An Economic Analysis of Crop Diversification and Its Determinants in Bihar Agriculture

The nature and extent of crop diversification in the state of Bihar has been analyzed using secondary data obtained from different publish sources of Govt. of Bihar from 2000-01 to 2014-15 i.e. a period of 15 years. Composite Entropy Index (CEI) and double log step-wise linear regression model was applied to assess the determinants of crop diversification in the state. The results have revealed that in almost all crops group very low diversification indices were observed. The study has suggested that despite plenty of natural resources available in the state, the economic improvement of farmers is in infancy. Pre-requisite infrastructural facilities like cheap sources of irrigation water (assured irrigation as the monsoon in the present decade had been erratic and scanty rainfall) and extension of technological know-how (quality seeds and fertilizers), may acts as catalyst in diversification of agriculture towards high-valued crops. These developmental efforts may be helpful in fetching good incomes by the cultivators.