BPSC-Topic Agriculture and Allied Sectors in Bihar

The average annual rainfall in Bihar for the last decade (2000-09) was estimated to be 1091.08 mms. But, in 2005, the rainfall was 897.40 mms and in 2009 it was 868.61 mms.This indicates severe drought situation in 2005 and 2009. Drought occurred due to shortfalln south west monsoon in both these years.

The area under net sown area has undergone a marginal change. In 2007-08, net sown area was 60.5 percent as compared to 59.4 percent in 2005-06. The increase in net sown area is 109 thousand hectares. The cropping intensity has also shown a marginal increase from 1.33 in 2005-06 to 1.37 in 2007-08. This implies an additional 368 thousand hectares under cultivation in 2007-08 over 2005-06. Land under both fallow and current fallow have registered a decrease in 2007-08. This indicates that, with growing population, the pressure on land is now even higher.

 Because of various levels of irrigation facility, the intensity of cropping across the districtsvaries considerably, from 1.10 at Jamui to 1.76 in Saharsa.

The average productivity of three important cereals are — 1454 kgs/ha for rice, 2126 kgs/ha for wheat and 2746 kgs/ha for maize. Of the two pulses groups, the average productivity in Bihar is 984 kgs/ha (kharif pulses) and 753 kgs/ha (rabi pulses). These productivity figures relate to triennium average ending 2008-09. In 2007-08, taking into account the productivity of rice, three districts with the highest productivity levels were Buxar (2731 kgs/ha), Aurangabad (2472 kgs/ha) and Lakhisarai (2472 kgs/ha). For wheat, West Champaran tops with 3150 kgs/ha and for maize, Samastipur heads the list with 6287 kgs/ha.

Bihar has a prime position in the production of several vegetable crops. In 2008-09, Bihar’sproduction levels were potato (50.34 lakh tonnes), onion (9.47 lakh tonnes), tomato (10.37 lakh tonnes), cauliflower (10.44 lakh tonnes) and brinjal (11.86 lakh tonnes). For fruits production four important crops are mango, guava, litchi and banana. In 2008-09 Bihar could produce 13.30 lakh tonnes of mango, 2.29 lakh tonnes of guava, 2.17 lakh tonnes of litchi and 13.74 lakh tonnes of banana.

The commercial production of flowers is taking place on large scale in the state in view of rising demand. Important flower crops are rose, gladiolus, jasmine (bela), marigold and tuberose. In 2008-09, the production level of these flowers were – 67 tonnes of rose, 4429 tonnes of marigold, 270 tonnes of jasmine and 365 tonnes of tuberose. Major flower producing districts are Patna, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur and Gaya.

During the period 2000-01 to 2008-09, the total irrigated area has increased from 44.6 lakh hectares to 49.2 lakh hectares. In 2008-09, about 55.3 percent of the total irrigated area in Bihar came from tubewells (both private and state). These tubewells are often run on diesels which is expensive, in the absence of adequate supply of power. Irrigation from surface canals, both major & minor, is important in 8 districts – Rohtas, Kaimur, Bhojpur, Buxar, Aurangabad, Banka, Munger and Lakhisarai. These are rice producing districts of Bihar

The roadmap of agriculture drawn up by the present state government puts emphasis on the use of certified seeds. Because of this initiative, the SRR for major crops like rice, wheat and maize has increased significantly in the state during the last five years. Amoung kharif crops SRR has increase from 14 percent in 2007-08 to 31.0 percent in 2010-11 for paddy. For reabi crops SRR has increase from 15 percent in 2007-08 to 25.3 percent in 2009-10 for wheat.

The total consumption of fertilizer in Bihar was 32.25 lakh tonnes in 2006-07. In 2007-08, it increased to 36.49 lakh tonnes with a growth rate of 13.1 percent. In 2008-09, it increased further by 10.9 percent to reach a level of 40.46 lakh tonnes.The per hectare consumption of fertilizer went upto 181.11 kgs in 2009-10 from a level of 141.7 kgs three years ago.

Farmer's training through Farmers Field Schools (Kisan Pathsala) has gained prominence in recent times. Krishi Vikash Shivir, programme for interaction between agricultural scientists and farmers, is providing a platform for technology-transfer. One of the major initiative in this regard is to arrange for minikit distributions at the Panchayat or village level. This minikit programme covers as many as seven crops in kharif- paddy, maize, arhar, urad,moong, castor and sesamum. For rabi cultivation, the demonstration again include seven crops-wheat, maize, gram, masoor, pea, mustard and rajmah.

In 2008-09, 3028 power tillers were provided to farmer on subsidy. The number of power tillers given to farmer rose to 4041 in 2009-10.In last two years (2008-09 and 2009-10) a toal number of 7069 power tillers were given to farmer on subsidy. As a part of the process of modernization of agriculture in Bihar, the state government is providing subsidies to farmers over and above the subsidy admissible under the centrally sponsored schemes for acquisition of tractors, harvesters etc.

In 2009-10, around 13.40 lakh farmers of Bihar had access to facility of Kisan Credit Card.For the years 2004-05 to 2009-10, in might be noted that actual credit flow as percentage of annual targets has been around 80 percent. In absolute terms, total credit flow to agriculture has increased by 273 percent between 2004-05 and 2009-10.

Fish production in the state has been showing a steady growth. In 2004-05, the total production of fish in Bihar was 2.67 lakh tonnes. There was steady increase of fish production thereafter and it reached to a level of 3.06 lakh tonnes in 2008-09.