Agriculture Reference
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to increase the current level of food grain production to ensure the qual-
ity and adequate diet for most humans. In West Bengal many people are
malnourished today, especially children (38% under age fi ve) and women.
Though fertility of West Bengal reached to the replacement level (bel-
low 2.1) but the population momentum will guarantee a continued popula-
tion growth for next few decades in the state. As population expands, the
food problem will become increasingly sever, conceivably with numbers
of malnourished. Considering of these facts, the paper will examine the
temporal and spatial variation of population growth and food production
in West Bengal.
12.2 DATA AND METHODOLOGY
The data for the present study has been gleaned from multiple sources
in view of the array of different parameters to assess population dynam-
ics, food production and nutrition security in West Bengal. The different
sources are: Census of India; Statistical Abstract of West Bengal, 2008;
and others published reports. Census data have been used to understand
spatial and temporal pattern of population growth where annual exponen-
tial growth rate and decadal growth rate have been computed. Information
regarding food grain production and land use pattern has been gathered
form Statistical Abstract of West Bengal.
Percentage of cultivable land and percentage of net sown area were de-
fined as the proportion of cultivable land and proportion of net sown area,
respectively, to the total geographical area of particular administrative unit.
12.3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
12.3.1 POPULATION DYNAMICS IN WEST BENGAL
In the last century, population of West Bengal has increased more than 5
times than that of population in 1901. In 1901, the total population was
16.9 million which increased to 91.3 million in 2011, adding a total 74.4
million population in the last one hundred and ten years (table 1).
 
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