Characteristics of good farm planning, Alternative farm plan

 It is difficult to standardize the farm plan because of many combinations of the factors of production. But, there are some certain criterions which can judge the quality of a farm plan.

The main characteristics of good farm plan are

1.       Plan should aim at efficient utilization of all the available resources on the farm. The family and hired human labour should be distributed properly to ensure more yield from farm enterprise. Enough power and machinery should be kept on the farm to do work timely.

2.        Plans should be flexible i.e. they should be adaptable to changing environmental conditions.

3.        Farm plans should be simple and easily understood. Complex plans consume much time and money. Farm plan should take into account the most important suitable farm enterprises, identifying their strengths and weakness.

4.       Farm plans should ensure balanced production program considering the available resources on the farm. The production program food crops, commercial crops and fodder crops.

5.       The production program included in the farm plan should aim at maintaining improving soil fertility. This is possible through suitable crop rotation practices.

6.       Farm plans should facilitate efficient marketing of farm products.

7.       Farm plans should take into account up-to-date technology.

8.       Farm plan should consider the goals, knowledge, training and experience of the farmers.

9.       Farm plans should avoid too risky enterprise.

10.   Farm plans should consider the activities of borrowing, using snd repaying the credit.

A farmer should be helped to develop his plan according to his resources and judgment. He considers various alternative plans, and chooses the one that will fit well in the existing farm resources. The capital is scarce resource. The probable deficit that would result from its use under the plan should be calculated. Drawing the map of the farm under new plan will fill up the details in respect of the coming system, relations, acreage under each crop, contoured clop, source of irrigation, etc.