Making rapid strides : agriculture in Madhya Pradesh : sources, drivers, and policy lessons

Agriculture growth in Madhya Pradesh (MP) during the decade long period of 2005-06 to 2014-15 was around 9.7 per cent per annum, which is the highest growth rate registered in agriculture by any major state of India over a ten year period. The last five years have been even more spectacular: agricultural GDP grew at 14.2 per cent per annum. How did MP do it is a lesson worth learning for many states of India who are struggling to get their agriculture moving. In this paper, we study the composition, sources and drivers of agricultural growth in Madhya Pradesh to identify the factors that have contributed to robust agricultural growth in the state and discuss the lessons that can be drawn for many other states of India. The study finds that among the many measures taken by the state government to make rapid strides in agriculture, three interventions stand out - expanded irrigation, a strong procurement system put in place for wheat along with bonus over MSP for wheat, and all-weather roads to connect farmers to markets. In particular, irrigation coverage through tube-wells was expanded through the state government's strategy of initially focusing on providing good quality power supply to farmers during the wheat irrigation season. Canal irrigation, on the other hand, was expanded by utilising financial resources to complete a number of major and medium irrigation projects that had been under construction for several years. Once irrigation cover expanded for wheat cultivation, acreage and production under the crop increased significantly. Consequently, the government strategized to improve the supply chain of wheat by re-modelling the procurement system through digitization and initiated "e-Uparajan" and by increasing storage capacity significantly. The third important factor that contributed to agriculture growth is the expansion of all-weather roads. In the light of these findings, the study makes three principal recommendations to stimulate agricultural growth in other states with somewhat similar characteristics, viz., improve the quality and quantity of rural power supply by strengthening transmission and distribution and by separation of feeders for irrigation and household use, increase the density of surfaced roads in rural areas, and improve procurement and marketing infrastructure to reduce market risk of farmers.