Govt efforts boost agriculture sector in MP

Number of small and medium farmers has also gone up from 65% to 71.5% in 2010-11

Efforts of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in agriculture sector to make the sector profitable have yielded better results in the past three years. Madhya Pradesh has achieved significant achievements in the last three years, Agriculture Survey 2014 tabled in the state assembly said.

The growth rate in agriculture, the survey said, stood at unprecedented high during 2011-12 and 2012-13. The acreage in agriculture has also gone up from 19.147 million hectare in 2000-01 to 23.232 million hectare in 2012-13. The number of small and medium farmers has also gone up from 65% of the total farmers to 71.5% in 2010-11, the survey said. The contribution of the agriculture sector (including animal husbandry and fisheries) to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) improved during 2011-12 (provisional), 2012-13 (quick estimates) and 2013-14 (Advanced) which stood at 22.28%, 24.35% and 27.38% respectively.

However, the contribution of the agriculture sector to GSDP witnessed a fall from 2005-06 when it stood at 25.24%, to 23.75% in 2006-07, which further went down to 22.28% in 2007-08, 21.71% in 2009-10 and 20.40% in 2010-11. The growth rate of agriculture the sector shows an improvement during year 2011-12 (provisional) at 19.8%, 20.1% in 2012-13 (quick estimates) and 24.9% in 2013-14.

The per hectare productivity has gone up since 2007-08 from 1,064 kg per hectare to 1,952 per hectare in 2012-13. The contribution of the state in national productivity has also reached 11.2% in food grains. The productivity per hectare stood at 1,203 kg per hectare in 2008-09, 1,293 kg per hectare in 2009-10, 1,248 kg in 2010-11, 1,706 kg per hectare in 2011-12. The contribution in national food grain production stood at 5.7% in 2007-08, 6.4% in 20008-09, 7.7% in 2009-10, and 6.9% in 2010-11.

In various five year plans investment in agriculture sector witnessed a fluctuating trend but it rose significantly in 12th five year plan. According to the survey, it stood at 7% (of the total allocation) in 8th five year plan with Rs 1,031 crore, went up further to Rs 1,130 core in ninth plan, again it stood marginally high at Rs 1,618 crore during 10th plan, but it rose to Rs 3,408 crore of the total allocation during 11th plan. It was raised to Rs 17,067 crore or 9% during the 12th five-year plan.

Similarly, the state's own investment in agriculture sector from its revenues has also gone up significantly from Rs 3,742 crore (2003-04) to Rs 12,190 crore in (2012-13), which is 15.2% of the total budget of the state and 3% of the GSDP as an average investment during 2010-11 to 2012-13. During the same period Bihar invested 2.4%, Uttar Pradesh 1.7%, Rajasthan 1.5%, Punjab 1.3% and Haryana 1.2% of their respective GSDP in agriculture sector, the survey said. The year-wise investment trend shows that state invested Rs 4,572 crore in 2004-05, Rs 5,301 crore in 2005-06, Rs 4,102 crore in 2006-07, Rs 5,126 crore in 2007-08, Rs 5,470 crore in 2008-09, Rs 5,776 crore in 2009-10, Rs 8,464 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 10,623 crore (estimated) in 2011-12, the survey said.

The state has posted highest agriculture growth in 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 at 18.5 percent. The gross irrigation area has gone up from 4.49 million hectare in 2002-03 to 8.96 million hectare in 2012-13, the survey said.

The horticulture sector is also growing in Madhya Pradesh at 10% per annum. At present, the horticulture area covers 6% of the total sown area, said the survey. Milk production has also gone up from 5.28 million tonne (2001-02) to 8.84 million tonne (2012-13). Similarly egg production has also gone up from 756.5 million to (2001-02) to 871.2 million (2012-13).

At the same pace fish production has also gone up from 47,457 tonne (2001-02) to 85,235 tonne (2012-13). It went up further to 96,257 tonne in the year 2013-14, said the survey.