Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Cropping Pattern in Nashik District: A Geographical Analysis

Abstract The present research paper has been made an attempt in to analyse the cropping pattern in Nashik district. This study is based on secondary data collected from socio-economic abstract of Nashik district. The Physical, climatologically, socio-economic, technological, organizational factors, and farmer's attitude, etc. determinants closely influenced on the cropping pattern in study region, but in the study area irrigation is an important determinant affected on the cropping pattern. The collected data regarding area under different crops has been computed with the statistical techniques. It has observed that the more variations in the cropping pattern in tahsil to tahsil in study area. The distribution of cropping pattern is generally adjusting to the physical environment, availability of irrigation facilities and food habits of the farmer community. It reveals that the proportion of cereal crops in the study region is 69.40 per cent through the period of 1991, it is rapidly declined up to 46.13 per cent to the total cropped area in the period of 2024. Pulses in the entire district has 12.33 percent in 1991 and 12.90 percent in the gross cropped area in 2024. The proportion of sugarcane cultivation in Nashik district has 2.59 per cent in 1991 and it is to some extent up to 2.70 per cent in 2024. The fruits and vegetables have 6.32 per cent to the total cropped area in 1991, it is quite increased up to 23.43 per cent to the total cropped area in 2024. The proportion of fodder the entire Nashik district has 6.06 per cent area under fodder in 1991 and it is declined up to 4.63 per cent in 2024.