Measuring the Differences in Cost of Production: A Study on Boro Rice Farming in Bangladesh

Abstract

Rice farming is a critical issue in sustainable agriculture development in
Bangladesh. It is well recognized that production cost has been a major constraint in the
profitable farming practices by all types of farmers. The paper reports on an empirical study
of the rice farmers’ production phenomenon emphasizing on cost based on farm operation.
The data stem from a survey of 95 farmers in Jessore District, Bangladesh. To investigate the
significant difference of the inputs quantity, their prices and amount spent for necessary
production elements, one-way ANOVA method was adopted. The results indicate that the
nature of inputs and quantity of them are almost same for all types of farmers but the cost of
production is gradually significantly lower for the large category of farmers because farming
practices depend on the socio-economic status and purchasing nature of inputs used for
cultivation. The small farmers usually use either borrowed money for cultivation or credit for
purchasing inputs which leads to increase the cost of production while large farmers deploy
their own funds and mainly purchase the inputs by cash which lead to reduction in the cost of
production. It argues that for reducing the cost of production increased attention by both the
government and non-government organizations are necessary.