Background: The present study was undertaken to know the economics of storage of paddy in rural godowns and the benefits accrued and problems faced by the farmers in Tungabhadra Project area. Tungabhadra project area was purposively chosen for the study since 72 per cent of the total numbers of rural godowns sanctioned by NABARD (2406) in Karnataka are lying in this region.
Methods: Purposive sampling technique was adopted for selection of sample farmers based on the nature of ownership, age of the godown and utilization of the godowns. Tabular analysis with simple averages and percentages were worked out.
Results: The rural godown Scheme seems to have encouraged the farmers. It was noticed that the majority of farmers used godowns to store their produce in the harvest season and sell in lean period in order to realise higher returns. The godown users were able to reap about 9 to 13 per cent increase in prices for their produce by holding the same for 4 to 4 1/2 months. About 60 per cent of the owner users constructed godowns to avail subsidy. Further, about 96 per cent of owner users and 93 per cent of non-owner users utilized the rural godowns to avail pledge loan from banks.
Application: Hence, small and marginal farmers of TBP area should be encouraged for the construction of smaller capacity godowns (50MT), by extending the facilities as in hilly areas under the Gramin Bhandaran Yojana Scheme.