Behavior of input cost and output prices of selected crops of Gujarat: A comparative analysis

An attempt has been made to compare the input cost and output prices of selected major five crops namely castor, tobacco (bidi), tobacco (calcutti), gram, groundnut, and maize of Gujarat State. The positive and significantly higher growth rate was found for output prices in comparison to total input cost in most of the crops selected for the study. The results of the instability index for output prices was found to be low. The high growth and low instability index indicates sustainability in production of these crops, which is the prerequisite for the state. The trend in indices of terms of trade or parity indices reveals that the improvement in terms of trade was in favour of farmers in the case of castor, groundnut, and maize, which needs to be sustained, where as in the case of Tobacco (Bidi), Tobacco (Calcutti) and gram the parity indices was not much in favour of farmers in last ten years. This clearly indicates that the prices received for output was not increased in proportion to the prices paid for inputs in case of tobacco (Bidi), tobacco (Calcutti) and gram crops.