The pattern of growth emerged in agriculture has brought in its wake uneven development across the regions, ecosystems, crops and different sections of farming community. Further the task of meeting future food needs. 350 tons by the year 2020, i.e. additional of 10–11 tons every year without eroding the ecological balance is a great challenge. Therefore, our strategy should be shifted from crop based to entire cropping/farming system based on integrated natural resource management, particularly in unexploited vast dry and rainfed ecosystems. The diara ecosystem, whose potentials are yet to be exploited, is situated between the natural levees of rivers, which are periodically eroded and formed due to meandering, braiding and course changing of rivers and remain inundated under flood water for different periods of time, features a riverine landscape with unstable land surfaces, subject annually to erosion and redeposition with assortment of sediments depending upon the velocity and duration of flood. The topography of diara forms a confused pattern of up, mid and low land depending upon the period of stay of flood water, which makes agricultural operations more crucial and challenging. These areas have been identified as future Grain Bank of the Country by the Scientists. The ecosystem exists in Eastern U.P., Bihar and West Bengal. The area under the system has been estimated as 1.6 M ha in Bihar under different river basins. Of which Ganga diara is the most extensive covering about 0.55 M ha area. The present study aimed to identity the socio-economic and policy issues so that alternate and use strategies could be framed to enhance the productivity/profitability of farming. The study is based on primary data (2002–03) collected from a sample of 144 diara farmers selected through Multi Stage Random Sampling Technique from 24 diara villages of Bhagalpur district. It was observed that the cropping intensity on sample diara farms was 170%. Over 90% of diara areas are un-irrigated and the cropping pattern is based on subsistence farming.
The crops faced mild to severe moisture stress at different stages of crop growth/development and consequently the crop yield was low. These areas are subject to various biophysical, technological and socio-economic constraints, which affect the livelihood of entire ecosystem, have been classified as agrocological and socio-economic constraints. The agro-ecological constraints include duration and extent of flood, variable soil fertility, undulating topography etc. while the socio-economic constraints include fragmented/small size of land holding, insufficiency of transfer of technology, poverty, underemployment! unemployment, lack of communication and transportation, non availability of quality inputs and their high prices and market imperfection in realizing remunerative prices.
The credit facilities with provision of crop insurance, timely supply of seeds, fertilizers etc at subsidized prices and extending benefits of Agricultural Produce Market (regulation) Act to diara farmers are a few measures required to be addressed on priority, if any desired change is expected in these areas.
