MECHANISATION OF AGRICULTURE: IMPACT OF MECHANISATION ON RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY AND EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE A STUDY IN WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

The growth in agricultural production, to a large extent, depends on innovations in technology. Technological advances in the agricultural production process also help in overcoming the constraints imposed by the declining land-man ratio and there by increasing the productivity of land. Although the breakthrough obtained in chemical and biological technology in Indian agriculture has helped in easing the limitations of land, it has simultaneously led to an increasing demand for human and draught energy. As a consequence, adoption of mechanical devices for performing crop operations has become inevitable. The present study in ?West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh in India?. was a modest attempt to asses the impact of mechanisation on resource use efficiency and employment in agriculture. In recent past, the agricultural scenario is changed in upland areas. Given the current economic environment, the adoption of farm machinery is the appropriate engine of growth for facilitating increased agricultural production efficiency and subsequently agricultural development in upland areas.