Agriculture

Land Use Pattern and Agriculture

Within the State’s total area of 7096 sq.kms. Comprising of rugged mountainous terrain, approximately 2500 sq.km. of the State is habitable land. Agriculture and allied activities continue to be the most important occupation of the State and form the main base of Sikkim’s economy. The land utilization pattern of the State as per statistical profile is as below;

(Area in Hectares)
Land Particulars	East	North	South	West	State
Geographical Area	95400	422600	75000	116600	709600
Net Area Sown	18122	11231	21740	16600	67693
Fallow land	7872	5597	1004	12239	26712
Land not available for cultiv.	3277	1523	2754	847	8401
Net irrigated Area	2532	850	2105	2054	7541

Size of Land Holdings	No. of Holdings	Area in Ha.
Less than 1 Ha.	40476	14811
1 and 2 Ha.	16941	20397
Above 2 Ha.	16731	59170
TOTAL	74148	94378

The main crops grown in the state are maize, rice, wheat, barley etc. but the production is vey less due to various reasons. However, emphasis is given for the cash crop like orange, large cardamom, ginger, fruits and floriculture.

Area, Production and Productivity in Sikkim 2014-15
Crop	Area (Ha)	Production (MT)	Productivity (kg./ha)
Rice	11040	20070	1817.93
Wheat	390	420	1066.84
Maize	39880	68890	1727.51
Finger Millet	2960	2970	1004.39
Barley	490	500	1031.13
Buckwheat	3690	3550	962.60
Pulses	6260	5810	927.80
Oilseeds	7920	7070	892.17

Animal Husbandry

In Sikkim livestock production is the endeavour of small holders and over 80% of all the households in the state own livestock of one species or the other and income from them. Animal husbandry, Livestock & Fisheries Department is engaged in supporting the production of milk, meat & egg by providing requisite infrastructure in the state for improving the productivity of livestocks and birds, preservation and protection of animals through preventive and curative health care facilities and for developing the skill of farmers in modern and scientific methods through adequate training on organic animal husbandary practices. Some of the major initative for development of Animal Husbandry started by Gov. of Sikkim are as follows:

• Organic Animal Husbandry.
• Cattle Development Programme.
• Piggery Development Programme.
• Feed & Fodder Dev. Programme.
• Dairy Development Programme.
• Animal Health Services.
• Livestock insurance.
• Poultry Development Programme.
• Livestock Sector policy.
• Trout Fish Seed Production Programme.
• Carp Seed Production Programme.
• Propagation of Mahseer.
• Conservation of Riverine Fisheries Programme.

The district-wise populations of livestock as per 19th Livestock Census 2012 are as follows:
(Rural + Urban)
Sl. No.	Species	East	West	North	South	Total
1	Cattle	47266	41625	14305	37494	Total
2	Buffaloes	39	794	19	40	892
3	Sheeps	212	1234	234	1004	2684
4	Goat	34259	37640	9410	29561	110870
5	Yak	2369	141	3710		6220
6	Pig	8077	9987	3793	8460	30317
7	Ponies	102	99	324	11	536
8	Farm Poultry (Layers+Broiler)	18722	1005	1400	42000	63127
9	Dog (Pet)	11417	4675	2002	5501	23595
10	Rabbit	127	28	353	65	573
11	Backyard Poultry	118939	111809	31122	175775	437645
(Source: 19th Livestock Census 2012, Deptt. Of AHLFVS)

DISTRICTWISE ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERINARY INSTITUTIONS & OTHER INFRASTRUCTURES
(As on 31st March 2014)
Sl. No.	Items	North	East	South	West	State
1	Veterinary Hospitals	4	5	3	4	16
2	Veterinary Dispensaries	5	14	16	17	52
3	Veterinary Polyclinics		1			1
4	Artificial Insemination Centre	6	60	22	45	113
5	Stockman Centre	7	25	15	16;	63
6	Milk Processing Plants	1	1	1	1	4
7	Milk Chilling Plants/ Cooling Plants	6	49	55	83	193
8	Poultry Breeding Farms	1	3	2	1	7
9	Rabbit Breeding Farm	1				1
10	Yak Breeding Farm	1				1
11	Pig Breeding Farm	2	1	2	2	7
12	Hatcheries		1	1		2
13	Rinderpest Check posts		2	1	1	4
(Source: 19th Livestock Census 2012, Deptt. Of AHLFVS)

FARMS: THEIR LOCATION
Sl. No.	Farms	Location
1	Exotic Cattle Breeding	Pangthang
2	Bull Rearing	Gyalzing
3	State Bull Mother farm	Karfectar
4	Poultry demonstration farm	Chujachen
5	Goat	Magalbarey
6	Piggery	Gyalzing
7	Sheep	Begha
8	Hatcheries	Jorethang