Agriculture and Horticulture

Agriculture & Horticulture Department, Simdega

OFFICE/CONTACT DETAILS:-

INTRODUCTION:-

                                      Jharkhand state was created on 15 November, 2000. The state has an area of 79.7 lakh hectare with 16 per cent of the country’s natural resources. It  is blessed with rich mineral wealth having 32% of India’s Coal reserves,  25% of India’s Copper reserves, Uranium, Mica, Bauxite, Granite, Gold, Silver, Graphite, Magnetite, Dolomite, Fireclay, Quartz, Fieldspar,  Iron,  etc. Forests and woodlands occupy more than 29% of the state which is amongst the highest in India.  However,  the basis of the economy is agriculture and allied activities. Out of the total geographical area, only 18.08 lakh ha is the net area available for cultivation. The net irrigated area is only 1.57 lakh ha. which is about 8 per cent of the net sown area. At present the state is producing only 22 lakh tons of food grains which is sufficient to feed only 48 per cent population of the state, whereas, with respect to milk, fish and fruits the available resources are hardly meeting 50 per cent requirement of the state. This state is primarily rainfed and crop production largely depends on monsoon.   The State as a whole has been divided into seven agro-ecological regions and Simdega District situated in the south western part of Jharkhand is part of the Netarhat  and Ranchi plateau region. The landscape is hilly and undulating plateau land partly covered by forest which constitutes about 32% of the area of the district. The major rivers in this district are Sankh, Deo, Girwa and Palamara. The main economy of the district depends on agriculture, forest produce, cattle rearing and mining labour.      Simdega District came into existence on 30th April 2001. Prior to this it formed part of Gumla district as a subdivision. The district is divided into ten development Blocks namely Bano, Jaldega, Kurdeg, Bolwa, Simdega, Kolebira, Pakartanr, Bansjor, Kersai and Thethaitangar. It is bounded by Gumla district in north, Chhatisgarh and Orissa state in the west and South respectively.  The district consist of Simdega plateau with rugged topography with turbulent streams, steep slopes, high cliffs and narrow valleys. The general slope of the district is from North to South. Geologically the area is comprised with Archean granites and gneisses. In the uplands considerable thickness of laterite of Pleistocene age is found in the granite and gneisses tracts. Alluvium of recent to sub-recent age is found in the river valley. The area is drained by South Koel and Sankh rivers.

The population of Simdega district according to 2011 Census is 599813 residing in 107511 households. Simdega is primarily a rural district with 94% of the total population living in the rural areas. Urbanization is very poor with 6.6 per cent population only living in urban areas. Simdega is the only town in the district. The room density in urban area is more as 6.6 per cent of the urban population resides in the 5.9 per cent households. Simdega district is primarily settled by the Scheduled Tribes (ST) with 70.2 per cent population, which is the highest among all the districts of Jharkhand closely followed by Gumla district with 67.2 per cent ST population. Majority of the tribal population in the district belongs to Christian faith, making the district a minority concentrated district. In addition to this there are about 3% of Mu slims minorities as well. About 8% of the population consists of Scheduled Castes (SC) and the remaining population constitutes other caste Hindus. Major tribal groups in the district are Oraons, Kharia, and Mundas etc. A few families belonging to the Primitive Tribal group like Asur, Birhor etc are also living in the district.  

AGRICULTURE

As like majority of the rural districts in the country Agriculture is the main source of income for the rural population of the District. However agriculture in Simdega is in a very primitive and under developed state. Majority of the rural populace depends on traditional methods of agriculture. Other problems in the agriculture sector include lack of irrigation facilities, absence of scientific inputs, poor marketing facilities, under developed infrastructure etc.  Statistic shows that out of 1,34,024 hects of cultivable land only 4669.83 hects of land is irrigated. The agriculture is mainly dependent on seasonal rain. Even though the average rainfall of the district is 1100-1200 mm due to lack of rainwater harvesting techniques most of the rainwater remain unutilised.

PRINCIPAL CROPS OF THE DISTRICT:-

• Major farming systems/enterprises (based on the analysis made by the KVK)

2.3           Soil types

      2.4. Area, Production and Productivity of major crops cultivated in the district                   (latest)

Description of Schemes /Programme & progress :-

Horticulture Schemes:-