Examining the Agricultural Diversification in Odisha

Abstract

Odisha's agricultural sector has seen significant changes in terms of policy intervention and land utilisation status, area, yield, production, cropping pattern, and so on. An attempt has been made in this context to analyse the performance of agricultural crops in Odisha. The development of a wider range of agricultural crops over time and space is referred to as agricultural diversification. In this study, the variation in agricultural performance in the state of Odisha from 1970–1971 to 2019–20 is analysed. The state of Odisha is expected to experience growth in terms of area, yield, and production on an annual average basis. It has been noted that, at the state level, agricultural diversification has grown, but not significantly. When looking at the diversification of the area under cultivation across the states, some diversified results have been seen. To become self-sufficient and highly diversified, Odisha agriculture still has a long way to go. Furthermore, over the last few decades, Odisha agriculture has been plagued by natural disasters such as drought, flood, cyclones, heatwaves, and so on. With this context in mind, this paper attempts to investigate agricultural diversification in Odisha.