Diversified Cropping Pattern and Agricultural Development A Case Study from Malda District, India

This book examines how crop diversification strategies can help to ensure sustainable agricultural development across different land-size categories, with a focus on Malda District in West Bengal, India. Using Malda as the study area, a region with nearly 4 million people, the book assesses the extent, pattern, factors and future of crop diversification and its contribution to the development of agriculture in Malda and in India as a whole. The work presents data from 1995-2015 concerning changing cropping patterns at various land-size distributions, and analyzes the information over the twenty year period to understand the link between crop diversification and agricultural development, in order to combat major agricultural issues and make suitable policy recommendations at micro (rural) and macro (urban) levels of agricultural planning. The study is a unique contribution to the field of agricultural geography, and will be of use to students and researchers, as well as government organizations, city/community planners and agriculture managers.

Chapter 1-Overview of the study area. Chapter 2-Conceptual framework and theoretical underpinnings. Chapter 3-Land use and cropping pattern dynamics. Chapter 4-Agricultural development: inputs-outputs dimension. Chapter 5-Status of crop diversification. Chapter 6-Levels and efficiency of agricultural development. Chapter 7-Agricultural development: problems and prospects.

Dr. Hasibur Rahaman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Aligarh Muslim University, India. His teaching and research interests include geomorphology, cartography, rural development, agriculture and climate change.