Abstract :
The present investigation emphasizes trends in growth and instability of pearl millet and paddy crop in Western Maharashtra.Traditionally, pearl millet has been important millet and the main component of the food basket of the poor people and dry farming system in India.The district wise compound growth rates of area, production and productivity of pearl millet for each district as well as Western Maharashtra as a whole for 53 years of study period viz., 1960-61 to 2012-13 using log-linear production function were worked out for the entire period the area has continuously declined for all districts of Western Maharashtra except Ahmednagar district.The production of pearl millet was increased mainly due to the productivity improvement.The production and productivity of paddy has been increased in Nasik, Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Nandurbar districts while, it is declined in Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar and Solapur districts. For the entire period (1960-61 to 2012-13) productivity was highly increased in Nandurbar district with 6.66 per cent per annum.
Keyword :
Growth, area, production, productivity, instability, pearl millet, paddy