About
Odisha covers over 1.56 million hectares of land which is 4.7% of total land mass of India. It is divided into four geographical regions: Northern plateau, Central river basins, Eastern hills and Coastal plains comprising of ten agro-climatic zones. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood in the State. Around 49% of the total workforce is dependent on agriculture (PLFS2017-18) as against 44% at all-India level. However, the gross cropped area declined from 90.10 lakh ha in 2014-15 to 83.38 lakh ha in 2018-19. As a result, there is growing pressure in productivity of land. The agriculture sector in Odisha constituted 19.9% of GSVA in 2019-20 (AE). During 2012-13 to 2019-20, the crop sector growth averaged at 2.5%. The growth of agriculture and allied activities are often adversely affected by various natural phenomena like cyclone, flood, pest attack, drought etc. The share of livestock, forestry and fishery remained at 12.7%.Given the high dependence on agriculture for employment, the sector can play an important role in overall development of the State as it impacts on two critical goals – eliminating poverty and ending hunger under SDG directly and as many as eleven indirectly.