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Abstract
In the recent years India’s agricultural sector has experienced significant changes in institutional and policy interventions and productivity at the national and sub-national levels. But although overall production has increased growth has slowed down, inter-state and intra-state disparities continue to remain very high and even widened in some cases. Using Principal Component Analysis technique and constructing district-wise agricultural development indices, this paper analyses the spatio-temporal variations in agricultural development in Odisha , India for 3 years over the period 2001-02 to 2011-12, identifies the underlying factors, examines inter-relationships and draws policy implications for improving the agricultural situation. Increasing public investment in agricultural infrastructure including irrigation, establishing appropriate farming systems , developing suitable and affordable technology and crop varieties, augmenting credit delivery and designing region and crop-specific plans and strategies are suggested for moderating spatial inequalities and achieving a less unbalanced regional development in agriculture.