Impact of climatic variables on agricultural economy of Odisha

Climate is one of the main determinants of agricultural production. This study was to analyze agriculture-climate nexus, quantify the impact of selected climatic variables on agricultural economy of Odisha and suggest a perspective for its development. The secondary data were collected from Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Directorate of Agriculture and Food Production, Odisha, Government of Odisha and the rainfall, temperature and relative humidity data were compiled from "Climatological data of Orissa" published by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Odisha for a period of eighteen years from 2000-01 to 2017-18. Multiple linear regression analysis was carried out to find out the extent of relationship between dependent (agricultural economy of Odisha) and selected independent variables (climatic variables). The important climatic variables affecting gross cropped area and agricultural GDP of Odisha are rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and relative humidity. Rainfall contributes positively to gross cropped area of Odisha at one per cent significance level. Minimum temperature has been found to have a negative coefficient on gross cropped area which implies that 1 unit rise in minimum temperature would lead to reduction of 0.236 units in gross cropped area of the state. Relative humidity and rainfall affect the state’s GDP of agriculture positively. Higher rainfall would result in higher agricultural production thereby increasing the gross domestic product of agriculture. Watershed development for raising yields of largely rainfed crops to cover oilseeds pulses fruits and vegetables would yield promising results.