Impact assessment of custom hiring centres on farm mechanization: A quantitative research in Chhattisgarh state

The present study was conducted to find out the impact of Custom Hiring Centres on Farm Mechanization in Chhattisgarh State. Regarding rice cultivation, labour requirements change was found by 42.55 per cent during the Kharif season and 42.85 per cent during the Rabi season after the implementation of CHCs. For other crops in the Rabi season, labour requirements change was 37.50 per cent, 33.33 per cent, 28.57 per cent and 26.00 per cent for wheat, groundnut, chickpea and maize, respectively. The regarding cost of cultivation for rice crop change was observed 16.96 and 15.19 per cent in the Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively. Cost changes for other crops in the Rabi season, were 20.53 per cent, 19.43 per cent, 15.58 per cent, and 12.79 per cent for wheat, chickpea, maize and groundnut, respectively. Productivity for rice changed by 14.70 and 16.49 per cent in the Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively, while productivity changes for other crops in the Rabi season were 23.11 per cent, 21.16 per cent, 15.62 per cent, and 6.97 per cent for chickpea, wheat, groundnut and maize, respectively. Overall, 57.47 per cent of respondents had observed a medium-level impact, 25.32 per cent observed a high-level impact, and 17.21 per cent reported low-level impact from CHCs.