MP Agriculture

Madhya Pradesh is an agrarian state with about 74% population of the state depending directly or indirectly on agriculture. Agriculture and its allied services contribute 31% share in the state’s economy. About 71% of the total work force is directly engaged in farming.

Since independence, Madhya Pradesh is constantly improving its agricultural produce by implementing various plans and projects. The introduction of high yielding varieties of crops and utilization of various chemical fertilizers has brought a revolution in the crop production.

The food grains production increased form 8.9 million tonnes in 1964-65 to 10.8 million tonnes in 1970-71. It has now reached to 14.1 million tonnes as F.F.C in 2004-05 after separation of Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh. This shows how the state has become self sufficient in providing food grains to the people.

Major Crops

The major crops grown in Madhya Pradesh include paddy, wheat, maize and jowar among cereals, and gram, tur, urad and moong among pulses, while soybean, groundnut and mustard among oilseeds. Cash Crops like cotton and sugarcane are also grown in few districts of the state.

Horticultural crops that are grown in the State include potato, onion, and garlic, along with fruits like papaya, banana, oranges, mango and grapes. Mdeicinal plants are also cultivated in certain areas.

Irrigation

Major perennial rivers in Madhya Pradesh include Mahi, Narmada, Tapti, Chambal, Betwa, Sone, Wainganga, Ken and Pench. These rivers are the main sources of irrigation. In terms of area, it has been estimated that Madhya Pradesh has an irrigation potential of 60.9 lakh ha, which, when fully utilized, can irrigate 40.1% of the present net sown area from surface water 150 lakh ha. Small tanks, dams, tube wells are other sources of irrigation. The total annual utilizable ground water in the state is 4.86 M. ha M.