Role of Crop Diversification in Output Growth in India: A State-Level Analysis

Pradeep Kumar Mehta

The IUP Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2009, vol. VI, issue 2, 24-42

Abstract: Diversification, as one of the major tools of policy, drew widespread attention in India in the recent past in the face of stagnant growth, incomplete agricultural transformation and low productivity. There are four dimensions of diversification—number of crops, spread of cropping pattern, proportion of high value crop in the cropping pattern and shift in cropping pattern mix. This paper examines the link between different dimensions of diversification and the growth of output in India, in the last three decades. The results show that there is great heterogeneity, in terms of typology of diversification within the states, with no clear-cut link of one type of diversification with income and risk pattern. The temporal picture shows that the role of crop diversification (change in crop mix) in the output growth is increasing in India, over time. However, the results suggest that diversification towards high value per se is not sufficient for increasing growth. It is also important that these high value crops remain remunerative over the period of time, through proper technological and market development, otherwise the gains from diversification will be meagre.

Date: 2009
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