How Gujarat Beats Maharashtra In Cotton Irrigation

A comparison of cotton irrigation in Maharashtra and Gujarat brings bad news for the former. and brings to light the reason for its current acute agrarian distress.

Maharashtra and Gujarat present contrasting examples of developing agricultural infrastructure and subsequently increasing productivity across farms. Both of these states contribute a significant portion of the national cotton yields.

Between 2000-01 to 2010-11, Gujarat’s efforts led to nearly 57% of its total area under cotton cultivation to be brought under irrigation. For the same period, Maharashtra was able to irrigate only 3% of the area under cotton cultivation.

Chart 1 depicts the respective proportion of areas under irrigation, average yields and total area under cotton cultivation in Maharashtra and Gujarat. The former is able to manage only half the average yield that Gujarat manages, directly correlating to the success/failure of the irrigation projects.

Chart 2 depicts the amount of public investment in irrigation projects in these two states. While Gujarat may have benefited from the Narmada dam project it still sets a very high benchmark for Maharashtra. Despite ₹81,000 crores (cumulative for the period 2000-01 to 2010-11, at current prices) being spent Maharashtra’s performance appears dismal.

Source: From plate to plough: Padyatras, politics, policies, Ashok Gulati, Indian Express.