Transforming Face of Madhya Pradesh through Innovative Practices in Agriculture Sector and its Impact on Economic Growth

Transcription

1 Transforming Face of Madhya Pradesh through Innovative Practices in Agriculture Sector and its Impact on Economic Growth Introduction Madhya Pradesh is the second largest state in the country in terms of area with a total geographical area of 308 lakh hectares constituting 9 percent of the total geographic area of the country and ranks at sixth position with the total population of 72 million, out of which 72% resides in rural areas. The state is known for its abundant natural resources including forest, minerals, rivers and valleys. There are 11 agro-climatic zones, five crop zones and varying land use, soil types, rainfall and water resources, distributed across 51 districts in the state. Also, a significant proportion of tribal s and dalits reside in the state together comprising 35% of the total state population. The state economy of Madhya Pradesh is predominantly rural and agrarian in nature. Agriculture sector is the mainstay of the state's economy and is the only sector providing employment and livelihood options to majority of the rural population in the state. Role of agriculture and allied sector including animal husbandry and fisheries is wider and more significant due to agrarian nature of the state economy. According to Census 2011, 69.8 % of the total workers and 85.6 % of the total workers in rural areas are dependent on agriculture for livelihood in Madhya Pradesh which comprises 31.2% cultivators and 38.6% agriculture labours. In the recent past, Madhya Pradesh has set new records with outstanding performance in agriculture sector all over the country. Agriculture sector in the state has moved on to exhibit positive and consistent growth rates since and seen commendable achievement of highest ever growth rate in , and The State has also improved its position as the third largest wheat producing state in the country after Vinay Joshi Chandniwala Punjab and UP with a record-breaking production of 14.5 million tonnes of wheat in the fiscal year and 16.5 million tonnes in With the highest growth in foodgrain production Madhya Pradesh has received prestigious Krishi Karman' award for the second consecutive year in for its contribution towards raising the country's food grain production. Madhya Pradesh also became a pioneer state in in constituting seed producer cooperative societies on a large scale to ensure increase in availability of seeds. Madhya Pradesh's agriculture growth rate for remained at 14.28% and overall GSDP at 10.02%. It shows that Madhya Pradesh has witnessed the increase of about 33% in agriculture growth rate in the last two years. Data Collection - Secondary Research The tool for the data collection is secondary research which is carried out by gathering information from the different sources: Compendium of Information Agriculture Statistics Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Economic Survey report -2013, Madhya Pradesh Major Intervention in Agriculture Handbook, State Agriculture Census, State Five year plan, Annual plan and District Plan. Hence, for the analysis purpose, investment for agriculture and allied activities has been captured through Plan allocations in different Five Year Plans and time series analysis of budgetary outlays of Madhya Pradesh State Budget from through Objectives 1. To assess the agriculture GDP growth 2. Analysis of increase in irrigation through difference sources, crop wise growth, water management, seed management

2 3. Agriculture Growth rates of agriculture and allied sector including animal husbandry and fisheries in Madhya Pradesh Analysis In the period from to , four years were very good for agriculture in the state. In these four years, the agriculture sector gave a robust performance and attained high growth rates. In and , agriculture growth rates were consistent and very close to the growth of overall GSDP. It is to be noted here that this nearly stable performance of the agriculture sector has come despite the deficient rainfall received by the state in those years. The year was exceptionally good year with very good monsoon in all the four months of the rainy season. The agriculture and allied sector revived from adversities and once again exhibited not only the positive growth but attained highest ever positive growth rate in and advance estimates indicating-similar consistency in and With this achievement, it even left behind the overall GSDP growth of the state in last three years by a great margin. Growth rates of agriculture and allied sector including animal husbandry and fisheries in Madhya Pradesh is exhibiting a mixed trend with characteristic booms and dips. There was a sharp decline from onwards and reported ever lower growth rate of -1.8% in The years and saw little stabilization with growth rate of around 9.5 % and again a sharp dip in The hard efforts in terms of policy decisions and several other programmatic interventions undertaken by the state government in the past few years to make agriculture in the state both remunerative and sustainable are : 1. Increasing the area under irrigation from different sources boosted the food production in the state, which has almost doubled in the last one decade. 2. Net Irrigated Area in the state has increased from lakh ha in to lakh ha in The Gross Cropped Area in Madhya Pradesh has increased from lakh ha in to lakh ha in Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to distribute short term crop loan at zero percent interest rate in An additional bonus of Rs 150 to the minimum support price for wheat procurement enthused farmers in the state to undertake wheat cultivation. 5. Balram Tank Scheme is being implemented to raise ground water table and enabling efficient use of rain water. 6. The government has also provided the grant of Rs. 232 crore during the year for installation of new permanent agricultural pump connections. 7. Subsidy for installation of tube-well was increased from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 40,000 and aid to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe farmers. 8. A scheme for advance storage of fertilizers was successfully implemented and efforts are being made to make available the high quality chemical fertilizers and seeds to farmers through cooperative societies. 9. The emphasis on farm mechanization has increased the farm performance in the form of farm power availability from 0.85 KW per ha to 1.36 KW per ha. The sectoral composition of the state s economy is gradually shifting from primary sector to the secondary and tertiary sectors in last two decades or more. Although this trend is quite common in the developing economy, where dependence on agriculture is reducing nationally as well as in many other states in the country, the State of Madhya Pradesh, however, has different story to inscribe. Agriculture sector including animal husbandry and fisheries together contributes almost one fourth (24.5%) share in the State GDP at constant prices (base year ) and 33.6% at current prices in according to quick estimates of GSDP provided by Directorate of Economics and Statistics, GoMP. The contribution remained nearly the same as in to , of course with annual

3 fluctuations, but of very little deviations which was never the case before. Advanced estimates for reports even higher share of 27.38% from agriculture and allied sector. Contribution of secondary sector to State GDP rose from 27.15% in to 30.87% in , but, thereafter shows continuous declining trend and reported it s lowest at 25.59% in Tertiary sector contribution to State GDP is showing characteristically uneven trend with an average share of 45% in Compared to other secondary and tertiary sectors, agriculture in Madhya Pradesh is moving towards stabilization from previous uncertainties with marked growth in recent past. In monetary terms, the agriculture and allied sector GDP has almost doubled from Rs crore in to Rs crore in and furthermore to Rs crore in Agriculture Growth Rate in Madhya Pradesh GDP from secondary sector has always been on the high side until and stands lower in than that of agriculture and allied sector for the first time. In case of tertiary sector, the GDP from the sector was almost double than GDP from agriculture and allied sector till In the year , the gap between GDP from agriculture and allied activity and that of GDP from tertiary sector has narrowed due to the high growth of agriculture and allied sector. Thus, it is also amply clear from the analysis that in monetary terms the gap between GDP from agriculture and allied sector and that of secondary and tertiary sectors has reduced particularly in and This, on the other hand also points at positive performance of agriculture and allied sector in the State. GSDP AGR Correlations GSDP AGR Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed).061 N 9 9 Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed).061 N 9 9

4 Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate a a. Predictors: (Constant), AGR Model F Sig. 1 Regression b Residual Total Water Management In the light of the fact that nearly two third of the agriculture in Madhya Pradesh is of rain fed nature depending solely on the monsoon, importance of irrigation assumes greater importance also. In the recent past however, the situation has favorably turned around for agriculture and allied sector in Madhya Pradesh. There has been an increase in net and gross sown area by addition of double cropping area and steady and positive agricultural growth despite unfavorable climatic conditions of droughts in recent past. The credit of this rise of course goes to fulfilling the backlog of different irrigation projects pending over the years, and increasing irrigation potential from large, medium and small irrigation projects. Besides, improving government canal irrigation facilities, an attempt was also made by the state government to improve irrigation facilities by increasing coverage under Kapil Dhara wells under NREGS, wells and tubewells with provision of electricity, Balram Tanks and Percolation Tanks and minor irrigation ponds. Narmada is our state s lifeline. We have resolved to ensure state s development by constructing various dams over Narmada for optimum use of its water. Narmada-Kshipra Link Project has been taken up in the first phase of linking other rivers with Narmada. This will provide adequate drinking and irrigation water in Malwa region. A proposal is being examined to extend this programme to other areas of the state also in future.

5 State Micro Irrigation Mission has been launched to ensure better use of irrigation water in the state. Its objective is to prevent misuse of irrigation water by motivating farmers to adopt modern methods of irrigation like drip, sprinkler and rain gun. We have been successful in integrating BPL farmers with the mainstream of agriculture by constructing Kapil Dhara wells in the fields of BPL farmers and providing irrigation implements to them. A special campaign has been launched in the command areas in the state for summer crops. Its objective is to ensure full utilization of irrigation water and increase in production. Crop Diversification Agro climate - The diverse agroclimatic conditions and different soil types make it possible to cultivate a range of crops in different crop groups in the state like cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cash crops. Major crops cultivated in Madhya Pradesh are wheat, rice, maize and jowar under cereals; gram and lentil under pulses and soybean and mustard under oilseeds. Introduction of soyabean in the state in the decades of 1980s and its cultivation in the state has made a mark as the leading soyabean producer in the country. Apart from this, some areas are also used to cultivate medicinal plants and narcotics, especially in Neemuch and Mandsaur districts. The state is promoting cultivation of horticultural crops extensively and more and more area is now being covered under different varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices including garlic, onion, chilli, coriander etc. Horticulture - Horticulture sector in the recent past have become one of the upcoming sectors in Madhya Pradesh with increasing area under major crop groups of vegetables, fruits and spices and especially its production. This is one of the upcoming sectors in Madhya Pradesh growing with increasing area under horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables and spices in the state in recent past. At present, around 14 lakh ha area is under horticulture cultivation including fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices and medicinal crops that constitute 6% of the total cropped area. Further, the districts that are contributing to cultivation of horticulture crops in the state, shows that it is the Malwa region where horticulture has flourished to a great extent and the seven districts, namely, Ratlam, Mandsaur, Guna, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Jabalpur and Chhindwara have comparatively higher share of area (more than 4%) as a proportion of state level area under horticulture crops in Agro processing Agro-processing sector is one of the rapidly growing sectors in the state exhibiting several distinguishing features. In , there were in all 812 agro-based food product industries in Madhya Pradesh constituting nearly one fourth of the total industries and engaging around 18% of the total industrial workforce in the state. Food storage and Warehousing Food storage and warehousing is another emerging critical area for the state of Madhya Pradesh with increasing agricultural production along with horticulture produce,

6 livestock products and fisheries. Since all these commodities are highly perishable in nature, storage, warehousing and cold storage facilities are of immense importance to prevent losses due to damage and wastage. MP's food storage and warehousing budget has been increased Food grain Production in Madhya Pradesh robustly by times in the last decade from Rs 67 crores in to Rs 1161 crore in Annual growth rate of food storage and warehousing spending is 42% that is much higher than the total state budget's spending. Seed Management Availability of quality seed is the prime input factor behind successful agriculture. For hagriculture development in the state continuous efforts have been made in the direction of seed production, seed distribution and seed replacement. Under the different schemes/programme like Beejgram Yojana, Surajdhara, Annpurna Yojana, ISPOAM Yojana, ICDP and coarse cereals scheme, quality seeds are distributed in the state. The quantity of good seeds distributed has more than doubled in the past five years from 11.6 lakh tones in to 34 lakh tonnes in Distribution of quality seeds in Madhya Pradesh (in lakh tonnes) Contribution of Animal Husbandry in Agriculture GDP Madhya Pradesh has a very large cattle population which is also the main source of draught power in agricultural operation and rural transportation in the state. According to the latest Livestock Census, 2007, the state has 4.16 crore livestock (approximately 8 % of India) and lakh poultry birds (approximately 1.3% of India) and Ducks. Madhya Pradesh is the sixth largest producer of milk in the country. Milk production in the

7 state has increased steadily over a ten year period from 5284 to 8838 thousand tonnes during to Madhya Pradesh recorded a growth rate of 8.5% in Milk production in which was highest in the country (Indias growth rate was 3.5%) surpassing Maharashtra in terms of total milk production. Per capita milk availability in MP in was 325 gm/day compared to 295 gm/day for the country and recommendation of ICMR viz 280 gm/day. Egg production too increased significantly from 7565 lakhs in to 8712 lakhs in In Madhya Pradesh, since March 1975, the Cooperative Dairy structure has played the role of a development agent and has been an important participant in the rural development programme initiated by the Government to generate subsidiary employment & alleviate poverty. Today, the apex federation, Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation (MPCDF) with its five regional Cooperative Milk Unions located at Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior and Jabalpur, is procuring 8.24 lakh kilograms of milk daily from its 2.19 lakh milk producers (comprising 24% landless, 26% small, 27% marginal farmers), associated to 5810 dairy cooperatives, thinly spread over in 51 districts of the state. Awareness thorough Knowledge and Economic Growth e-uparjan, Beginning of New Era The new system of e-uparjan has ensured transparency and speedy payment. Farmers can register here for free. SMSs are sent to farmers which facilitate arrangement at the procurement centre. Payment is paid into directly their bank account. Transparency in payments is ensured. For the rabi , 2865 centre will be started, lakh farmers have already registered themselves with these centers and will be selling their agriculture produce. Madhya Pradesh has established the first computerized and most elaborate procurement arrangements through the societies. In the year 2013 Rs crore is paid via e-payment. 100 Lakh, SMSs are sent to 10 Lakh farmers. E-uparjan system has got various awards Wheat and paddies are being procured under the e-uparjan system. In the year wheat was produced at 2852 centers totaling about lac MT. For the year , lac MT was purchased at 2313 centers. For the rabi , 2865 centre will be started and lakh farmers have already registered themselves with these centers. e-procurement system The e-procurement system has been launched as a special initiative to ensure transparency in the prevailing wheat procurement process in the state. The state

8 government has adopted for online registration of farmers to further simply the procedure of procurement of wheat, paddy and other food grains at support price. Departmental Coordination Timely availability of credit is the primary need for undertaking agriculture operations. Its significance may be gauged from the fact that agriculture in Madhya Pradesh is characterized by dominance of small and marginal farmers (67.61%) with operating area of 27.19%. Many of them are engaged into subsistence farming with adequate backing of financial resources. Much of the agriculture credit gets disbursed through co-operative societies and also the disbursement for procurement of foodgrains also takes place through the channel of co- operatives. Hence, more budgetary allocations for co-operation sub-sector are important. The co-operation budget in Madhya Pradesh has increased by nearly 7.8 times in the last decade from just Rs 88 crores in to Rs 689 crores in with an annual growth rate of 27%. MARKFED The Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation, popularly known as MP Markfed is an APEX body of Marketing Co-operative Societies established in Markfed is one of the largest channelizing agency of Agriculture related products in Madhya Pradesh. MP Markfed was setup with the objective to promote Cooperative marketing of agriculture produce for the benefits the farmers. Institution is involved in the purchase, sale and distribution of agriculture related commodities like fertilizer, seed, pesticide, agriculture machineries and procurement of food grains under minimum support price schemes from primary agriculture credit co-operative societies, marketing cooperative societies and farmers in the remote areas. Madhya Pradesh Rajya Beej and Farm Vikas Nigam (MPSFDC) MPSFDC is formed with the motto to increase the agricultural production and to facilitate the availability of best quality seeds. MPSFDC make breeder seeds available, produce the certified seeds and market it to farmers for nominal rates. MPSFDC developed and managed the agriculture farms in skilled way as well. State Agricultural Portal The Portal would be developed as a Mission Mode Project under the National e- Governance Plan of the Government. The objective behind the portal is to provide a single window access to the information and services being provided by the Department of Agriculture and all other departments for the citizens and stakeholders. Grievances Redressal Management System (GRM) and Expert Advisory System (EAS) The present system for Grievance Management is manual. Farmers may approach to Rural Agricultural extension officer (R.A.E.O.), Kissan Call Centers, Block / Division / District level agriculture departments or the Directorate of Agriculture, State to raise grievances related to various categories like seed prices, availability of stock nearest to the farmers area, subsidy details etc. The grievances of the farmers are addressed by the departments. If the grievance doesn t belong to that department, they are directly routed to the next concerned department. Similarly, KCC handles the grievances of the farmers telephonically. If they are unable to address the grievances of the farmers, they transfer that call to the next level. The State Government is making direct transfer of funds to farmers bank accounts against subsidy and bonus provided to them under various schemes. This has ensured total transparency in transfer of subsidy amounts to farmers. Financial Assistance The State Government has increased quantum of financial assistance for all farmers

9 on being affected by natural calamities. For this, large-scale amendments have been made in Revenue Book of Circulars 6-4 by declaring each field as a unit. While increasing relief amount on loss to agriculture and horticulture crops, arrangements for providing relief on loss of betel leaf enclosures and waternut crops have also been made. In the XI plan period actual disbursement of total agriculture loan in MP has increased from Rs Cr. in to Rs Cr. in reporting 86.57% increase over a period of four year. Off Budget funds in Agriculture and Allied Sector in Madhya Pradesh It is to be noted that beside, the usual funds flowing through the route of state budget, there are other funds flowing from centre and reaching directly to the implementing agencies in the sector thus bypassing the state budget. These off budget funds are documented by the state government in a separate budget book called Off Budget volume since On analyzing it was found that the quantum of these funds rose from Rs 234 crores in to Rs 855 crores in Major schemes and programmes included under off budget are Land Development Funds (Revenue Department and Rural Development Department), National Food Security Mission, (Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Department), DPAP- Drought Prone Areas Programme (Rural Development Department), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (Rural Development Conclusion Thus, we may conclude from the above analysis that the overall economic growth of Madhya Pradesh got momentum during the 11th Five Year Plan and is now moving ahead on the positive growth trajectory. One may observe the very high and positive correlation between GSDP from agriculture and allied and overall GSDP of the State. It is also amply evident from the figure that whenever in any particular year, agriculture and allied sector perform badly, overall GSDP shows a dip and in a better agriculture year, overall GSDP improves. Thus, contribution of agriculture and allied sector in State GDP is of great significance and it is a crucial driver responsible in determining the growth and performance of the state economy. References. 1. Agriculture policy: vision 2020, IARI, New Delhi. 2. Ahluwalia, M.S Reducing poverty and hunger in India: The role of agriculture. IFPRI Annual report essay. 3. Agriculture and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. IFPRI, Agriculture Statistics Agricultural policies in India: Producer support estimate IFPRI. Feb, Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Economic Survey, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture Government of India, Annual Report National alliance for mission 2007: Every village a knowledge centre. MSSRF Overview and priority area of action. Government of India, Planning Commission. 10. Report of the inter-ministry task group on comprehensive medium term strategy for food and nutrition security. Government of India, Planning Commission, April, State Environment Policy, H&ED, GoMP, Survey of Indian Agriculture The Hindu publication. 13. Towards faster and more inclusive growth: An approach to the 11th five year plan. Government of India, Planning Commission, November, 2006.