Production potential of plateau agriculture and food sufficiency in the Kandhamal district of Orissa

Abstract

The requirement for food grains in the rainfed hill plateaus of the Kandhamal district of the State of Orissa, India was calculated according to accepted nutritional standards over 14 years from 1993 to 2006 and compared with actual production during this time. Owing to the increase in population, the requirement increased from 120 × 10³ MT in 1993 to 142 × 10³ MT in 2006. Production, however, ranged from 68.5 × 10³ MT in 2002 to 134.9 × 10³ MT in 1994 and was only sufficient in 2 of the 14 years. The requirement for food grains for a projected population of 753,542 in 2011 was estimated to be 152 × 10³ MT. At present the area sown is 115 × 10³ ha and would require cultivation 1.83 times per year (cropping intensity 1.83) to produce enough foodgrains for nutritional sufficiency. This could be reduced to 1.64 if the current fallow area of 13 × 10³ ha were cultivated. Increased productivity could be achieved by greater use of irrigation and groundwater.