Price and Output Response of Major Food Grains of Nadia District of West Bengal

The price and output response of food crops is a critical area in agricultural economics as this interaction refers to how the quantity of food grains supplied responds to changes in market prices. This research investigates the surplus ratios and price elasticities for rice, lentil, and gram in the Nadia district of West Bengal. Two hundred farmers were interviewed in different villages of the district and information was collected regarding socio-economics, marketed surplus and, selling price, etc. Further, elasticity and a modified version of the Raj Krishna model have been employed. The findings reveal that for rice, the ratios of gross, net marketed, and marketable surplus are 69.59%, 55.46%, and 16.27%, respectively. The gross marketed surplus ratio decreases with a reduction in farm size, while net marketed and marketable surpluses increase as farm size expands. For lentils, the gross and net marketed surplus ratios are recorded at 66.64% and 65.57%, with an average marketable surplus of 35.30%. Marginal gram farmers have a gross marketed surplus ratio of 80.33%, slightly lower than the overall average of 81.12%, whereas larger farms exceed this average, with ratios of 82.19% and 83.18%. Output elasticities for rice are positive and exceed unity for both marginal and large farms, at 1.03 and 1.45, respectively, though slightly below unity at 0.85 for small farms. The average elasticity for rice across all farm sizes is 1.12. Lentil output elasticities are also positive and greater than unity for marginal and large farms (1.00 and 1.07, respectively) but fall below unity at 0.78 for medium farms, with an overall average of 0.91. The output elasticities for gram remain consistently positive and above unity across all farm sizes, averaging 1.09.