Agricultural productivity in Kalahandi district of Orissa over the decades: A temporal assessment

Agriculture supports a large segment of population by providing opportunities for employment and earning a livelihood. The undivided Kalahandi district of Orissa is one of the poorest regions of the state with about 70 per cent of families living below the poverty line (1997 BPL list of Govt. of Orissa) and out of the total working population 30.60 per cent are cultivators and 48.75 are agricultural labourers(Census of India, 2001). Furthermore, frequent recurrence of drought and flood has created situation like starvation, epidemics and mass migration in the district. Therefore, the present study has attempted to measure the agricultural productivity in the district.