Information System for Brand-Variety Performance and Decisions: Study and Application for Cotton in India

Abstract

Information on brand-variety performance is critical for small farmers in India since every year they need to make crucial decisions on which brand-variety seeds to plant. The livelihoods from small farms and returns on all the inputs used depend on this decision. Yet no systematic information is available to them on this, and year after year farmers are forced to decide based on guesses, hearsay, and opinions. Even companies and governments need to know about the actual performance of brand-varieties in different areas so as to be able to recommend correctly. On the other hand, official crop-cutting surveys for estimation and assessment of actual yields are a regular feature in all states; and the states also record some information regarding the inputs used including the brand-variety. Cotton is a major cash crop in India but has substantial problems particularly from extensive pest damage and poor yields. Brand-variety performance varies substantially and poor decisions frequently lead to crop failures and farmer suicides. This paper studies the performance of cotton varieties through a survey across four major Indian states and 694 farmers, covering pest resistance, inputs, yields, quality, price, value of output, cost of cultivation, and profits. On this foundation, a brand-variety performance information system is proposed which would draw upon information from regular crop-cutting surveys, collate it, analyse it, and make findings available to farmers. This would help provide correct information and advice to farmers over diverse agro-ecological settings. Through this, farmers would be able to make better informed brand-variety decisions.