.
Primary data were collected from both owner
