authors
Dr. Manoranjan Nayak

abstract
Indian agriculture had reached the stage of development and maturity much before the now advanced countries of the world embarked on the path of progress. At that time, there was a proper balance between agriculture and industry and both flourished hand in hand. Indian agriculture in the pre independence period can be correctly described as a “Subsistence” occupation which yielded “too little to live on and too much to die on”. Agriculture in Odisha generally means growing rice. It is the staple food of almost the entire population of Odisha; therefore, the state’s economy is directly linked to changes in rice production. Rice is the major crop, covering about 63% of the total area under food grains. The state economy is directly linked with the increase in productivity of Rice as it is the staple food in the state. Orissa agriculture is highly concentrated in low productive and high water consuming paddy cultivation. The yield rate of rice which is the staple cereal crop of Orissa, the picture is, also, not encouraging. The net sown area of the country has reached a point where it is not possible to make any appreciable increase. Thus, raising the cropping intensity and raising productivity seem more viable strategies to increase production of farm products and farmers’ incomes. Cropping intensity refers to raising a number of crops from the same field during one agriculture year. Higher cropping intensity means more than one crop from the same area in an agricultural year. Cropping intensity is highest in Punjab, followed by West Bengal, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in the country.