Infrastructural Growth, farm Size and Pattern of Crop Diversification Across the Districts of West Bengal
agro-infrastructure, agro-technology, crop diversification, robust regression, West Bengal
Abstract
Scope of growth in employment and earning from agriculture through the expansion of area under cultivation in India as well as in West Bengal has been significantly reduced after nineteen seventies. The effects of Green Revolution technology on the yields of various crops have also decreased significantly as the growth of yield of various crops has reached a saturation level and simultaneously raised several environmental impacts after nineteen eighties. Thus, in any rural area including that of West Bengal the major option remains for the growth of agriculture is diversifying the land use for the cultivation of crops which are more remunerative and environment friendly. Crop diversification thus became an important issue of research in agricultural economics not only within India and but also in other parts of the world. Choice of highly remunerative crops on the other hand depends on the availability of various agricultural technologies supported by appropriate infrastructure required for the timely cultivation, harvest, protection as well as marketing of those crops. In India as well as in West Bengal different regions recorded varied level of diversification in the past few decades, which may be due to the variation in the support of various infrastructural, technological and financial supports. Accessibility to different infrastructure, modern inputs and implements also depends on the financial strength of the farmers that varies across the farm size. This paper tried to examine the pattern of growth of various infrastructural and technological factors across the districts of West Bengal and the nature and extent of crop diversification during 1970 to 2005. It also tries to examine whether there is any significant relation between the infrastructural and technological factors and farm size with the level of diversification in West Bengal.
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2013-05-02
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