Crop Diversification — A Desired Strategy towards Sustainable Development and Economic Upliftment of Farmers

In this paper, the economic feasibility of diversification towards horticulture has been examined in 22 villages of Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh by conducting field survey of 267 farmers selected from different sizes of landholdings. The cost-benefit analysis has been done and a comparison of foodgrains and horticultural crops has been presented to evaluate the feasibility of diversification. The study has revealed that it is more profitable and economically feasible to shift from cultivating staple foodgrains to high-value crops. The magnitude of crop diversification has been computed by preparing a crop diversification index. Based on this index, the selected sample villages were categorized under different crop diversification groups as (i) very high (3 villages), high (7), medium (3), low (5) and very low (4). The crop diversification was found very high in the villages located close to urban areas or on national highway. The diversification was observed low in the villages where quality of soil was poor. According to the study, the speed of diversification is not evenly distributed across the district. The study has suggested that crop diversification should be promoted for sustainable development and economic upliftment of farmers in this region.