Productivity trends of foodgrain crops in Jammu and Kashmir ?A comparative study with national trends

Agriculture occupies an important place in the economy of Jammu and Kashmir. The present study discusses the growth, productivity and patterns in growth of agricultural crops including pulses and cereals (rice, maize and wheat). Secondary Data on important variables like area, production and productivity were compiled for the period 1984-85 to 2010-11 from various published sources. The analysis of data revealed that the area and productivity in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in India has undergone significant fluctuations over time. The area under total foodgrains increased from 846.44 thousand hectares to 923.65 thousand hectares between 1984-85 and 2010-11. Among foodgrains, only wheat has shown substantial increase in area from 225.43 thousand hectares to 290.72 thousand hectare. The performance of pulses in terms of area was not impressive in Jammu and Kashmir during the study period but productivity in India has shown an increasing trend i.e., from 4.73 qtls/ha to 6.25 qtls/ha. The productivity of wheat in Jammu and Kashmir rose from 10.32 qtls/ha to 15.35 qtls/ha while in case of rice, maize and pulses, it declined. As far as India is concerned, the productivity of rice, maize and wheat has increased from 13.36 qtls/ha to 22.40 qtls/ha, 11.59 qtls/ha to 25.07 qtls/ha and 16.30 qtls/ha to 29.38 qtls/ha, respectively.