Purvanchal tops with over 84% of agricultural land holdings below one hectare.
Eastern Uttar Pradesh, popularly termed as Purvanchal, leads the tally in the state with highest percentage of agricultural land holdings below one hectare, which classifies a farmer as marginal.
The region tops with over 84 per cent of land holdings below one hectare, followed by western UP with over 70 per cent.
Lower land holdings make farm mechanisation rather uneconomical and the farmer is unable to reap the full benefits of economies of scale.
The impoverished Bundelkhand region has about 54 per cent of land holdings below one hectare, possibly due to lower population base and consequently lesser land division.
The all-India average of land holding below one hectare is about 65 per cent.
Meanwhile, the arid region of Bundelkhand has only about 56 per cent of its land as irrigated area due to paucity of land and ground water resources and lesser amount of rainfall.
Eastern UP and Western UP have about 76 per cent and 92 per cent of its land falling under irrigated area. The total irrigated area in UP is pegged at about 14 million hectares (MH).
As per statistics, tube wells account for the largest source of irrigation at about 10 MH, followed by canals and other sources accounting for 2.8 MH and 1.2 MH respectively. The total cropped area in UP is estimated at about 25 MH.
Meanwhile, West UP leads the productivity table at 2.82 tonnes/hectare, followed by Eastern UP and Bundelkhand at 2.31 tonnes/hectare and 1.422 tonnes/hectare respectively.
Last year, UP stood first in India in terms of food grain production at 47 million tonnes (MT) and this year the state government has set the target at 53 MT.
Meanwhile, the commercial banks have been mandated to take steps to improve the credit deposit ration (CDR) in the state, which stands at around 48 per cent.
Higher CDR would mean more money flowing to the agricultural and industrial sector.
The CDR in Eastern UP is lowest at about 27 per cent and banks have been directed to launch special drive in this region.
