Chapter-II: Agricultural Production in Assam: An Overview
2.11: Intensity of Cropping
There are only two ways to satisfy the increasing food and other agricultural demands of the state‟s rising population: either expanding the net area under cultivation or intensifying cropping over the existing area. Out of the two ways for achieving larger volume of agricultural production, more emphasis should be laid on the latter in Assam
as the former is not a matter of significance at present because most of the area available for cultivation has already been brought under plough leaving only 0.98 percent of the total area as cultivable waste (Statistical Hand Book, Assam, 2012). The introduction of short duration crops resulted in substantial increases in the intensity of cultivation and hence, increases in GCA in north western states of the country (Bhalla and Singh, 2009).
Cropping intensity refers to rising of a number of crops from the same field during one agriculture year. It can be expressed as Cropping Intensity = Gross Cropped Area/Net Area Sown x100.
The total area as a percentage of the net area sown gives a measure of land use efficiency or intensity of cropping. Cropping intensity is 100 if the land has been cropped for only once in a year. The areas where the intensity of cropping is under 130 percent may be called agriculturally weaker areas (Das. 2012). Higher cropping intensity means that a portion of the net area is being cropped more than once during one agricultural year. Cropping intensity is expected to be higher for smaller farms as smaller farms can be expected to use their limited land resource more intensively. With little scope for horizontal expansion of the cultivated area, and the disappearance of fallow land from the agricultural landscape in the state, it would seem imperative that the peasants of Assam should raise more than one crop from the same plot of land to meet the need of increases population. Das, (2012) mentioned that “the small peasants are forced to grow more than one crop in order to get subsistence from their meager plot of land whereas the medium and big peasants in a subsistence farm economy do not feel the necessity of using the land more intensively.”
Intensity of cropping is more in those districts where the density of population is higher and the average size of operational holdings is smaller. Das (2012) has attempted to find out quantitatively if there was any significant association between the degree of population pressure and intensity of cropping. The study proved that there exists a significant correlation between population pressure and cropping intensity as increase in rural population leads to the decrease in per capita net sown area and this loss was sought to be countervailed by raising more than one crop from the same parcel of land. Of course the possibility of other physic-economic factors that might be responsible for increasing the intensity of cropping should not be excluded. Das (2012) concludes that,
“there will be a real development in agriculture if the intensification is achieved not by the force of population pressure, but by a choice of scientific farming.”
The cropping intensity has direct correlation with assured irrigation which enables farmers to go for multiple cropping and use higher dose of fertilizers and HYV seeds. Besides irrigation, fertilizers, early maturing high yielding variety of seeds, selective mechanization, plant protection measures through the use of insecticides, pesticides, etc. do have a role in affecting the intensity of cropping (Raj, 1962). Duration of crops in the field is also considered as a measure to determine cropping intensity (Dayal, 1978).
The intensity of cropping index of the state as a whole was only 115.57 percent in 1970-71. It has gradually increased and in 2013-14 it becomes 149 percent compared to 141 percent in all India during the period. Table-2.5 shows the trends of cropping intensity of Assam and India since 1970-71.
Table-2.5: Cropping Intensity in Assam and all India:
Years Index (in percent) in Assam Index (in percent) in India
1970-71 115.57 118.2
1980-81 128.0 123.3
1981-82 127.6 124.5
1982-83 131.9 123.2
1983-84 132.7 125.7
1984-85 137.9 125.2
1985-86 137.1 126.7
1986-87 134.7 126.4
1987-88 136.7 127.3
1988-89 135.0 128.5
1989-90 138.7 128.1
1990-91 140.3 130.0
1991-92 141.2 130.1
1992-93 141.8 130.1
1993-94 141.1 131.0
1994-95 137.7 131.5
1995-96 141.7 131.2
1996-97 140.8 132.6
1998-99 145.89 134.3
1999-2000 145.9 133.6
2000-01 146.48 131.1
2001-02 143.62 133.8
2002-03 143.77 131.8#
2003-04 142.83 134.8
2004-05 141.53 135.9
2005-06 - 136.6*
2006-07 139.1 137.6*
2007-08 139.44 138.0*
2008-09 142.3 137.6*
2009-10 145.8 137.2
2010-11 146.06 137.0
2013-14 149.0 141.0
Note: * provisional; # in 2002-03 there was significant decline to gross area sown and net area sown due to decline in net area sown in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, M.P., Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, T. N., W. B. and Haryana.
Source: (i) The indices are calculated from the land use data collected from the Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Assam (ii) Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, 2001, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, (iii) Fertilizer Statistics, 2011-12, The Fertilizer Association of India, New Delhi. (iv)The Assam Tribune, Nov. 13, 2014
It is an important observation that the index of cropping intensity in Assam is relatively high compared to all India average over the years. However, it is remarkably low in relation to the agriculturally developed states in India. Among the states of India, Delhi has the highest cropping intensity with 209 percent followed by Chandigarh (200%), Punjab (190%), Sikkim (187%), West Bengal (181.3%), Haryana (179%) and UP (143%) in 2009-10 (Statistical Hand Book, Assam, 2012; Statistical Abstract, Punjab, 2011). Cropping intensity in Assam is lower than these states due to vast fallow area in rabi season. About half the farmers in the state cultivate and harvest their field only once a year (Govt. of Assam, 2003). In Assam, there is a significant spatial variation in the pattern of cropping intensity at the district level. Except, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darrang all the districts of Assam are „weaker areas‟ in respect of agricultural economy. Bhowmick et al., (2005) found that within the limits of kharif dominated cropping pattern, the cropping intensity was relatively higher in Nagaon than in Golaghat, as land type in Nagaon was suitable for cultivation of more crops such as jute, pulses and other oilseeds than in Golaghat. The crop diversification and expansion of summer rice area seem to improve the cropping intensity to some extent in recent years.