DOCSLIB.ORG

Regional Disparities in Socio-Economic Development in West Bengal

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Regional Disparities in Socio-Economic Development in West Bengal REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN WEST BENGAL ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Mntm of ^IjilQ^opfip IN GEOGRAPHY BY MD. SHAMIM UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF Prof. Azimuddin Qureshi DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2002 ABSTRACT One of the serious problems that India is facing today is the problem of regional disparities. It results in social, economic and political instability. The current tension and strain in the Indian polity are essentially a function of inadequacy of the strategies evolved since independence to correct inequalities and distortions embodied in the Indian space economy during the period of colonial rule.^ These stresses in recent years have acquired alarming proportions and have been weakening the foundation of Indian unity and integrity. The recent turmoil in the northeastern states, and in West Bengal, Gorkhaland agitation, which are extremely backward regions are indications to these threats. The growing trend of regionalism, secessionism and separatism in these areas are due to frustration of the people particularly young generation arising out of prolonged regional disparities. It has been observed that problems arising out of socio­ economic disparities often get linked with L'nguistic and cultural affinities of the region. These problems take serious shape and subsequently become difficult to eliminate. There are many ways of analysing spatial disparities in the level of socio-economic development, but the regional approach which permit the vertical integration of socio­ economic condition and horizontal variations over space, is of paramount importance. Using the spatial approach of a unit of spatial organisation of society in terms of certain selected indicators of the level of socio-economic development can be identified. Once the regions of underdeveloped have been identified, an analysis of the main factors contributing to disparities in the level of development. Only then strategies and measures for spatial order can be suggested). This study has been divided into Six chapters. The first three chapters are theoretical and are intended to provide the base for conceptual pai-anieters. While the last two are mainly analytical in nature. Chapter first deals with a general geographical characteristics of the study area. The second chapter is devoted to the review of literature and third chapter deals with significance and selection of indicators and the methodological framework for the analysis of this study. It contains conceptual framework of indicators, a brief history of evolution of indicator movement in the world in general and India in particular. The rationale behind selecting various indicators for measuring disparities, in the study area has also been discussed in this chapter, ^he fourth chapter deals with the identification of regions of relative levels of development and disparities using the standard score additive modelsj ^hile the fifth chapter highlights the relative importance of different vai"iables and factors responsible for creating spatial disparities in the study area based on Factor Analysis.\)The concluding chapter discusses the main findings of this study and also highlights corrective measures for minimisation of the existing regional imbalance found in the study areaV The state of West Bengal lies between 21°38^and 27°10' North latitudes and 85°50'and 89°50^ East longitude. It is located in the north eastern part of the country, and extends over 87853 Sq. kms, and covers a little less than three percent of India's land ai^ea. It is bounded on the north by Bhutan and the state of Sikkim, on the east by Bangladesh, on the north east by the state of Assam, on the south by the Bay of Bengal, on the south west by the state of Orissa, on the north-west by Nepal and on the west by the state of Bihar and Jharkhand. The main objectives of the present study are as follows: 1. i To identify the regions of relative levels of development in terms of a laige number of social and economic indicators sector wise as well as in aggregate. 2 2. To study dimensions of ciispai^ities. 3. To highlight factors and processes responsible for emerging patterns of socio-economic disparities and 4. To suggest remedial measures for their minimisation. Various h^'potheses have been constructed to investigate the problem of socio-economic development and regional disparities. Testing of these hypotheses in the ai'ea under study is the crux of the research problem. Following are the major hypothesis of this reseaixh. i. The level of socio-economic development is directly related to urbanization and industrialization, ii. There is marked regional, social and economic disparities in the study area and the backward regions are characterised by a large proportion of their population depending on primary activities, iii. Regional disparities caii be reduced by maximizing regional income. This will involve utilizing natural and human resources, especially maximising the utilisation of work force. The study is based on secondary sources of data collected from census, publications and different concerned state government departments. The disparities have been perceived in terms of a wide range of indicators covering the areas of health, housing, education, urbanisation, per capita income, agricultural development and industrial development etc. The spatial dimensions of disparities have been measured using the technique of standardized score additive Model and Factor Analysis. Districts have been chosen as unit of analysis, keeping in view the availability of data and nature of the problem. The basic findings of the foregoing study shows that there are wide inter-district disparities in the level of socio­ economic development in West Bengal. The highly developed areas are small in extent and are largely confined to the south Bengal comprising the district of Howrah, Calcutta, Burdwan and 24-Pai"gaiia. While remaining districts are extremely backwai^d with some exceptions in the case of Darjeeling and Hooghly district which ai^e moderately developed. The main reason for high level of development may be attributed to their higher degree of Industrialisation and urbanisation. They are developed due to the advantage of being located in one of the richest mineral belts of India and also previous advantages, of big industrial complexes like Durgapur, Asansol, Hooghly, Calcutta and Haldia port which lie in this region. There is also good accessibility of railways, roads, and location of DVC Hydel Power Plants, and many other Thermal Power Plant. On the other hand the underdeveloped regions lie in the south western part and between north and south Bengal. The south western region comprises the districts of Purulia and Bankura while the other backward regions include the district of Malda and West Dinajpore. Their under privileged conditions can be attributed to the fact that these districts are agriculturally as well as industrially backward. Agricultural productivity is low, the size of the land holdings are small and too many people are dependent on farming. Farmers do not adequately use the modern inputs such as chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, assured means of irrigation and modern agricultural tools and implements to raise the productivity. This region is also facing the problems of drought and flood, as a result crops are destroyed almost every year. These districts also lack in urbanization, industrialisation and infrastructural facilities, that leads to their backwardness. All these factors have increased the gap in the level of development between developed and backward regions. Thus, there ai^e a few islands of developed area in the vast ocean of either moderately developed or underdeveloped areas. The factorai analysis of the regional disparities in the study area has shown three dimensions, (i) Urbanisation and Socio-economic development, (ii) Agricultural productivity and Infrastructure (iii) Industrialisation and Education. The first factor,, urbanisation and socio-economic development accounts lor 46.37 per cent of the total variaiice. The nature of factor loadings indicates that almost all the factors of socio-economic development are positively associated with urbanisation. The indicators which have very high positive loadings with urbanisation are Pucca house to total houses, Banks per lakh of population, per capita income, literacy, Hospital beds per lakh of population and non-agricultural employment. This factor shows that there are concentrations of amenities and facilities in urban centers and they are more socially developed than their rural counterpart. The spatial pattern of the first factor shows that the areas of very high scores of socio-economic development are Calcutta, Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan. The backward districts in terms of socio-economic development are Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Midnapore, Murshidabad, Malda, West Dinajpore and Cooch Behar. The second dimension is agricultural productivity and infrastructure explains 19.70 percent of the total variance. It indicates that heavy inputs m the form of irrigation facilities, fertilizers, high yielding varieties of seeds, intensive cropping and mechanisation of agriculture has direct bearing on productivity and yield per hectare has increased. Besides this infrastructural facilities has also developed tremendously especially, availability of electricity, transport and communication etc. The spatial pattern of this factor reveals that the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Vividh Bharati Was Started on October 3, 1957 and Since November 1, 1967, Commercials Were Aired on This Channel
    22 Mass Communication THE Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, through the mass communication media consisting of radio, television, films, press and print publications, advertising and traditional modes of communication such as dance and drama, plays an effective role in helping people to have access to free flow of information. The Ministry is involved in catering to the entertainment needs of various age groups and focusing attention of the people on issues of national integrity, environmental protection, health care and family welfare, eradication of illiteracy and issues relating to women, children, minority and other disadvantaged sections of the society. The Ministry is divided into four wings i.e., the Information Wing, the Broadcasting Wing, the Films Wing and the Integrated Finance Wing. The Ministry functions through its 21 media units/ attached and subordinate offices, autonomous bodies and PSUs. The Information Wing handles policy matters of the print and press media and publicity requirements of the Government. This Wing also looks after the general administration of the Ministry. The Broadcasting Wing handles matters relating to the electronic media and the regulation of the content of private TV channels as well as the programme matters of All India Radio and Doordarshan and operation of cable television and community radio, etc. Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC), which is a subordinate office, functions under the administrative control of this Division. The Film Wing handles matters relating to the film sector. It is involved in the production and distribution of documentary films, development and promotional activities relating to the film industry including training, organization of film festivals, import and export regulations, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Rural Poverty in India: Structure, Determinants and Suggestions for Policy Reform
    Rural Poverty in India: Structure, determinants and suggestions for policy reform Raghbendra Jha ABSTRACT Poverty, particularly rural poverty, has been one of the enduring policy challenges in India. Surely the most important objective of the reforms process would have been to make a significant dent on rural poverty. It is from this that a program of accelerated growth must draw its rationale. In this paper, I discuss the evolution of poverty in India – particularly during the reform period. Then I analyze the structure and determinants of this poverty. The rate of decline of poverty declined during the 1990s as compared to the 1980s. I advance some reasons for this. Policy prescriptions for a more effective anti poverty strategy are discussed. All correspondence to: Raghbendra Jha, Australia South Asia Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200 Fax: + 61 2 61250443 Phone: + 61 2 6125 2683 Email: [email protected] 1 I. Introduction This paper addresses the important issue of anti-poverty policy in India. In analyzing poverty I use the well-known NSS data set; hence concentrating on consumption measures of poverty. The poverty measures used in this paper are all drawn from the popular Foster-Greer- Thorbecke class of functions written as: = − α Yα ∑[(z yi ) / z] / n (1) < yi z where Y is the measure of poverty, yi is the consumption of the ith household or the ith class of household, z is the poverty line1, n is the population size, and α is a non-negative parameter. The headcount ratio, HC, given by the percentage of the population who are poor is obtained when α=0.
    [Show full text]
  • World Bank Document
    WDP32 July1988 Public Disclosure Authorized 32Ez World Bank Discussion Papers Public Disclosure Authorized Tenancyin SouthAsia Public Disclosure Authorized Inderjit Singh ** D 60.3 .Z63 56 988 .2 Public Disclosure Authorized FILECOPY RECENT WORLD BANK DISCUSSION PAPERS No. 1. Public Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. John R. Nellis No. 2. Raising School Quality in Developing Countries: What Investments Boost Learning? Bruce Fuller No. 3. A System for Evaluating the Performance of Government-Invested Enterprises in the Republic of Korea. Young C. Park No. 4. Country Commitment to Development Projects. Richard Heaver and Arturo Israel No. 5. Public Expenditure in Latin America: Effects on Poverty. Guy P. Pfeffermann No. 6. Community Participation in Development Projects: The World Bank Experience. Samuel Paul No. 7. International Financial Flows to Brazil since the Late 1960s: An Analysis of Debt Expansion and Payments Problems. Paulo Nogueira Batista, Jr. No. 8. Macroeconomic Policies, Debt Accumulation, and Adjustment in Brazil, 1965-84. Celso L. Martone No. 9. The Safe Motherhood Initiative: Proposals for Action. Barbara Herz and Anthony R. Measham [Also available in French (9F) and Spanish (9S)1 No. 10. Improving Urban Employment and Labor Productivity. Friedrich Kahnert No. 11. Divestiture in Developing Countries. Elliot Berg and Mary M. Shirley No. 12. Economic Growth and the Returns to Investment. Dennis Anderson No. 13. Institutional Development and Technical Assistance in Macroeconomic Policy Formulation: A Case Study of Togo. Sven B. Kjellstrom and Ayite-Fily d'Almeida No. 14. Managing Economic Policy Change; Institutional Dimensions. Geoffrey Lamb No. 15. Dairy Development and Milk Cooperatives: The Effects of a Dairy Project in India.
    [Show full text]
  • It Is Well Known That After Independence, West Bengal Has Been Lagging Increasingly Behind Many Other States of India in the Field of Industrial Production
    The Political Economy of Decline of Industry in West Bengal: Experiences of a Marxist State Within a Mixed Economy Subhash C. Ray University of Connecticut Working Paper 2011-10 May 2011 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DECLINE OF INDUSTRY IN WEST BENGAL: EXPERIENCES OF A MARXIST STATE WITHIN A MIXED ECONOMY Subhash C Ray Department of Economics University of Connecticut Storrs CT 06269 USA [email protected] Over more than six decades following Independence, industry in West Bengal has steadily gone downhill. Usually the Left Front government effectively controlled by the Marxist Communist Party (CPM), that has ruled the state for the past 34 years until its recent defeat in the state assembly elections, is held responsible for the plight of industry in the state. The party and its followers, on the other hand, blame denial of the due share of the state in the central resources by a hostile government at the center for industrial retardation. This paper takes a close look at the available statistical evidence to argue that the main reason for the decline is a direct outcome of poor work culture, political interference, and failure of governance that has resulted in industrial anarchy that scares off private investment in the state. While the Left Front has its share of responsibility, the newly anointed Chief Minister of the State, Mamata Banerjee, has herself contributed generously to fostering and cultivating this chaos by calling wildcat general strikes in her erstwhile role as the ‘one person opposition party’. The only thing that can revive industry in West Bengal is liberating civil administration from the grip of political party bosses.
    [Show full text]
  • Soil and Water Conservation
    SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DIRECTORATE OF FORESTS GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION 1 This edition is published by Development Circle, Directorate of Forests, Government of West Bengal, 2016 Aranya Bhavan LA – 10A Block, Sector III Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700098 Copyright © 2016 in text Copyright © 2016 in design and graphics All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holders. 2 SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION Soil and Water Conservation PREFACE Soil and water form two major components of a forest ecosystem and they directly influence the status, health and nature of the flora and fauna that such ecosystem is likely to support. It is obvious therefore that while managing the forests the forest officers have to deal with these components and make their best efforts for their conservation to sustain the plants and animals. As part of the JICA project on ‘Capacity Development for Forest Management and Training of Personnel’ being implemented by the Forest Department, Govt of West Bengal, these course materials on Soil and water conservation have been prepared for induction training of the Foresters and Forest Guards. The object of this training manual is to present the basic ideas of the science of soil and water conservation. The subjects covered in these materials broadly conform to syllabus laid down in the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment of Forests, Govt of India, vide the Ministry’s No 3 -17/1999-RT dated 05.03.13.
    [Show full text]
  • 01720Joya Chatterji the Spoil
    This page intentionally left blank The Spoils of Partition The partition of India in 1947 was a seminal event of the twentieth century. Much has been written about the Punjab and the creation of West Pakistan; by contrast, little is known about the partition of Bengal. This remarkable book by an acknowledged expert on the subject assesses partition’s huge social, economic and political consequences. Using previously unexplored sources, the book shows how and why the borders were redrawn, as well as how the creation of new nation states led to unprecedented upheavals, massive shifts in population and wholly unexpected transformations of the political landscape in both Bengal and India. The book also reveals how the spoils of partition, which the Congress in Bengal had expected from the new boundaries, were squan- dered over the twenty years which followed. This is an original and challenging work with findings that change our understanding of parti- tion and its consequences for the history of the sub-continent. JOYA CHATTERJI, until recently Reader in International History at the London School of Economics, is Lecturer in the History of Modern South Asia at Cambridge, Fellow of Trinity College, and Visiting Fellow at the LSE. She is the author of Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition (1994). Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society 15 Editorial board C. A. BAYLY Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of St Catharine’s College RAJNARAYAN CHANDAVARKAR Late Director of the Centre of South Asian Studies, Reader in the History and Politics of South Asia, and Fellow of Trinity College GORDON JOHNSON President of Wolfson College, and Director, Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society publishes monographs on the history and anthropology of modern India.
    [Show full text]
  • Inclusive Growth in India - Learning from Best Practices of Selected Countries
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Aggarwal, Suresh Chand; Satija, Divya; Khan, Shuheb Working Paper Inclusive growth in India - learning from best practices of selected countries Working Paper, No. 375 Provided in Cooperation with: Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Suggested Citation: Aggarwal, Suresh Chand; Satija, Divya; Khan, Shuheb (2019) : Inclusive growth in India - learning from best practices of selected countries, Working Paper, No. 375, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/203709 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under
    [Show full text]
  • Trends in Climate of West Bengal * Ranjan Sarkar ** Pratima Maity
    Volume : 2 | Issue : 7 | July 2013 ISSN - 2250-1991 Research Paper Meteorology Trends in Climate of West Bengal * Ranjan Sarkar ** Pratima Maity *** Debasis Roy *, **, *** Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore, Kolkata – 700027, State - West Bengal, India. ABSTRACT The climate of West Bengal is humid sub-tropical in the north and varies to tropical savannah in the south. The state is mainly marked for hot and humid climate (except the northern part of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal). The state has intimate dependence on climate with reference to agriculture and human comfort. It is said that the climate of the state is changing. An attempt is made herein to study the decadal trends in respect of summer maximum temperature and southwest monsoon rainfall. Keywords : Pre – monsoon / summer, Southwest monsoon / rainy season, Decadal mean, Sun spot. Introduction:- T1, March 1972 be T2, … , March 1980 be T10, decadal The climate of West Bengal varies from north to south. It is mean (1971 – 1980) of March is (T1+T2+…+T10)/10. If the humid sub-tropical in the north and tropical savannah in the percentage of south west monsoon rainfall (total rainfall dur- southern part of the state. The state may be geographical- ing June to September) in June – July 1971 be P1, June – ly divided as follows:- Sub-Himalayan West Bengal in the July 1972 be P2, … June – July 1980 be P10, decadal mean north and Gangetic West Bengal in the southern, Gangetic percentage (1971 – 1980) of June – July, i.e. first half season West Bengal may be further subdivided as follows: - Interior is (P1+P2+ … + P10)/10.
    [Show full text]
  • Development of Geographical Institutions in India
    Governing Council of the Indian Geographical Society President: Prof. N. Sivagnanam Vice Presidents: Dr. B. Hema Malini Dr. Sulochana Shekhar Dr. Smita Bhutani Dr. Subhash Anand Dr. Aravind Mulimani General Secretary: Dr. R. Jaganathan Joint Secretaries: Dr. R. Jagankumar Dr. S. Sanjeevi Prasad Dr. G. Geetha Treasurer: Dr. G. Bhaskaran Council Members: Prof. P.S. Tiwari Dr. M. Sakthivel Dr. V. Emayavaramban Dr. B. Srinagesh Dr. Dhanaraj Gownamani Dr. B. Mahalingam Ms. S. Eswari Member Nominated to the Executive Committee from the Council: Prof. P.S. Tiwari Editor: Prof. K. Kumaraswamy Assistant Editor: Dr. K. Balasubramani Authors, who wish to submit their manuscripts for publication in the Indian Geographical Journal, are most welcome to send them to the Editor only through e-mail: [email protected] Authors of the research articles in the journal are responsible for the views expressed in them and for obtaining permission for copyright materials. For details and downloads visit: www.igschennai.org | geography.unom.ac.in/igs Information to Authors The Indian Geographical Journal is published half-yearly in June and December by The Indian Geographical Society, Chennai. The peer reviewed journal invites manuscripts of original research on any geographical field providing information of importance to geography and related disciplines with an analytical approach. The manuscript should be submitted only through the Editor’s e-mail: [email protected] The manuscript should be strictly ordered as follows: Title page, author(s) name, affiliation, designation, e-mail ID and telephone number, abstract, keywords, text (Introduction, Study Area, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion), Acknowledgements, References, Tables and Figures.
    [Show full text]
  • I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 5 1.2 Need for the Present Study 6 1.3 Objectives 7 1.4 Organization of the Study 7 II
    Study No. 162 Determinants of Stagnation in Productivity of Important Crops in West Bengal K.M.B. Rahim D. Majumder R.K. Biswas Agro-Economic Research Centre Visva-Bharati Santiniketan 2011 2 CONTENTS Page No. I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 5 1.2 Need for the Present Study 6 1.3 Objectives 7 1.4 Organization of the study 7 II. RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN AGRICULTURE IN THE STATE 2.1 Introduction 8 2.2 Rainfall 8 2.3 Irrigation Status 11 2.4 Land Use Pattern 12 2.5 Changing Pattern of Land Holding 13 2.6 Changes in Cropping Pattern 14 2.7 Area, Production and Yield of few crops in West Bengal 15 2.8 Changes in Input Use 16 2.9 Changing Cost Structures of Principal Crops 18 2.10 Trends in Agricultural Prices 20 2.11 Capital Formation in Agriculture 21 III MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH AND STAGNATION IN CROP PRODUCTIVITY 3.1 Introduction 23 3.2 Literature Review on Agricultural Productivity 23 3.3 Methodology for Measuring the Stagnation in Productivities 26 across the Crops/States IV TRENDS AND PATTERN IN PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY : DISTRICT LEVEL ANALYSIS 4.1 Introduction 37 4.2 Rationale for methodology 37 4.3 Crop Specific Growth of Production and Productivity 37 4.4 District-wise changes in Production and Productivity of Rice 48 V DETERMINANTS OF PRODUCTIVITY OF RICE 5.1 Introduction 53 5.2 Methodology 53 5.3 Limitation of data 53 5.4 Results 54 VI SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 64 VII POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 74 VIII REFERENCES 76 IX ANNEXURE I 77 X ANNEXURE II 80 3 LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page No.
    [Show full text]
  • Climate Change, 2015, 1(2), 83-97
    RESEARCHRESEARCH ARTICLE 1(2), April - June, 2015 Climate ISSN 2394–8558 EISSN 2394–8566 Change Weather aberration and its impact on agriculture of Habra Block, North 24 Pgs, West Bengal Biswas Roy M1,2,☼, Bose A3, Roy PK4, Mazumdar A5 1. Assistant Professor (Geography), Gandhi Centenary BT College, Habra, West Bengal, India 2. Post-Doctoral Fellow, School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India 3. Student of Geography, Gandhi Centenary BT College, Habra, West Bengal, India 4. Associate Professor, School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India 5. Professor & Director, School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India ☼Corresponding author: Assistant Professor (Geography), Gandhi Centenary BT College, Habra, West Bengal,, India: email- [email protected] Article History Received: 28 December 2014 Accepted: 1 February 2015 Published: 1 April 2015 Citation Biswas Roy M, Bose A, Roy PK, Mazumdar A. Weather Aberration and its Impact on Agriculture of Habra Block, North 24 Pgs, West Bengal. Climate Change, 2015, 1(2), 83-97 Publication License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. General Note Article is recommended to print as color version in recycled paper. Save Trees, Save Climate. ABSTRACT Like other parts of the country south west monsoon is the main feature in the climate of West Bengal as well as North 24 pgs. It is the principal denominator of the prosperity of the state and the agro economy. The objective of the present paper is to evaluate the withdrawal of monsoon is far more gradual process than its onset. Monsoon normally withdraws from the state after some th intermittent action by 10 October.
    [Show full text]
  • Can Conservation Agriculture Be the Savior of Farm Economy? – a Study in North Bengal A
    ISSN- O : 2349 9400 ; P : 0974 6315 Journal of Crop and Weed, 16(3): 123-128 (2020) http://cwssbckv.org www.cropandweed.com Can conservation agriculture be the savior of farm economy? – A study in North Bengal A. LEPCHA, P. NAG AND *K. K. DAS Department of Agricultural Economics Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya Pundibari-736165, Coochbehar, West Bengal Received : 09.07.2020 ; Revised : 10.11.2020 ; Accepted : 15.11.2020 DOI : https://doi.org/10.22271/09746315.2020.v16.i3.1376 ABSTRACT Northern tract of West Bengal is an economically vibrant region and its economy is mostly dependent on agriculture as the prime occupation. This article attempts to explore agricultural performance over the years in North Bengal culling secondary information on area and productivity of major crops for the period 1980-81 to 2014-15.Overall instability and decline in growth in area and yield of the major crops is observed. However, Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of both area allocation and yield is on the rise for potato and rabi maize indicating their growing importance in the farm economy though, corresponding CAGR of kharif paddy remains almost stagnant. This rather slow growth is attributed to climatic aberration, decline in soil productivity, low/negative farm income, etc. and calls for a be-fitting technology to revamp the economy. The study suggests popularization of conservation agriculture (which has proven its suitability and worth in the region through successful implementation of an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Australia funded project since 2013- 14) as an effective strategy for improving the livelihood security as well as mitigating ecological degradation.
    [Show full text]