Agriculture Scenario

GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION

Keonjhar is a land locked district with an area of 8240 km2. It is situated in the northern part of Orissa. It is surrounded by Singhbhum district of Jharkhand in the North, Jajpur in the South, Dhenkanal and Sundargarh in the West and Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak in the East.

 

Geographical Area

8,31,000 ha

Geographical Location

Latitude – 21°01'N and 22°10'N

Longitude – 85°11'E and 86°22'E

Geographical Boundary

North- Singhbhum Dist. of Jharkhand

South- Jajpur  Dist.

East- Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak Dist.

West -Dhenkanal and Sundergarh  Dist.

 

 

AGRO-ECOLOGICAL SITUATION

 

Phytogeographically, the vegetation of Keonjhar district comes under two major divisions, north central plateau zone and northern central coastal plain. The district is covers under two agro climatic zone and six agro-ecological situations as indicated below:

 

 

                      

ACS and AES of Keonjhar District

Sl. No

Agro-climatic Zone

Agro-ecological situations

Blocks covered

Broad Soil groups

1

North Central Plateau Zone

Low elevation, Medium rainfall

Ghasipura

Alluvial

 

 

Medium elevation, Low rainfall

Jhumpura & Saharpada

Red Lateritic

 

 

Medium elevation , Medium rainfall

Keonjhar, Patna, Telkoi, Joda, Harichandanpur

Red Lateritic

 

 

Medium elevation, High rainfall

Ghatagaon, Champua

Red Lateritic

 

 

High elevation, High rainfall

Banspal

Red Lateritic

2

North Central Coastal Plain

Low elevation, low rainfall

Hatadihi  & parts of Anadpur,

Alluvial

 

 

SOIL

The soils of Keonjhar, by and large, constitute 75% red soil 2 to 5% mixed red and black soils and rest 20-23% red and yellow soils. The soils are mostly acidic in reaction; light textured in surface but heavier in sub-soil and are in low available K status. The major the major crops grown in the region are paddy, Maize,Blackgram,Greengram,Arhar,Horsegram,Sesamum,Nigerm,Mustard,Wheat,Mango,Guava,Citrus,Banana,Tomato,Brinjal,Cabbage,Cauliflower,Okra,Sweet Potato

 

 

Table 5, Major Soil of Keonjhar District

 

S. No

Soil type

Characteristics

Area (000ha)

Percent (%)

1

Red Soil

Presence of excess amounts iron oxide, has sub angular blocky structure

Mostly acidic, low OM content, N and available P, Deficient in Ca, Mg, B and Mo. Poor water retention capacity

342.0

41.2

2

Mixed red and yellow

Moderately acidic, low in N and P, rich in K.

241.0

29.0

3

Mixed red and black

Neutral in reaction, medium fertility status, Ca and Fe are moderately present, Deficient in Mo

91.4

11.0

4

Lateritic

Rich in hydrated oxides of Fe and Al with small amount of manganese. Poor in N, P, OM and has medium level of   K. Mild to strong acidic. P fixation is high. Available sulphur is low

83.0

10.0

5

Alluvial

Light textured soils with low WHC, base saturation, fertility. Usually acidic to neutral and alkaline. Drainage is poor due to low permeability. Deficient in N,P,S and medium in K

73.0

8.8

            Figure shows that 41.2 percent soils are red soil, 29 percent mixed red and yellow, 11 % mixed red and black, 10% lateritic followed by 8.8% are alluvial in nature across the district.

 

Sandy soils are found in uplands and clayey soils are in low land. Soils of Ghasipura Patna and Anadnpur blocks are red soils and the rest 10 blocks are laterite soils. 31% of area comprise of acid soils, 61% neutral and 8% are alkaline in nature. In so far as nutrient index of the district is concerned, N is medium (1.90), P is low (1.21) and K is medium (2.36).

Table 6: Soil Fertility Indices (Figures in Percentage)                                                  (For latest year)

 

                                         

Sl. No.

Block

PH

EC(ds/m)

% of area under Soil Salinity

Organic Carbon

Available N (Kg/ha)

Available P (Kg/ha)

Available K (Kg/ha)

 

Acidic

Neutral

Alkaline

Low

Medium

High

Low

Medium

High

Low

Medium

High

Low

Medium

High

Low

Medium

High

 

1

Keonjhar

68

23

9

100

--

--

0

54

39

7

54

39

7

47

44

9

38

50

12

 

2

Saharpada

73

19

8

100

--

--

0

58

32

10

58

32

10

40

50

10

32

48

20

 

3

Banspal

60

37

2

100

--

--

0

48

37

15

48

37

15

68

22

10

30

49

21

 

4

Telkoi

88

10

3

100

--

--

0

73

25

2

73

25

2

80

15

5

20

55

25

 

5

Ghatagaon

62

33

2

100

--

--

0

43

48

9

43

48

9

52

33

15

18

45

37

 

6

Patna

82

14

5

100

--

--

0

43

49

8

43

49

8

64

24

12

15

65

20

 

7

Harichandanpur

70

28

4

100

--

--

0

56

37

7

56

37

7

41

49

10

15

67

18

 

8

Anandapur

55

35

10

100

--

--

0

56

38

6

56

38

6

68

24

8

20

55

25

 

9

Ghasipura

78

17

5

100

--

--

0

41

54

5

41

54

5

49

39

12

18

62

20

 

10

Hatadihi

65

23

12

100

--

--

0

60

28

12

60

28

12

42

43

15

20

58

22

 

11

Champua

60

35

5

100

--

--

0

40

41

9

40

41

9

55

27

18

15

55

30

 

12

Jhumpura

76

22

2

100

--

--

0

48

45

7

48

45

7

48

40

12

18

57

25

 

13

Joda

80

15

5

100

--

--

0

40

48

12

40

48

12

53

37

10

14

61

25

 

Total:-

71

24

5

100

 

 

0

48

43

9

48

43

9

53

35

12

20

55

25

 

 

CLIMATE

 

The climate of the district is characterized by an oppressively hot summer with high humidity. Summer generally commences in the month of March. Temperature begins to rise rapidly attaining the maximum in the month of May. During the Summer maximum temperature is 38.20 C. The weather becomes more pleasant with the advent of the monsoon in June and remains as such up to the end of October. The temperature in the month of December is lowest i.e. 11.70 C. Sometimes it even drops down to 70 C. The average annual rainfall is 1534.5 mms. The month wise rainfall are stated below:

 

AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Agriculture is main sector of the district which provides livelihood to nearly two-thirds of total workforce in the district. The area under irrigation is about 24 percent of the total cultivated area. Agriculture is the backbone of the district economy. Therefore,  it  is  essential  to  deal  with  this  sector  in  a  proper  way to increase 4 % agricultural growth in the 12th fifth year plan. Heavy pressure on land has resulted in large scale unemployment and under employment in the rural area. Keonjhar district is having 53 % upland followed by 34 % medium and 13 % low land. The district is rich in both groundwater and surface water resources. About 63308 ha  of the total irrigated area (31.06lakh ha)  is irrigated during Kharif season and 31897 ha  is irrigated (assured irrigation) during Rabi season. As per the ground water resources assessed during 2009, the total annual replenishable ground water resources in the district is 81323 ham. The block wise ground water resources are given in Table 3. Around 4130 ham of the total ground water is used in domestic and industrial water supply. The available ground water resource for irrigation in net terms is 61690 ham. Net ground water availability for future irrigation development is 113353 ham. Over all the present level of ground water development is only 25.55 percent in the district with the maximum in Anandapur block viz. 44.84% and minimum in Bansapal block 11.1%. Hence the district as well as all the blocks come under the white category. Therefore, the challenge before the agriculture department today is to ‘produce more from less’ i.e., more nutritious food from less land, water and other resources. Another challenge is to protect what we produce. These can be accomplished only through new technologies as the existing technologies do not seem to be adequate. Recent advances made in biotechnology offer exciting opportunities to address some of these challenges. Transgenic technology in crops is one of the most powerful methods and has already made some breakthrough in this endeavour.

Ground Water Resoureces of  the District.

 

Sl. No.

Assessment unit/block

Net Annual Ground Water Availability

Existing gross ground water draft for irrigation

Existing gross ground water draft for domestic and industrial water supply

Existing gross ground water draft for all uses

Allocation for domestic and industrial requirement supply up to next 25 years

Net ground water availability for future irrigation development

Stage of ground water development (%)

1

Anandapur

3615

1474

147

1621

172

1969

44.84

2

Banspal

8895

864

123

987

146

7885

11.10

3

Champua

3947

1192

424

1616

177

2578

40.94

4

Ghashipura

5880

1391

173.28

1564

233

4256

26.60

5

Ghatagaon

8385

931

149.81

1081

179

7275

12.89

6

Harichandanpur

7470

1033

168.90

1202

226

6212

16.09

7

Hatadihi

7385

2504

229.98

2734

275

4606

37.02

8

Jhumpura

4960

1263

154

1417

173

3524

28.57

9

Joda

3926

637

1824

2461

715

2574

62.68

10

Keonjhar

7966

1865

368.28

2233

239

5862

28.03

11

Patna

5731

1562

128.64

1691

161

4009

29.51

12

Saharapada

5648

1147

122

1269

135

4366

22.47

13

Telkoi

7515

782

117

899

159

6574

11.96

District Total

81323

16645

4130

20775

2990

61690

25.55

 Paddy is the subsistence crop and grown as a major cereal in the district. Apart from paddy, green gram, black gram, gram etc. are grown in the district. Paddy production has substantially increased from 278 thousand MTs in 2008-09 to 413.09 thousand MTs in 2013-14. The paddy cultivated is an area of 1,75,370 ha. Out of which upland paddy area is 1.58 lakh ha followed by medium land paddy area is 1.01 lakh ha and low land paddy is 0.38 lakh ha. Commercial crops like Jute and potato are grown in the district.  The climate is conducive for oil seeds and pulses.

 

Land Utilisation Statistics (Year-2014-15)          (Area in hectares)

Sl no

Block

Geographical Area

Forest

Land put to non agricultural uses

Culturable waste land

Permanent Pastures & other grazing land

Misc. tree crops & grooves not included in net area sown

Current fallow

Other fallow uncultivable land

Net area sown

Gross cropped area

Cropping Intensity in %

1

Anandpur

36824

5293

 6473

3024

1657

413

1130

1522

17312

26633

153.8%

2

Ghasipura

40938

5742

 6328

3491

1988

320

1268

2120

19681

29243

148.6%

3

Hatadihi

44488

8600