Quantifying Major Crops, Cropping Systems and Farming Systems: A Case Study in the Mid Central Table Land Zone of Odisha State in India

The declining trend of per capita land availability with shrinking operational holding size poses a serious challenge to the sustainability and productivity of existing farming systems especially in marginal and small households. Food security, employment generation, conservation of natural resources, maintenance of soil health, nutritional security and environmental protection are the emerging issues in present scenario and suitable cropping system and farming system can ensure the highest standard of food production and meet with household demand for balanced food and improve the recycling of organic waste and increasing the employment opportunity. Integration of locally available farm resources with restoration of environment is essential for providing household food and nutritional security to billion plus population. The overall aim in the case study to build sustainable rural livelihood and promote growth of rural economics. The Mid-central table land zone of Odisha state covers the district Angul, Dhenkanal, part of Cuttack and Jajpur. Although rice is the district's main crop, vegetables like brinjal yield the highest net returns. The two main cropping systems in the district are rice-vegetables and rice-groundnut, and the rice-brinjal cropping system offers the highest net return due to higher system productivity than other cropping systems. Crop-horticulture-poultry farming systems, which are viable from an economic and productivity standpoint, have produced the most profit. As a result, the current rice-based cropping system can be effectively diversified by include vegetables like brinjal in cropping sequences and crop-horticulture-poultry farming systems, both of which are sustainable for sustaining production and increasing profit.