The study conducted in the state of Haryana has examined the changes in cropping pattern and has measured the extent and nature of crop diversification in the state, based on the information scanned from different published sources. The compound growth rate, Herfindahl, Entropy, Simpson Index of Diversity and Crop Diversification indices have been employed to measure the extent of diversification in crops.
The cropping pattern in this state has observed substantial changes over the period 1971–2004. The area under wheat and paddy has increased significantly due to major changes in the production technologies, expansion of irrigation facilities, market and institutional arrangements and government policies. The percentage area under coarse cereals and pulses has declined over the years due to low productivity, absence of high-yielding varieties and difficulty in marketing of products. The compound growth rates have also exhibited a similar trend. The Herfindahl, Simpson Index of Diversity Crop Diversification and Entropy indices on acreage proportion for different groups of crops have revealed a declining trend in diversification for all the crops, foodgrains and non-foodgrains, during this period. On the other hand, these indices have depicted an increasing trend in diversification between crop groups, showing diversion of area from foodgrains to oilseeds and cash crops. This may be attributed to imbalanced development in agricultural production technologies over the years. Marginal increase in area under fruits and vegetables has been achieved on account of highincome elasticity of demand of these products.
