SPATIO – TEMPORAL PERSPECTIVE OF CROPPING PATTERN CHANGES IN SOLAPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

Agriculture plays a vital role in rural livelihoods, food security and economic development. The agricultural pattern reflects the spatio-temporal distribution of crops and Crop Combination. It denotes the crop combination of increase and decrease trend in cerels, pulses, oilseeds and Cash Crops. For the crop combination of major crops are denoted by using weaver’s crop combination method. This method is used to measure the dominance and diversity of cropping Patterns. The research paper attempted to examine temporal changes in cropping patterns from 2009 to 2021. This study is based on secondary data received from the Agriculture and Irrigation Department of Solapur District (2009-2021), which is analyzed using growth rate calculation, trend analysis and Weaver classification method. The results show a sharp decline in cereals, which fell from 68.4 percent of the total crop area in 2009 to only 10.0 percent in 2021, representing a total decline of 88 percent. In contrast, the production of pulses increased steadily from 5.3 percent in 2009 to 19.0 percent in 2021, leading to strong and consistent growth. Oilseeds showed fluctuations but increased from 3.2 percent in 2009 to 8.3 percent in 2021, indicating a long-term growth. The most significant change was in cash crops, which increased from 23.1 percent in 2009 to 62.7 percent in 2021, indicating a remarkable growth due to irrigation development, market demand and agro-industrial support. The crop mix analysis further shows that while cereals dominated in 2009 and 2011, in 2016 there was a dual dominance of cereals and cash crops, by 2021, only cash crops emerged as the dominant category. Overall, Solapur’s agricultural sector has shifted from cereal-based subsistence farming to commercial, irrigation-driven cash cropping systems. This transformation has increased farmer incomes and strengthened agro-industrial linkages, but it has also reduced crop diversity and increased dependence on water-intensive crops, raising concerns about sustainability and food security.