AGRICULTURE IN ODISHA

LOCATION OF ODISHA The State of Odisha is located on the

eastern coast of India at 17° 49' North - 22°0 34' North Latitude & 81° 29' East-87° 29' East Longitude.

It is located on the eastern coast of India.

It is bordered by Madhya Pradesh in the west, Andhra Pradesh in the south, West Bengal in north-east, Bay of Bengal in the east and Bihar in the north

The state extends to an area of 1,55,707 Sq. Km.

CLIMATE IN ODISHA There are three major seasons – Summer (March-June) Rainy Season (July-September) the Winter (October-February) Odisha has a tropical climate It is warm almost throughout the year with

maximum temperature between 40-46° C and in winter, it is intolerably cool, of 3-4 °C.

The average rainfall is 150 cm, as the result of south- west monsoon during July-September.

The month of July is the wettest and the major rivers may get flooded.

The state also gains small rainfall from the retreating monsoon in the months of October-November.

GEOGRAPHY AND LAND USEThe state is broadly divided into 4 Physiographic Zones-Coastal Plains,Central Table Land ,Northern Plateau Eastern Ghats .

The state has different soil types-fertile alluvial deltaic soils in the coastal plainsmixed red and black soils in the Central Table Land,red and yellow soils with low fertility in the Northern Plateau red, black & brown forest soil in Eastern ghat region.

About 4 lakh hectares are exposed to saline inundation, 3.54 lakh hectares to flooding and 0.75 hectares to water logging

The zones are further sub-divided into 10 Agroclimatic Zones

North Western Plateau, North Central Plateau, North Eastern Coastal Plain, East and South Eastern Coastal Plain, North Eastern Ghat, Eastern Ghat High Land , South Eastern Ghat, Western Undulating Zone, Western Central Table Land Mid Central Table Land.

AGRICULTURE AND CROPS GROWN

Agriculture provides 26% of the net state domestic product.

The Indian cropping season is classified into two main seasons

kharif cropping season: from July –October during the south-west monsoon

Rabi cropping season is from October-March (winter)

Kharif is the main cropping season and rice is the principal crop during kharif season

It grows almost one tenth of the total rice production of the country

The kharif crops include rice, maize, sorghum, pearl millet/bajra, finger millet/ragi (cereals), arhar (pulses), soyabean, groundnut (oilseeds), cotton etc.

The rabi crops include wheat, barley, oats (cereals), chickpea/gram (pulses), linseed, mustard (oilseeds) etc.

The principal problem is the shortage of water in many areas

Lack of irrigation facilities in this drought prone areas create great

Flood and low per Hectare production are other agricultural problems

The Agricultural Department of the Orissa Government and its three wings

Directorate of Horticulture Directorate of Agriculture Directorate of Soil Conservationand Watershed Mission is working hard to find

solutions of these hindrances.

IRRIGATION1. Net irrigation potential

2603.06 thou.ha (44.12% of total irrigable area)

2. Ground water resources

2101128 hectare.mtr

3. Utilized 14.79%

4. Major/ medium flow irrigation

122071thou.ha

5. Lift irrigation (minor)

347.39thou. ha

6. Flow irrigation (Minor)

454.49 thou.ha

7. Others 570.47 thou.ha

IRRIGATION Area

1. Canals 7,65,086 hectares

2. Tanks 81,413 hectares

3. Tube wells 63,084 hectares

4. Other means 1,60,142 hectares

SOME IRRIGATION FACILITIESDams:Hirakud Dam is built across the Mahanadi RiverJalaput Dam is a hydroelectric dam built on the Machkund River, a tributary of the Godavari RiverMandira dam is built across Sankh river. The water from the dam is used for Rourkela Steel PlantRengali dam is constructed across Brahmani River in Rengali village

Canals: Hirakud Project Canals-4,801.2 meter long has been constructed across Mahanadi.Mahanadi Delta Canals-Canals of the Mahanadi Delta Scheme.Others.-Other important canals of the state include Kendrapara canal from Virupa river, the Talkanda canal, and the Salandi canal