VEGETATION
OF ODISHA
VEGETATION OF ODISHA
The major crops are rice, pulses, oil seeds, jute, coconut and turmeric. The crops like tea, cotton, groundnut and rubber
are of great economic importance in other parts. Odisha contributes one tenth of the total rice produced in the country.
Other important food grains include pulses like gram, tur and arhar and Oilseeds like groundnut, mustard and castor oil.
Apart from food grains various cash crops are also cultivated in the state. These include Jute, mesta, sugarcane, tobacco,
rubber, tea, coffee and turmeric. These are cultivated across different geographical areas of Odisha. Odisha stands fourth
in the production of jute in the country after West Bengal , Bihar and Assam. Rice and jute, compete with each other as
they require almost similar soil and climatic conditions. Cultivation of jute is primarily confined to the coastal plains of
Cuttack, Balasore and Puri districts.
RICE GROWN IN ODISHA
Rice covers about 69% of the cultivated area and is the major crop, covering about 63% of the total area under food grains. It is the staple food of almost
the entire population of Odisha; therefore, the state economy is directly linked with improvements in production and productivity of rice in the state. In
the 1950s Odisha was a leading rice-producing state in the country and it used to supply a sizable amount of rice grain to the central pool of food stocks.
But, the situation was strongly reversed in the post-high-yielding variety (HYV) period. However, during the last 35 years, the state’s rice area has
stagnated around 4 million hectares, about 10% of the total rice area of the country. Odisha’s share in the country’s rice production was more than 11% in
the pre-HYV period, which gradually declined to 7.9% in 2008-09. Rice in Odisha is now grown on an area of 4.4 million hectares, which accounts for
91% of the area under cereals and contributes about 94% of total cereal production in the state. In fact, the introduction of high-yielding varieties did not
have any perceptible impact on rice production and productivity for over two decades: per hectare yield fluctuated between 800 and 977 kg. Yield,
however, showed a substantial upward trend from 1986 onward; nonetheless, productivity continued to remain much below the national average.
Contribution to GDP Agriculture is the mainstay of the state economy and the principal substance of the life of the people. Odisha is an agrarian state
with the agricultural and animal husbandry sector contributing 21.1% of net state domestic product (NSDP) in 2007-08 at 1999- 2000 prices and
providing employment (direct or indirect) to 70% of its population as per the 2001 census. The share of gross state domestic product (GSDP) from
agriculture during 2007- 08 at constant prices 1993-94 and at constant prices 1999-2000 was 19.5%. Therefore, agriculture plays an important role in the
economy and livelihood of Odisha people (Odisha Agricultural Statistics 2008-09). Geography of the state Odisha is located in the subtropical belt in
eastern India from 17°31´ to 20°31´N latitude and 81°31´ to 87°30´E longitude. It is bounded by Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west.
CRPS GROWN IN ODISHA
As Odisha meets a majority of its vegetables and fruits requirement from neighbouring states, the State government on
Thursday constituted a committee to prepare a work plan for achieving self-sufficiency in production.
The committee headed by Agriculture Production Commission Raj Kumar Sharma has been mandated to prepare a target
specific and time bound work plan for up-scaling the fruit and vegetable production in the context of different agro-
climatic zones of Odisha.
The Agriculture Department was asked to take inputs from the experts, farmers and agri-entrepreneurs and suggest the
interventions required in terms of the agri-input, post-harvest management, cold storage and market linkage.
THANK YOU
