Harvest Gold

Not just augmenting farm productivity and income, the state has also made big strides in cleaning up the environment.

- Rahul Noronha

Even as poor agricultural growth compels the Union and state governments to plan revival strategies for the politically sensitive sector, at least one state has bucked the trend for years. In fact, Madhya Pradesh’s agricultural growth story has offered other states a template to get their act together.

Though sceptics have often questioned the claims made by the MP government, a string of Krishi Karmanya Awards by the Centre has come as an endorsement of the state’s achievements. Large tracts of land along the Narmada have been brought under basmati rice cultivation in the past decade or so. The crop shift will throw up critical challenges in the future, such as depletion of the water table but, for now, it has ushered in prosperity among farmers in the districts of Raisen, Hoshangabad, Harda, Bhopal, Sehore, Vidisha and Narsinghpur. However, the state government has failed to resolve legal issues, with basmati from MP in danger of not being recognised as basmati paddy at all.