Agriculture Sector in Bihar
The State Government is implementing various schemes
under the AgricultureRoadmap since 2008 for augmenting agricultural productivity and
farmers’ income. Several programmes have been outlined in the Agriculture RoadmapIII (2017-2022) to increase farmers’ income, ensure food and nutritional
security, provide gainful employment, and encourage sustainable use of natural
resources. As a result of various initiatives, the state has won 5 Krishi Karman
Puraskar since 2012.
The agriculture and allied sector grew at a pace of 2.1% during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21). Among the sub-sectors, livestock and fisheries have grown at a pace of 10% and 7%, respectively in the last five years. Overall, the sector accounted for a share of 19% in Gross State Value Added (GSVA) in 2020-21.
■ Land Use Pattern
Agricultural land constitutes a substantial part of
Bihar’s total Geographical Area (GA). The Net Sown Area (NSA) stood at 50.77 lakh hectares,
constituting nearly 54.2% of Bihar's total geographical area in
2019-20.
The Gross Cropped Area (GCA) was 72.97 lakh hectares in 2019-20,
implying a Cropping Intensity (CI) of 144%.
■ Few Stats:
During 2019-20:
The net sown area was more than 80 percent in the
districts of Buxar
(85.1%) and Bhojpur (81.3%)
• Lowest Net Sown Area: Sheohar (0.23 lakh hectares, 53.7% )
• Highest Cropping Intensity: Sheohar (1.91)
• Lowest Cropping Intensity: Gaya (1.04)
Forest area and Tree cover data ( covered in ISFR, click to read )
■ Land Holdings: (source: Agriculture Census, 2015-16)
• The total operated area grew from 6.39 million
hectares in 2010-11 to 6.46 million hectares in 2015-16.
• The small and marginal landholdings which are less
than two hectares, account for nearly 97% of the landholdings in Bihar,
operating about 76% of the total area of operational holdings in the state.
•The marginal landholdings have shown an increase of 1.5%
between 2010-11 and 2015-16.
• The average size of landholdings in Bihar during
2015-16 is 0.39 hectares and has not changed over the previous census period
2010-11.
• The average size of landholdings stood at 0.39
hectares for both males and females.
•The average size of landholding for marginal,
semi-medium and large size class was higher for females than for males.
• Only 14.2% of the total land holdings are owned by
females in Bihar.
■ Crop Sector
The agro-climatic and topographical factors in Bihar
have led to the cultivation of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fibre, and cash
crops.
The cropping pattern has remained nearly the same over
the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21), with cereal crops accounting for more than 85%
of the total cropped area, followed by pulses (6.6 percent) and sugarcane (3.3
percent).
Foodgrains (cereals and pulses) together
accounted for about
95% of the gross cropped area in the state in 2020-21.
Given that pulses play an important role in
nutritional security and soil conservation, the State Government is focusing on
the scheme of 'Targeting
Rice Fallow Areas (TRFA)’ to encourage cultivation of pulses in
those areas.
■ Production and Productivity:
The total foodgrain production increased
from 163.11 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 to 179.52 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 (Several Errors in
Economic survey data for eg it has mentioned 17.95 lakh tonnes, which is wrong. I've tried my best to correct the erroneous data.), recording a growth of 4.91
percent.
For cereals, production increased from 158.6 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 to
175.73 lakh
tonnes in 2020-21, recording a growth rate of 5.27%. Also, the productivity
of cereals increased from 2636 kg per
hectare in 2018-19 to 2961 kg per hectare in 2020-21, which can be largely
attributed to technological improvements, assured irrigation, supply of
certified seeds, and provision of extension services.
Among the major cereals, increase in production was
noticed for rice, maize and wheat. The growth rates for production were — rice
(9.6 percent), maize (5.0 percent) and wheat (1.3 percent) in the last three
years (2018-19 to 2020-21).
Much of the growth in the production of rice and maize
can be attributed to increasing productivity, not to the expansion of acreage.
In 2020-21, the productivity of rice and maize stood at 2447 kg per hectare and
5229 kg per hectare, respectively.
■ Paddy:
Paddy is one of the widely cultivated food crops in
Bihar. The state has about 32 lakh hectare under paddy cultivation, which is
mostly rainfed covering both uplands and shallow lowland ecosystems. The area
has declined from 36 lakh ha and there has been inconsistency in its production
and productivity during the last five years.
Rice production increased from a modest quantum of 69.53 lakh tonnes in 2019-20
to 73.93 lakh
tonnes in 2020-21, recording a growth rate of 9.6% in the last three years (i.e. CAGR with t=2, from 2018-19 to 2020-21). Moreover, productivity has also
increased to 2447
kg per hectare, in 2020-21 and recorded a growth of 12.08%.
Rohtas has recorded the highest
production of rice (9.5 lakh tonnes), while Begusarai recorded the lowest (0.24
lakh tonnes).
The highest productivity of rice was recorded in West Champaran
(4620 kg per hectare), while the lowest productivity was observed in the
district of Muzaffarpur (858 kg per hectare).
- Inconsistency in the availability of irrigated water for cultivation
- Flash Floods
- Droughts
- Vagaries of monsoon
- Rising input costs
- Frequent bacterial disease
■ Wheat
Wheat is one of the most important rabi crops in
Bihar, sown during November and harvested between March and April. It is the
second most predominant food crop in Bihar which is produced in about 22 lakh hectare
land area.
The main wheat-producing area is Ganga-Diara, Kosi
basin, Begusarai district, area falling west of river Bagmati and in the
districts of Buxar, Rohtas, Gaya, Jehanabad, Patna, Munger and Bhagalpur.
The production of wheat was recorded at 66.35 lakh tonnes
in the year 2020-21, which grew
at a rate of 1.3% per annum, in the last three years. Compared with the 2019-20
levels the productivity
of wheat also increased to 2985 kg per hectare, in 2020-21; but has surprisingly
declined by 0.22% during the last three years (i.e. CAGR with t=2; from 2018-19 to 2020-21).
Rohtas
has
recorded the highest
production of wheat (6.88 lakh tonnes), while the lowest production
was observed in Arwal.
The highest productivity of wheat was recorded in Begusarai
(3641 Kg per hectare) while Jamui recorded the lowest.
- Delay in sowing
- Low levels of mechanization
- Low seed replacement rates
■ Maize
Maize is an important staple crop in Bihar and is
largely grown under different agro-ecological zones across all the districts.
This crop is useful to meet the growing demand for diversified uses such as
human consumption, animal feed (for poultry and livestock), and other
industrial uses.
Maize is the third main crop of Bihar which is
produced in about 6.7 lakh hectare land area. It is predominantly
grown in the districts of Katihar, Purnea and Begusarai.
The production of maize was recorded at 35.21 lakh tonnes
in the year 2020-21, which grew at a rate of 5% per annum, in the last three years.
The productivity of maize also increased to 5229 kg per hectare, in 2020-21. Much
of this can be attributed to increase in rabi maize.
Katihar
has recorded
the highest production of 6.86 lakh tonnes; while Araria recorded
the highest productivity at 9419 kg per hectare.
The tremendous increase in maize production could be
contributed to growing commercial value due to its use in food processing
industries and as animal feed.
The State Government is encouraging maize production
by investing in better harvesting technologies and promoting the High Yielding
Varieties (HYV) of maize in the state.
■ Pulses
Pulses form an important part of agricultural
production for their role in sustaining agricultural production by maintaining
soil fertility and adapting to different cropping systems.
In Bihar, pulses are produced in about 4.5 lakh hectare
land area. They are largely grown under rainfed conditions and, therefore, are
prone to high fluctuations in yield.
The production of pulses stood at 3.78 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, which
has declined at a rate of 8.6% per annum in the last
three years. Fortunately, the kharif pulses such as urad, moong, and ghagra
registered a positive growth in production. The productivity of pulses stood at 843 kg per hectare
in 2020-21.
Patna district recorded the highest production
of 0.60 lakh tonnes and the highest productivity was recorded in Jehanabad
at 1452 kg per hectare.
The State Government is also promoting mechanization
and grading of pulse produce to reduce their post-harvest losses.
■ Sugarcane
Sugarcane is one of the most important commercial
crops of Bihar and provides raw materials to one of the largest agro-based
industries. The first sugar factory was established in 1904 at Marhuara in the Saran district which was also the
first sugar mill in the country.
Sugarcane is grown in alluvial soil having lime as the
main ingredient. In Bihar, sugarcane is grown in about 31.6 lakh ha of the total Gross
Cropped Area of the state. It is grown west of Kosi till the northwestern
boundary. It is noted that the area lying east of Bagmati is not suitable for
sugarcane cultivation. Broadly, it is the area lying Northeast of the Bagmati
river which is considered most suitable for sugarcane cultivation.
As per the estimates of the Department of Sugarcane of the State Government, sugarcane
production stood at 108.55 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 (61.55 lakh
tonnes is wrong ). The productivity of sugarcane crop decreased from 50.85
ton per hectare in 2019-20 to 40 ton per
hectare in 2020-21.
The highest production of sugarcane was recorded in West Champaran (58.02 lakh tonnes) contributing over 53.4% of the total sugarcane production in the state in 2020-21. Gopalganj, East Champaran and Muzaffarpur are the other main sugarcane producers in the state. The highest productivity was observed in the Kishanganj district with 91.51 tonnes per hectare.
In sugar mills area, the highest sugarcane yield was
52.55 tonnes per hectare.
The productivity of sugarcane crop decreased from
50.85 ton per hectare in 2019-20 to 40
ton per hectare in 2020-21.
A major incentive scheme for sugarcane growers is the Mukhyamantri Ganna
Vikas Programme, aimed at distributing subsidized certified seeds to
farmer-beneficiaries selected through the Panchayati
Raj Institutions. The scheme provides a subsidy of ₹180 per quintal (for SC/ST ₹210 per
quintal) to farmers on purchase of certified sugarcane seed for
chosen varieties, for a maximum of 2.5 acres.
In 2020-21, against a total allotment of ₹ 1313.00 lakh, ₹ 387.44 lakh was
disbursed under the Mukhyamantri Ganna Vikas Programme. It covered primarily
three-teir seed production, distribution, and farmers’ training.
■ Bihar Agriculture Map
■ Horticulture
Horticulture is considered a new sunrise sector as it not only can provide much-needed crop diversification but can also increase farmers' income. This has emerged as one of the most important agricultural enterprises in Bihar in the last two decades, as it offers a wide range of opportunities for farmers to diversify their cropping pattern to include fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices, plantation crops, medicinal and aromatic plants.
The total production of fruits in Bihar stood at 50.02 lakh tonnes
in 2020-21, under the total acreage of 3.74
lakh hectares.
The production of major fruits in Bihar in 2020-21 was
banana (19.80 lakh
tonnes), mango (15.50 lakh tonnes), guava (4.34 lakh tonnes), litchi
(3.08 lakh tonnes), pineapple (1.14 lakh tonnes), papaya (0.95 lakh tonnes),
watermelon (0.49 lakh tonnes), muskmelon (0.22 lakh tonnes) and gooseberry
(0.16 lakh tonnes).
Except in the
case of mangoes and gooseberry, all the other fruits registered a positive
growth rate in production in the last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21).
District-wise highest in production of major fruits:
- Mangoes → Darbhanga
- Litchi → Muzaffarpur
- Banana → Madhubani
- Guava → Nalanda
Under the programme of Litchi Suraksha Abhiyan, the State
Government is promoting high-density orchards of litchi and taking steps to
increase their shelf life.
A Tissue Culture Laboratory has been established
under the Bihar
Agricultural University of Sabour to promote the cultivation of
different varieties of bananas.
Further, various programmes are being designed to
preserve the premium varieties of fruits such as Sahi Litchi of Muzaffarpur, Jardaalu mangoes of
Bhagalpur and Digha Maldah mangoes of Patna.
The overall acreage under vegetables marginally increased from 8.57 lakh hectares in 2018-19
to 9.15 lakh
hectares in 2020-21. In
2020-21, the total
vegetable production in the state stood at 179.05 lakh tonnes, increasing from
166.03 lakh tonnes in 2018-19, registering a growth rate of 3.8%. The total
vegetable production comprised potato (91.26 lakh tonnes), onion (13.28 lakh
tonnes), brinjal (12.04 lakh tonnes), tomato (11.62 lakh tonnes), cauliflower
(10.31 lakh tonnes) and a few others.
Among the major vegetables, the highest growth in production was observed
in case of cucumber
(18.7 percent),
followed by tomato (9.8 percent), potato (5.8 percent) in the last three years.
District-wise Production of four important vegetable potato, onion, cauliflower and brinjal during 2019-20:
- Patna,
- Nalanda and
- Vaishali
- Nalanda,
- West Champaran and
- Patna
- Vaishali,
- Katihar and
- Nalanda
- Nalanda
- Patna, and
- Begusarai
■ Flowers:
■ Government Schemes:
■ Saat Nishchay-2 (Seven Resolves- 2 ): Har Khet Ko Pani
■ Seed Sector Initiatives :
Seed is the most important input in modern
agriculture. Agriculture Roadmap programmes are targeted to promote the use of
HYV and hybrid varieties of crops.
The Chief Minister Crash Seed Programme is implemented
in all revenue villages of the state in which farmers get quality seed for half-acre in case of cereal crops and for one-fourth acre for oilseeds and pulses.
In 2021, a new programme for improving the seed replacement rate for oilseed and
pulses was implemented during Rabi 2021.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of
Agriculture has launched a new initiative for home delivery of seed to farmers.
This initiative has been applauded by the Government of India.
■ Organic Corridor :
The State Government is developing an Organic Corridor comprising of 13 districts. About 188 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have already been formed. More than 17000 acres of crop area have been issued with organic C-1 Certificate. The State Government has setup an organic mission to give handholding support to the farmers engaged in organic production. The State Government has also started participatory guarantee-based certification.
■ Horticulture Development Initiatives :
The State Government is implementing the Mission on
Integrated Development of horticulture in 23 districts and in the same
pattern, the Chief
Minister's Horticulture Development scheme in other 15 districts.
Apart from these two flagships schemes, several initiatives
have been started to cater to the specific needs of the farmers. In urban
areas, a new beginning has been made to promote roof top gardening. The State
Government is providing 50 percent help to adopt this practice.
Vishesh
Udyanik Utpad Yojna has been implemented to promote cluster-based
horticulture production. One crop has been identified for each
district and FPOs are formed to provide end to end solutions from production to
primary processing to marketing of horticultural produce. The State Government
is providing 90
percent subsidy to FPOs to create basic infrastructure.
The State Government is also implementing a special Makhana development
programme to increase makhana production through area expansion and
also through adoption of new technologies.
The Department of Agriculture has established two Centres of Excellence, one at Chandi for Vegetables and other at Deshri
for fruits.
In 2021, the Centre of Excellence for vegetables at Chandi provided about 20
lakh of vegetable saplings to farmers and Centre of Excellence for fruits at
Deshri provided about 5.20 lakh of fruit planting material to farmers.
The State Government is providing 90 percent subsidy on drip and micro
sprinkler systems to promote efficient use of irrigation water. An
exclusive digital application has been deployed for generation of online application
for the administration of subsidy to farmers. This has given transparency and accountability
in its administration and the scheme has found a new impetus in 2021.
For the export of agricultural commodities to foreign
destinations, the provision for issue of Phytosanitary Certificate from Patna
has been created. In 2021, it was possible to export Shahi Litchi and Zardalu Mango
to Dubai
and London
markets.
■ Agricultural Research and Education:
The State Government has sanctioned three
new agricultural colleges in 2021. A new college of Agricultural Engineering will be
established at Arrah,
a new college of Agri Business Management will be established at Patna
and a new Agri Biotechnology
college will be established at Sabour. These colleges will provide the
much-needed qualified manpower in these new frontier areas of agricultural
science.
Bihar
Agricultural University has produced a new film, based on the livelihood security of
tribal farmers through new agricultural technologies. This film, Ummed
won a national award in the National Film Festival in 2021.
Special Custom Hiring Centres for Crop Residue
Management:
Crop residue burning is a major problem in some of the
districts in Bihar. Crop residue burning leads to environmental pollution and
depletion of soil fertility. The State Government is taking several steps to
control this issue.
Large scale awareness programmes have been launched through
the Kisan
Chaupal, Radio jingles, prayers in schools and advertisements in the newspapers
from time to time.
Apart from these awareness programmes, the State
Government is providing upto 80 percent subsidy on farm machinery which is
useful for management of crop residue. This initiative is being implemented in
the year 2021 in Magadh and Patna division districts.
■ Digital Agriculture :
The Department of Agriculture has started a series of
initiatives to use digital technology for the benefit of the farmers. On the
DBT portal of the Department, more than 1.80 crore farmers are already
registered. For this, Aadhar authenticated database is used for the implementation
of various programmes such as Input subsidy, Diesel Subsidy, Pradhanmantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and various
other schemes.
The Department has also launched a new Android App
called Bihan
in technical collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation. Bihan is developed as a one-stop digital
window for all kinds of digital application in agriculture. Therefore,
it integrates various ongoing digital applications and enables new menu which
is not covered by any of the existing digital applications. The digital
dashboard and the Bihan App is now in the government to government user mode.
However, it has planned to open features of Bihan to farmers and others after
the launch of the Digital Farmers services.
■ Strengthening of Agriculture extension:
The Department of Agriculture is implementing several new
initiatives to make an effective reach of modern technology to farmers. Kisan
Chaupal is organized at Panchayat level. Kisan Pathshala is organized in the
farmer's field level. Farmers are taken for exposure visit to agriculturally
important locations.
■ Development of Agricultural Marketing:
The State Government has repealed
the erstwhile APMC Act in 2006. The existing market yards are
run as government
markets where no market fee is levied.
Post the repeal of the Act, the State Government is
developing basic infrastructure of the market yards from the State's Plan
resources. The State Government has sanctioned ₹ 254 crore for the development of 22 market yards.
Besides, a master plan for development of all the 54 market yards has already been
prepared. The master plan will be implemented with help from NABARD.
It is estimated that ₹ 2446 crore will be invested for the development
of the market yards.
The State Government has created a new BAVAS (Bihar Agri produce Value Addition System) division in the Department of Agriculture to take initiatives for organized development of market in the State. The division has already started steps to integrate few of the existing markets on the e-NAM platform.
■ Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) Program:
The State Government has taken up the Climate ResilientAgriculture (CRA) programme to deal with climate change in the
state. The programme has two components:
- A workable plan to cope with current and future climatic risks, and
- Demonstration of climate-resilient technologies in all districts of the state.
A pilot project for 8 districts (Nawada, Gaya, Nalanda, Munger, Banka, Bhagalpur, Madhubani and Khagaria) began in September 2019. Based on its outcome, the CRA programme was approved for all 38 districts of Bihar since the Rabi season of 2020.
(also read)
The salient features of the programme are as follows:
- Introduction of cropping system based on timely planting of crops as per the developed crop calendar.
- Improved climate-resilient variety which fits into good quality and is suitable for the cropping system and the crop calendar.
- Best planting methods (zero tillage, raised bed, DSR, drum seeding, line sowing, etc.) and laser land levelling.
- Best management practices (water, nutrient, and weed).
- Feasible crop diversification as per the available soil and climatic conditions.
- Short and medium duration climate-resilient crop varieties.
- Crop residue management through happy seeder, super seeder, and straw baler.
©https://bpscexampreparation.blogspot.com/
■ Few Definitions:
■ References:
• Bihar Economic Survey
• Economic Survey of India
• ISFR 2021
• Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
• Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Bihar
• Agriculture Census (2015-16)
• International Biochar Initiative
• Economic Survey of India
• ISFR 2021
• Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
• Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Bihar
• Agriculture Census (2015-16)
• International Biochar Initiative
■ Extra Links:
***
