Comparison of economic benefit of alfalfa, wheat and maize——A case study in Gansu Province

Based on the investigation in 5 counties in Gansu Province, the inputs and outputs, factorial outputs elasticity and marginal outputs of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), wheat(Triticum aestivum) and maize(Zea mays) at household level were analysed and compared. The results showed that alfalfa had the least inputs, maize and alfalfa had the highest and lowest outputs, respectively. At the moment, wheat and maize were in the stage of decreasing returns to scale, on the contrary, alfalfa was in the stage of increasing returns to scale indicating alfalfa industry had potential improvement. All factors marginal production of wheat and maize closed to zero, in contrast, marginal production of alfalfa were far greater than zero, indicating improvement of seed and fertilizer inputs can increase alfalfa production.