~68~ International Journal of Statistics and Applied Mathematics 2022; 7(2): 68-76 ISSN: 2456-1452 Maths 2022; 7(2): 68-76 © 2022 Stats & Maths www.mathsjournal.com Received: 15-01-2022 Accepted: 19-02-2022 Suru Munda Research Scholar, School of Statistics, Gangadhar Meher University, Amruta Vihar, Sambalpur, Odisha, India Dr. Rajendra Gartia Assistant Professor, School of Statistics, Gangadhar Meher University, Amruta Vihar, Sambalpur Odisha, India Dr. Digambara Chand Reader, Department of Economics, Larambha College, Bargarh, Odisha, India Pritipadma Sahu Research Scholar, School of Statistics, Gangadhar Meher University, Amruta Vihar, Sambalpur, Odisha, India Deepak Kumar Behera Research Scholar, School of Statistics, Gangadhar Meher University, Sambalpur, Odisha, India Corresponding Author: Suru Munda Research Scholar, School of Statistics, Gangadhar Meher University, Amruta Vihar, Sambalpur, Odisha, India Agricultural disparity at grassroots levels: A statistical analysis at block levels of Sambalpur district Suru Munda, Dr. Rajendra Gartia, Dr. Digambara Chand, Pritipadma Sahu and Deepak Kumar Behera Abstract Agriculture is the strength of Indian economy which provides employment for approximately 65% of the workforce across the country Jaspal sing et al. [25] . Regional inequality due to the unequal level of agricultural developments remains a major problem in India and Odisha in particular. In the present study an attempt has been made to study the regional inequality in agricultural development among the nine blocks of Sambalpur district. The study utilizes published data obtained from Statistical Abstract of different districts in Western Odisha and ‘District Outlines’ published annually by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES), Government of Odisha, for the year 2017-2018. Using technique of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Seven Principal component were extracted which were found to be normally distributed by Kolmogrov Smirnov test. The three Quartiles Q1, Q2 and Q3of the Normal probability distributions are used to classify the nine blocks into four homogeneous groups namely Meteoric, Progressive, Mediocre and Laggard on the basis of their composite index scores. The analysis finds that three blocks namely Dhankauda, Jaminkira and Jujumura have the highest level of agricultural developments and are the Meteoric while two blocks namely Bamra and Naktideaul have the lowest level of development and can be categorised as Laggard blocks. Kuchinda and Maneswar blocks are relatively less developed than Dhankauda, Jaminkira and Jujumura and can be categorised as Progressive blocks while Rengali and Rairakhol are relatively more developed than the Lagardblockes and less developed than the Progressive blocks in terms of agricultural developments and may be treated as Mediocre blocks. Keywords: Principal component analysis, Kolmogrov smirnov test, meteoric, progressive, mediocre and laggard Introduction The First Agriculture Policy, that came into force in 1996, conferred the status of industry on agriculture, has been revised twice post globalisation during 2008 and 2013 making it more inclusive and comprehensive, of late has undergone a major metamorphosis with its orientation towards market linkage and expected to bring a substantial change in farmer’s income through realisation of better prices, Government launched SAMRUDHI Agriculture Policy 2020 for the State of Odisha. A flagship scheme Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana (MKUY) of State Government has been launched during 2018 to provide single window facilities for promoting commercial agri- enterprises. Subsidies are being provided for setting up of Commercial agriculture/ horticulture/ animal husbandry/ fisheries units. NAFIS-2016-17 (NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey) was undertaken by NABARD in all states on sample basis for the reference year 2015-16.As per that survey result the estimated average monthly income of an agricultural household for Odisha was INR 7731/- and the same for India was INR 8931/-for 2015-16. The state Odisha comprising of 30 districts ranks 9 th by area and 11th by population has an agricultural-based economy. However, the state faces many developmental problems in terms of regional inequality. Due to several economic, agricultural and social barriers, all regions in Odisha do not share development benefits equally. The Indian economy is an agricultural economy and is known for its diversity in agricultural development, mainly due to the diversity of economic and social factors [Handa, 2014] [26] , The broad concept in Agricultural Development represents the quality and development of the