` CHAPTER - IV
PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURE IN ORISSA:
INTERTEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIATIONS
IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE
Orissa is primarily an agrarian economy. Agriculture is the state's dominant sector with a contribution of nearly 30 per cent to the Net State Domestic Product (NSDP). About 73 per cent of total main workers are engaged in agriculture including 44.3 per cent cultivators and 28.7 per cent agricultural labourers (1991 census). Nearly 87 per cent of total population live in rural areas. Though the contribution of agriculture to NSDP has significantly declined from 67 per cent in 1951 to around 30 per cent in 1998, the percentage of workforce engaged in agriculture has remained somewhat unchanged with 73.8 per cent in 1960 and 73 per cent in 1990 (Table 4.1). This implies that there has been an overcrowding in agriculture without any perceptible increase in production. There has been a spectacular increase in disguised unemployment or underemployment in the agriculture sector with zero or near zero marginal productivity of agricultural labour. Cultivated land area remaining more or less fixed, with increase in population the land-man ratio has worsened over time. The per capita availability of cultivated land which was 0.39 ha. in 1950 has been drastically reduced to 0.17 ha. in 1999.
Percentage of cultivators to main workers has decreased from 57 per cent in 1960 to 44 per cent in 1990. By contrast the percentage of agricultural labourers to main workers has increased from 17 per cent in 1960 to 29 per cent in 1990. Thus, within a span of three decades the ratio of agricultural labourers to cultivators has increased substantially from about 3:7 in 1960 to 6.5:3.5 in 1990. This is primarily due to increase in landlessness or near landlessness on account of population growth and sub-division of land holdings among legal heirs. As the pace of industrialisation in the state is slow and has not taken off, agriculture continues to provide sources of livelihood to a significant segment of population. Therefore, agricultural growth holds the key to the overall development of the state by way of creating employment, generating income, providing raw materials to the industrial sector and last but not the least ensuring self-reliance in food production and food security to the deprived sections.
Table -4.1 |
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| Importance of Agriculture in Orissa Economy |
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Sl.
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Indicators
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1950-51
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1960-61
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1970-71
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1980-81
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1990-91
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No.
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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1
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Share of Agriculture in
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66.8*
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54.6
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30.0**
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NSDP (%)
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2
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Percentage of Total
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95.9
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93.7
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91.6
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88.2
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87.0
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Population Living in Rural
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Area
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3
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Percentage of Total
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73.8
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77.4
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74.7
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73.0
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Workforce Engaged in
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Agriculture
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a
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Percentage of Cultivators
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56.8
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49.2
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46.9
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44.3
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to Main Workers
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b
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Percentage of Agricultural
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17.0
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28.3
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27.8
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28.7
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Labourers to Main Workers
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4
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Per Capita Availability
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0.39
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0.38
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0.31
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0.18**
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Of Cultivated Land (Ha)
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Note : * Figures for 1951-52
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**Figures for 1998-99
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Source
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Government of Orissa, Economic Survey (Various Issues), and
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Statistical Abstracts of Orissa, (Various Issues)
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Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Orissa, Bhubaneswar.
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PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURE: INTER-STATE COMPARISON
Over the last two to three decades there has been stagnation in agriculture in Orissa. The yearwise area, yield rate and production of food grains have been indicated for the period 1970-1998 in Table 4.2 and Figure 4.1. A careful analysis of the trend reveals that there has been a distinct increase in area, yield and production of foodgrains in the year 1983-84. The yield of foodgrains has increased from 883 kg/ha in 1970 to 956 kg/ha in 1983. Thereafter, there has been a distinct increase in yield rate in the year 1988 and this rate has more or less sustained till 1998.
The triennium ending compound annual growth rates for area under foodgrains, production and yield have been computed for five time periods as shown in Table 4.3. The growth rates are found to be hovering around one per cent during all the time periods. During the period 1996-99 over 1970-73 the growth rates in area under foodgrains, yield and production are found to be 1.004, 1.004 and 1.011 respectively. These growth rates are much lower in comparison to other Indian states and all-India average as discussed below.
A state and region-wise analysis of levels of yield and compound growth rate as contained in Table 4.4 reveals that the average value of crop yield is the highest in the Southern region of India followed by North-western region, Eastern region and Central region. For the triennium ending 1992-95 the average value of yield is the highest for Kerala and then in descending order are Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana. For Orissa the average value of yield was only Rs.5979 per hectare whereas it was Rs.15626 for Kerala, Rs.14073 for Tamil Nadu, Rs.13597 for Punjab and Rs.7388 for all-India. As regards annual compound growth rate of yield over the period 1962-92, it is computed to be the highest for North-Western region followed by Southern region, Central region and Eastern region. A statewise comparison indicates that the per cent annual compound growth rate is the highest for Haryana (3.2) followed by Punjab (3.1) and Andhra Pradesh (2.8). In Orissa the compound annual percentage growth rate is only 1.3, whereas for all-India it is 2.3.
Table-4.2
Area, Yield and Production of Foodgrains in Orissa
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Year
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Area
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Yield
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Production
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('000 Ha.)
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(kg/Ha)
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('000mt)
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1970-71
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5781
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883
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5104
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71-72
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5950
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732
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4354
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72-73
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5915
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822
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4860
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73-74
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6218
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881
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5480
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74-75
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5992
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663
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3971
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75-76
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6484
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848
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5500
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76-77
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6038
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675
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4075
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77-78
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6519
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853
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5561
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78-79
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6680
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863
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5765
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79-80
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6455
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600
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3872
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80-81
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6909
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865
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5977
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81-82
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6738
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822
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5538
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82-83
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6417
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731
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4688
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83-84
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7323
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956
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7001
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84-85
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6652
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843
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5609
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85-86
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7043
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989
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6968
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86-87
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7010
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910
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6378
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87-88
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6728
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752
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5058
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88-89
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6856
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1021
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7002
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89-90
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6972
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1144
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7974
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90-91
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7089
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992
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7031
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91-92
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7252
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1141
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8273
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92-93
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6946
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993
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6898
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93-94
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7208
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1140
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8216
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94-95
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7120
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1122
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7986
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95-96
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7194
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1101
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7923
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96-97
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6360
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841
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5347
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97-98
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6616
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1105
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7311
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98-99
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6516
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965
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6288
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S.D.
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442.30
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153.30
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1331.14
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C.V. (%)
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6.6
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16.9
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21.9
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Source: 1. Government of Orissa, Agricultural Statistics of Orissa- At a Glance, 1996, 2. Orissa Agricultural Statistics, (Various Issues); Directorate of Agriculture & Food Production, Orissa, Bhubaneswar.
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FIGURE - 4.1
Table-4.3 |
Growth Rates of Area, Yield and Production of Foodgrains in Orissa
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Period
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Triennium Compound Annual Growth Rate
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Area
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Yield
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Production
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1980-83 over 1970-73
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1.013
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0.999
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1.012
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1990-93 over 1980-83
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1.006
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1.025
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1.032
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1996-99 over 1990-93
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0.985
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0.989
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0.975
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19996-99 over 1980-83
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0.998
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1.012
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1.010
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1996-99 over 1970-73
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1.004
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1.004
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1.011
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Source: Computed from Agricultural Statistics of Orissa-At A Glance, 1996; Agricultural Statistics,
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(Various issues); Directorate of Agriculture & Food Production, Orissa, Bhubaneswar.
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