State of Agriculture in Uttrakhand

Uttarakhand is the 27th State of the Union of India was carved out of the 13 North Western districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9th November 2000. The latitude of state is from  28 °43' N to 31°27' N and longitude is between  77°34' E to 81°02' E. The state comprising of the central Himalaya, is spread over 53, 483 square km with 46035 sq. Km (86.07%) in hills and 7448 sq. Km in plains. The minimum temperature recorded at Mukteshwar (-3.4°C)  while maximum temperature recorded at Pantnagar( 40.8°C). The average rainfall recorded was 1631mm in 2017. The plain region of the state known as Tarai-Bhabar region comprises of Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and parts of Dehradun and Nainital district. The hilly region include Uttarakashi, Tehri, Pauri, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Pithoragarh and parts of Dehradun and Nainital districts.The state inhabits 100.86 lakh population (Census, 2011) with a literacy rate of 78.80%. The state is known for its scenic beauty and is also known as “Devbhoomi” - "Abode of God" due to its shrines, temples & places of worship given in ancient times by Rishi and Munis.

   

                                                                                          

Total Geographical area	5.34 m ha
Hilly area	4.60 m ha (86.07%)
Plain area	0.74m ha (13.97%)
Annual rainfall	1285 mm
Net Sown area	0.69 m ha (14%)
Net irrigated area	0.38 m ha
Cultivable Wasteland	0.31m ha
Average land holding size	0.95 ha
Agriculture share in SGDP	23.41%
Area under horticulture crops	0.27 m ha

State of Agriculture in Uttarakhand:

Agricultural advancement is the most important challenge in Uttarakhand due to natural constraints. Out of total 6.98 L ha agriculture land (11.65% of total land), 54 percent of agricultural land is in hills. And also 1.43 L ha of fallows & 3.18 L ha of culturable waste land is estimated. The total irrigated area is 540999 ha and only 76228 ha (13%) is in hilly areas which is more dependent on rained cultivation. Uttarakhand is included in the National Agro-climatic zone No.-9 and 14.

The importance of Agriculture for state is well understood from the fact that the contribution of Agriculture in State GDP is

23.41% while 70 percent population is

dependent on it leading to a lower per capita income for Ag. sector which has a greater role forming socio-economic structure of state. There is a wide gap between the per capita income of those involved in agriculture than in non-agriculture sector. About 91 percent of the farmers are small and marginal.The share of small and marginal holdings is higher in Uttarakhand State as compared to National Average 86.2%. The average size of land holding in the state is 0.95 ha (Marginal-0.39, Small-1.38, Medium-3.33 and Large-36.00) as against the National Average of 1.17 ha. 

The agenda and "the advantage hills": 

Agricultural situations in hilly area and plain areas is totally different. The soil in plains is fertile, highly productive and farmers uses modern technique and technological advancement in cultivation practises. In hilly areas the farm size is small, rainfed cultivation and terrace farming limits the use of modern techniques. This resulted in productivity of most crops in hills about half times the productivity in plains. But the hilly acidic soils has an advantage of growing crops like Millets, Ramdana(Amaranth's), Ragi(Mandua), Maize, Pulses, off season vegetables, spices, MAPs( medicinal and aromatic plants) etc. which require a more and special efforts to increase their cultivation. Off season vegetables and spices can fetch relatively higher income for hills.

Horticulture: The geographical attributes and climatic conditions of the state are ideal for production of temperate and subtropical fruit crops. In hilly areas, fruits like apple, pear, peach, plum, khumani and walnut are produced while mango, litchi, malta, santra, lemon, aonla, guava, and pomegranate are mostly grown in Tarai and valley areas. Major vegetables grown in the state are potato, cauliflower, tomato, onion, brinjal, pea, cabbage and okra. The state has a unique advantage of producing off-season vegetables in hilly areas, which fetches good price in the market. Major spices are ginger, garlic, turmeric and chilly. Out of the total geographical area of 53.48 lakh hectares of the State, about 7.01 lakh ha of land is under Agricultural crops and about 2.79 lakh ha area is covered under the Horticulture crops. Annual turnover of Horticulture crops in the

Horticulture crop	Area under crop	Production	Productivity
Fruits	1.80 L ha	6.64 L Mt	3.68 T/ha
Vegetables	0.70 L ha	6.30 L Mt	8.90 T/ha
Potato	0.26 L ha	3.63 L Mt	13.75 T/ha
Spices	0.14 L ha	0.93 L Mt	6.63 T/ha
Flowers (cut)	1562.20 ha	1862.63 L spikes	3017.41 spikes/ha

state is approximately Rs. 2300 crore and Horticulture sector has more than 30 percent contribution in the state’s agriculture sector’s SGDP. 

Ranking of Uttarakhand in Horticulture in India

• Uttarakhand rank first in the country in production of Pear(0.788 lakh MT), Peach (0.579 lakh MT), Plum (0.362 lakh MT) and Apricot(0.282 lakh MT).
• Uttarakhand rank second in the country in production of Walnut(0.21lakh MT) following J&K(2.75 lakh MT) .
• Uttarakhand rank third in the country in production of Apple (0.58 lakh MT) following J&K (18.08 lakh MT) and HP(4.46 lakh MT).
• Uttarakhand produce 14.70 crore spikes of cut flowers and rank eighth  in the country.
• Uttarakhand rank eighteenth in the country in establishing food processing units.
• Productivity of spices is highest in Uttarakhand (7.21MT/ha) against national average of 1.8 MT/ha.

Cattle	20.06 lakh
Buffalo	9.88 lakh
Goat	13.67 lakh
Sheep	3.69 lakh
Pig	0.20 lakh
Others	2.27 lakh
Poultry	46.42 lakh

Livestock: The state of Uttarakhand is endowed with a mix variety of livestock- cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig, horse, pony, mule and poultry. The main feature of the animal husbandry in Uttarakhand is huge livestock population with low productivity. The livestock holding per household is small and mix of different species. The tribal population particularly Gujjars have the large number of buffalo and sheep. According to the Livestock Census, 2012,  the population is cattle(20.06 lakh),

buffalo(9.88 lakh), goats(13.67 lakh), sheep(3.69 lakh), pig(0.20 lakh), horse/pony/mule/donkey(0.45 lakh), others(yak/dog/rabbit)-2.27 lakh and

poultry(46.42 lakh).

Mulberry (Rearer/Reeler/Weaver)	4200
Oaktasar (Rearer/Reeler/Weaver)	500
Area under mulberry plantation	500 ha
Mulberry (Tones)	12 MT
Raw silk production	16 MT
Silk fabric production	7000 meters

Sericulture: Sericulture is the production of silk and rearing of the silkworm. It the process of cultivating silkworms and extracting silk from them. The caterpillars of the domestic silkmoth (also called ‘Bombyx mori’) are the most commonly used silkworm species in sericulture. There are for types of silkworms: Eri, Muga,  Tasar and Oak tasar. Moriculture, Silkworm rearing and silk reeling are essential elements of sericulture.It is also an agro based industry having industrial super structure and low cycle of
cultivation process i.e. Gestation period. It is dominantly village based with equal opportunities for all age, gender, education and economic status human society.The department of sericulture in Uttarakhand was established in 2001 under ministry of horticulture.Uttarakhand state is the only state which is producing all four kind of cocoon viz Mulberry, Oak tasar, Muga and Ericulture. But Uttarakhand also known as “Bowl of Bivoltine silk in India” because of its high quality Bivoltine cocoons of International grade.Sericulture project under department of sericulture, Average annual fabric production of silk fabric is 5000 meters.12 District are covered under sericulture development project and 34 blocks identified as silk clusters covering about 512 sericulture villages in Uttarakhand.

Refrences:

http://shm.uk.gov.in/pages/display/6-state-profile

Uttarakhand at a Glance 2017-18, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Planning, Govt. Of Uttarakhand

HORTICULTURE & FLORICULTURE Sector Profile, State Horticulture Mission, Government of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Agriculture Policy 2018(draft), Dept of Agriculture, Government of Uttarakhand

Horticulture statistics at a glance, MoAFW, GOI