Dynamics of farm power sources and their availability in Bihar

Abstract

The production levels of agriculture have remained low in the eastern region of India mainly due to lack of location-specific production technologies, natural calamities like floods, waterlogging, drought, inadequate timely supply of critical inputs and social constraints. Bihar is one of the important agrarian states of Eastern India. The crop yields are low and almost stagnating in Bihar compared to the north-western and other parts of the country. To improve the productivity in this region mechanization of farms is of critical importance. The farm power availability in Bihar in 2017 is 2.80 kW/ha and is more than the national average of 2.03 kW/ha. Still, there are 14 districts in Bihar which is below the national average. The number of marginal farmers has increased from 84.18 to 91.21 during 2014-17, an increase of 7.03 percent. An increase in Small and fragmented land will further hindrance the farm mechanization process. The present study was conducted to understand the dynamics of farm power availability in Bihar, so as to take substantial measures for improved mechanization and in turn crop productivity in the region.