Agriculture

AGRICULTURE

Crop Husbandury

Agro-Climatic Regional Planning

Seeds

Fibre

Minor Irrigation

Crop Husbandury
As per the division of agro-climatic region made by the Planning Commission,the district of north 24-Parganas falls within the new alluvium sub-region of the lower Gangetic plain(Zone lll).The annual rainfall in this district is 1,579 mm.The type of soil varies from sandy to clayey loam,sandy loam being predominant.
Like in other parts of West Bengal the main cultivators in the district are small and marginal farmers

Agro-climatic regional planning
As desired by the Planning Commission the agriculture department has taken up the task of operationalisation of the agro-climatic regional planning.The land in this district falls in the most fertile tract of the state with neutral soil.But though there is no major constraint on higher productivity,growing urbanisation and gradual conversion of land for non-agricultural purposes is a major problem. Seeds
The availability of quality seeds in this district is a major problem faced by farmers.Most of the poor farmers cannot afford to buy certified seeds at very high prices which come from other states such as Punjab,Haryana,Uttar Pradesh,Maharastra & Orissa.Some of the hybrid seeds come from abroad also.To bridge the gap between supply & demand the governmenthas adopted a scheme of subsidised sale of quality seeds. Fertilisers
Lije seeds, fertilisers are also imported from other states.Farmers pay a high price for fertilisers though availability is major problem.The government provides a transport subsidy for carrying chemical fertilisers to inaccessible areas & provision is also made for subsidy on its price,so that small & marginal farmers of inaccessible areas can avail of this costliest input. Plant Protection
A sea change has come about in the protection of plants under the Integrated Pest Management Programme.Instead of prescribing use of chemical pesticides,control measures such as cultural,mechanical,varietal,biological & chemical have been given priority.The high dose of chemical pesticides has resulted in the resurgence of minor pests like Brown Plant Hopper in rice & secondary outbreaks of leaf roller,rice hispa,earcutting caterpilla & so on. Crop productivity
To increase the coverage & production of major crops a detailed strategy has been chalked out at the state level for different agro-climatic regions.Location-specific high yielding varieties are promoted by the government to increase crop production.

Attempts are made to increase the kharif consumptionof fertiliser in rice production as well as to bring about a more efficient use of fertilisers.

Foodgrains(As on 2000-01)

Crops		Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Production
Foodgrains (As on 2000-2001)
Crops		Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Total Crops (Thousand tonnes)	kilogram per hectare
Rice		273.9	641.0	2340
	Aus	28.4	47.7	2514
	Aman	136.4	251.6	1844
	Boro	109.1	341.7	3133
Wheat		13.6	33.5	1497
Barley		-	-	-
Maize		-	-	-
Other Cereals		-	-	-
Total Cereals		287.5	674.8	2347
Gram		1.1	0.8	692
Tur		-	-	668
Other Pulses		11.8	9.6	814
Total Pulses		12.9	10.4	806
Total foodgrins		300.4	685.2	2281

Oil seeds(As on 2000-01)

Oil seeds (As on 2000-2001)
Crops	Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Production
Crops	Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Total Crops (Thousand tonnes)	kilogram per hectare
Rape & Mustard	40.3	35.4	880
Linseeds	-	-	283
Other Oil seeds	8.2	10.3	1256
Total Oil seeds	48.5	45.7	944

Fibre(As on 2000-01)

Fibre (As on 2000-2001)
Crops	Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Production
Crops	Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Total Crops (Thousand tonnes)	kilogram per hectare
jute	55.8	776.9	13.9
Mesta	1.0	8.1	8.4
other Fibres	-	-	-
Total Fibres	56.8	785.0	13.8

Miscellaneous Crops(As on 2000-01)

Miscellaneous Crops (As on 2000-2001)
Crops	Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Production
Crops	Area under Principal Crops (Thousand hectares)	Total Crops (Thousand tonnes)	kilogram per hectare
Sugar Can	1.0	64.6	64315
Potato	8.5	1189.0	22364
Tobacco	-	-	-
Tea	-	-	-
Chillies(Dry)	2.9	3.3	1137
Ginger	0.3	0.2	940
Total Miscellaneous crops	12.7	257.1	20244