Assessment of Causal Relationship between Agricultural Productivity and Food Availability at Circle Level (Cluster of Villages) in Junnar Tahsil of Pune, Maharashtra

Abstract

The most important indicator of the spatial pattern of agricultural development is agricultural productivity. It aids in identifying regions that are performing less or more efficiently than neighbouring regions and identifies the true cause of a region's agricultural backwardness. According to the physio-socio-economic condition of each region, it will be of great assistance in planning the sustainable development of each area. Population pressure on cultivable land is rapidly increasing, resulting in a rising demand for agricultural products. To solve the foodgrains problem, it is always a challenge to increase production per unit area and per unit of time. This paper attempts to assess the relationship between agricultural productivity and food availability at micro scale that is at cluster village (circle) as case study in Junnar. The Junnar Tahsil of the Pune District relies heavily on agriculture and is home to a variety of crops, necessitating agricultural planning for local food availability due to diversity in physical and socio-economic conditions of area. For 2019-20, the Shafis Calories Per Capita Index was utilised to evaluate productivity. In this study, the following ten crops were considered: rice, wheat, jowar, bajara, groundnut, soybean, gramme, sugarcane, onion, and tomato. Consideration was given to rice, wheat, jowar, and bajara for the production of cereal grains. Using geospatial techniques, a choropleth map has now been created. Analysis of the research revealed the spatial dimension of productivity in terms of regions with low, moderate, and high productivity. The trend in the medium and high productivity regions is toward a higher proportion of cash crops and a lower in foodgrains. Changes in cropping patterns are a result of the command area's irrigation facilities. On the basis of the findings, it has been concluded that area with high agriculture productivity of non-food crops are deficit in local food-grain availability and area of low agriculture productivity have high local food availability and this allows for more food diversity required for local food security.