Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
belt to higher elevations of Lahaul-Spitti and upper reaches of Kinnaur
districts of Himachal Pradesh. With respect to effect of elevated atmo-
spheric CO
2
concentration, photosynthetic down-regulation is expected
in different citrus species under long-term CO
2
enrichment. However in
grape, rise in CO
2
concentrations may strongly stimulate grapevine pro-
duction without causing negative repercussions on quality of grape and
wine. Similarly in mango and apple, substantial increases in tree biomass
have been recorded under elevated CO
2
conditions.
4.6 CONSTRAINTS FOR HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN
THE EASTERN REGION
Broadly the edaphic constraints in the region are listed below.
• Low size of holding preventing introduction of improved production
technologies like farm mechanization. Per capita availability of net
cultivated land in the eastern region is lowest in the country. About
68% of the farm holdings are marginal to small ranging from 0.3 to
0.5 ha.
• Soil acidity problem exist to a considerable extent in Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand and Assam.
• Coastal soil salinity is also a problem in the states of West Bengal
and Orissa.
• Substantial area in the eastern region is also categorized as water
congested or waterlogged where water remains stagnated for a lon-
ger durations.
For enumeration of specific constraints in different parts of eastern
region, the entire eastern region can be geographically divided into: (1)
Hilly, terai and plateau region, (2) Middle and lower gangetic plain and
(3) Coastal region.
4.7 THE SPECIFIC CONSTRAINTS OF THE HILLY, TERAI AND
PLATEAU REGION
4.7.1 EDAPHOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS
• The sloppy land in the region is the major contributing factor to-
wards soil erosion and shallow depth of soil.
