India Today (Weekly) New Delhi, 06 December 2021

MADHYA
PRADESH

MADHYA PRADESH: MOST IMPROVED BIG STATE IN AGRICULTURE

A Fresh Approach to Farming

Going beyond agri production, MP
is adopting modern techniques to MOST IMPROVED
boost farm incomes and bring BIG STATES AGRICULTURE
the mandi closer to growers STATE 2021 2020 2019 2018
By Rahul Noronha MADHYA PRADESH 1 1 1 1
TELANGANA 2 13 17 21

A
griculture in Madhya Pradesh HARYANA 3 8 15 13
has witnessed a remarkable turn- RAJASTHAN 4 9 7 5
around. From negative growth
over 15 years ago, the sector has MAHARASHTRA 5 11 10 19
been achieving over 10 per cent growth over ASSAM 6 3 3 2
the past decade; some years, it was more
BIHAR 7 15 16 15
than 20 per cent. Agriculture’s contribu-
tion to the state’s Gross Value Added (GVA) UTTAR PRADESH 8 12 8 6
jumped from 33.85 per cent in 2011-12 to CHHATTISGARH 9 2 4 4
46.98 per cent in 2020-21.
Till 2018, the focus was on improving GUJARAT 10 7 5 14
production of agricultural commodities. WEST BENGAL 11 6 12 17
This was accomplished through bonuses
ANDHRA PRADESH 12 5 6 9
and MSP procurements. Efforts are now be-
ing made to maximise farm incomes by add- JHARKHAND 13 4 2 7
ing to the value chain. Consultancies hired TAMIL NADU 14 19 18 18
for value chain analysis of seven prominent
crops have suggested various interventions. PUNJAB 15 16 14 12
The marketing strategy has undergone ODISHA 16 14 9 11
changes too. Last year, the state began
KARNATAKA 17 18 11 8
UTTARAKHAND 18 20 19 16
HIMACHAL PRADESH 19 10 13 10
KERALA 20 17 20 20

procurement at the farm gate level, enabling farm-

ers to sell their produce without visiting mandis.
The entire marketing operation is online; apps
provide farmers real-time information on crop
prices. Subsidies on farm implements have also
been amended. Tractors are off the list. “Our study
found around 86,000 tractors are sold in MP
MAN AND MACHINE
every year. Instead of tractors, subsidies are being
Wheat harvesting
during the Covid offered on modern equipment such as happy seed-
lockdown in Bhopal ers and mulchers,” says Ajit Kesri, additional chief
secretary, agriculture, MP. n
PANKAJ TIWARI

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