Geo-Eye

Abstract

The magnitude of agricultural diversification shows the impact of physical, socio-economic and techno-organizational influents, especially physical environs. It is increasingly recognized that a study of the spatial patterns of agricultural diversification is of vital importance and almost indispensable in understanding the competition that goes on among different agricultural activities for space. In general, it appears that keen competition for agricultural land and adoption of judicious crop rotation for the maintenance of soil fertility are associated with a mixed farming system rather than crop specialization. But, the choice of a cropping system is dependent primarily on physical variables and secondarily on technical and economic considerations. In certain pockets of irrigated lands, contrastingly crop specialization is more prominent rather than crop diversification. To observe this, an endeavour is made here to study the geographical patterns of crop diversification in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, where irrigation plays major role in the cultivation of crops. Gibbs-Martin Index of diversification is applied here for the crop data of two trienniums i.e.,1987-90 and 2012-15.