AJAERD

Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

Vol. 4(2), pp. 477-486, August, 2018. © www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 2167-0477

Research Article

Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or

Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
*Debasis Mithiya1 and Kumarjit Mandal2
1
Guest Professor of Economics, Department of Business Administration, International School of Hospitality
Management, Kolkata, India
2
Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

The present study is an attempt to explain crop diversification and crop concentration in
agriculture in different districts of West Bengal. The study is based on secondary data. The
Simpson’s index has been used to estimate diversification. The results show that all the districts
and the state of West Bengal have higher crop diversification magnitude in new millennium as
compared to the nineties. The regional (district-wise) crop concentration co-efficient indices have
also been calculated. Rice is dominant crop for all the districts in West Bengal. In highly-
diversified regions, the farmers concentrate on producing high value non-cereal crops rather than
rice. However, in the region where diversification is comparatively low and moderate,
concentration of rice has been found to be high. The findings indicate that the level of crop
diversification and rice concentration move in opposite direction, whereas in the case of jute,
vegetables, pulses and oilseeds, both crop diversification and crop concentration move in the
same direction. There is no specific relationship between crop concentration and diversification
in the case of potato.

Keywords: Crop diversification, Simpson’s index, crop concentration, rank correlation, crop combination
JEL Classification: Q10, C43

INTRODUCTION

West Bengal is a densely populated state in India with a
population density of 1030 persons/sq.KM next to Bihar
(India Population, 2017). It is an important state of India in
the context of agricultural production. The state had
contributed 9.73 percent of national production and
covered 4.88 percent area in the year 2014-15. Agriculture
occupies an important position in West Bengal economy.
The state has a gross cropped area of 9.6 million hectares
during 2014-15 and contributed around 18.81percent to
the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2014-15
(Government of India, 2016).
crops include pulses, oilseeds and vegetables. The state
supplies nearly 90 percent of the potato and 66 percent of
the jute requirement of India. Tea is another important
cash crop. West Bengal, the second largest tea-producing
state in India, produced 329.3 million kg of tea in 2014-15
accounting for about 27.8 percent of the country's total tea
production. In 2015-16, West Bengal produced
approximately 2.38 million tonnes of sugarcane and 3.1
million tonnes of fruits. (West Bengal, 2011).

The state is the largest producer of rice in India with an
annual output of around 16.1 million tonnes in the financial
year (FY) 2015-16. It is the second-largest producer of
potato in the country with an average annual output of 11
million tonnes in FY 2015-16. Rice, potato, jute, sugarcane
and wheat are the top five crops of the state. Other major
*Corresponding author: Debasis Mithiya, Guest
Professor of Economics, Department of Business
Administration, International School of Hospitality
Management, Kolkata, India. Tel: 9830813811;
E-mail: drdebasis.mithiya@gmail.com; Co-Author Email:
2kumarjitm@hotmail.com; Tel: 9432645845

Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
Mithiya and Mandal 478
Even after seventy years of independence, agriculture in
West Bengal has been facing a problem of uncertainty and
low income of farmers. Crop diversification may resolve
these problems. Crop diversification refers to the
introduction of different kinds of crops i.e., minor crops and
horticultural crops along with conventional major crops at
the farm level. Crop diversification expresses the regional
perspective and depicts the distribution of the crop shares
in its overall economy. A region is highly diversified if a
large number of agricultural crops constitute the output
basket, each having a relatively small share. Agricultural
diversification construed in the sense of a shift in cropping
pattern towards high value crops undoubtedly accelerate
agricultural development (Dasgupta, 2014). A marked shift
in cropping pattern away from food grains has occurred in
West Bengal since economic liberalization (Annex Table
1). The share of cropped area under non-food grains has
increased substantially over the past two and a half
decades (Mithiya et al., 2018).
One important question that may arise along with crop
diversification in West Bengal is whether agricultural
activities in West Bengal have become more regionally
dispersed.
The answer to this question begs the concept of crop
concentration, or the geographic/regional concentration of
a specific crop. Regional concentration of a specific crop
reflects the distribution of its regional shares. A highly-
concentrated crop will be a very large part located in a
small number of regions. In other words, crop
concentration means the variations in the density of
any crop in a region at a given point of time.
Therefore, crop concentration and crop diversification are
the two fundamental elements of agricultural economy that
determine the cropping pattern of a region. Consequently,
knowledge about crop concentration and diversification in
a region may be considered very useful in proper
agricultural land use planning. So, the knowledge of crop
concentration and diversification not only provides an idea
of crops that dominate a particular region but also guides
the land use planning and thereby strengthen the
agricultural economy (Basu Roy P, 2014).
Many studies have approached the issues of both crop
diversification and regional concentration of crops, which
are considered by many as “two sides of the same coin”.
This has been an important aspect for West Bengal's
economy in the face of transition to the market economy
that has necessitated the overhaul of the agrarian
structure. Further changes are expected in order to
accommodate the newer challenges. Moreover, the
ongoing international phenomena have been bringing
1Due to non-availability of disaggregated data for both South and
North Dinajpur from 1990-91 to 1995-96, we have considered
Dinajpur as a single district in the name of West Dinajpur. The
Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
about new challenges and the need for agricultural sector
to rise up to such challenges cannot be overstated
(Goschin Zizi et al., 2009).
The aim of our research is to investigate whether
agricultural activities in West Bengal have become more
regionally (district-wise) dispersed or not and whether the
economic structure of the regions (districts) is converging
or not. The study also tries to relate the crop diversification
with such agricultural activities.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Data and Study Area
The study focuses on 17 major districts 1 of West Bengal
from 1991-92 to 2013-14 (Mithiya et al., 2018). The
secondary data on an area under different crops at district
level and state level for West Bengal have been collected
from different issues of “District Statistical Hand Books”,
which is published by the Bureau of Applied Economics &
Statistics, Department of Statistics & Programme
Implementation, Government of West Bengal.
Objectives
The specific objectives of this study are:
1. To analyze the nature of crop diversification in different
regions (districts) of West Bengal.
2. To determine the pattern of crop concentration in
different regions (districts) of West Bengal,
3. To find the relationship between crop diversification
and crop concentration to determine whether West
Bengal agriculture is regionally dispersed or not.
Determination of Crop Diversification
There are quite a few methods, which explain either
specialization or diversification of commodities or activities
in a given time and space by a single indicator. Important
ones include:
Index of maximum proportion, Ogive Index, and Herfindahl
Index. Two other indices are also considered as inverse
measures of concentration. They are Entropy Index and
Modified Entropy Index. These two measures are widely
used by agricultural economists for analyzing
diversification of agriculture (Singh et al., 1985; Shiyani
and Pandya, 1998).
Another one is Simpson’s Index (SI). Simpson’s Index is
expressed as:
𝑁
SI = 1 –∑𝑖=1 𝑃𝑖2
district of Midnapore has been administratively divided after
2005. However, the agricultural division was done in the 90s. So
East Midnapore and West Midnapore are considered separately.

Pi is the proportionate area (or value) of crop activity in the
gross cropped area (or total value of output) and N is the
total number of crops.
Each method has some limitation and/or superiority over
the other. However, the Simpson’s index takes into
account both richness (the number of crop species present
in a particular area) and evenness (the relative abundance
of different crop species) of crops present in a particular
area. As crop richness and evenness increase, diversity
increases. Thus, the Simpson’s index provides a clear
dispersion of crops in a particular area. The Simpson’s
index ranges between 0 and 1. If there exists complete
specialization, the index moves towards zero and away
from zero implies diversification. The most widely used
method for measuring diversity in recent times is
Simpson’s index. It is easy to compute and interpret (Joshi
et al., 2004). Considering our objective of assessing the
extent of diversity in crop activities, Simpson’s index has
been used.
Determination of Crop Concentration
The issues of changes in cropping patterns and of the
restructuring of crop production have been examined by
numerous studies. The main methodological approaches
include mathematical programming models and Multiple
Criteria Analysis in major developed countries and some
of the underdeveloped countries. Most of these studies
focus on the achievement of goals through the
maximization of an objective function, but do not examine
the factors that lead to the formulation of particular
cropping patterns and activities. However, the use of
concentration index regarding the description of the
agricultural sector has been limited. In our study we have
used the crop concentration index.
Crop concentration indicates the variation in the density of
crop in a particular area at a particular period of time. The
crop concentration in an area largely depends on
environmental and social factors and also depends on
government policies. The Crop Concentration Coefficient
(C.C) for a particular area i is derived as follows (Eveline
et al., 2010):
𝐴𝑖𝑗
𝐴𝑗
C.C = 𝑛 the theoretical standard, ‘n’ is the number of crops in a
∑𝑖=1 𝐴𝑖𝑗
∑𝑗 𝐴𝑗
Where,
Aij = Total Cropped area under i th crop in j th district
Aj = Total Cropped Area in jth district
∑ 𝐴𝑖𝑗 = Gross Cropped Area under ith crop in State and
∑ 𝐴𝑗 = Total Gross Cropped Area of the State
2 any section reserved for a specific function
Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 479
When the level of concentration of a crop in a particular
district is same as the state average, the C.C is 1. When
the concentration level of a crop in particular district is
higher, the C.C is more than 1.
Determination of Rank Correlation Co-efficient
To measure the relationship between crop diversification
and crop concentration, we have used Spearman’s rank
correlation coefficient. The Spearman’s correlation
coefficient is based on the ranked values for each variable
rather than the raw data.
The formula of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient is
6∑𝑑 2
rho = 1 −
(𝑛3 −𝑛)
Where,
rho = Rank correlation co-efficient
d = Difference between rank of variables
n = Number of observations
Spearman’s rank correlation is often used to evaluate
relationships involving ordinal variables. Spearman’s
Correlation coefficients is the only measure of monotonic
relationships.
Determination of Crop Combination
Another important concept in agriculture is crop
combination. Prof. John C. Weaver presented a valuable
statistical method of crop combination analysis in 1954 in
his study of crop combination regions in the Middle West,
USA. He takes into consideration the percentage of crop
area to the total cropped area and has calculated the
deviation of real percentage for all the possible
combination in the areal2 units against a theoretical
standard. The theoretical standard is 100 percent for the
gross cropped area for monoculture, 50 percent for two
crop combination, 33.3 percent for three crop combination,
25 percent for four crop combination, 20 percent for five
crop combination and so on. Mathematically:
√∑ 𝑑 2
SD =
𝑛
Where ‘d’ is the difference between the actual crop
percentage in a district and the appropriate percentage in
given combination. However, the reduced form of the
formula which is generally used in practice does not
involve the square root. So, the actual formula becomes:
√∑ 𝑑 2
SD =
𝑛
Mithiya and Mandal 480
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Nature of Crop Diversification
The district-wise Simpson’s Index (SI) of crop
diversification in West Bengal for different decades is
presented in Annex Table 2. The successively increasing
value of SI indicates increased level of diversification. The
lower value of the index on the other hand indicates
increasing specialization. The calculated SI for different
districts as well as the state as a whole shows that all the
districts and the state of West Bengal as a whole have a
higher crop diversification since 2000 compared to the
previous decades.
On the basis of the magnitude of SI, we have categorized
the districts in three groups, namely low, moderate and
high diversified districts which is presented in Table 1.
Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, North 24 Parganas, Hoogly,
Coochbihar and Darjeeling always belong to the high
group, whereas Purulia is in the low category throughout
the period under study. South 24 Parganas and Birbhum
belong to the low category in sub-period I i.e, TE
(Triennium Ending) 1993-94 but they shifted to the
moderate group in the subsequent two sub-periods. This
implies that Birbhum and South 24 Parganas have slowly
moved towards diversification.
Bankura, Burdwan, Howrah, East Midnapore and West
Midnapore always remained in the moderately diversified
group. Jalpaiguri and West Dinajpur are in the moderate
category of diversification in sub-period I, but interestingly
moved up to the category of high diversification in the
successive two sub-periods.
Pattern of Crop Concentration (District-wise)
To examine the pattern of shift in crop cultivation in
different districts, the coefficients of crop concentration
have been calculated. The coefficients of crop
concentration for all the districts of West Bengal are
presented in Annex Table 3. To analyze the district wise
crop concentration, the study focuses on rice, wheat,
pulses, oilseeds, jute, potato and vegetables (data for
vegetables are available since late 90s).
Table 1: Crop diversification in terms of Simpson’s index during 1991-92 to 2013-14
Diversification TE 1993-94
Level Value Name of the Districts
High 0.70 ≥ SI ≤ 1 Nadia, Murshidabad,
Malda, Darjeeling, North
24 Parganas, Hoogly,
Coochbihar,
Moderate 0.50 ≥ SI ≤ 0.69 West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri,
Burdwan, Howrah,
West Midnapore, East
Midnapore, Bankura,
Low 0.25 ≥ SI ≤ 0.49 Birbhum, Purulia, South
24 Parganas,
Source: Annex Table 2
Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
Table 2 shows that Nadia, Malda and Murshidabad among
the highly diversified districts. The concentration of jute,
oilseeds, pulses and vegetables are very high while that of
rice is low in all the periods. The concentration of Wheat (a
low value crop) is also high in these districts. The CC of
these crops are greater than one in all the sub-periods.
The districts of North 24 Parganas, West Dinajpur,
Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Hoogly also fell in
the highly diversified category in TE 2003-04 and TE 2013-
14. North 24 Parganas concentrates mainly on jute,
oilseeds and vegetable production. In Coochbihar, jute is
cultivated intensely. In Coochbihar, concentration of
wheat, potato and vegetable are fluctuating in nature.
Darjeeling has high concentration of potato and
vegetables cultivation. West Dinajpur concentrates mainly
on jute, oilseeds and vegetables along with wheat.
Hooghly is a leading potato producing district in West
Bengal. The magnitude of concentration co-efficient of
potato in Hoogly is very high. Oilseeds is also an emerging
crop of Hoogly. Jute, potato and vegetables have been
important crops in Jalpaiguri during the new millennium.
Low and moderately diversified districts like South 24
Parganas, Howrah, Purulia, Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura,
East Midnapore and West Midnapore districts have mainly
concentration on rice production. The CC of rice in these
districts are more than one. Pulses, potato and vegetables
concentration are also high in some low and moderately
diversified districts.
The coefficient of crop concentration has shown similar
pattern in the ‘highly’ diversified districts where
concentration of ‘high-value non-cereal crops’ is high while
that of rice is low. Similarity in crop concentration has also
been found in the ‘less and moderately’ diversified districts
where rice concentration is high.
Relationship between Crop Diversification and Crop
Concentration
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient has been used to
verify the relationship between crop diversification and
crop concentration (rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, jute,
potato and vegetable are considered) statistically. The
calculation of rank correlation is done by using SPSS
TE 2003-04 TE 2013-14
Name of the Districts Name of the Districts
Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, North 24
Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North 24 Parganas, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling,
Parganas, Coochbihar, West Dinajpur, Coochbihar, West Dinajpur, Hoogly,
Hoogly,
Burdwan, West Midnapore, Howrah, Howrah, West Midnapore, Birbhum,
Birbhum, Bankura, East Midnapore, Burdwan, East Midnapore, South 24
Parganas, Bankura,
South 24 Parganas, Purulia, Purulia,
 J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 481

Table 2: Crop concentration in West Bengal during 1991-92 to 2013-14

Districts TE 1993-94 TE 2003-04 TE 2013-14
Emerging Crops
Highly Diversified
Nadia Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute,
Vegetables Vegetables
Murshidabad Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute,
Vegetables
Malda, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute,
Vegetables Vegetables
North 24 Parganas Oilseeds, Jute Oilseeds, Jute, Vegetables Oilseeds, Jute, Vegetables
Hoogly Potato, Oilseeds, Jute Potato, Potato, Oilseeds,
Coochbihar Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Jute Jute, Potato, Vegetables
Darjeeling Wheat, Potato Potato, Vegetables Potato, Vegetables
Jalpaiguri Wheat, Jute Wheat, Jute, Potato, Vegetables Wheat, Jute, Potato, Vegetables
West Dinajpur Wheat, Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Oilseeds, Jute Wheat, Oilseeds, Jute, Vegetables
Moderately Diversified
Burdwan Rice, Oilseeds, Potato Rice, Oilseeds, Potato Rice, Potato
Howrah Rice, Rice, Potato, Vegetables Rice, Potato
East Midnapore Rice, Potato Rice Rice
West Midnapore Rice, Potato, Rice, Oilseeds, Potato, Rice, Oilseeds, Potato
Bankura Rice, Oilseeds, Potato, Rice, Vegetables Rice, Vegetables
Birbhum Rice, Oilseeds Rice, Wheat, Oilseeds Rice, Wheat, Oilseeds,
South 24 Parganas Rice, Rice, Rice,
Low Diversified
Purulia Rice, Pulses Rice, Pulses, Rice, Pulses,
Source: Annex Table 2 & Annex Table 3
software. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient is based Jute: In case of jute, the rank correlation coefficient
on the ranked values for each variable rather than the raw between crop diversification and crop concentration in
data. The calculated result of rank correlation coefficients TE1993-94, TE 2003-04 and TE 2013-14 are 0.83, 0.85,
are presented in Table 3. 0.90, respectively. These coefficients are statistically
significant at 0.01 percent level. The magnitude and signs
Rice: All of the districts in West Bengal produce rice which of coefficients indicate a very strong and positive
occupies the dominant position. Annex Table 3 depicts relationship between crop diversification and jute
that rice concentration is high in the districts of Burdwan, concentration i.e., the highly diversified district is
Howrah, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Bankura, associated with high jute concentration and vice-versa.
Birbhum, South 24 Parganas, Purulia in all the periods. In
these districts, the magnitude of crop diversification is both Oilseeds: The rank correlation coefficient between crop
low and moderate. Rice concentration of remaining diversification and crop concentration of oilseeds in
districts is low and consequently, crop diversification in TE1993-94, TE 2003-04 and TE 2013-14 are 0.56, 0.51,
these districts are high. The coefficient of rank correlation 0.52, respectively. These values are statistically significant
between crop concentration and crop diversification of rice at 0.05 percent level. The magnitude of coefficient implies
in TE1993-94, TE 2003-04 and TE 2013-14 are -0.92, - that the strength of a relationship is moderate. The positive
0.94, -0.91 respectively. All these values are statistically signs of rank coefficients indicate that the oilseeds
significant at 0.01 percent. It implies that reduction in rice concentration has increased with increasing crop
concentration is associated with the increase in the level diversification. Value of the rank correlation coefficient in
of crop diversification. oilseeds is relatively low cause due to low concentration in
highly diversified district of Darjeeling. On the other hand,
Table 3: Rank correlation coefficient between crop moderately diversified districts like Bankura, Birbhum and
concentration coefficient and crop diversification Burdwan show high and moderate concentration in
Crops TE 1993-94 TE 2003-04 TE 2013-14 oilseeds cultivation.
Rice -0.92** - 0.94** -0.91**
Wheat 0.75** 0.74** 0.65** Vegetables: Magnitude of rank correlation coefficient of
Pulses 0.34 0.44 0.38 vegetables concentration and diversification are 0.31 and
Oilseeds 0.56* 0.51* 0.52* 0.70 in TE 2003-04 and TE 2013-14, respectively. The
Jute 0.83** 0.85** 0.90** value 0.31 is insignificant whereas 0.70 is significant at
Potato 0.08 -0.06 0.05 0.01 percent level. It indicates that association of
Vegetables NA 0.31 0.70** vegetable concentration and diversification is positive and
Df 15 15 15 high in TE 2013-14. Therefore, the analysis suggests that
** Significant at the 0.01 percent level the highly diversified districts have more vegetables
* Significant at the 0.05 percent level production.

Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
Mithiya and Mandal 482
Wheat: Wheat is another cereal crop, which concentrates
mainly in highly diversified districts of Nadia, Murshidabad,
Malda, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and West Dinajpur. Table 3
indicates that the magnitude of rank correlation
coefficients of wheat are 0.75, 0.74, 0.65 in TE 1993-94,
TE 2003-04 and TE 2013-14, respectively. The
association between crop concentration and crop
diversification are highly positive and statistically
significant. These coefficients are significant at 1 percent
level.
Pulses: In case of pulses, rank correlation coefficients in
Table 3 show that there is a positive relationship between
diversification and pulses concentration. But the
magnitudes are statistically insignificant. Whereas Annex
Table 3 shows that concentration of pulses is high in
districts of Nadia, Malda and Murshidabad of West Bengal,
these districts are highly diversified.
Potato: No specific relationship can be established
between potato concentration and diversification in terms
of rank correlation coefficient which are 0.08,-0.06, 0.05 in
TE1993-94, TE 2003-04, TE 2013-14, respectively. But
from Annex Table 3, it is seen that the magnitude of crop
concentration of potato in the district of Hoogly is extremely
high. This district is one of the highly diversified districts in
West Bengal.
The analysis indicates that the specialization in rice
cultivation has become a dominating feature in the low and
moderately diversified districts. The crops other than rice
are found in the highly diversified districts 3.
Crop combination vs Crop concentration
From the analysis of the relationship between crop
diversification and crop concentration in different districts,
it is clear that crop diversification has been emerging as a
feature of agricultural activities in West Bengal. To
strengthen the findings, the study investigates the pattern
of crop combination in different districts by using the
popular method of crop combination given by Weaver.
This method of crop-combination4 would suggest the
effective crop combination pattern for a region (district)
which may increase the overall agricultural production of
West Bengal.
Weaver’s minimum deviation method has been applied for
each district in West Bengal considering first 7 ranking
crops. The results of crop combination have been
presented in Table 4. During the period of TE 2013-14,
the state has identified 5 types of crop combinations out of
7 crops in different districts.
Monoculture is found in most of the low and moderately
diversified districts like Burdwan, Bankura, East
Midnapore, Howrah, South 24 Parganas and Purulia. In
3Incidentally it may be mentioned that potato cultivation is chiefly
concentrated in Hoogly which is one of the highly diversified
district in West Bengal.
Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
another two moderately diversified districts, West
Midnapore and Birbhum, three crops combination have
been identified. Very high diversified districts Nadia, Malda
and Murshidabad have shown six crops combination. In
Jalpaiguri and West Dinajpur, five crops combination have
been found. Four crops combination have been found in
remaining all the districts (except Darjeeling) where
diversification relatively high. Darjeeling has shown three
crops combination. However, the West Bengal is a rice
dominating state. So, rice is the main component of the
various crop combination in different districts in West
Bengal as suggested by the crop combination method.
These recommendations of crop combination are
consistent with the crop concentration (or cropping
pattern) of the districts in West Bengal.
According to the hypothesis it can be said that agricultural
activities of West Bengal is more regionally concentrated
in terms of crop diversification rather than being dispersed.
Rice is concentrate mainly in the area of low and
moderately diversified region, whereas high-value non-
cereal crop concentrated in highly diversified region.
CONCLUSION
The study has revealed that the cropping pattern in West
Bengal has been diversifying towards high-value non-
cereal-crops. There are considerable variations in crop
diversification across different districts. In the present
study, we have explored the main characteristics and the
interaction between regional (districts) crop diversification
and crop concentration. The common statistical measures
of crop diversification (SI) and crop concentration were
applied. To measure the relationship between variables of
crop diversification and crop concentration, rank
correlation was employed. The major findings of the study
are that from 1990-91 to 2013-14, the rice concentration is
very high in low and moderately diversified districts.
Whereas high value non-cereal crops like jute, vegetables
and oilseeds are concentrated mainly in highly diversified
districts.
The study suggests that an important reallocation of
agricultural activity is under way. The structural changes
have been taking place. The income and employment
distribution of rural economy are undergoing change. The
regional concentration with high value non-cereal crops
are expected to enhance farmers’ income and
employment. These developments may provide important
clues to the policy makers in allocating investible funds and
designing employment generating strategies for the
districts in West Bengal. However, the shift to noon-food
cash crops may endanger the availability of food crops to
the marginalized sections of the people. Therefore, the
diversification needs to be managed and well-guided so
that the overall food security concerns are not neglected.
4Crop combination in a region constitutes an important aspect of
agricultural economy as it provides a good basis for agricultural
regionalization for the rural planning.
 J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 483

Table 4: Recommended vs observed crop combination in West Bengal during TE 2013-14

Districts Crop Combination No. of Crops Emerging Crops
Nadia Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, 6 Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute,
Jute, Vegetables Vegetables
Murshidabad Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, 6 Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute,
Jute, Vegetable Vegetables
Malda Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, jute, 6 Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds, Jute,
Vegetables Vegetables
Jalpaiguri Rice, Wheat, Jute, Potato, 5 Wheat, Jute, Potato, Vegetables
Vegetables
West Dinajpur Rice, Wheat, Oilseeds, Jute, 5 Wheat, Oilseeds, Jute, Vegetables
Vegetables
Hoogly Rice, Oilseeds, Potato, Vegetables 4 Potato, Oilseeds, Vegetable
North 24 Parganas Rice, Oilseeds, Jute, Vegetables 4 Oilseeds, Jute, Vegetables
Coochbihar Rice, Jute, Potato, Vegetables 4 Jute, Potato, Vegetables
Darjeeling Rice, Potato, Vegetables 3 Potato, Vegetables
West Midnapore Rice, Oilseeds, Potato, 3 Rice, Oilseeds, Potato,
Birbhum Rice, Wheat, Oilseeds, 3 Rice, Wheat, Oilseeds,
Bardwan Rice 1 Rice, Potato
Bankura Rice 1 Rice, Vegetable
South24 Parganas Rice 1 Rice,
Howrah Rice 1 Rice, Potato
East Midnapore Rice 1 Rice
Purulia Rice 1 Rice, Pulses
Source: Authors’ Calculation

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Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
Mithiya and Mandal 484

APPENDIX

Annex Table 1: Share of Important Crops, Total Food Grains & Non Food Grains in West Bengal

Crops & Crop Groups TE 93-94 TE 2003-04 TE 2013-14

Paddy 66.87 60.93 57.30
Wheat 3.49 4.29 3.43
Other Cereal 0.88 0.74 1.60
Total Cereal 71.24 65.96 62.34
Pulses 2.98 2.51 2.43
Total Food Grain 74.21 68.47 64.77
Sugarcane 0.14 0.18 0.18
Condiments and Spices 1.03 1.08 1.34
Fruits 1.44 1.70 2.34
Others 0.02 0.01 0.13
Vegetable 9.18 12.36 14.31
Total Food Crops 86.02 83.80 83.07
Oilseeds 6.35 6.97 8.07
Fibers (Jute) 5.82 6.48 6.04
Plantation 1.50 2.42 2.52
Fodder & Other Non- Food Crops 0.31 0.33 0.30
Total Non- Food Crops 13.98 16.20 16.93
Horticulture Crops 13.46 17.89 20.81
Non Food Grain (Other than Horticulture) 12.33 13.64 14.42
Total Non-Food Grain 25.79 31.53 35.23
All total 100.00 100.00 100.00
Source: Authors’ Calculation

Annex Table 2: Simpson’s Index for West Bengal during the periods of 1991-91 to 2013-14
Districts TE 1993-94 Districts TE2003-04 Districts TE2013-14
Nadia 0.84 Nadia 0.86 Nadia 0.86
Murshidabad 0.81 Murshidabad 0.84 Murshidabad 0.84
Malda 0.79 Malda 0.82 Malda 0.81
Darjeeling 0.71 North 24 Parganas 0.78 North 24 Parganas 0.81
North 24 Parganas 0.71 Darjeeling 0.77 Hoogly 0.77
Coochbihar 0.71 Hoogly 0.76 Darjeeling 0.76
Hoogly 0.71 Jalpaiguri 0.75 West Dinajpur 0.76
West Dinajpur 0.64 West Dinajpur 0.75 Jalpaiguri 0.75
Jalpaiguri 0.61 Coochbihar 0.72 Coochbihar 0.73
Burdwan 0.58 Howrah 0.68 Howrah 0.69
Howrah 0.57 Burdwan 0.67 West Midnapore 0.66
East Midnapore 0.54 West Midnapore 0.65 Burdwan 0.64
West Midnapore 0.54 Birbhum 0.62 East Midnapore 0.63
Bankura 0.48 East Midnapore 0.62 Birbhum 0.63
Birbhum 0.46 Bankura 0.60 South 24 Parganas 0.57
South 24 Parganas 0.27 South 24 Parganas 0.52 Bankura 0.56
Purulia 0.26 Purulia 0.37 Purulia 0.31
West Bengal 0.66 West Bengal 0.70 West Bengal 0.76
Source: Authors’ Calculation

Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
 J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 485

Annex Table 3: Crop concentration index for West Bengal during the periods of 1991-92 to 2013-14
Districts Year Rice Wheat Pulses Oilseeds Jute Potato Vegetables
Nadia TE 1993-94 0.499 2.074 2.935 1.847 3.102 0.177 NA
TE2003-04 0.492 1.482 2.642 1.854 2.277 0.133 1.005
TE 2013-14 0.477 1.755 3.102 2.128 2.840 0.181 1.140
Murshidabad TE 1993-94 0.587 3.811 1.894 1.327 2.196 0.342 NA
TE2003-04 0.553 2.975 2.107 1.140 2.123 0.230 0.729
TE 2013-14 0.643 3.208 2.189 1.449 2.649 0.328 1.040
Malda TE 1993-94 0.698 2.879 3.801 1.001 1.021 0.152 NA
TE2003-04 0.677 2.394 2.473 1.168 0.890 0.157 1.114
TE 2013-14 0.804 3.010 2.087 1.059 1.002 0.258 1.265
North 24 Parganas TE 1993-94 0.916 0.575 0.890 1.505 1.363 0.399 NA
TE2003-04 0.780 0.501 0.531 1.179 1.580 0.363 1.258
TE 2013-14 0.793 0.469 0.947 1.613 1.869 0.378 1.520
Hoogly TE 1993-94 0.856 0.106 0.035 1.315 1.054 5.522 NA
TE2003-04 0.803 0.020 0.037 0.850 0.857 4.460 1.029
TE 2013-14 0.854 0.006 0.024 1.353 0.728 4.351 1.037
Coochbihar TE 1993-94 0.671 0.943 0.625 1.471 2.197 0.669 NA
TE2003-04 0.765 0.932 0.672 0.565 2.077 0.652 0.958
TE 2013-14 0.924 0.663 0.523 0.386 2.440 1.313 1.009
Darjeeling TE 1993-94 0.648 0.961 0.615 0.213 0.467 2.421 NA
TE2003-04 0.491 0.538 0.633 0.065 0.358 1.837 2.062
TE 2013-14 0.590 0.650 0.589 0.081 0.467 1.728 2.059
Jalpaiguri TE 1993-94 0.786 1.159 0.250 0.437 1.848 0.651 NA
TE2003-04 0.678 1.065 0.379 0.381 1.349 1.249 1.134
TE 2013-14 0.801 1.179 0.469 0.539 1.337 1.977 1.184
West Dinajpur TE 1993-94 0.901 1.253 0.946 1.354 1.465 0.311 NA
TE2003-04 0.853 1.282 0.482 1.120 1.396 0.417 0.828
TE 2013-14 0.892 1.832 0.251 1.240 1.389 0.491 1.008
Howrah TE 1993-94 1.219 0.038 0.312 0.555 0.245 0.640 NA
TE2003-04 1.078 0.055 0.031 0.370 0.412 1.290 0.905
TE 2013-14 1.213 0.017 0.461 0.733 0.331 1.284 0.891
West Midnapore TE 1993-94 1.040 0.272 0.382 0.862 0.078 1.654 NA
TE2003-04 1.001 0.318 0.358 1.078 0.091 1.847 0.567
TE 2013-14 1.163 0.153 0.200 1.285 0.062 1.488 0.572
Birbhum TE 1993-94 1.092 0.746 0.640 1.254 0.010 0.611 NA
TE2003-04 1.018 1.048 0.937 1.005 0.006 0.555 0.760
TE 2013-14 1.133 1.723 0.824 1.017 0.014 0.765 0.916
Bardwan TE 1993-94 1.074 0.111 0.063 1.222 0.252 1.658 NA
TE2003-04 1.062 0.118 0.146 0.891 0.252 1.428 0.561
TE 2013-14 1.254 0.079 0.145 0.617 0.222 1.619 0.700
East Midnapore TE 1993-94 1.164 0.022 0.578 0.621 0.182 1.305 NA
TE2003-04 1.137 0.004 0.339 0.431 0.070 0.485 0.827
TE 2013-14 1.326 0.029 0.648 0.574 0.018 0.199 0.810
South 24 Parganas TE 1993-94 1.288 0.011 0.658 0.163 0.057 0.093 NA
TE2003-04 1.138 0.054 0.611 0.174 0.078 0.192 0.968
TE 2013-14 1.229 0.171 0.948 0.308 0.081 0.212 0.984
Bankura TE 1993-94 1.078 0.489 0.169 1.078 0.047 1.106 NA
TE2003-04 1.002 0.383 0.079 0.919 0.020 1.057 1.097
TE 2013-14 1.184 0.166 0.053 0.788 0.007 1.308 0.975
Purulia TE 1993-94 1.162 0.147 1.153 0.377 0.009 0.128 NA
TE2003-04 1.102 0.219 1.374 0.135 0.009 0.111 0.999
TE 2013-14 1.349 0.124 1.421 0.129 0.004 0.083 0.915
Source: Authors’ calculations

Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification
Mithiya and Mandal 486

Annex Table 4: Location wise crop concentration & diversification in West Bengal during 1990-91 to 2013-14
Crops Concentration Diversification 1993-94 TE 2003-04 TE 2013-14 TE
Districts
Rice High Low – Burdwan, Howrah, Burdwan, Howrah, Burdwan, Howrah, East
Moderate East Midnapore, East Midnapore, Midnapore, West
West Midnapore, West Midnapore, Midnapore, Bankura,
Bankura, Birbhum, Bankura, Birbhum, Birbhum, South 24
South 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Parganas, Purulia
Purulia Purulia
Wheat High High Nadia, Murshidabad, Nadia, Nadia, Murshidabad,
Malda, Darjeeling, Murshidabad, Malda, Jalpaiguri, West
Jalpaiguri, West Malda, Jalpaiguri, Dinajpur, Birbhum
Dinajpur West Dinajpur,
Birbhum
Pulses High High- Low Nadia, Murshidabad, Nadia, Nadia, Murshidabad,
Malda, Purulia Murshidabad, Malda, South
Malda, Birbhum, 24Parganas, Purulia,
Purulia
Oilseeds High High- Nadia, Murshidabad, Nadia, Nadia, Murshidabad,
Moderate Malda, North 24 Murshidabad, Malda, North 24
Parganas, Hoogly, Malda, North 24 Parganas, Hoogly,
Coochbihar, West Parganas, West West Dinajpur, West
Dinajpur, Dinajpur, West Midnapore, Birbhum
Burdwan, Bankura, Midnapore,
Birbhum
Jute High High Nadia, Murshidabad, Nadia, Nadia, Murshidabad,
Malda, North 24 Murshidabad, North North 24 Parganas,
Parganas, Hoogly, 24 Parganas, Coochbihar, Jalpaiguri,
Coochbihar, West Coochbihar, West Dinajpur
Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri, West
Dinajpur
Potato High High - Hoogly, Darjeeling, Hoogly, Darjeeling, Hoogly, Coochbihar,
Moderate Burdwan, East Jalpaiguri, Burdwan, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri,
Midnapore, West Howrah, West Burdwan, Howrah,
Midnapore, Bankura Midnapore, Bankura West Midnapore,
Bankura
Vegetable High High NA Nadia, Malda, North Nadia, Malda,
24 Parganas, Murshidabad, North 24
Hoogly, Darjeeling, Parganas, Coochbihar,
Jalpaiguri, Bankura, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri,
Source: Annexes Table 2 & Table 3

Accepted 28 June 2018

Citation: Mithiya D, Mandal K (2018). Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the
Light of Crop Diversification. Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, 4(2): 477-486.

Copyright: © 2018 Mithiya and Mandal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
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Agricultural Activities in West Bengal - Concentrated or Dispersed: A Study in the Light of Crop Diversification