Optimization of Natural Resources Use in Agriculture of Uttarakhand

Water is the most decisive factor for the growth of Indian agriculture. Farmers lack foresight of using this resource judiciously.The study was conducted in Uttarakhand, where the whole farming activity lingers in the uncertainty of irrigation water availability. Using multi criteria linear programming technique and compromised solution was obtained.In the multi criteria optimum plan,total gross margin increased by 5.49 per cent while risk, total labour use and working capital decreased by 2.29 per cent, 20.56 per cent and 12.07 per cent, respectively.The area under paddy, wheat,pea and gram were increased by 53.74 per cent, 54.34 per cent, 18.18 per cent and 33.33 per cent, respectively in the multi criteria optimum crop plan. Water use increased by 16.76 per cent while cropping intensity increased by 2.7 per cent.Comparing the multi criteria optimum plan with optimum crop plans for single decision criterion,values of the objective functions of the former were lower than those of the single criteria optimum plan.