Agriculture is the mainstay of Orissan economy. Nearly, 30% of its Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) comes from agriculture and 75% of the total workforce depends on agriculture. This paper analyzes the nature of structural change in Orissa and the Intersectoral variation in contribution to Gross Domestic Product. As the major focus of the study is productivity, districtwise agricultural productivity has been measured to estimate the interdistricts differences. The results show that structural transformation has many negative consequences on the social fabric as well as economic standard of the people. Furthermore, low productivity of agriculture in the State and high interdistrict variation in agricultural productivity are mainly due to the huge variation in input use and natural calamities. This paper provides the longterm sustainable solution through improved agricultural productivity and concrete policy decisions to reduce inter district disparity.
Agriculture is the vital sector in the process of economic development in any less developed
region. Agricultural progress is the pre-condition for industrial development (Nicholas, 1964).
The problem of poverty and hunger is more in the region where the density of population
is very high and the provision for gainful employment is low. In such a situation, agriculture
can play a very crucial role. Higher agricultural productivity can meet the demand for food at
a lower price. Besides, it can give gainful employment to many people. Orissa is one of the
economically backward states in India, where the incidence of poverty is very high. In such a
scenario, agricultural sector could be a potential source for poverty alleviation in Orissa.
This paper examines the nature of structural transformation of the economy in Orissa and
performance of agricultural sector. This paper is organized in seven sections. Against this
introduction, Section 2 presents a brief background of the agrarian economy of Orissa and
methodology of the study. Section 3 examines the nature of the structural transformation and
the place of agriculture in Orissa. The level of agricultural productivity and inter district
disparities are discussed in Section 4. Further Section 5 examines the relationship between
input use and productivity and Section 6 tests an empirical model to explain the determinants
of agricultural productivity. Lastly, Section 7 gives a brief picture about the summary conclusions. |
