Structural transition in Karnataka Agriculture during post liberalization era

Transcription

1 Journal of Crop and Weed, 9(2):65-71(2013) Structural transition in Karnataka griculture during post liberalization era K. R. PTIL, 1 G. R. MNJUNTH ND K. S. DITY Department of gricultural Economics, University of gricultural Sciences, Bangalore , Karnataka, Department of gricultural Statistics, BCKV, Mohanpur Nadia, West Bengal, Received: , Revised: , ccepted: BSTRCT Cropping pattern connotes e crop-mix grown in a particular area in an agricultural year. The transitions in cropping pattern are usually brought by complex gamut of factors. The study on ese changes is vital in adjusting research priorities accordingly. Time series met a data on area under various field crops in Karnataka state forms e data base for empirical analysis. Ratios such as location quotient and crop versatility index were used to assess e extent of transition. The results of e study revealed at e specialized crops in particular parts of e state wi high magnitude of location quotient. Crop versatility index reflected at most of e traditional staple food crops have become more versatile in terminal period of e study. Based on e degree of versatility of e crop, development of desired infrastructural facilities needs to be taken. Key words: Cropping pattern, crop versatility index, and location quotient Karnataka s agriculture has undergone sea changes in past decade due to a complex gamete of factors. One of e vital factors responsible for is change can be attributed to e crop diversification. Crop diversification is an approach, which aimed at maximized use of land, water and oer natural resources for e development of agricultural sector in e country. It provides e farmers wi practicable and possible options to grow different crops on eir land. The diversification in agriculture serves as a coping mechanism against risk and uncertainty arising out of climatic and biological vagaries. Cropping pattern determines e output mix in a particular region. Cropping pattern refers to adoption of particular type of crops by e farmers in a particular region. change in cropping pattern implies a change in proportion of area under different crops. It has significant bearing on widening e geographical inequalities in income distribution. The development and adoption of new agricultural technologies have a significant influence on e crop-mix which is more prominent in agriculturally developed regions. dynamic change has been witnessed in agricultural sector in e state, particularly during post-green revolution and post liberalisation period. The technological advancement in crop varieties and oer yield increasing factors of production are hypoesised to have influence on farmers behaviour which have been reflected in e changing cropping pattern from cultivation of low value crops to high value crops in most parts of e state. The true reflection of diversification is e wide variety of crops being grown in different seasons in different parts of Karnataka. The major crops grown are paddy covering lakh ha, ragi 8.32 lakh ha, jowar lakh ha, bajra 4.32 lakh ha, maize lakh ha, wheat 2.76 lakh ha, minor millets 0.36 lakh ha. Totalling e area under cereal crops was around lakh ha. The area under major pulses was about lakh ha. Of which e area sown under Bengal gram was about 6.05 lakh ha and red gram about 6.81 lakh ha. The area under major commercial crops such as groundnut, cotton, and sugarcane was about 9.08 lakh ha, 4.03 lakh ha and 3.06 lakh ha respectively (Karnataka State at a Glance, ). The study of transition in cropping pattern is of immense importance in designing and formulating various policies related to agricultural grow and development. MTERILS ND METHODS To accomplish e objective, simple ratios and indices which better reflect e changes in spatial distribution of crops along wi eir relative importance in each district of Karnataka were computed. To have dynamism, e total study period of ten years was divided into two quinquinnial sub periods. The first quinquinnium was regarded as e base period ( ) and e second quinquinnium was regarded as e terminal period ( ). To have uniformity of e data, which is crucial, e districts considered for e base period should be e same as in e terminal period, e two quinquinneal periods from 1997 and from 2002 are considered for 27 districts of Karnataka. During e terminal period of analysis, agricultural years of 2002, 2003 and 2004 are regarded as drought periods. The remaining years i.e., 2005 and 2006 of e terminal period are considered as normal years. The hypoesis behind e choice of two periods is to examine e consistency in e performance of agriculture between e two periods. kiranecon@gmail.com 65

2 Structural transition in Karnataka agriculture The Meta data on area under major annual field crops was obtained from e various published reports of Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES). Only ose annual field crops occupying more an 5 per cent of e cultivated area were included in e analysis. The areas of vegetable crops and fruit crops were not included in e analysis due to want of data. The area under plantation crops is not included in e analysis mainly because of eir very nature of location specificity and ey will not attract similar attention as in e case of annual crops in terms of policies, programmes and institutional arrangements. Meodology To analyze e performance of e selected field crops, simple measures like percentages, ratios, rank correlations, coefficient of concordance, computation of location quotient, crop versatility index were employed. The details of analytical tools are summarized below, (Ranganaa, 1983) Location Quotient To assess e relative importance of different crops in e different districts, location quotient was computed. The degree of specialization of e crops in e district is reflected in e magnitude of e quotient. Location quotient of a quotient more an unity is considered as an index of specialization of e particular crop in e district. Location quotient was worked out using e following formula. LQ Where, = j i / LQ = Location quotient of i crop in j district, i = 1,2,...15 and j = 1,2,...,27 = rea of e of i crop in j district, Thus, j =Gross cropped area in e j district i = rea of e i crop in e state =Gross cropped area in e state, Percentage area of e i crop in j district to e Gross cropped area in e j district LQ = Percentage of area of e i crop in e state to gross cropped area in e state Crop versatility index percentage of area in all e districts. The crops have been ranked based on e magnitudes of e The versatility index of a crop is inversely coefficient of variation. Over e study period, if e proportional to coefficient of variation among e rank of a crop increase it can be inferred at its district wise areas of e corresponding crop. Thus, versatility increased indicating its spread to more more e coefficient of variation lesser is e number of districts and tending to be of similar versatility of e crop and vice-versa. importance, in terms of allocation of area, in e more versatile crop is one which is grown different districts of e state. in more number of districts wi more or less same Standard deviation among e percentages of areas of e i crop in 27 districts CV of i crop = 100 Mean of e district wise percentages of areas of i crop to e total cropped area in e 27 districts i ranges from 1 to 15. RESULTS ND DISCUSSION ll e crops are not equally important in all e districts. Knowledge of specialization of crops in each district will facilitate in planning and organizing crop development activities in e districts. In addition, is is not only useful to biological scientists but also for social scientists, policy makers, and oers in tackling e various aspects of crop improvement programmes. Location quotient (LQ) was computed to know e relative importance of different crops in e different districts. The magnitude of e quotient reflects e degree of specialization of crops. Crops wi LQ more an unity in each of e 27 districts during different periods of e study are presented in e table1. The LQ considers e relative position of a crop in a district wi at at e state level. In case of e important dry land crop of e souern and eastern Karnataka, namely, ragi, bo e acreage as well as LQ are decreased in case of Davangere, Kolar, Chickmagalur, Bengaluru rural and urban, Chitradurga and Hassan (in majority of ese districts e cereal based cropping system has paved way for more profitable vegetable based cropping system which enjoys comparative advantage over e oer). In case of Tumkur and Mysore district, ough e area under ragi has decreased e LQ has shown an J. Crop and Weed, 9(2) 66

3 Patil et al. increased trend. The result was contrasting in case of Chamarajnagar wherein e area under ragi has increased but e LQ has shown a declining trend. In case of dry land crop of Norern Karnataka, jowar, bo e area and LQ has decreased in major jowar growing districts such as Bapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga, Gadag, and Bidar. This result clears e fact of diversification of crops in ese districts. The farmers in ese districts have eventually reduced eir dependence on dry land crops like jowar and shifted to high value crops like grapes, sunflower and pomegranate. The oer likely reason is e versatility of is crop in e state, i.e., is crop is being grown even in e non- traditional areas. The trend in case of Haveri and Raichur district was bit different, wherein e area under jowar has decreased while e LQ has shown an increasing trend. In case of paddy bo e area and LQ has dropped in major paddy growing districts of e state i.e., Shimoga, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chickmagalur, Mandya, and Mysore. The area and LQ has shown an increasing trend in case of Davangere, Bellary and Raichur. This clearly indicates e transition in e cropping pattern from paddy crop to less labour and water intensive, relatively remunerative crops like arecanut, maize. In case of Uttara Kannada e area has decreased while e LQ has increased. The contrasting result was observed in Udupi wherein e area has increased while e LQ has dropped. The result was in accordance wi e outcome indicating at e area under jowar, bajra, ragi and minor millets are experiencing a substantial annual decrement. The area under rice has recorded a mild annual increment. The grow in area under oilseeds and commercial crops was negative and insignificant (Saraswati et. al., 2012) s regards sugarcane crop, it may be noticed at bo e area and LQ has decreased in Chamarajnagar and Shimoga. Bo e area and LQ has increased in case of Bidar district. In major cane growing areas such as Mandya, Bagalkot and Bapur e area under cane has decreased whereas e increase in LQ was observed. Regarding ground nut crop bo e area and location quotient has decreased in Kolar, Gadag and Bellary. In case of Chitradurga and Tumkur e area under crop has decreased while e LQ has shown an increasing trend. The area and LQ for e cotton crop was decreased in case of Gadag and Bellary. Whereas contrasting result was observed in Uttara Kannada where bo have shown an increasing trend. The area under cotton crop has decreased, while e LQ was positive in case of Dharwad, Mysore and Belgaum. This outcome was aptly supported by e result reflecting e shift in cropping pattern in favour of maize and cotton in Norern transitional zone of Karnataka. Though is was a welcome feature in terms of profitability to farmers but it is at e cost of making e zone deficient in rice, wheat and jowar e staple food crops of e zone (ravind, 2010). Crop versatility can be derived from e information on e cropping pattern prevailing in e state. If a crop is region specific e development of e genetic material, availability of specialists, extension efforts, arranging services and supplies, building market services etc., are to be developed specifically for at crop wi special reference to at region.(i.e. Location specific and demand driven research and development and extension delivery mechanism has to be adopted ) On e oer hand if a crop is more versatile it is necessary to develop infrastructure and oer facilities keeping in view e degree of versatility of e crop. This measure is useful in e context of knowing e nature of e crop wi regard to its spatial coverage in quantitative terms. The results relating to e crop versatility are presented in Table 2. mong e food crops, despite of e fact of decline in area under jowar, it became more versatile during terminal period ( its capacity to wistand and acclimatize to periodically occurring sporadic droughts and depleting ground water table has increased its spatial coverage even to non-traditional belts). Next to jowar, paddy was regarded as more versatile in bo e periods besides being e fact at e area under e crop has declined. It is because of e obvious reason at e paddy is e staple food crop of e state. It was followed by maize crop which is relatively versatile among e remaining cereal food crops despite e fact of increased area under it. The maize crop is gradually replacing specialised crops of various districts because of its relative profitability, adaptability to varying agro-climatic condition, need of less farm management operations and serves as a source of feed and fodder. This outcome was in line wi e results indicating at e grow rate of maize crop in terms of area and production has increased significantly and overtaken e traditional crop, and occupies largest share of area and production in e state. In is manner, e state of Karnataka, traditionally known for rice cultivation has slowly switched over to e cultivation of maize crop in e recent years. (Singha and Chakravorty, 2013) mong e oilseed crops groundnut was found to be more versatile in bo e periods. Since, it occupies a prominent place in majority of e cropping systems by virtue of its adoptability to wide soil and agro-climatic situation. Wi regard to sesamum, it was more versatile during base period, which has shown a tendency of getting specialized in e terminal period. Linseed was found to be more specialized crop as it is confined to e norern J. Crop and Weed, 9(2) 67

4 Structural transition in Karnataka agriculture districts of Karnataka and its versatility decreased marginally in e terminal period. mongst e commercial crops e more versatile crop was found to be e cotton crop in e study period. Whereas e versatility of oer commercial crops inter alia sugarcane and tobacco remained less versatile in bo e periods. Sugarcane being a location specific crops demands for areas congenial soil and agro-climatic conditions and also e accessibility to processing units and transportation facilities. On e oer hand to grow tobacco, special permission from e government is required. i.e., it is considered as controlled crop since area under is crop is predefined.these results are at par wi e actuality and eoretical expectations. However, jowar, paddy, maize and ragi also tended to become more versatile during e terminal period. This transitional process was facilitated by e development of technology (location specific HYV and hybrids). Technologies like aerobic rice, jowar varieties for different conditions helped in breaking location specificity. The factors like productivity of e crop, ease of management, skill and knowledge of farmers, nearness to processing unit, market demand as reflected by prices of e products, own consumption need of e farmers decides allocation of area under e crops. ll ese factors are considered to have significant influence on versatility of crops. The results of e study revealed at e paddy and ragi are e crops specialized in Souern and Eastern parts of e state. The crops like Jowar, wheat, Bajra, sesamum, linseed, Bengal gram, Tur and cotton are mainly specialized in Norern parts of e state. Crops like ground nut, sesamum, tobacco, sugarcane are grown in all parts of e state reflected eir versatile nature. Knowledge of specialization of crops is a prerequisite for biological and social scientists as well as for e policy makers in planning, organizing and executing various crop improvement programmes. The transitional process in cropping pattern was observed among e traditional staple food crops like paddy, jowar etc. Technologies like aerobic rice, location specific high yielding varieties and hybrids helped in breaking specialisation. The factors like productivity of e crop, ease of management, skill and knowledge of farmers, nearness to processing unit, market demand as reflected by prices of e products, own consumption need of e farmers have a significant bearing on versatility of e crops. The future line of work is to study e relative impact of ese factors on transition in e cropping pattern. cknowledgement: The auors acknowledge and ank Department of Science and Technology for awarding Inspire fellowship for pursuing Doctoral programme. The auors are also ankful to Dr. Rangana Sastry and nonymous referee for eir critical and valuable suggestions. REFERENCES ravind, K Economics of Land Use and Cropping Pattern in Norern Transitional Zone of Karnataka. M.Sc (g) Thesis, Univ. gril. Sci., Dharwad. Ranganaa Sastry, K. N Grow dimension of agriculture in Karnataka. Ph.D Thesis, Univ. gril. Sci., Bangalore. Saraswati, P., Basavaraja, H., Kunnal, L. B., Mahajanashetti, S. B. and Bhat,. R. S Grow in area, production and productivity of major crops in Karnataka. Karnataka. J. gric. Sci., 25: Singha,. and Chakravorty, Crop diversification in India: a study of maize cultivation in Karnataka. Scientific. J. Rev. 2: J. Crop and Weed, 9(2) 68

5 J. Crop and Weed, 9(2) 69 Patil et al.

6 Structural transition in Karnataka agriculture Note: - + Increase, -Decrease, Numerical figures in e parenesis indicates Location Quotient (LQ) values in e terminal period. J. Crop and Weed, 9(2) 70

7 J. Crop and Weed, 9(2) 71 Patil et al.