Dynamics of agricultural landscape in Bankura district, West Bengal: An intensive study over two decades

The study identified the changes that have been taken place over two decades (1995-96 to 2015-16) in the district of Bankura, West Bengal. As a traditional rain feed food crop Aman Paddy have the overall dominance in the region but after 2005-06 different new cash crops like oil seeds, potato etc are started to make a gradual increasing share in the subsequent years. It is also interesting to note that, crop coverage and production of such cash crops are mostly depending on seasonal weather condition and market, reflects a fluctuating pattern. There are some constrains are identified in Bankura, as factors of arrested development, like undulating topography, coarse grain soils, sallow soil cover particularly in Western and North-Western Bankura. Irrigation facilities significantly low all over the district and particularly in the said areas. All these factors restrict diversification and farmers are unwilling to take any chance regarding to new culture of crops. This scenario somewhat changes in Eastern side where fertile alluvial soil cover is exist and irrigation support is better along with infrastructural advantages like transport and market. Considering all these factors it has discovered that, there is an ample scope of diversifications as well as agro-development is possible to a more profitable and sustainable farming. In this connection some first level initiative is taken by the Department of Agriculture but a well organised implementation-evolution basis panning is utmost required This paper highlighted the changing pattern of crop coverage during two decades from the point of diversification which also tested in micro regional scale. In the concluding part some important proposal has incorporated.