West Bengal: A Spatio-temporal Analysis

Crop Diversification is the multiple cropping system i.e. addition of more crops to the existing cropping system along with use of crop species, that could be refined to manufactured products etc. Region like Murshidabad, which is mostly based on agriculture and occupied by different crops has both a tendency to specialize and diversify. The technique crop diversification index identifies the areas having a tendency of crop diversification in the study area, it also aids to know the cropping pattern, crop concentration, crop variation etc. The present paper is an attempt to show the spatial pattern of crop diversification along with the temporal changes. Variations of crop diversification in response to fast changing physical and socio-cultural conditions are studied for 1996-1997 and 2006-2007employing Singh's (1976) index of crop diversification. For block level analysis the technique has been classified into various groups. Rice, jute wheat and mustard along with other pulses are the major crops diversified.