Economy
The mainstay of people in the district is agriculture. Even though large numbers of them are tribal, it is agriculture that sustains them for most parts of the year. Non-timber forest produce is another major source of income for the people. As large tracts of the land are still forested. The tribal in many places practice Marhan or Dippa. The farmers who live in forest cut the trees before the rainy season and use the land for agriculture. After every two years they prepare a new farm and leave the old one for some time. In the plane land farming is done each and every year. Rice is the main crop of area but Wheat, Sugar cane, Gram, Kodo, Moong, Tilli, Maize are the other important crops. People also grow varieties of vegetables. Varieties of fruits like Mangoes, Bananas etc. are also produced.
The land is planted with rice or other grains, in an agricultural practice called Marham or Dippa. After a year or two, the land is deserted and new land prepared for planting.
Rice is the main crop of area. However wheat, sugar cane, chana, kodo, moong, tilli, bhutta are also important crops along with many types of vegetables and fruits such as mangoes and bananas.
About half of rural Kanker is below the poverty line as per official estimates. The entire district is drought prone. Over 80 percent of the working population is already dependent on marginal agriculture and allied activities, with low incomes and stagnant productivity. Thus, the challenge is not merely creating livelihood opportunities for the new entrants to the unemployment net to offset the effects of population growth, but to make existing livelihoods of nearly 2.95 lakh workers more productive so that persons engaged in agriculture can earn adequate income to meet their basic needs. Thus, the only feasible option in the short to medium run is to increase employment in the main livelihood sector, which is agriculture. Diversification, intensification and stabilisation of agriculture are at the core of the challenge of livelihood promotion in the district.
Read more about this topic: Kanker District
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