Econometric Analysis of Agricultural Production in Rural West Bengal

This study adopts an econometric approach to examine the determinants of agricultural production in Ketugram-I Block, West Bengal. Using primary cross-sectional survey data, an agricultural production function is estimated with total crop output as the dependent variable and cultivated land, irrigation, labor, soil quality, farming experience, and other farm-specific characteristics as explanatory variables. The production function is estimated using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), followed by diagnostic tests for multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity to assess the validity of the model. The estimated coefficients are interpreted to evaluate the contribution of each input to agricultural output and to derive evidence-based policy implications. As the analysis uses cross-sectional data, tests for autocorrelation are not applicable. The remainder of this dissertation is organized as follows: Section 2 reviews the relevant literature, Section 3 outlines the research objectives, Section 4 describes the data and methodology, Section 5 presents the regression analysis, Sections 6 and 7 discuss the diagnostic tests and remedial estimation, and Sections 8 and 9 present the policy implications and conclusion.