Foodgrains yield in state stagnant for past decade

The yield of foodgrains in Rajasthan has remained more or less stagnant in the past decade, latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revealed.

The wheat yield in Rajasthan that was 3,175 kgs per hectare in 2008-09 had registered a dip in the successive years before bouncing back to the same mark in 2015-16.

In comparison, only one of the five states that share boundaries with Rajasthan, performed worse. The wheat yield in Uttar Pradesh dipped to 2,636 kgs per hectare in 2005-16 compared to 3,002 kg per hectare in 2008-09. The other four states — Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat, registered an increase in the yield.

The sharpest hike was recorded in Madhya Pradesh where the yield climbed up from 1,723 kg per hectare to 2,993 per hectare during the same period. Gujarat too performed good, recording 2,919 kgs per hectare yield, up from 2,377 kg per hectare. Punjab and Haryana registered a marginal rise at 4,583 kg per hectare from 4,462 kg per hectare, and 4,407 kg per hectare from 4,390, respectively, according to Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2017-18 released by RBI.

In oilseeds, Rajasthan’s yield registered marginal increase — from 1,114 kg per hectare to 1,182 kg per hectare — even as Gujarat’s yield shot up to 1,627 kg per hectare from 1,345 kg per hectare in 2008-09. Punjab was the other state where yield went up — from 1,276 kg per hectare to 1, 318 kg per hectare — while Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana recorded a dip.

Rajasthan performed relatively better in pulses with yield climbing up to 515 kg per hectare in 2015-16 from 497 kg per hectare in 2008-09.

“Rajasthan stands second in terms of wheat yield but lack of use of modern farming methods and lack of improvement in soil health is the reason the yield has been stagnant. Ongoing scheme to improve soil health will lead to better results in the coming years,” an agriculture department official said.

“Rajasthan performed the best in wheat production by harvesting 98.24 lakh tonnes in 33.18 lakh hectares in the year 2014-15. Wheat yield is also quite high and better than neighbouring states,” state agriculture minister Prabhulal Saini said.

Farmers in Rajasthan are heavily dependent on good monsoon for higher productivity, particularly that of pulses. In 2011, Rajasthan had topped the pulses production and experts had attributed the outstanding growth to good monsoon that had resulted in yield shooting up to 684 kg of pulses per hectare.

In Kharif crops, Rajasthan produces moong, moth, urad and arhar while gram and masoor are the two main rabi crops.

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