HARBIR SINGH, RAJ KUMAR AND SANGEET RANGUWAL
Department of Economics & Sociology, PAU, Ludhiana
*(e-mail: rajkumar@pau.edu)
(Received: 26 May 2026; Accepted: 11 June 2026)
SUMMARY
With commercialization of the dairy business, changing cattle rearing patterns, gap in supply and demand for green fodder, the strategic use of wheat straw fodder (toori) provides a vital supplement to livestock diets and offer economic benefits to farmers. The present study examined the production and marketing pattern of toori in Punjab. On an average, toori was produced from about 89 per cent area under wheat crop by about 86 per cent farmers in the state. The average per farm production of toori was about 156 quintals, with about 97.25 per cent being from farmers’ own fields and 2.75 per cent from the purchased standing wheat stubble. About 81 per cent toori was being stored in covered structures. The major cost in post handling of toori was of the covered storage (26.67%) followed by making Kupp (25.19%). About 59 per cent of toori was consumed at own dairy farms, and the remaining surplus (41%) was marketed to co-villagers, dairy farms, and traders at an average sale price Rs 543 per quintal. The Punjab state farmers have good prospects to sell the surplus wheat straw fodder to the fodder deficit neighbouring states. Need of the hour is to develop infrastructure and farmer-friendly policies to encourage intra and inter-state trade for optimal utilization of surplus wheat straw which will help in providing an additional income to the farmers.
Key words: Disposal, economics, fodder, sales, storage, wheat straw