Pressures

Agriculture

Agricultural productivity and soil quality, as is obvious, are closely interrelated. In fact, agricultural productivity is dependent on the nutrients and holding capacity of the soil. Other inputs like water and fertilisers impact on soil and productivity in the near and long run.

While agriculture has spatially and by way of yield per hectare grown more slowly than industry and services, per hectare consumption of chemical fertilisers (mainly N-P-K) has gone up for the principle crops by 100% between 1982 and 1993. In paddy, cotton and Maize the yield per hectare increased more between 1972 and 1982 but much less between 1982 and 1992. In groundnut and sugarcane the yield per hectare actually declined in the same period. According to departmental statistics, chemical fertilisers seem to have peaked in productivity per hectare sometime between 1978 and 1986. Thereafter, however, there has been a steady decline.