Journal of Global Resources

Volume 4 (02)
July 2018
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

Page 103-112

14
DYNAMICS OF WHEAT-CULTIVATION IN PUNJAB-HARYANA PLAIN
1990-91 to 2014-15
Shivjeet Kaur,1 Poonam Bharti2 and K. S. Sohal3
1

Assistant professor 2Research Scholar 3Professor
Department of Geography, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India
Email: Poonam4601@gmail.com
Abstract: The major aim of the present paper is to reveal the dynamics of wheat cultivation
during 1990-91 to 2014-15. It is also the aim of the study to find out the reasons responsible forthese changes. For achieving the above mentioned purposes, the study is divided into threeparts. First part deals with spatial patterns of wheat cultivation during 1990-91 to 2014-15.
Second part finds out the spatio-temporal changes and trends in wheat. While the third parthighlights the reasons responsible for changes in wheat cultivation. Lastly conclusions are drawn
and suggestions are made. It is recorded that area under wheat cultivation was 38.17 percent in
1990-91 which has increased to 42.52 percent in 2014-15. It is also found that central parts ofthe study region had high share of wheat cultivation in 1990-91, whereas the south-westernparts and central-eastern parts had low to moderate proportion of wheat cultivation. But in 201415, the area under high proportion of wheat has expanded in size. But categories of low as well
as moderate share of wheat cultivation have shrinked. It is also observed that all these changes
are the result of development of agricultural infrastructure. It is also deduced that wheat
cultivation has noted positive trends in area, yield and production with the exception of the year
2005-06. The present study is empirical in nature which is based on secondary sources of data.
Unit of study is district. Two time periods of 1990-91 and 2014-15 are taken. Simple statisticalmethods are used for deriving the results and cartographic techniques are applied for mapping
the results.
Key words: Dynamics, Environment, Trends, Agricultural infrastructure, Spatio-temporal
Introduction
Wheat is recognized as “King of Cereals” and second most important food grain crop in India(Ram et.al. 2017). Evidences from archeological excavations reveal that domestication of wheat
took place over a very long period stretching from 12000 BC to 6500 BC. Wheat cultivation isreported about 6000 years ago in the Mesopotamian Fertile Crescent, and from there it
apparently spread to the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and ultimately Europe (Harlan, 1981).
Vavilov (1949) considered wheat had a multiple origin, the soft wheat coming from themountains of Afghanistan and the south-western Himalayas; the durum wheat from Abyssinia,
Algeria, and Greece; and einkorn from Asia Minor. The archeological evidence seems to indicatethat this grain has been cultivated for at least 6000 years. The New Encyclopedia Britannica(1768) define wheat as cereal grass of the Gramineae (Poaceae) family and of the genus
Triticum and it is edible grain, probably originating in the Euphrates Valley, and one of the oldest(about 7000 BC) and most important of the cereal crops. The Encyclopedia Americana (1829)
describes Wheat, a grass of the Gramineae family, of the tribe Hordeae, and of the genus
Triticum, is the most widely grown of all the cereal grains. Except in the rice-eating regions ofAsia, wheat products are the principal cereal foods of an overwhelming majority of the world’s
inhabitants. The preeminence of wheat as a food is due to several factors. It is adapted to a wide
variety of soil and climatic conditions, and can be grown extensively throughout the world. It is
economical to produce, and gives good yield of grain with excellent storage properties. Shewry(2009) noted that the first cultivation of wheat occurred about 10,000 years ago, as part of the‘Neolithic Revolution’, which saw a transition from hunting and gathering of food to settled
agriculture. These earliest cultivated forms were diploid and tetraploid wheat’s and their genetic
relations indicate that they originated from the south- eastern part of Turkey (Heun et al., 1997;
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Nesbitt, 1998; Dubcovsky and Dvorak, 2007). Cultivation of wheat spread to the Near East by
about 9000 years ago when hexaploid bread wheat made its first appearance (Feldman, 2001).
Wheat is the most extensively grown cereal crop in the world, covering about 237 million
hectares annually, accounting for a total of 420 million tonnes production (Isitor et al., 1990;
Langer and Hill, 1991; Olabanji et al., 2004, Oyewole, 2016), and for at least one-fifth of man’scalorie intake (Ohiagu et al., 1987). Wheat is adapted to all moderately dry temperate climates,
but is not grown in warm humid regions. Areas with a growing season of at least 90 days with anannual rainfall of not less than 25 cm are required. Over 75 cm of rain is detrimental. In general,
regions with a cool moist spring merging into warm, bright, dry harvest periods are the best, butvarious kinds of wheat differ somewhat in their requirements. The proper climatic conditions forwheat are found in different areas in the world which are the chief wheat-producing regions andthese are the plains of southern Russia and the Danube, Mediterranean countries, Northwestern
Europe, Central plains of the United States, Northwest Indian Sub-Continent, Canada,
Columbia River basin in Pacific north-west, North Central China, Argentina, and Southeast
Australia(Hill, 1994). Singh, et. al. (2010) also define that wheat is a predominant cereal cropand India is the second largest wheat producing nation after china with production of 96 million
tons in the world. The other major wheat producing countries include Russian Federation, UnitedStates of America, Canada and Australia. These six countries together contribute more than halfof the global wheat production. Among the wheat growing states of India, Punjab, Haryana andWestern Uttar Pradesh are predominant one which is evident from the figure that Punjab andHaryana plain has 30.69 percent of total wheat production of India in 2014-15 (Statistical
Abstracts of Punjab and Haryana, 2015).
Objectives
The major purpose of the present paper is to reveal the dynamics of wheat cultivation in PunjabHaryana Plain which is considered as a food grain basket of India. It is also the aim of the paper
to know the factors responsible for changes in wheat cultivation during 1990-91 to 2014-15.
Methodology
The present study is empirical in nature. It is based on secondary sources of data. Unit of study
is district. Two time periods are taken i.e. 1990-91 and 2014-15. Three years averages are taken
for each time period to avoid fluctuations in area under wheat owing to changes in weather
conditions. Simple statistical methods are used for deriving the results and cartographic
techniques are applied for mapping the results.
Study Area
It is situated in north-west of India and contains Punjab and Haryana states with total reportingarea of 94,572 sq km which comprises 2.88 percent of the total reporting area of India. Its extent
ranges between 27°37’ North latitude to 32°32’ North latitude and between 73°55’ East
longitudes to 77°46’ East longitudes. The study area is a homogenous plain with exception of
Shiwaliks in north-east and shoot outs of Aravallis in the south. Average annual rainfall is 60 cm.
There are severe winters and severe summers. Annual co-efficient of variability in annual rainfall
is over 20 percent. There are 43 districts. Out of total population of 53057317, 33853551
persons are rural and 19241249 are urban.
Discussion
For knowing spatio-temporal changes in wheat cultivation, the discussion is made under threeheads:• Spatial distribution of wheat cultivation: 1990-91.
• Spatial distribution of wheat cultivation: 2014-15.
• Changes in wheat cultivation during 1990-91to 2014-15.
Spatial distribution of wheat cultivation: 1990-91
Wheat accounted for 38.17 percent of the total cropped area during 1990-91 in the study region.
It was varying between 8.50 percent in Bhiwani district and 46.45 percent in Gurdaspur district.
This great variation in area under wheat cultivation in Punjab- Haryana Plain was owing tovariations in physio-socio-economic and cultural factors. Therefore, to make a thorough study
104

about the spatial patterns of wheat cultivation in the study region, fig. 2 is mapped which shows
three categories and these are discussed in the proceeding paragraphs.

Areas of high percent share of wheat cultivation (over 40 percent)
Twenty six districts of the study region formed this category which accounted for 60.46 percentof the total occurrences. The highest percent share of 46.80 was lying in the district of
Gurdaspur and lowest of 40.1 percent in Muktsar district. It covered the districts of Pathankot,
Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, S.B.S Nagar, Mansa,
Firozpur, Fazilka, Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Barnala, Sangrur, Patiala, andFatehgarh sahib, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Jind and Sonipat. The main reasons forhigh percent share of wheat cultivation in this category were high extent of irrigation, highmagnitude of farm mechanization, high density of tube wells, high density of tractors, higher
proportion under H.Y.V. of wheat, high consumption of chemical fertilizers, developed
agricultural infrastructure, liberal credit facilities, less chances of failure of wheat crop than gramand pulses etc. All these reasons had enhanced the farmers for bringing more area under wheat
cultivation which led to its high share in these districts.
Areas of moderate percent share of wheat cultivation (30 to 40 percent)
The moderate category had comprised eleven districts namely Rupnagar, S.A.S Nagar,
Panchkula Ambala, Yamunanagar, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Faridkot, Mewat and Palwal. The
study region's average of 38.17 percent was lying in this category. There were two separate
belts of this category. One belt was lying in the districts of Rupnagr, S.A.S Nagar, Panchkula,
Ambala, and Yamunanagar. Here, the reasons responsible for moderate share of wheat
cultivation were the presence of shiwalik hills, undulating and dissected topography, poor soils,
deep and inadequate aquifers of sub soil water, moderate extent of irrigation, poor economic
condition of the farmers, predominance of sugarcane cultivation etc. While the second belt of
this category had covered the districts of Gurgaon, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Faridabad, Mewat, and105

Palwal. Here, the proportion of wheat was moderate owing to less developed irrigation,
moderately developed agricultural infrastructure, comparatively low rainfall, shoot outs ofAravallis, predominance of pulses, gram and oilseeds etc. Owing to all these reasons, thiscategory had moderate proportion of wheat cultivation.

Areas of low percent share of wheat cultivation (less than 30 percent)
Only six districts were lying in this category which accounted for 13.96 percent of the total
occurrences. It was lying in the extreme south western parts of study region. Here, the share ofwheat cultivation varied between 8.5 percent in Bhiwani districts to 26.25 percent in Fatehbad
district. This category covered the districts of Bhiwani, Sirsa, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Hisar, andFatehabad. Main factors responsible for low share of wheat cultivation were frequent
occurrences of sand dunes except Mahendragarh and Rewari districts, where there are outcropsof Aravalli hills, low rainfall, less fertile soil, poor irrigational facilities, predominance of oilseeds
and pulses, poor agricultural infrastructure etc. Thus, the preceding discussion reveals thatareas with developed irrigation, developed agricultural infrastructure, high magnitude of farmmechanization, high density of tube wells, high density of tractors, high consumption of agrochemicals, etc. were having high percent share of wheat cultivation. Whereas areas withproblematic physiographic, poor agricultural infrastructure, predominance of oilseeds, pulses
and grams etc. had low percent share of wheat cultivation, because farmers were compelled tocultivate oilseeds, pulses and grams in place of wheat owing to higher chances of wheat failure
because of inadequacy of irrigation facilities which consequently led to low share of wheat
cultivation. But in the remaining areas, the percent share of wheat was noted moderate varying
between 30 to 40 percent.
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Spatial Distribution of wheat cultivation: 2014-15
Average area under wheat cultivation in 2014-15 is 42.52 percent of the total cropped area in
Punjab-Haryana Plain. Though, this average fig. of 42.52 percent is not homogenously
distributed in all districts of the study region. It ranges between 15.05 percent in Mahendragarh
district to 50.52 percent in Palwal district. This uneven distribution of area under wheat is owing
to various factors which can be clubbed into physical, social, economic, cultural, technological,
organizational, etc. For explaining the spatial distribution of wheat cultivation in the study region,
fig. 3 is mapped which depicts three categories and these are discussed individually below:
Areas with high percent share of wheat cultivation (over 40 percent)
The region’s average of 42.52 percent falls in this category. It comprises thirty four districts
which contain 79.06 percent of the total occurrences which shows that roughly 4/5th of the
districts are lying in this category which are namely Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran,
Hoshiarpur, Fazilka, Firozpur, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga, Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Bathinda, Barnala,
Mansa, Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, S.A.S. Nagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar,
Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal
and Mewat. The reasons for emergence of this category in majority of the districts of the study
region are increase in extent of irrigation, high degree of farm mechanization, agriculturalmodernization, assured and higher economic returns from wheat as compared to other Rabi
crops, easy marketing, remunerative wheat prices, H.Y.V. of seeds of wheat, agriculturalresearch and extension services, etc. Thus, all these factors are responsible for higher
proportion of wheat cultivation in this category.

Areas of moderate percent share (30-40 percent)
Only six districts form this category which contains 13.95 percent of the total occurrences. Herethe share of wheat cultivation ranges between 30 to40 percent. This category is found in one
compact belt and three small patches. The belt of this category is found in central parts of
Punjab comprising the districts of Kapurthala, Jalandhar and S.B.S. Nagar. The reasons
responsible for moderate share of wheat cultivation in this belt are small size of land holdings,
loamy soils, high extent of irrigation, high degree of farm mechanization, emergence of potatoes,
maize, melon and watermelon during rabi season etc. because owing to small size of land107

holdings, loamy soils, developed agricultural infrastructures, etc. farmers prefer potato, maize
and water melon in rabi season as compare to wheat because the cumulative economic returns
from these crops are greater than wheat crop which consequently lead to the moderate share ofwheat crop in these districts. In case of Panchkula, the moderate share of wheat is owing to low
extent of irrigation, undulating and dissected topography, poor agricultural infrastructure etc.
While in the districts of Sirsa and Hisar owing to sandy soils and moderate extent of irrigationand low rainfall, the farmers still grow pulses and oilseeds in some areas of their landholdings.
All these are responsible for moderate share of wheat cultivation. Thus owing to all thesereasons, the proportion of wheat cultivation is recorded moderate in this category.
Areas of low percent share of wheat cultivation (less than 30 percent)
It embraces three districts namely Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Rewari which are lying in theextreme south western parts of the study region. The main reasons for low share of wheat
cultivation are sandy soils, outcrops of Aravalli hills, comparatively low rainfall, inadequate
irrigation facilities, low degree of farm mechanization, less developed agricultural infrastructure,poor socio-economic conditions of farmers etc. Thus in such prevailing conditions, farmers
prefer oilseeds and pulses cultivation to wheat which lead to low share of wheat cultivation.
Thus, from the above discussion, it is observed that in areas of developed socio-economic,
cultural and organizational environment, wheat has occupied high percent share of area inmajority of the districts of the study region. While some districts in central Punjab namely
Firozpur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and S.B.S. Nagar, the proportion of wheat cultivation isobserved moderate because of the emergence of potato, melon, water melon and maize
cultivation in rabi season. But in case of Panchkula, Hisar and Sirsa districts, the physicalconstraints, moderate irrigation, less developed infrastructure etc. are noted responsible formoderate share of wheat cultivation.
Changes in Wheat cultivation in Punjab-Haryana Plain: 1990-91 to 2014-15
During 1990-91 to 2014-15, study region has experienced drastic changes in irrigation facilities,
density of tube wells, density of tractors, area under H.Y.V. of seeds of wheat and consumptionof agrochemicals per hectare of the net sown area, agricultural research and extension services,marketing facilities, remunerative prices of wheat, liberal credit facilities, road accessibility,
farmers attitudes, government policies etc. (Sandhu, 2015). All these developments haveaffected the area under wheat cultivation significantly. In 1990-91, area under wheat cultivation
on an average was 38.17 percent which has increased to 42.52 percent in 2014-15 andrecorded positive volume of change of 4.35 percent. This average percent is not uniformly
distributed throughout the study region. Some districts have gained more area as compare toothers. Even there are certain districts which have experienced negative volume of change also.
A thorough study of table no.1 and fig. 4 reveals the following points. The districts of Sirsa,
Fatehabad, Jind, Hisar, Bhiwani, Palwal and Mewat have recorded more than 10.0 percent of
positive volume of change. In all these areas (except Palwal, Mewat and Jind), the share ofwheat cultivation during 1990-91 was less than 30 percent. Thus, development in irrigation
facilities, introduction of H.Y.V of seeds of wheat, assured and higher economic returns from
wheat as compare to oilseeds and grams have enchased the farmers to grow wheat in place ofoilseeds and grams and consequently wheat has recorded more than 10 percent of positive
volume of change. Wheat has experienced moderate positive volume of change in 5 districts
namely Sonipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Interestingly, these are the districts
which had moderate share of wheat cultivation in 1990-91 and were lying in south-eastern partsof Haryana around Delhi. All these districts presently have moderate to low extent of irrigation,
low magnitude of farm mechanization, less developed agricultural infrastructure, lowconsumption of agro chemicals etc. Above mentioned factors have become instrumental tochange the share of wheat cultivation from moderate in 1990-91 to high share in 2014-15 andultimately have recorded moderate positive volume of change (5 to 10 percent).
Twenty six districts have recorded low positive volume of change and out of these
districts, seventeen falls in Punjab namely Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran,Firozpur, Fazilka, Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, Bathinda, Barnala, Mansa, Patiala, Sangrur,
Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar and S.A.S. Nagar. Whereas 9 districts fall in Haryana namely108Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagr, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal and Panipat, Mahendragarh andRewari. All the districts except Mehandragarh, Rewari and Panchkula are blessed with highextent of irrigation, leveled land (except Pathankot and Rupnagar) fertile soils, highly developed
agricultural infrastructure, high degree of mechanization, etc

Moreover these districts had high proportion of area under wheat cultivation in 1990-91
which do not allow increasing more area under wheat cultivation drastically, because alreadythese districts of low change had high percent share of wheat cultivation in 1990-91. As a result,the low positive volume of change is recorded. But in case of Mehandragarh and Rewari
districts, lack of irrigation facilities, poor soils etc. do not allow the farmers to increase more area
under wheat cultivation, because under such conditions they prefer to grow oilseeds especiallymustard in Rabi season to wheat. Therefore, conditions remain the same for wheat cultivation inthese areas during the study period which resulted to low positive volume of change (0.04
percent). Five districts of the study region namely Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, S.B.S.
Nagar and Ludhiana have recorded negative volume of change of less than 5.0 percent. Herephysical environment as well as socio-economic environment is highly developed and degree ofagricultural modernization is also very high. Thus, farmers have turned towards potatoes, melon,
watermelon and maize cultivation during rabi season for two reasons, firstly to gain more profit
from potatoes as compared to wheat and secondly for crop diversification.
From the above discussion, it is observed that areas with low percent share of wheat
followed by poor agricultural infrastructure in 1990-91 have recorded high positive volume ofchange except Gurgaon district. Whereas districts had moderate proportion of wheat cultivationin 1990-91 have experienced moderate positive volume of change. While districts had highpercent share of wheat in 1990-91 with developed agricultural infrastructure have recorded
either low volume of change or negative volume of change in wheat cultivation.

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Table 01: Changes in wheat cultivation in Punjab-Haryana Plain: 1970-71 to 2014-15
Districts
Gurdaspur
Pathankot
Amritsar
Tarn Taran
Kpurthala
Jalandhar
S.B.S. Nagar
Hoshiarpur
Rupnagar
S.A.S. Nagar
Ludhiana
Firozpur
Fazilka
Faridkot
Muktsar
Moga
Bathinda
Mansa
Sangrur
BarnalaPatialaFatehgarh Sahib
AmbalaPanchkula
Yamunanagar
Kurukshetra
KaithalKarnalPanipatSonipat
RohtakJhajjar
Faridabad
PalwalGurgaon
Mewat
RewariMehandragarh
Bhiwani
Jind
Hisar
Fatehabad
Sirsa
Region1990-91
43.68
44.57
44.48
45.05
44.71
40.50
41.23
44.48
39.89
39.5
44.14
45.00
43.78
44.49
41.10
44.88
42.29
43.08
45.55
45.45
45.94
43.67
38.9
37.53
31.53
45.48
42.96
42.15
43.6
45.27
39.95
36.79
38.01
30.46
31.91
32.02
24.21
15.01
8.51
35.01
24.75
26.25
24.96
38.17

2014-15
45.72
45.16
45.08
46.09
39.91
39.95
39.26
42.89
44.59
42.14
42.83
45.52
44.01
46.58
45.93
45.95
45.51
46.44
45.96
46.15
45.31
43.97
42.33
38.4
40.33
45.52
44.25
44.42
45.21
49.58
45.81
42.62
47.84
50.52
41.47
45.96
24.51
15.05
22.85
45.93
36.68
44.02
39.42
42.52

1990-91 to-2014-15
2.04
0.59
0.6
1.04
-4.8
-0.55
-1.97
-1.59
4.70
2.64
-1.31
0.52
0.23
2.09
4.83
1.05
3.22
3.36
0.41
0.7
-0.63
0.3
3.34
0.87
8.8
0.04
1.29
2.27
1.61
4.31
5.86
5.83
9.83
20.06
9.56
13.94
0.3
0.04
14.34
10.92
11.93
17.77
14.46
4.35

Source: Economic and Statistical Organization of Punjab and Haryana

Trends in wheat cultivation: 1990-91 to 2014-15
During the study period, certain developments have taken place in social, economic,
technological, organizational etc. (Sandhu, 2015). These developments have left their impacts
on wheat cultivation in respect of area, yield and production. Table No. 2 shows the trends inwheat cultivation during study period in Punjab-Haryana plains. Area under wheat was recorded
38.17 percent in 1990-91 which had slightly declined to 38.02 percent in 1995-96 and thenincreased to 40.99 percent in 2000-01. But it had again decreased to 40.46 percent in 2005-06
and recorded a negative volume of change of -0.53 percent. Whereas the years 2010-11 and2014-15 have experienced increased in area under wheat cultivation and it is recorded 40.80
percent and 42.52 percent respectively. Thus, an overall positive volume of change of 4.35
percent is recorded. Though the overall trend is positive, yet it has experienced fluctuations in
110area under wheat cultivation during 1990-91 to 2014-15 which is largely owing to changes insocio-economic factors. While the yield in 1990-91 was 3597kg/hectare which had increased to
3966kg/hect and 4335 kg/hect during 1995-96 and 2000-01 respectively. But the year 2005-06
had experienced decline which is evident from the figure of 4056kg/hect. But yield of wheat had
witnessed upward trend in 2010-11 and 2014-15 with 4659 kg/hect and 4735 kg/hectrespectively. Thus, overall increase of 1138 kg/hect in Punjab-Haryana plain is recorded during
the study period. The trend in yield of wheat has noted almost positive with exception of 2005-06
which was the year of bad weather conditions.
Table 02: Punjab-Haryana Plains
Trends in Area, Yield and Production of wheat: 1990-91 to 2014-15
Year
1990-91
1995-96
2000-01
2005-06
2010-11
2014-15

Area(percent)
38.17
38.02
40.99
40.46
41.80
42.52

Yield
(kg/ hec)
3597
3966
4335
4056
4659
4735

Production(000 tons)
18595
20639
25220
23460
28050
28737

Source: Economic and Statistical organization of Punjab and Haryana

Impacts
Wheat is a staple food as well as traditional crop of Punjab-Haryana plain. But owing to its
monoculture during Rabi season in majority of the districts in the study region, it has createdecological problems. Because it requires 4 to 6 watering which need the availability of lot ofwater and most of this water is being pumped out by tube wells from the ground water which has
led to the depletion of sub-soil water. Secondly, the over dozes of agro-chemicals havecontaminated the soils as well as the sub-soil water. Thirdly, wheat-rice crop rotation in about
2/3rd area of the study region has depleted the macro as well as micro nutrients of the soil whichhave affected the soil health. Moreover, burning of wheat straw has also degraded the air quality
which has further affected people’s health.
Suggestions
Though the share wheat contribution in Punjab-Haryana plain to central pool is about 60 percent
which made India self sufficient in food grains, yet its cultivation has created certain ecologicalproblems. Therefore for making wheat cultivation sustainable, some suggestions are made:Some areas to say 10 to 15 percent under wheat cultivation particularly from high category
should be diverted to other crops of Rabi season like pulses, vegetables, winter maize, oilseeds
etc. which will certainly help to minimize the increasing pressure on water resources and on soil
health. Secondly, the use of agro-chemicals should be minimized for saving the sub soil waterand soil from being contaminated. In place of chemical fertilizers, the use of green manure andcow dung should be encouraged. Thirdly, further research in wheat should be encouraged sothat the production of wheat can be increased for the times to come. And fourthly, there is aneed for giving special attention to areas with low share of wheat cultivation, so that those areas
can join areas of either moderate or high proportion of wheat cultivation.
Conclusion
From the preceding discussion following deductions are drawn. In 1990-91, the category of highwheat cultivation was occupying only 26 districts which have increased to 34districts in 2014-15
and all this is largely the result of increase in tractorization, density of tube wells, area under
H.Y.V. of seeds, high consumption of agro-chemicals, developed agricultural infrastructure,favourable government policies, price mechanism etc. It is also found that developments inagricultural infrastructure have affected the categories of low and moderate share of wheat
cultivation and as a result their share of wheat cultivation has increased. It is noted that in 199091, there were six districts having less than 30 percent area under wheat cultivation which has
declined to three districts in 2014-15. While in case of moderate category, there were eleven
districts in 1990-91 which declined to six districts in 2014-15. It is concluded that the region's
average of wheat cultivation in 1990-91 was 38.17percent which has increased to 42.52 percent
111

in 2014-15 and recorded 4.35 percent positive volume of change. As a result wheat has
emerged first ranking crop in the overall cropping pattern of the study region. It is further
deduced that during 1990-91 to 2014-15, some districts with low proportion of wheat cultivationin 1990-91 have experienced moderate to high positive volume of change.
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