In order to accomplish economic, social, and environmental objectives, farm diversification is a significant feature in India’s agricultural systems and rural development. It is crucial to examine factors impacting farm productivity, such as socio, structural, and Circular Economy (CE) factors, in order to ensure the sustainability of varied farms. A decision to follow a farm circularity approach is required to increase agricultural production, return on investment, and achieve sustainability, so the current study was designed to move forward in identifying farm efficiency and their influencing drivers in production systems for the successful execution of circularity in future farms. The objective of this paper is to find the existing operational efficiency of farms, variables that impact a farm’s efficiency, the disparities in farm efficiency, and variables dominating farm efficiency. The efficiency behaviours of Indian farms operating in 2020–2022 were studied and regressed against the factors influencing farm performance. A two-step technique and survey data were employed. To assess variations in the relevance of drivers, an input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis was employed; in the second stage, efficiency ratings were used as a dependent variable in a Tobit regression analysis. Explanatory variables for enhancing farm performance included social, structural, and Circular Economy (CE) drivers. The age of the farmer, total farm area, and dryland area as socio-structural variables, and reduce, recycle, and redesign as CE variables, have proven to affect the farm’s efficiencies significantly. Managerial implications in terms of technical, allocative, cost efficiency, and their drivers have been drawn from study findings. CE has been confirmed to be the strategy over which the farmer has complete control and has been found to have a more significant impact on farm efficiency. Social structural determents are second in terms of their impact. Farmers in the region have cushy access to inputs; however, they are not utilized to their maximum effect. Therefore, the study indicates that inefficient dryland farmers could increase their production by concentrating on a circular economy strategy.

Background: Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is crop of economic importance in global and national scale. India is the greatest producer of quality cotton, the third largest exporter and the second largest consumer. Conventional cotton farming creates environmental pressures and negative impact on public health. Organic farming is the sustainability option in cotton production. Cotton is the energy intensive crop, which uses high amount of input energy to produce seed cotton. Hence, energy budgeting is highly essential for better energy utilization and resource conservation and also measuring the input use efficiency of a farm/agronomic practices is vitally important in present day Indian agriculture. Methods: Sensing the economic importance of cotton, ten number of eco-friendly, ecologically safe organic nutrient management (ONM) practices were framed and field experiment was conducted in split plot design with two main plots (M) and five subplots (S) and replicated thrice. The direct and indirect energy used in different ONM practices were computed and energy coefficients were computed from energy equivalents and that has been used as inputs to generate efficiency coefficients by using an input oriented DEA approach. Result: Energy budgeting on field operation basis reported that, the field preparation and irrigation operation uses most of the energy (in non-renewable forms) which needs attention and there is the scope to find alternative energy conservation systems. Results on input use efficiency reported that the ONM practice, double green manuring followed by cotton and application of well decomposed poultry manure and foliar application of fermented fish extract at 5% concentration at 25 and 35 DAS are 100% efficient in terms of technical CRS, technical VRS, scale, allocative and cost efficiencies. This organic nutrient management practice would produce optimum output from the least amount of input and would be ideal for sustainable cotton production.

Background: Cotton crop is sensitive in its young stages i.e. stand establishment. Cotton seeds are fuzzy and messy in handling and field sowing. Delinting is a necessary process done commonly using acids and are comprehensively not protective. Optimal plant population, growth and persistence are strongly influenced by germination and establishment. In line with this, it is necessary and needful of an hour to find an alternative, eco-friendly, ecologically safe and low cost seed treatment method. Methods: The experiment was conducted in two methods viz., a petridish method and roll-towel method with seed treatment methods viz., cowdung and red earth mix treated with and without biofertilizer and compared with acid-delinted and fuzzy seeds. The germino-metrics were determined using GerminaR package, an interactive web application and statistical analysis was performed using R software package v. 4.2.1. Result: The summative effect of seed treatment with fresh cow dung, red earth and biofertilizer (Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria) per kg of seeds at respective quantities (0.5:0.25:0.12) recorded significantly maximal germination indices and seedling growth determinants. This present study would be a complementary to comprehensively promote the use of indigenously available natural materials as an alternative to acids in cotton seed delinting.