Tamil Nadu agricultural crop diversification analysis: A GIS approach N Kavitha and S Kanaka

Abstract

Crop diversification in India means a shift from traditionally grown less remunerative crops to more remunerative crops. It depends on geo-climatic, socio-economic conditions and technological development in a region. Oring to diverse agro climatic conditions in the country, a large number of agricultural
products are produced in our country. Maize, pulses and rice area and production in Tamil Nadu during 1950-2020 is documented and studied in this paper. The area under rice increased from 2066 million hectares (MH) in 1950-60 to 2641 MH in 2070-80. Thereafter, it declined to 2173 MH in 2080-90 to 1825 in 2010-2020. Whereas the Production of Rice increased from 3133 MMT to 6183 MMT, even though area under rice declined but there is an increasing trend in the production this is mainly due to the adoption of modern technologies. GIS based Assessment of crop diversification of the rice area also reduced from the year 2000-2010 (1847439 ha) to 2010 – 2020 (1455909 ha). Rice areas were converted for other crops like maize and pulses even though there was an increase in the irrigation area. Assessment of 2000-2020 reveals that the major rice cultivation in Kanchipuram, Cuddalore and Thanjavur districts, and Puducherry decreased in terms of area.