Economic evaluation of Rythu Bharosa Kendras on paddy cultivation and input accessibility in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh
Abstract
Despite Andhra Pradesh being the rice bowl of India, a significant majority of its working population remains dependent on agriculture for their livelihood while facing critical challenges such as the lack of quality seeds, fertilizers and reliable extension advisory services, which often lead to high cultivation costs and stagnant productivity. To address these issues, the government established Rythu Bharosa Kendras as village-level integrated service centres. This study evaluates the economic impact of these centres in Srikakulam district by comparing input accessibility and farm profitability before and after their implementation. The findings reveal that these centres have successfully mitigated the problem of high input costs by providing certified seeds and fertilizers at prices significantly lower than the general market, with price variations for pulses and oilseeds ranging from forty-two to sixty-six per cent. In paddy cultivation, which dominates the study area, the intervention of these centres facilitated a five per cent increase in yield and a twenty-six per cent rise in selling prices through organized procurement at Minimum Support Prices. Consequently, despite rising labour costs, the net returns for farmers nearly doubled, and the benefit-cost ratio improved marginally from 1.10 to 1.15. The study concludes that the integrated approach of providing subsidized inputs and direct market linkages through village-level centres effectively addresses the foundational problems of input affordability on time and market access for small and marginal farmers in particular.
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Introduction
In the contemporary agricultural landscape of Andhra Pradesh, approximately 62.17 per cent of the working population remains dependent on farming and allied activities (Anuhya, 2022) [1] . Despite this high dependency, the sustainability of rural livelihoods is increasingly threatened by the rising costs of essential inputs and a lack of quality extension advisory services accessible at the grassroots level. Although 37.35 per cent of the state's land is under cultivation, productivity is often constrained by logistical bottlenecks in the procurement of governmentcertified inputs. To address these systemic challenges, the state government proposed a localized infrastructure known as Village Knowledge Centres and Agri-input shops during an Agri-mission meeting in 2019 (Anonymous, 2023) [2] . These centres, formally established as Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), were designed based on the strategic recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission to serve as "one-stop shops" for the farming community. Since their inception in May 2020, the network has expanded significantly. The system has grown to encompass 10,778 centres (Reddy, 2022) [3] . To manage these operations and provide localized technical support, the initiative is currently powered by a dedicated workforce of over 14,000 personnel (Saifuddin et al., 2022) [4] . The international significance of this model was recognized when it was nominated for United Nations Organization awards, marking it as a global leader in agricultural service delivery (Anuhya et al., 2022) [5] . Beyond physical inputs, RBKs provide vital digital services such as e-crop booking, which is essential for capturing accurate data on both landowners and tenant farmers to streamline crop insurance and procurement registration (Raja and Reddy, 2022) [6] . To facilitate these technical interventions, the department recruited 6,758 Village Agriculture Assistants to work directly within the RBKs (Babu et al., 2021) [7] . Despite the rapid scaling of this model, empirical evidence regarding its specific impact on profitability of paddy crop in districts like Srikakulam remains limited. Therefore, this study evaluates the economic profitability of RBKs in reducing the cost of cultivation and improving the net income of paddy farmers in Srikakulam district.
Materials and Methods
The present study was conducted to evaluate the economic profitability of Rythu Bharosa Kendras in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh through a comparative analysis of costs and returns. The study focused on the agricultural year 2024-25 for primary data collection, while the year 2019-20 was utilized as the base period for comparative evaluation. A multi-stage purposive random sampling technique was adopted to select two taluks, namely Kotabommali and Srikakulam, based on their high concentration of paddy cultivation. From these two taluks, a total of six villages were selected at random, and from each village, 20 farmers were chosen at random, resulting in a total sample size of 120 respondents. Primary data were collected using pre-tested schedule through personal interview method from these sampled farmers, while secondary data regarding the cost of cultivation prior to the establishment of RBKs (2019-20) was obtained from the Comprehensive Scheme to ensure a reliable historical baseline. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delh uses a comprehensive set of standard cost concepts like Cost A₁, A₂, B₁, B₂, C₁, C₂, and C₃ to compute the cost of cultivation to recommend the minimum support prices for important crops like paddy. The following mathematical formulations were applied to determine farm profitability:
Gross income: Calculated by multiplying the quantity of produce (Q) with respective selling prices (P).
Gross income = Q*P …………………… (1)
Net income: The return remaining after deducting total expenditures (TC) from gross income (GI).
Net income = GI -TC…………………… (2)
Total cost (TC): Addition of total fixed cost (TFC) and total variable cost (TVC).
TC =TFC+TVC……………………. (3)
Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR):
The ratio of total cash inflows to total cost outflows.
A BCR > 1 implies the activity is economically feasible, while a BCR < 1 indicates losses. Additionally, price variation metrics were employed to assess input affordability by calculating the percentage variation between RBK prices and general market prices for fertilizers and seeds.
Results and Discussion 1. Price comparison of different fertilizers sold in the study area
The economic merit of the Rythu Bharosa Kendras is most visible in its price-shielding effect on essential fertilizers. As evidenced in Table 1, Urea achieved the most significant price variation at 11.29 per cent, available at ₹280.79 through RBKs compared to ₹312.50 in the open market. This is followed by DAP and MOP, which maintained a cost advantage of 4.04 per cent and 2.73 per cent, respectively. The data indicates a substantial cost advantage for farmers procuring through RBKs, particularly for widely used inputs like Urea and DAP. This confirms that the RBKs effectively stabilizes prices and improves input accessibility. These findings align with the previous observations, which attributed the consistent price differences with the highest variation in Urea (10.30%) and DAP (2.96%) (Maheshwar et al., 2024) [8] . Overall, these results validate the role of RBKs as a one stop solution for enhancing input affordability and supporting sustainable farming practices.
Price comparison of different seeds sold in the study area ( /bag)
The data presented in Table 2 reveals a substantial price gap between Rythu Bharosa Kendras and the open market, reflecting a strategic effort to lower financial barriers to quality inputs. While the district's primary staple crop like Paddy, showed a reliable 19.56 per cent price reduction (amounting to a saving of ₹180 per bag), the most substantial variations were concentrated in climate-resilient and nutrient-dense crops. Specifically, foxtail millet and ragi achieved price variations of 103.45 per cent and 98.63 per cent, respectively. Beyond millets, the RBK model provided significant relief for high-value oilseeds and pulses. Groundnut seeds recorded the highest absolute monetary saving to the tune of ₹942 per bag (66.66% variation), which is particularly beneficial given the high initial investment required for oilseed cultivation. Similarly, a uniform 42.85 per cent price reduction was observed across green gram, black gram, and red gram, demonstrating a standardized support system for leguminous crops. These findings confirm the efficiency of RBKs in promoting crop diversification by eliminating the inflationary markups of private intermediaries. By delivering certified, highquality seeds at subsidized rates, the RBK network serves as a one stop solution for smallholders in Srikakulam district. This institutional support is a primary driver in helping marginal farmers transition toward more diverse and sustainable cropping patterns. www.extensionjournal.com
Comparative economic analysis of paddy cultivation
The comparative study of the cost structure and profitability of paddy cultivation before and after the establishment of RBKs is depicted in Table 3. The comparison between the base year (2019-20) and the current year (2024-25) reveals a transformative impact on farm economics in terms of optimum utilisation of inputs and substantially realizations of net income at lowest cost.
Acknowledgement
AcknowledgementSincere gratitude is extended to the Advisory Committee Chairman and Members of the Department of the Department of Agricultural Economics, UAS Dharwad for their scholarly guidance and constant support throughout this research. Heartfelt appreciation is extended to the Village Assistants of the Rythu Bharosa Kendras in Srikakulam district for their indispensable cooperation and logistical support while collecting data at village level. Finally, the author acknowledges the sampled farmers of Kotabommali and Srikakulam taluks for their patience and valuable participation in providing the required primary data for this study.
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