Bhubaneswar, March 31: Around 1.4 lakh metric tonne potato is being produced annually in the State, said Planning and Co-operation Minister Usha Devi.
She told Ray that of the total crop production, only 28.3 pc is cultivated on irrigated land while 66.8% paddy is produced from non-irrigated land in the State. Devi said that for the first time potato production has crossed 1 lakh MT in the State during 2014-15 FY.
“While potato was cultivated only on 7 lakh hectare land in 2008-09 FY, the tuber was produced on 5 lakh hectare land in 2012-13 FY.
In 2014-15 FY, potato was produced on only 8,000 hectare land, which was only 0.14 pc of the total cultivable land. On an average, 103.32 quintal potato was produced per hectare in 2008-09 FY, while the production was 112.12 quintal in 2012-13 FY and 123.24 quintal in 2014-15 FY in the State”, the Minister said.
According to the government’s economic survey report 2015-16, the State had produced 97,000 MT potato in 2009-10 FY, while it reduced to 71,000 MT in 2013-14 FY. However, 1.4 lakh MT potato was produced for the first time in 2014-15 FY, Devi said.
There are around 62 lakh hectare agriculture land in the State out of which 58.24 lakh hectare was cultivated during kharif season, of which irrigated land was only 22.54 lakh hectare. Similarly, only 27 lakh hectare land was cultivated during rabi season, out of which 12.67 lakh hectare was irrigated land. “
Around 50 lakh hectare land was non-irrigated during rabi season while around 40 lakh hectare land was deprived of irrigation facility during kharif season”, the Minister stated in her reply.
Replying to another question by Ray, Agriculture Minister Pradeep said the State lags in the field of irrigation. Out of the total paddy production, only 32.2 pc is being produced on irrigated land.
While the percentage in Punjab is 99.6 pc, it is 97.1 pc in Andhra Pradesh, 99.8 pc in Haryana, 90.4 pc in Jammu and Kashmir, 93.2 pc in Tamil Nadu, 62 pc in Rajasthan, 80.4 pc in Uttar Pradesh, 48.2 pc in West Bengal and 55.6 pc in Bihar. The quantity of paddy produced at the national level on irrigated land is 58.6 pc while it is negligible in Odisha.
According to the data provided by the Minister, out of total crop production, 98 pc is being produced in irrigated land in Punjab, while the percentage is only 28.3 in Odisha.
