Objectives: The study aims to assess the status and magnitude of income generated from crop diversification and how it is impacted by various factors in different climatic conditions. It also examines the viability of crop diversification related to several household necessities and food security.
Methods: The analysis is done via secondary data from Ministry of Agriculture. The data covers crops and allied sectors to evaluate the income generated from crop diversification and its magnitude. The gross cropped area (GCA) is also examined for major crops in order to assess the change in area and how production and yield are affected. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques are comprised for an extensive analysis of the crop diversification issue to reach concluding remarks. The term crop diversification can be interpreted in several ways such as shift from agricultural to non-agricultural, shift from food grains to High Yielding Variety (HYV).
Findings: It was found that the share of forestry and logging has declined in agricultural income while fisheries and livestock have gained. Several crop groups have also gained. However there was a loss in fodder crops, pulses and cereals. Results of change in area, production and yield indicate gains for cotton, gram, sugarcane, wheat and maize. The percentage of GCA has only increased for certain major crops while the others are becoming negative. Crop diversification is intended to give a wider choice in the production of variety of crops in a given area so as to expand production related activities and lessen risk.
Application: The future strategy towards crop diversification should favor sustainable crop instead of water incentive crops. Dual objective of food and nutritional security along with higher income for farmers will not be a distant dream with proper implementation and execution of crop diversification.