Journal of Scientific Research and Reports

Groundnut is an important oilseed crop in Rajasthan, where changes in cultivated area, production and productivity have implications for farm-level resource management. The present study was conducted to analyse the economic performance and resource-use efficiency of groundnut cultivation in Rajasthan, with special reference to Hanumangarh district. The study examined the trends in area, production and productivity of groundnut in Rajasthan and analysed the resource-use efficiency of groundnut cultivation in the selected study area. Compound growth rate analysis was employed to examine the trends from 1990–91 to 2024–25, while farm-level data were used to estimate costs and returns and to fit a Cobb–Douglas production function. The results revealed that the area, production and productivity of groundnut in Rajasthan increased at annual rates of 4.09, 7.37 and 3.16 per cent, respectively. The estimated Cobb–Douglas production function yielded a production-elasticity sum of 1.04, slightly above unity; statistical evidence for a difference from constant returns to scale was not available. The coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.831, indicating that 83.1 per cent of the variation in the dependent variable was explained by the selected input variables. The resource-use efficiency analysis indicated that plant protection chemicals were under-utilised, whereas seed, farmyard manure, fertiliser, irrigation, human labour and machine labour were over-utilised. The findings suggest that improved allocation and balanced utilisation of production resources could enhance the economic efficiency and profitability of groundnut cultivation in the study area.