Birbhum
- Agricultural Perspective
Birbhum is an
important district in the Rarh region having a considerable area under
undulating topography in the western part of the district. Most of the
rivers namely, Mayurakhshi, Bramhani, Hinglo, Bansloi, Kopai, Brakreswar,
Siddheswari, Dwarka etc. enter through the western side of the district
and pass through the eastern direction. There are innumerable numbers of
rivulets locally known as kandor spreading all over the district. The
river, Ajoy divides this
district from Burdwan. There are some swamp low lying areas known as beel
e.g., Langalghata, Pahanpuri, Rajchandrapur etc.
Excepting
the monsoon dry weather prevails through outbthe years in this district
with variation of temperature from 12.7 ºC to 28.3 ºC in the winter and
from 25.5 ºC to 39.4 ºC in the summer. The normal rainfall is 1430.5 mm.
The
predominant soil types are old alluvial and red lateritic with low to
medium in organic carbon & phosphate content and medium to high in
potash. The soil is acidic in nature with pH range of 5.0 to 6.5.
There
are two major irrigation sources in this district – Mayurkhshi Reservoir
Project is the biggest and Hinglow River Project is the another.
Rice
is the major crop of this district and occupies about 70% of the grossed
cropped area. The other important crops are wheat, potato, mustard,
vegetables, sugarcane and pulses.
Utilizing
the existing prospects of horticultural crops in the district, the Food
Processing Industries & Horticulture Department, Government of West
Bengal has opened up the avenues among the growers for expansion of
horticulture e.g., vegetables, fruits, flowers, spices, medicinal &
aromatic plants etc. which in turn would increase the nutritional status
as well as standard of living.
Brief
description of activities performed
The district was mainly rainfed and monocropped during the
pre-independence period when crop failure and occasional feminine was a
regular phenomenon. It has made a steady progress in agriculture during
the post-independence era through the gradual development of irrigation
facilities, introduction of high yielding varieties and adoption of
improved technology by the cultivators. Now the district has attained
surplus production in case of paddy, potato and vegetables. The
agriculture extension wing of the state Government has played the key role
in achieving this success.
Successful
implementation of the different Government Programmes/Schemes like SFPP,
OPP, NPDP, Dry Land Farming etc. of the recent past and present on going
schemes like ISOPOM, Crop Diversification, ICDP, NWDPRA, Farm
Mechanisation, Soil Health Management, Front Line Demonstration, Farmers
Training Programme, RSVY etc. have been contributing a lot to change the
outlook and mental makeup of the cultivators for increasing the level of
production and thereby raising their standard of living. There is a recent
trends in using improved crop varieties and modern technology like
balanced use of plant nutrients, judicious application of chemical
pesticides etc. after the introduction of IPM Scheme.
The
newly introduced Government Programme like Cultivation of Jatropa for
Bio-diesel production and cotton cultivation under Mini Mission –II have
also been taken up in this district.
The
immense impetus from the Panchayat functionaries and active participation
of the farmers leads the agriculture extension personnel not only in
augmenting the production and productivity of the existing crops but
introduction of new crop species for the betterment of the agrarian
society of this district.
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