Abstract

                                The level of manuring is an index of the economic or commercial importance of any crop and the care with which the required quantity and quality of manure is applied directly reflects the esteem in which the crop is held by the farmer. Thus sugarcane, plantains and tobacco among commercial crops, paddy, cholam, ragi maize etc., among grain crops are manured systematically and the fariner pays great attention to this operation. Since manuring forms one of the important operations in the culti- vation of a crop, there is great need to assess accurately the cost involved. In the existing system of farming, our ryots are not in a position to say exactly how much has been spent on each acre of land or for each crop in the shape of manures. At times it is not possible to get at accurate figures of manures applied, particularly of bulky organic manures like farmyard manure, compost or tank silt etc., The use of manures, natural and artificial has become widespread and it is time now that the economic aspect is clearly understood, before large increases in dosages are taken up. What is spent in the shape of manure has to be taken out in increased returns, the value of the increase being considered more than adequate, compared to the cost of manures. In this paper it is proposed to discuss this aspect of the cost in relation to production of crops and increasing of yields.

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