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Theme-16: Scope & Impact of Custom Hiring on Profitability of
Small Farmers’ Financial Viability of Agro Service Centers (Punjab)
Summary No.52
Profile of Student:
Name: Shubham Arora
Degree Programme: MBA
University/Institute: University Business School
Profile of Mentor:
Name: Dinesh Raina
Designation: DGM
Department: DFIBT, IDD, DOR-ST
Name of Regional Office: Punjab (Chandigarh)
Objectives of the study:
1. To analyze the hiring scope of custom hiring Services in Punjab
2. To understand the awareness of Custom Hiring Services in selected district.
3. To measure the impact of custom hiring on small and marginal farmers profitability.
4. To measure the relative benefits of custom hiring versus owning machines on farmer’s income.
5. To look into the factors affecting custom hiring decisions among farmers of Punjab.
6. To know the detailed component wise expenditure of agro services.
7. To check the economic viability of Agro Service Center.
8. To assess the economic viability of Agro Service Center by NPV, IRR and CBR analysis.
9. To analysis performance of Agro Service Center from farmers’ perspective.
10. To analyze the problems faced by Agro Service Center.
Limitations of Study:
The study includes analyzing the financial performance of 28 agro service centers from 7 districts.
However, there are over 3000 agro service centers in 22 districts of Punjab. Though utmost care was
taken in selection of sample with the use of quota sampling procedure, the difference in results will be
expected if the numbers are taken for the whole State. The Percentage of marginal and small farmers in
study was close to 66.6% while in Punjab 80% of total farmers are marginal and small farmers. Also a
larger sample size of farmers might change the percentage of opinions. However, the use of open ended
questions ensured that varied opinions were incorporated in the study.
Sample Design and Methodology: The selection of Sample was divided in three stages: Selection of
District, Selection of Agro Service Center & Selection of farmers. The selection of districts was crucial in
the research, as sample selected should reveal the diversity of custom hiring in Punjab. Based on data
