Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

nigerseed are declining gradually. Thus, the area shift has favoured only a sub-sector withinthe oilseed sector partly because of constant changes in the comparative advantage ofdifferent oilseeds and partly because of the impact of changing consumers' preferences onthe relative demand of oilseeds.3.4 Crop Diversification and CompositionAs noted already, area shifts and crop pattern changes can lead either to cropspecialization or to crop diversification. The area share of foodgrains increased during 1967-76 due partly to their yield advantages created by irrigation expansion and Green Revolutiontechnologies and partly to government policies pursued to encourage food production andeliminate food imports. As a result, there was a tendency towards cereal centeredspecialization. But, later when increased productivity of foodgrains, especially cereals, madeit possible to allocate more area to other crops such as oilseeds with a severe supply shortage,the specialization tendency witnessed earlier has given room for overall crop diversification.Even within such an overall crop diversification, it is also possible to see specializationtendencies within each crop group. For instance, within cereals, the declining share of coarsecereals and increasing share of wheat and rice indicates a rice and wheat centeredspecialization. Such a specialization has become possible because within the achievement ofself-sufficiency, mainly through an expanding production of wheat and rice, the foodimplication of coarse cereals has declined almost coinciding with their declining demandprompted by an increasingly incurring income level. On the other hand, within oilseeds,even though groundnut still has a dominant area share, the growth of area under rapeseed andmustard, sunflower and soybean indicates an ongoing structural change leading todiversification within the oilseed sector. The issue of crop diversification, althoughconsidered in area terms, assumes significance in view of its effects on the supply-demandbalance of main crops and crop groups. The rice and wheat-centered specialization, forinstance, indicates an increase in the supply of wheat and rice but a reduced supply of coarsecereals. Since the demand for coarse cereals is declining and that for wheat and rice isincreasing due to changes in the income pattern, the changes in their supply are actuallynecessary to achieve the required demand-supply balance. A similar line of argument canalso be extended to other crops where in addition to domestic demand, international demandand supply also assume significance.Clearly, during the Green Revolution period, the foodgrains category has evinced anincreasing tendency towards specialization with an unbalanced area composition, whereasthe non-foodgrains category has shown an increasing tendency to diversify with an improvedbalance in their area composition. But, during 1976-97 the non-foodgrains category has alsocaught up with the specialization tendency and area imbalance that characterized foodgrainsthroughout the entire period. The reason for the specialization tendency within foodgrains israther obvious in view of the declining area share of coarse cereals and the increasing areashare of rice and wheat. The changing area share of crops can also explain the specializationtendencies observed among the non-foodgrains. As we have seen in the context of Tables 2and 3, the area shares of oilseeds and other commercial crops have increased especiallyduring the post Green Revolution period characterized by a prices and market-responsiveagriculture inevitable in the aftermath of achieving food self-sufficiency. It is important tonote, however, that oilseeds are more diversified with an enhanced balance in their areacomposition. Within foodgrains, on the other hand, while cereals tend towards specializationwith an increasing imbalance in their area composition, pulses evince a tendency to diversifywith a declining imbalance in their area composition. The latter result is mainly due to the38