Identification of Efficient Cropping Zone for Rice, Maize and Groundnut in Tamil Nadu

A methodological study was made at the Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, and Coimbatore during 2012 to identify the potential districts for cultivation of rice, maize and groundnut in Tamil Nadu. The data on area, production and productivity of study crops for 2000–‘01 to 2009–‘10 were collected and indices such as Relative Spread Index (RSI) and Relative Yield Index (RYI) were computed and the potential cropping districts for the study crops were identified. In Tamil Nadu, nine districts were found to be prospective regions for rice, seven districts for maize and three districts for groundnut as in these areas both the RYI and the RSI were high. In some of the districts, RSI is more for a particular crop, while the RYI is low indicating non suitability of that crop. However, due to other factors such as market demand and value of the produce, farmers cultivate the crops that are not suitable for their location which relates in high RSI with low RYI.