Growth and Instability of Organic Maize Crop in the Eastern Himalayan State of Sikkim, India

Abstract

Agriculture serves as the backbone of the majority rural populace of Sikkim, the country’s pioneer state to practice organic farming. Maize stands as an important crop for the population of the hilly state. Besides providing food security for the rural population, it is also used as feed and fodder for animals. In recent years, the state has seen a rise in the demand for Maize with its expanding population and the expansion of the animal feed and poultry sector. This study attempts to understand the growth and instability in the area, production and yield of maize crops by using secondary data collected from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Information on the area, production and yield of maize production in Sikkim was collected for the years 2001- 02 to 2020-21. The overall area under maize recorded negative growth in the entire study period. The production and yield of maize registered low growth rates in the periods considered in the study. Instability analysis in the study shows that the magnitude of instability of area, production and yield of maize has declined in Period II. Instability for area and production in the overall period has remained lower than that of Period I but higher than the magnitude of instability in Period II. In the case of yield, instability in the overall period is the highest.