• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Occasional Paper—10 Problems and Prospects of Agricultural Development in Bihar T N JHA K U VISWANATHAN \]f/ National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Mumbai 1999 Occasional Paper—10 Probtems and Prospects of Agricultural Development in Biliar T N JHA K U VISWANATHAN National Banit for Agriculture and Rural Development Mumt>ai 1999 ,/: Published by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Economic Analysis and Research, Jeevan Seva Complex (Annexe), S.V. Road, Santacruz (W), Mumbai - 400 054 and Printed at Karnatak Orion Press, Fort, Mumbal - 400 001. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study on "Problems and Prospects of Agricultural Devek>pment in Bihar" was conducted in-house during 1995-96 as a part of the series of state level sectoral studies initiated by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). In the process of completing the study report, we received encouragement as well as help in conceptualising the outline of the study as also in data cbiiection, tabuiatton and typing of the manuscript from various sources. We express our deep sense of gratitude to. Dr. A.K. Bandyopadhyay, Chief General Manager, Department of Ecorramic Analysis and Research, NABARD for his constant encouragement and providing necessary guidance at different stages of the study. The co-opera­ tion extended by the Officer-in-charge, NABARD, Regional Office, Patna is deeply acknowledged. We must thank Shri. Neeraj Sharma, Agricultural Economist, NABARD, Regional Office, Patna for his excellent support during data collection for the study. We take this opportunity to put on record our gratitude to the Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Bihar and the A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna for providing necessary data for the study. The moral support provkJed by our colleagues in the department are also gratefully adoiowledged. We put on record with deep sense of appreciation the excellent support provided by Shri. Satheesan Kartha, Shri. Sriram Iyer, Smt. Amrapall Kamble and Smt. Ujjwal Desai in data entry, comparison and typing of the draft report. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors' alone and not of the institution. Mumbai Authors September, 1999 Kl Authors : 1. Dr. T.N. Jha, Deputy General Manager. 2. Shri K.U. Viswanathan, Assistant General Manager. Department of Economic Analysis and Research, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Jeevan Seva Complex, P.B. No. 16926, S.V. Road, Sajntacruz (W), Mumbai - 400 054. CONTENTS Title Page No. Map of Bihar VII Executive summary 1 Major findings and policy implications 7 I. CHAPTER Introduction 25 II. CHAPTER Profile of the state 33 III. CHAPTER Growth performance of foodgrains in 39 Bihar - Temporal and Districtwise analysis IV. CHAPTER Growth performance of major crops - Temporal and Districtwise analysis IV. 1 Paddy 51 IV.2 Maize 64 IV.3 Wheat. 69 IV.4 Arhar IV.5 Gram 76 IV.6 Rapeseed/Mustard / 81 IV.7 Sugarcane 87 IV.8 \jute 93 IV.9 Potato IV. 10 Chillies 99 IV.11 X^bacco J 104 110 V. CHAPTER Cropping pattern aind area 4^ shifts across major crops i^' 116 123 VI. CHAPTER Yield Increase: crop-wise comparative analysis 129 VII. CHAPTER Trend and- pattern of land use-Zone-wise/ 133 District-wise analysis VIII. CHAPTER Growth in fertiliser consumption-Temporal 139 and spatial pattern IX. CHAPTER Growth in irrigation-Temporal and spatial analysis 147 X. CHAPTER Expansion in the use of HYV seeds 157 XI. CHAPTER Flow of insfitutional credit 165 XII. CHAPTER Operational holdings and tenancy status 171 Bibliography 178 MAP OF BIHAR . EST SHOWINQ AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONES AND DISTRICTS CHAM>M 1974 EAST } • .aopnoMti CHAkPAnAN/ SITMMIM HMOHUBANI f"^ 4 V 8IWAN 7 O MUZZAFARPUR kJH«la«IQwSA Vy/<* S ^ 14 } 12 8ARAN 8AHARSA > PURNIA 1 • 1 tt 11 ^^"'•^"*^ >• ,. XVABHAU^ * A..* •^^ 21 *• y eHOJPUR / 22 >^ IS ) 13 o \y^\. 1 WTNA ~^n%_ i'"" \ BEOUSARM J KATIHAR H 23 ^ 1 NAtAWM r 1. 80 18 I ROHTAS . MUNOER / 17 / 18 y 24 >* BHAGALPURJ / i» V / NAWMDAH ^ AURANOABAD 1 ^^A SAHmW. PARQANA ODVOH 2S. 2S HAZARHAGH PALMMU 28 DHANBAO ^^ 30 RANCM •>»^ 31 SMQN8HUM OR IBS A \ ZONE I ZONE II ZONE III ZONE IV NORIM WEST AUUVUL EAST ALLUVIAL SOUTH WEST ALLUVIAL PLATEAU PLAIN DISTRICTS PLAIN DISTRICTS PLAIN DISTRICTS DISTRICTS 1.' WEST CHAMPARAN 1Z PURNIA 18. OAVA 25. HAZARIBAGH i. EAST CHAMPARAN 13. KATIHAR 19. AURANOABAD 26. GIRIOIH 3. GOPALQANJ 14. SAHARSA 20. ROHTAS 27. SANTHAL PARGANA 4. SIWAN 16. BEGUSARAI 21. BHOJPUR 28. DHANBAD 8. SARAN 16. MUNOER 22. PATNA 29. PALAMAU 6. SITAMARHI 17. BHAQALPUR 23. NALANDA 30. RANCHI 7. MUZZAFARPUR 24. NAWAOAH 31. SINQHBHUM a VAISHAU ~ t. MADHUBANI , ,A 10. OHARBANOA 11. SAMASTIPUR vll EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The present study in respect of Bihar is a part of the state specific sectoral study of agriculture initiated by the National Bank in different states at the behest of Hon'ble Union Minister of Finance. Concentrating on the crop sector it was set with the broad objectives of examining growth perfor­ mance of agriculture - food and non-food crops, sources of growth, crop oattern and area shifts, changes in land-use pattern, growth in use of in­ puts such as fertilizer, irrigation. HYV seeds and credit, and analyse opera­ tional holdings and tenancy status in the state. The analysis was based on secondary data covering the post-green revolution period 1971-93 at the state level and 1977-91 at zone/district level, t^ajor findings of the study alongwith policy implications are summarised below. Performance of Agriculture 2 The qrowth performance of foodgrains production in the state at 048% per annum was one of stagnation till 1982-83. The period from 1983-84 however, witnessed accelerated growth rate at 2.73/o with low coefficient of variation. It compared well with the growth rates expenenced in agriculturally developed states during the eighties. Significantly, much of the increase in foodgrains production during 1984-93 in the state ^was in rabi season (4.93%), whereas in kharif season production continued to stag­ nate (0 59%). Accelerated growth rate in rabi foodgrains output was seen in both area and yield increase. Stagnant kharif foodgrains production was 'argery due to sharp decline in kharif area at (-)1.32% per annum. Analysing the growth performance across different agro-climatic zones the study observed plateau districts to lag behind. The zones of alluvial plains particularly the South-West Plains recorded accelerated growth ra^s which, was comparable to the rate of growth achieved by agriculturally developed states during the eighties. Significantly, high growth districts generally did not fomn one geographical cluster. 3 With only 10% area under non-food crops the agriculture of Bihar continued to be largely subsistence in character. Production of some spe­ cific non-food crops, however, registered an increase in specific regions For instance, sugarcane picked up fast in the North-West, and rapeseed/ mustard in the East Plains. Over the years, area shifts were taking place in favour of superior cereals. 4 Among the cereal crops, wheat (3.80%), followed by paddy (3.50%) showed relatively high growth rates. For wheat, both area and yield contri­ buted to growth. In case of paddy growth was due to yield increase, as area showed shrinkage. Summer and winter paddy production witnessed impressive growth performance in the state- 1 5. Among pulses, production of arhar and gram witnessed reversal largely due to area shrinkage. Districts in the plateau region, however, showed steady growth trend in their production. Status of Agriculture : 6. Despite accelerating growth rates in foodgrain as well as non- foodgrain production, the status of agriculture in Bihar was not comparable to agriculturally developed states or even all-India average. With similar area. West Bengal produced more than double of paddy output in Bihar. Similarly, Haryana with half of the area produced almost equal of wheat output to Bihar. The case of other crops such as maize, arhar, gram, sug­ arcane, rapeseed/mustard, potato, etc. was not different. It was largely be­ cause yield of these crops in Bihar was much less than those in agricultur­ ally developed or other states. Moreover, the yield gap between the poten­ tial and the actual was large at 50-70% in the dtate, depending upon the crop and irrigated condition. Factors influencing growth of agriculture : 7. Examining the impact of a set of independent variables on the value of agricultural output, it was observed that fertilizer consumption as also coverage of HYV seeds were the important determinants of agricultiitel^ growth in the state. Normal rainfall was equally important to provide stal^ty to the accelerating agricultural growth in the state. Irrigation was not ob­ served, to influence the agricultural growth in the state, perhaps, because it has remained stagnant since the mid-eighties Growth in Input Use: i. Fertilizer : 8. Consumption of fertilizer increased from 9.06 kg/ha. in 1970-71 to 57.02 kg/ha. in 1992-93. However, it lagged far behind Punjab (162.2 kg/ ha.), Haryana (107.0 kg/ha.), Uttar Pradesh (86.0 kg/ha.) and all-India aver­ age (67.1 kg/ha.). Across zones/districts it was relatively high in regions with high foodgrains production. It was positively related with irrigation network as well. Some of the districts with low irrigation network in the plains as well showed relatively high consumption of fertilizers, influenced possibly by normal rainfall. 9. In terms of composition, however, fertilizer use was unbalanced in the state, more in favour of nitrogen (67.5%) and deficient in phosphorus (22.5%) and potash (10.0%). Unbalanced use of fertilizer was excessive in zones/districts with high production of foodgrains as also irrigation networl<. With elasticity of foodgrains yield to nutrient ratio index being negative the adverse impact of such an unbalanced use of fertilizer was clearly discern­ ible and, therefore, called for gearing up the agricultural extension network in the state, promoting balanced use of fertiliser as also enhanced use of manure and compost in the state.

Load more

  189

Copy Link