Economic analysis of changing cropping pattern in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra

The current study examined the shifts in cropping patterns in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district. Secondary data acquired over a 63-year period (1960-1961 to 2022-2023) was evaluated in order to achieve the goal. calculated the rates of growth in the area planted to specific crops as well. Growth rates for the chosen period were calculated by splitting it into three equal time periods and solving the exponential model. The cropping pattern was examined at four distinct triennial periods by calculating the percentage of area under various crops to gross cropped area. Cereals accounted for almost half of all food grains and the largest portion of the GCA; however, they exhibited a downward tendency over time. The majority of the non-food grain crops came from cash crops, such as cotton and sugarcane, with horticulture crops coming in second. In contrast, the oilseed crop group had the smallest contribution to the GCA, accounting for 7.37% of the total. It was discovered that the growth rates of fruits, vegetables, soybeans, udid, wheat, maize, gram, and sugarcane were all positively significant. However, the growth rates of other crops, such as jowar, bajara, ragi, tur, niger, sunflower, and safflower, were negatively significant. Soybeans (87.89%), jowar (81.76%), maize (80.06%), gram (79.76%), bajara (70.70%), moong (69.02%), sugarcane (66.29%), and wheat (61.44%) were the crops that kept the most of their area, over the previous year. A high of 26.23 percent of wheat's land was lost to other crops, while 12.33 percent was lost to Bajara. On the other hand, the Jowar crop showed the greatest gain.