Abstract

The low lying lands in Kerala, known as the rice bowls of the state, are spread over in two areas viz. Kuttanad and Kole lands. The main objective of this paper is to examine the resource use efficiency in rice cultivation in Kole lands in Thrissur district. The Cobb-Douglas production function is used to examine the resource use efficiency, because of its theoretical advantages and empirical acceptance. The resource use efficiency of farmers has been examined on the criterion that the factors of production are used in a manner to equalise the marginal value products with factor costs of inputs. The study has taken four inputs, such as land, human labour, bullock labour and fertilisers and manure in the production function estimation. A comparison of the marginal value products and the respective factor prices indicates that the resources like human labour, bullock labour and fertilisers and manure are not efficiently used. At the farm level analysis, in which only resource