How Shivraj Singh Chouhan Pulled Out The ‘M’ From BIMARU

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the cabinet-approved new Crop Insurance scheme yesterday in Madhya Pradesh, the one thing he constantly applauded was the effort of state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and of the farmers. Indeed, ever since Chouhan took over as the chief minister of MP in 2005, its agricultural growth rate has been phenomenal. The state has got the Krishi Karman award from the president 3 times in the last 5 years.

So what has caused these phenomenally high growth rates?

Chart 4: New genetic varieties have enhanced agriculture extension services. Superior varieties of seed by the Kisan Vigyan Kendras (KVK’s) have helped (like the sharbati variety of wheat provided by our public sector scientists). When it comes to taste, quality and other attributes, Madhya Pradesh’s sharbati tops the charts in demand in the metros. Area under drip-irrigation has increased manifold that saves water and increases productivity.

Challenges

But the story is incomplete. Rural wages still remain among the lowest in MP. Even the farm power consumption is still low despite its increase from 0.84 kw per hectare to 1.54 kw. Farm power in Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat is more than 3 kw per hectare. Farmer suicides especially in the past 2 drought seasons have not stopped

In conclusion, it’s clear that this is sustained by a combination of assured power, de-centralising irrigation, focus on agricultural extension services, popularisation of modern micro-irrigation techniques, promised procurement with adequate compensation and finally the leadership’s focus, even single mindedly, on agriculture.

The lesson here is for the eastern states lagging behind in productivity. They can really benefit from higher spending on irrigation. Ensuring timely water and electricity could also lead to higher productivity.

The article has taken data from this article from Ashok Gulati published in the Indian Express on 7 December, 2015.