Secret of Gujarat's Agrarian Miracle after 2000 Author(s): TUSHAAR SHAH, ASHOK GULATI, HEMANT P, GANGA SHREEDHAR and

R C JAIN Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 52 (DECEMBER 26, 2009-JANUARY 1, 2010), pp. 45-55 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25663939 . Accessed: 20/08/2013 07:46
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ireviewofagfurn

i mi MBBI^B

Secret of Gujarat's
TUSHAAR SHAH, ASHOK GULATI, HEMANT

Agrarian
RC

Miracle

after 2000

P, GANGA SHREEDHAR,

JAIN_

at has clockedhighand steady Semi-arid growth Gujarat

9.6% per year inagricultural state domestic product Gujarat government has aggressively pursued an innovative agriculture development programme by liberalisingmarkets, invitingprivate capital, reinventing agricultural extension, improving roads and other infrastructure. Canal-irrigated South and Central Gujarat should have ledGujarat's agricultural rally. Instead it is

1 Gujarat's Agricultural Growth since 2000

known for agrarian dynamism, semi-arid Gujarat

Never

The this What hasdriven since 1999-2000. growth?

has clocked exceptionally high and relatively steady rate of growth of 9.6% per year in itsagricultural state domestic product (sdp) in the earlyyears of thenew millennium medio (Gulati et al 2009). This is in sharp contrastto the rather cre growthrateof 2.9% per year in thenational gdp from agricul
ture and allied sectors. It is also in contrast to Gujarat's own

and North and Kachchh, Gujaratthat drySaurashtra

have been at the forefront.These could not have

highlyvolatile agricultural performanceduring the decades be the restof fore2000. Gujarat's economyhas been outperforming of because this has been since the country 1990.However, largely an never has been important growth. Agriculture rapid industrial Over the long term, Gujarat's part of theGujarat growth story. agriculturegrew fasterthan Indian agricultureas a whole since
1970. However, growth year-to-year fluctuations in Gujarat's agricultural have rates were so violent that for years, researchers

sowell butfor of the improved availability performed

Arguably, mass-based water groundwater for irrigation. harvesting and farm power reforms have helped energise Gujarat's agriculture.

bemoaned indifferent agriculturalgrowthperformanceas a drag

on Gujarat's overall growth in economic and human development

terms (Dholakia 2002; Hirway 2000; Mathur and Kashyap 2000; Bagchi et al 2005). Against thisgloomybackdrop,Gulati et al (2009) foundthat in

matically, recordingaverage annual growth rate of 9.6% during 2000-01 to 2006-07" (p 4). In their preliminaryanalyses of state main sources of Gulati et al (2009) observed thatthe level trends,
Gujarat's agricultural growth post-2000 have been the massive

the new millennium, Gujarat's agriculturehas not only bucked itsown past trend but also thenational trend. They reportedthat 2000 seems to in have after picked up dra "agriculture Gujarat

boom in cottonproduction, the growth in thehigh value sector comprising livestockand fruitsand vegetables, and the rise in Table 1 (p 46) provides a bird's eye view of the annual rates of crop groupingsbefore growthof thevalue of output indifferent
and after 2000. growth Two striking aspects except are noteworthy. have First, annual accel rates of all crops, paddy, significantly production.

wheat

erated after 2000 compared to before. Indeed, inwheat and pulses, thegrowth ratenearlydoubled, and, in cotton, itjumped
over 3.5 times. The

cash crops like potato and banana; these had a relativelysmall but a disproportionately weight in thearea cultivated large weight in the value of output. Livestock output, particularly milk, too experienced an acceleration ingrowth rate.The onlymajor crop
Shah (T.Shah@cgiar.org) is at the International Water Institute, Colombo. Ashok Gulati, Hemant P and Management Tushaar

growth

rates accelerated

as fast, or faster, for

Ganga Shreedhar are at the International Food Policy Research Institute. R C Jain is at the Central Groundwater Board, New Delhi. weekly Economic & Political QBS3 December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 45

where growth ratedeceleratedwas paddy. The second aspect of The coefficient theGujarat story has to do with the fluctuations. ofvariation (cv) forall crops and crop groups has been lower in to ex theperiod after2000 thanbefore.Thismakes it important sources in the of influences plore Gujarat agriculture. stabilising

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to2005-06) Table 1:Annual Average GrowthofMajor Sectors and Crops:Gujarat (1992-93 to2005-06 CV to1999-2000 CV 2000-01 Sectors_1992-93 Total foodgrains_73_42_1_0_3.4 11.0 3.2 Total cereals_8__3.7 Total pulses_53_6_9_117_4.0 Paddy_12__1__8__3.9 Wheat_12_8_40_23_1_2.3 Total cash crops (excluding cotton) Total Maize_103_3_5_15_9_4.9 10.5_43_19__2.8 Cotton_10_5__9_36/1_1.1 others_33_32_04_7.2 and Total fruits vegetables__6_Z9_144_0.5 Banana_2__96_12/1_1.6 Potato_5_3_44_11/1_1.7 Livestock_5.0 Total agricultureand livestock_54_3___1_2_U_ Gulati Source: etal(2009). 0.7_66__8_ Milk_49_07__9_0.9

What is driving this breakneck growth? Is it a succession of good monsoons? Or bettermarket opportunities?Or the Sardar Sarovar irrigationproject? Or the things the farmersand the miracle in recent lock the secretofGujarat's agricultural growth acts is of caused If the miracle years. by god like favourable
monsoons - or other exogenous factors, government of Gujarat have done? This paper attempts to un

However, if governmentpolicy driversare behind policy interest. the the miracle, Gujarat storyacquires great significanceforthe
lessons it offers to other governments about how to kickstart

it is of relatively

little

rapid agriculturalgrowth. 2 Exogenous Drivers of Agricultural Growth

Several exogenous factors have helped after Gujarat's 1999-2000. exceptional Much of growth agricultural Gujarat especially Kachchh and North performance

Table 2 highlights the rapidly changing composition of with cash crops expanding theirshare Gujarat's agrarian economy at the expense of foodgraincrops.Table 3 summarises the rapid
growth gates The in key since aggreleadtall for years: of Total 1999-2000. are Table 2: Changing Composition ofGujarat's Farm Economy_ in Gross of % Share Value . Crops of and Output Agriculture T^iedSectors _1999-2000 foodgrains_15.8 Cotton_9A_116_ Cash crops other than cotton Fruitsand vegetables Total livestock 14.8 Totalotners tota, toTriennium *te refers Ending. Source:Gu,atietal(2009) lakh hectares JE 2006-07 12.9

fallduring all theseyears. During 2002, when almost all of India Gujarat too faced experienced shortfallin rainfallprecipitation, an overall shortfall. hit However, drought only the central and
southern parts, in Figure which regions 1. are all had covered above by canal irrigation. rainfall The as drought-prone shown or near-normal

the drought-prone regions of Saurashtra, rain have received above-normal Gujarat

Claims Gujarat

ers are making indeed, the most agricultural farmers grown recent

especially income

Normal Figure 1:RainfallPattern Percentage Deviation from -? 160 111 Gujarat_ ^ _North

in Gujarat has c ^ the fastest in the

274-2S__ 12.5 9.9 22.7 1M 10q.o 10o.o~ 2002 total -40 2003 2004 -______ 2005 2006 2007 22.4

countryatanannualrate of 13% since 2004-05; the area Under food Crops jumped hectares from 36.6 in 2004-05 lakh

to 47.11

in 2007-08;

met foodgrainproduction has improvedby 55% from51.53 lakh ric tonnes (mt) in 2004-05 to 79-95 lakhmt in 2007-08. Though it is early days, even in the 2009 drought, Gujarat's kharif
sowing - at 82.5 how lakh hectares one looks is higher than the 2008 Gujarat kharif.1 agri No matter at the data, post-2000

The highly re market environment. Also helpfulhas been the

munerative other strong minimum support prices (msp) for cotton, wheat have and crops announced incentive by the central government production. provided

to farmers

to increase

culture has experienced rapid growth as well as enhanced make the state's experience stability both ofwhich together look like a miracle.
Table 3: Growth inKeyAggregates_ 1999-20002005-06** 2007-08 6.87 2.32 6.96 NA 36,953 22,876 37,510# _(Forecast) 8.28 3.84 7.91

farmers,of particular significancehas been the high msp for

cotton since the Cotton Corporation in the state. of India has Export state a sizeable pro curement has as been India's operations strong, largest demand Gujarat and has for cotton emerged cotton

For Gujarat

too. During

recent years,

cotton-producing -

a major -

supplier toChina.
The spontaneous emergence with

Aggregate cotton output (millionbales)_2.15 Aggregate wheat output (million MT)_1.1 Milkoutput (million MT)_5.26 Value of output ofmilk and major crops (Rscrore) at 1999-2000 prices_21,730 Value of output ofmilk and major crops per hectare

and wildfire

growth

of "illegal" authorities.

unknown entrepre local productionofBt cottonseed by relatively

neurs was

NA (32,576) (Rs) at 1999-2000 prices*_(19,191) NA GSDPA per farmer (Rs) at 1999-2000 prices##_37,683.6 67,316.3 * on thebasisof selectedcropsandmilk. arevaluescalculated parentheses Figuresin for #Perhectare 2005-06 is based uponnetsownareaestimates value for 2003-04,the last year areavailable. for which statenet sownareafigures **Thevalueof activities in allied state and and domestic data product agricultural output gross to2005-06. theperiod1999-2000 Statistical (CSO) isfor published Organisation bytheCentral the Census2001 (http:// ## data from Basedon totalnumber of landholdings Agricultural no 1999-2000 and2005-06. between change agcensus.nic.in/cendata/StateT1table1.aspx),assuming

The Gujarat government, however, expressed its inability to bring these informal seed producers under control even as it kept paying lip service to the need to do so. It cannot be any
body's case

for long viewed

concern

by the central

ing. Indeed, unregulated development ofBt cotton seed industry has brought into the fray many fly-by-night operatorswho sell
fake seeds and bring cotton farmers boom has to ruin. However, been aided in no it is also true that Gujarat's small measure

that this development

has

been

an unmixed

bless

by the availability of reasonably priced quality Bt cotton seed.

46December 26, 2oo9 vol xliv no 52 weekly & Political (3321 Economic

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= = Despite the threatof fake seeds, farmersfromfarawayPunjab throngtoNorth Gujaratwhere Mansa townhas emerged as the Bt cotton seed production hub. Indeed, a trainbringinghordes of Punjab farmersfromJalandhar toMehsana isnow popularly
called "Bt cottonseed express". tolerated local Bt cotton seed manu whose because they undercut Monsanto The Gujarat facturers government

REVIEWOF AGRICULTURE

and 2005-06, Gujarat's horticulture production increased by 108% (Government ofGujarat 2009a). Technical Support, Extension and Credit: This cluster includes backward linkages in terms governmentinitiativesto strengthen of extension, research support,and input supply. Here, Gujarat some with did remarkable the government things, political class from front. in the the Like elsewhere India, leading agricultural research and extension system inGujarat has deteriorated.The old,World Bank-induced "trainingand visit" (t&v) system is all
The bjp government technical and took several initiatives to re It farm extension, credit support to farmers.

seeds were found to be prohibitively expensive at Rs 1,600 per local But producers too began to charge high packet. gradually,
prices. To

in early years

suasion with seed producers, and when that failed, imposed a got seeds at a ceiling ofRs 750 per packet to ensure thatfarmers
reasonable price. Since then, Bt cotton seed production in Gujarat

regulate

these,

the state government

first used moral

but defunct. vive

The steep fall in theprice ofBt cotton seed has increased rapidly. Rs 1,600 toRs 650 fora 450 gm packet has helped spread from the expansion ofBt cottoncultivation inGujarat (Gupta 2008).2
These exogenous miracle. factors however After the 2002 cannot explain the Gujarat have agricultural drought, monsoons

unbundled themonolithic Gujarat Agricultural University into four independent universitieswith significant increase in re sources and autonomyprovided to each of them.The scientists of were thenmobilised to the revitalised agricultural universities
the defunct evolved t&v agricultural its annual extension model. cam Gujarat month-long Krishi Mahotsav

reinvent

most parts oflndia, except in2009. The highmsp of been kind to were available to farmersinall the wheat, cottonand other crops
states. Even the Bt cotton revolution

model thatbroughtagricultural sci paign as a unique extension

entists, extension

states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. The overall economic boom that India has enjoyed should have generated a demand pull for farmproducts all through the country. Yet, it was only Gujarat which experienced rapid acceleration in agri cultural growth during these years. This led us to hypothesise that Gujarat's agricultural boom is likely driven by Gujarat which may includepolicy initiatives of the gov specificdrivers,
of Gujarat.

spread

in all cotton-growing

tives,banks, local and state-levelpolitical leaders togetheron a on the latest platform to exchange knowledge and information technologiesand market opportunities.Large exhibitionsorgan ised inall theagriculturaluniversity campuses and districttowns are widely attended by thousands of farmers. A Krishi Rath complete with audio-visual equipment, posters, models and ac

staff, agro-industries,

input suppliers,

coopera

ernment

3 Policy Drivers of Agricultural Growth Although widely lauded for adopting an aggressive industrial policy that has made Gujarat a much-favoured destination for
investment, actually the Bharatiya a great deal Janata Party (bjp) and government has devoted of energy resources to acceler

health tests and give soil-health cards to the farmersdetailing the soil composition,and thebest possible crops forthe soil type. They also carry out vaccination of the cattle, distributekits on agriculture,animal husbandry,and horticultureto the five poor est farmers in the village.4 Gujarat officialsrecount several ef fectsof the reinventedextension model. For instance,theyargue that in using chemical fertilisers, Gujarat farmershave moved
from a 13:7.5:1 nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium to a 6.5:3.5:1, thereby reducing cost, optimising com produc

companied by scientistsand administrators visits everyvillage of the state. Scientistsgive some lecturesbut also undertake soil

ating agriculturalgrowth in the state througha broad spectrum ofpolicy initiatives. These can be grouped intofivecategories:
Improved government enhance ages. Market took Access: This cluster includes access all measures the

wholesale position been

tionand improving net income.5 The farmcredit systemtoo has

revitalised. 22-25% policies. Agricultural annual loan disbursements rate, thanks ending in Gujarat to supportive 2006-07, have gov growth

to improve

farmers'

to better markets,

clocked ernment

their margins and in general forward link strengthen the early states to amend the Agricul Gujarat was amongst Marketing Committee (apmc) Act to enable exporters, farmers industries sell their produce towholesalers,

In the three years to 10,468 crore

for exam

ple, agricultural loan disbursals in Gujarat doubled from4,735

crore in 2003-04 in 2006-07.6

tural Produce to directly arhatias

and large tradingcompanieswithout having to operate through Canal Irrigation:A major priority forall governmentsinGujarat or commission It also allowed to since Indian has been agents. large players independence irrigationdevelopment. establish spot exchanges. The amendment also helped create Under theBritishRaj, theGujarat part of the erstwhileBombay conditions conducive for the spread of contract farming.The statereceived little or no public irrigation As a result, investment.
also encouraged large corporates to establish retail after becoming a state in 1959, successive Gujarat governments

government

chains and source their requirements directly from farmers. have devoted substantialbudgetary resources to constructionof Gujarat government has also pursued aggressive policies to major and medium canal irrigation projects. By far the largest to diversification value fruit and such is the Sardar Sarovar promote crops, especially high project Project (ssp) on Narmada - which has been mired in contro and and condiments. For it of the called of "lifeline vegetables, spices example, began Gujarat" direct capital subsidyofRs 2.5 lakh to setup green versies and disputes. Gujarat has, however, raised the ssp dam farmers fering These measures houses, besides 25% relief in electricityduty.3 metres; and there is enoughwater in thedam to height to 121.5
have produced some outcomes. For example, 26, 2009 between 2000-01 irrigate 1.8 million hectares as originally planned. However, ssp weekly Economic & Political fSXSk December vol xliv no 52 47

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irrigation development is stuckbecause of the slow pace of com mand area development. The main and branch canals are nearly complete.However, the government is facing major road blocks in acquiring land forcreating thenetwork of distributaries, mi
nors and sub-minors. As a result,

a feedergetspowerwith lowvoltage. Because theyget subsidised or freepower, farmersdo not complain about quality; but poor quality of farmpower supplyremains a major speed breaker for agriculturalgrowthand a bane forrural society.
The way tions, out, it is suggested based by many, on power is tometer consumed, farm connec and provide charge farmers

hectares, the ssp is irrigatingonly 80-100 thousand hectares mostly in theNarmada, Bharuch and Vadodara districts. Despite
ssp's Mahi, lacklustre progress, several large canal Ukai-Kakrapar, Karjan, Damanganga areas.7 While irrigation provide systems a network -

against

a target of 1.8 million

them 24/7 three-phase power supply.However, farmershave resistedsuchproposals because of a varietyof reasons. forcefully
Since 2000, International Water

of canals mostly inCentral and South Gujarat,which have over

70% of Gujarat's command Gujarat has

other states in of agricultural policy, many fields management of an area remains with much scope for large irrigation projects
improvement and innovation.

surpassed

a second best solution: (a) rationfarm has been suggesting power to fit demand schedules; (b) providepower ration irrigation supply against a fixed, preannounced schedule; and (c) overcome farmer resistanceby offeringto farmers uninterruptedpower supplyof
full voltage.

Management

Institute

(iwmi)

Management of theGroundwater Economy:While ssp remains a distant dream and progress in canal irrigationis, in general,
lukewarm, the Gujarat government has undertaken some uncon

ventional initiativesin managing thegroundwatereconomy, the has mainstay of itsirrigated agriculture.For one, thegovernment made common cause with farmingcommunities enthusiastically inundertaking decentralised rainwaterharvesting and ground
recharge work. This movement had started as a mass under in the late 1980s. However, to communities the bjp government water

During 2003-06, Gujarat government implemented Jyotigram Yojana with the aim of providing 24/7 power supply tovillages. However, this could not be done without effectiverationingof farmpower supply.This led the government to investRs 1,200
crore in separating agricultural feeders from non-agricultural

Punjab has also fully separated farm fromnon-farm feeders;

Andhra Pradesh, too, has done it in most districts. However,

feeders throughout Gujarat. This done, Gujarat governmentbe gan rationing farm power supply.During the past two years,

movement

Keshubhai Patel as well as Narendra Modi lent stronggovern

ment

tions (ngos) to expand this work in a participatory mode under the Sardar Patel Sahakari Jai Sanchaya Yojana. The scheme per formed best in Saurashtra and Kachchh regions;but forthe state
as a whole, created by December check 2008, dams, nearly 5,00,000 structures 2,40,199 were farm -1,13,738 55,917 bori bandhs,

support

and

non-governmental

organisa

Gujarat follows all three iwmi recommendations: it provides farmers a rationed power supply but the power that Gujarat farmersget is 430-440 voltage, with few interruptions and is on a strict in schedule. Farmers and Andhra provided Punjab with many inter Pradesh get rationedpower but ofpoor quality,
ruptions and on uncertain schedules.

ponds, besides 62,532 large and small check dams constructed Water Resources Department of the under the oversightof the
Government Then, of Gujarat also all in a campaign a new mode.8 to popularise irrigated areas. Gujarat pioneered programme

Road and Other Infrastructure:Gujarat has always been ahead of other states in investingin the road network since the 1960s. One reasonwhy rural roads in many parts ofGujarat are good is fromthevillages twicedaily. These provided a push for improv National Dairy Development Board uted to road construction;the
too once gave a large loan to the Gujarat Gujarat government has to con struct/resurface rural roads. Today, 37.77 km of roads ing rural road connectivity. Indeed, many dairy unions contrib the rise of dairy cooperatives which sent trucks to collect milk

While thegovernmentof India offersan annual subsidyof all of

Rs 400 crore to promote government with micro-irrigation created for the whole Green country, the Gujarat the Gujarat Revolution

micro-irrigation

technologies

in groundwater

Company (ggrc), a special purpose vehicle (spv) forpromoting

micro-irrigation, an initial

replenished as needed, ggrc developed a subsidy-loan scheme micro which isby far thebest offeredby any state to adopters of a of As the result, micro-irrigation technologies spread irrigation.
ismore rapid in Gujarat than other states during recent years.

funding

of Rs

1,500

crore

to be

per 100 sq km and a road density of 1.35km per sq km. Some 98.7% of Gujarat villages have road connectivity,and 77% of
rural roads jarat are surfaced.9 Rs 3,484 The government on roads claims during that while the Gu invested crore 40-year

period during 1960-2001, ithas investedRs 4,783 crore during

seven years from 2001 to 2007. Whether these claims are credible

to have amongst the best-maintained Finally, a reformthat has had by far themost far-reaching or not, Gujarat appears as was in And InternationalFood the on road networks which is country today. Yojana, impact Gujarat's agriculture Jyotigram Asian Bank Institute and to Research to and ration farmers (ifpri) pro Development power supply Policy designed, ironically, vide 24/7 three-phase electricityto non-farmrural users (Shah (adb) studieshave shown,good roads are thebest buildingblocks and Verma 2008). Most Indian states charge subsidised flattariff fora rapidlygrowingagriculture (Fan et al 2008; adb 2005).

forfarmpower supply; some likePunjab, Tamil Nadu and And hra Pradesh, provide freepower. However, the quality of farm 4 Hypotheses power supply isvery poor; farmersseldom get power according To explore what the role of each of these policy drivers has to a pre-announced been, we decided to unpack Gujarat's growth story and schedule; power comes with frequent inter a district-level To this end, we divided is undertake In the Andhra low and Pradesh, analysis. very utility voltage. ruptions as in as a result, every farmer on outlined into districts four to control illegal connections; unable socioecologies agrarian Gujarat
48December 26, 200Q vol xliv no 52 Q2S3 weekly & Political Economic

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Table 4: FourAgrarian Socioecologies of Gujarat_ Regions_Districts_Features_ or second generation crop and First Tribalareas Dahod, Panchmahal and Dangs dairy farmers; low levelof economic enterprise; rainfedfarming; semi-arid to humid climate. NorthGujarat Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Patan,Mehsana, Banskantha, Groundwater isthe farmers; Enterprising main source of irrigation; deep, alluvial aquifer system that isoverexploited; highlydeveloped dairyingand dairy

work state We assumed that while some of thepolicy drivers

wide, others may not. Thus, support, "market access", and "roads credit" and are infra imple structure", "technical extension

As a result,theirimpactsshouldbe felt mented in theentire state.

everywhere. ture, confined "canal However, some other interventions are, by their na For example, if or received to one or more underwent of the four regions. major reforms

investments,its impactwould be stronglyfelt on agricultural had improved performance irrigationis located.On the contrary, of public irrigation systems been a major driver of Gujarat's we should not expect to see a large impact in agrarian growth, NorthGujarat, Saurashtra and Kachchh,which have only a small
in Gujarat's recharge" canal activities irrigation are too has area. "Decentralised ground and and concentrated spread more power in Saurashtra in Saurashtra reform" performance of central and southern districts where much canal

irrigation"

large

_Sabarkantha_cooperatives._ Humid and water-abundant part ofGujarat; Canal districts Anand, Kheda, (South and Vadodara, Bharuch, systems largeareas under canal irrigation such as Mahi, Ukai-Kakarapar,Karjan, Central Gujarat) Surat,Narmada, Navsari,Valsad Damanganga, Sardar Sarovar; conjunctive use of groundwater and canal water

Saurashtra and Kachchh

Amreli,Bhavnagar,

Arid to semi-arid climate; groundwater the hard rockaquifers Junagadh, Jamnagar, main source of irrigation; have poor storativity;open Porbandar, Rajkot, dugwells are the main sourceof irrigation;feudal culture;poor Surendranagar, Kachchh dairy cooperatives. Agriculturedependent withdrawal of mostly on monsoon; early monsoon the bane of kharif crop.

alluvial aquifers through farmer initiative; share thatare amply recharged by surface irrigation; water cooperatives. farmers;strong dairy _enterprising

Kachchh. Kachchh,

Micro-irrigation and North

Figure2: FourAgrarian Socioecologies ofGujarat

more than canal-dominated and tribal the lattertwo regions far where agriculture is far less dependent on electric tube districts we undertook a disaggre wells. It isagainst thisbackground that of Gujarat's agricultural performance to isolate gated analysis most responsible forthe rally. thepolicy drivers Analysis crop Disaggregated analysiswas carried out using district-level area, production and yield (a-p-y) data (Government of Gujarat 2008, 2009a) and the value of output data forvarious crops at the state level (Governmentof India 2006, 2008). The value of output froma particular crop at the district levelwas 5 Disaggregated

Gujarat.10

"Farm

too affects

i North Gujarat and Kutch fill Saurashtra Canaldistricts SB

areas SB Tribal JE^fll

computed fromthevalue ofoutput at the state level inproportion to the contribution of the district to the overall stateproduction milk has been used for of thatcrop.A basket of 14 crops including This basket accounts for75.8% of thevalue ofout theanalyses.11 put fromagriculture and allied sectors for the state as a whole but only 61.2% of thegca. This could not be helped because no
data is reported on a large number of minor crops which

a-p-y

Table 4 and Figure 2. The four regions differfromeach other

in several respects: socio-economic, cultural, hydrological,

value crops (c); (ii) increase in thevalue of crop yield per hectare (y); (iii) increaseinthegross croppedarea (gca) (a); and (iv) improvedfarm-gate prices andmargins (m). We thenhypothesised thatdifferent policy drivers con one ormore of to agricultural tribute growthby influencing
c,y, a and m. For example, all initiatives we grouped under

geological and institutional. Then, we postulated that the increase in the sdp from the agriculture and allied sectors is a product of changes Table 5; InfluenceofGovernment Efforts on Value of Output_ in fourvariables: (i) shift from low-value crops to high Boom Drivers of Gujarat's Agrarian C=cropchoice

account for together nearly 39% of thegca. To beginwith, we examined trends inaggregate land produc tivity by computing thevalue of (selected) crop and milk output at 1990-2000 prices.12 hectare per Figure 3 (p 50) shows that for as a the whole, Gujarat productivityof farm lands captured by thevalue of crops and milk per hectare increased by 34.8% in
toBeAffected_ Likely _Regions Saurashtra Tribal North hectare Canal per Gujarat Y=yield and area Districts Districts A=cropped M=farmer marginsKachchh TTT Ttt ttt

1_2_3_4_5_6_7 1.1 1.2 Crop diversification_C_ttt_T_TT_TT Marketaccess_M_ttt

"market access" promote agricultural growth primarily would direct impacton m; and crop diversification through work chieflythroughchanging c, and so on. These hypo thesesare setout incolumns 2 and 3 inTable 5. The number of | signassigned suggestsour expectationof thequantita tive impactof thepolicy driveron thevariable concerned.
weekly Economic & Political uuui December 26, 2009

2.1 Technical support, extension and credit_Y_TTT 3.1 Large-scale irrigation_C/Y/A_t_TT_T_T_T 4.1 Decentralised groundwater 4.2 recharge_C/Y/A_T TTT T_T TTT Micro-irrigation_C/Y/M_t_T_TT 4.3 Farmpower reform_C/A_It_|_TTT_TTT 5.1 Road and other infrastructure M_TTT

TTT_TTTTTT

TTT

TTT

TTT

vol xliv no 52 49

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the triennium the

ending

(te)

2006 was

compared not

to te 2000. across

However, the four

by 22% and gca tooby 33%. However, South and Central Gujarat
have areas, not shown much the gca increase in the gca. Figure In many 5 also canal-irrigated shows that the is virtually stagnant. to be a

regions (Figure 3). In the canal-irrigated Central and South Gujarat, output per hectare increased by 20.9%. In tribal dis
tricts, was the increase The was highest 22.5%. The 35-5%. increase increase by far in North 43.6 % Gujarat - was in

productivity

increase

uniform

increase in the cropped area in Saurashtra and Kachchh and

North one-off Gujarat event. appears long-term trend rather than a

Saurashtra

and Kachchh.

This general picture is also evident in Figure 6 which shows

absolute 2008. increase Between in gca in Gujarat districts and between Junagadh districts Navsari 2001 and them, Rajkot, Porbandar districts

Value of Crop and Milk Output Per Hectare Figure3: Increase inLand Productivity: at 1999-2000 (Rs prices) 40000 TE1999-2000 TE2005-06 30000 -^-~?

in Saurashtra have added over four lakh hectares to theirgca

during and this period. Gujarat In contrast, canal-irrigated Valsad, in gca. of Central and Surat South such as Vadodara, in terms of increase

are at the bottom

20000 -I-wm it 10000 ~^fl?|H H!r~^^|?W-^ iiHih^H?IfiiHr^fl?PHH

and Saurashtra Kachchh North Gujarat Canal Districts Tribal Districts Gujarat

Gross Sown Area under 14Crops Figure6: Increase in TE2002andTE2008) between (Thousand hectares, ^m?^^ 17MMBM^M ? ??I?? 16 ^HHM^HI HMi^H 15 M^^M^M 14Bi^^M 13^MBMI^M HUH H^MI^M 12M^HMM MMBM-M ^MMMUM 11^^ BMM 10 HHMH^^H HHBH 8 7 6 5 4 HB^^KM M^MM H I

Anothermajor contributorto theGujarat agricultural growth storyis the rapid increase in thegca. During the 1990s, Gujarat had experienced nearly 8% decline in the gca (Figure 4).
Between million te 2002 hectare, and te 2008, or more the state increased gca by over a (not than 19%. Year-to-year comparison

shown inFigure 4) suggests that since 2000, the statehas been adding around two lakhhectares per year to thegca.
GCA (lakh hectares) Figure4: Gujarat Increase in ?

250 150 200 100 050 + Navsari* Vadodara Kachchh Valsad (5) (6) (2)Surat(3)Dangs(4) (1) Mehsana+Patan+Gandhinagar* Amreli Bharuch+Narmada* (10) (12)Anand+Kheda* (8) (9) (11)Jamnagar (7)Bhavnagar Surendranagar + Gandhinagar* Sabarkantha Ahmedabad (16)Banaskantha+Patan* (15) (14) (13)Panchmahal+Dahod* (18) Rajkot. (17)Junagadh+Porbandar* as to their areas into account districts (* reorganisation). prior exsting computedtaking

1_

We noted at the outset that rapid expansion in the area under Bt cotton and wheat accounts for the bulk of the increase in
Gujarat's post-2000. 7b show sional agricultural Figures recent data SDP 7a and provipjgUre7a: Gujarat Increase inCultivatedArea hectare) (lakh 30 25 -H

reflecting

TE 1999-2000

TE2001-02

TE2005-06

TE2007-08

forthe hectares GCAby Socioecology (lakh triennium) averaged Figure5: Increase in 405 433

new start millen- B of the jjj 11 200P"06V rJ'_ more recent ~W iii The nium. | flm ' || 10 witneshave four years il If \8 ill r~\ if sed:(a)hardly any expan- 5~H- jjj ||~B" 1 fi~M liHi Ml \faim\ Ml JUL! iiillll kharif 0 instate-wide sion lljiMKl_ rabi Area Area under kharifAreaunaerraDi under
foodgrains area; (b) a foodgrains foodgrains wheat

trends thatbegan at the

M 20

HT^lili??-?? i:i

05 20(Y-?8 1! 2004 iii11 1 2006-07_

decline inrain significant

(c) seven in 15-,~ lakh hectare increase fjarat-"""ease

fed COtton area; -"

inCultivatedArea mtosim.%

area of rabifoodgrain wheataccounted 10i which hectares and(d)6.4 lakh

Canal districts North Gujarat Tribal and Saurashtra Kachchh districts

for 5.4 lakh hectares; s

increaseinthearea under
irrigated cotton, most r of .

iijj | j 20|"?2oo7-o8 || F=| iiiiif?FH1 ffffra Hi! fif^M"

II I H

iijjIILHJ

Hi! if
Hi!II

0 ~JHU?II

under Area irrigated cotton cotton

Area under rainted

_ I?ill 11ilIIP

it Bt cotton. Almost all this increase is occurring in Saurashtra and as the area in Bt cotton area as well Most of the expansion as Kachchh, and North Gujarat Figure 5 shows. These together in Saurashtra and has occurred te wheat 2002 rabi under gca and between Kachchh,with have added 12 lakh hectares to their as 8 suit and North 9 (p 51) show.Tribal te 2006. Tribal districtshave increased their land productivity Figures Gujarat following 50December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 QQ29 weekly Economic & Political

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districts show no particular trendeither way in the area under

rabi wheat and

Central and South Gujarat districts show hardly any increase in

the area under irrigated cotton or rabi wheat. CottonArea (000 hectares) Figure8: Distribution of Expansion in Irrigated 1200 1071.6 982.8BH

irrigated Bt cotton. However,

even canal-irrigated

All thedata about the regionalpatternsof agriculturalgrowth in Gujarat suggest that the arid and semi-arid districts of Saurashtra and Kachchh, and NorthGujarat have forgedahead of
Central 1991-92, and South Gujarat Saurashtra and in agrarian Kachchh had In post-2000. performance a 31% share in Gujarat's to 49% in 2007-08.

value of (selected) field crops and milk; this share, after some
fluctuations has

soo-MLM-iii 2006-07

400 I190.1 2I-Ipill 11 194.5 196.5221

2004-05

2005-06

49oiiiT||M rrf:::8oH

611||l
7 1994213

maintained their share; but During this period, tribal districts the share of South and Central Gujarat declined from 32% in
1999-2000 to 23% in 2007-08. North

steadily

soared

post-2000

sion of itsrelative share, from30% to 25%, although in absolute

sense, 6 it grew its agriculture at respectable rate.

Gujarat

too suffered

an ero

0 Mia.?M?.. districts Canal

?-___-_-_??-?-~~600

ill^''

Tribal districts

bbm liiii. Saurashtra and North Kachchh Gujarat

_

1553 XX^B

Assessment

Wheat Area (000 hectares) Figure9: DistributionofGrowth in Irrigated

Was ita massive productivity boom thatfuelledGujarat agrarian Was it upsurge?Not so, itseems. big gains in the size of thekharif crop aided by a succession of good monsoons? Not so.Massive
increases in rabi wheat cultivation,

inBt cotton area and yield seem tohave been theprime drivers of the Gujarat growth story.Central and South Gujarat posted mediocre growth in agricultural productivity (y), virtually no

and a phenomenal

expansion

o il^^HoHiLl
Canal districts India's most Surat and renowned Bharuch

Tribal districts

Saurashtra and Kachchh

Ji.l.ll
located

North Gujarat

This is surprising because 50 years ago, South and Central with some of Gujaratwere theheartlandof India'scottoneconomy
cotton cooperatives Today, in and around are, however, districts. these districts

more or lessmarginalised from the cotton economy and their

place has been up by taken Saurashtra Figure 10:Gujarat's Top-10Talukas inCotton Production ofbales in (Thousands 2007-08) F 100 y 250 150 200

and North Gujarat.

Again, North Gujarat

Gatriadhar,Bhavnagar ^L^BLMLl
Botad,Bhavnagar HHM

always had a sign,ficantwheat cultiHowever, a

^ ^

vation.

Bhavnagar ^^H^^^^^Hi^i^iVI

Rajkot nL m^mmj^

^ development ... has been the signincant expansion of

new

Chotila,Surendranagar

^^^^^^^^ Lalpurjamnagar
Chuda,Surendranagar ? Talaja< Bhavna9ar j

Rajkot ^^^^^^^^^H

What explains the unprecedented dynamism shown by Saurashtra and Kachchh, and North Gujarat in agriculturalper formance?Clearly, the rise of Bt cotton supportedby a highmsp forcotton offereda big opportunity.But could Saurashtra and Kachchh, and North Gujarat have exploited thisopportunityas brilliantlyduring the 1980s as theydid post-2000?We believe it is doubtful.The expansion inBt cotton is matched by expansion in irrigatedcotton; this suggests thatBt cotton benefitshugely from four to five supplemental irrigations provided at critical points of crop growth. Gujarat increased its cotton yield over sixfoldfrom175kg per hectare in 2001-02 to 798 kg per hectare in 2008-09, higher that theworld average yield of 787 kg per hectare in 2007-08 (Damor 2008) because of the combined effectofBt cottonand irrigationin Saurashtra and Kachchh and
Gujarat.13 In these regions, the Bt cotton and wheat revolu

growth ingca (a), hardly any diversificationtohigh value crops (c) and littleincrease in farmer margins (m). In contrast,the irri wheat boom inSaurashtra and Kachchh, gated Bt cottonand rabi increasedy,a, c and m in thisre and NorthGujarat significantly gion. Table 6 (p 52) summarises the relative significanceof the fourdrivers in the fouragrarian socioecologies ofGujarat.

wheat
in Kachchh, area

cultivation
and exwhich

Rajula'Amreli ff

Saurashtra

North

wheat panded their the fouryears. It is as Fignot SUprising,

UreS 10 and 11 Show that the top 10 talukaS in terms Of COtprowere Sauraton and wheat by 150% over

duction in Gujarat
in 2007-08 from mosdy

tion are not likelyto have been possible but forthe investments Wheat ProducingTalukas Figure 11:Gujarat's Top-10 made by the governmentand the communities in check dams, in oftonnes (Thousands 2007-08) 4? 60 80 120 percolation ponds, farm ponds and such other groundwater 10t? Visavadar, Junagadh H a succession structures. of good monsoons, Thus, recharge ^ ^ L^M Talala, Junagadh investmentingroundwaterrecharge, improvedquality of power Junagadh, Unagadh and support tomicro-irrigation- all of | supply post-Jyotigram Ahmedabad were more evident in Saurashtra and Kachchh, and North Dholka, which Sabarkantha Himmatnagar, Gujarat but not elsewhere helped these regions ride on the H|BLa I I Paddhari( Rajkot Lgg
Jamnagar,Jamnagar JU J kt J J , Mendarda, Junagadh Anand Tarapur, . Vanthali, Junagadh 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 51 Bt cotton and wheat boom.

shtra and Kachchh, ^_ and then from North

Gujarat. ?^ weekly Economic& Political

To explore the relationshipbetween value of crop and milk output per hectare of net cropped area and various irrigation
conditions, we

and milk output per districton the area under canal irrigation,
groundwater irrigation and under rainfed conditions across

ran simple

linear

regressions

of the value

of crop

[3353 December

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Growth inFourAgrarian Socioecologies of Table 6: Components ofAgricultural sources. The chart also plots district-wise gross Gujarat_ Annual ACM Compound area irrigatedby open wells and tubewells. The in in % Increase Improved Rate ofthe % Increase GCA FarmerGrowth the Growth of of GCA Value chart shows that: (a) wells and tubewells are by Value of and TE1999-2000 in under Output Crop Margins3 to Milk and TE2007-08** Cash Milk (%)4 Crops Crops Output far the dominant source of irrigation everywhere 1999-2000to 1991-92to TE1999-2000to PerHectare with littlecanal irriga inGujarat; (b) indistricts 2005-06 TE1999-2000to TE2007-08***2 1998-99 Canal districts NorthGujarat Saurashtra and Kachchh Tribal _TE2005-06*1_ 219 5.2 2A iT9 37 77 8.7 5.5 16.1 VVV 13.3 21.4

_(30,967)_(1^8)_(39)_ 36.6 5.9 _(24,913) 47.8

tion,groundwater is the only source of irrigation; (c) however, even in districtswith a large pres
groundwater wells are a dominant

ence of canals,

(22.3)_(45)_ 18.5 14.9 VVV

_(21,297)_(376)_(81)_ 10.7 8.1 21.7 3.3 3.7 VV districts

Surat is theonlydistrict where mode of irrigation. area the canals exceeds the gross irrigatedby area irrigatedby wells and tubewells. The key

_(23,898)_(4^6)_(6)_ * are lakh in1999-2000. are Rs in in hectares TE 1999-2000. ** Figures in brackets brackets Figures *** are in % of cashcrops in TE 1999-2000. brackets GCA under Figures area area istaken netsown as thesown areasownfor notavailable, is the rabi andsummer district-wise kharif, (1)Sincethe areaunder ofcrops rabi wheat. under selection minus are and under cash oilseeds seasum, castor, mustard), cotton, (2)Crops sugarcane, potato crop rapeseed category (groundnut, consist ofrice, maizeandjowar. andonion. Thefood wheat,bajra, crops we are totrack in notgetcrop-wise different We could valueaddedfigures thechanging Therefore, (3) crops. margins in our impression in Saurashtra isthat Btcotton North ofthetrends here. Ourkey Gujarat, rapid growth assumption indicating boomaswell as remunerative recent hasgreatly farmer's becauseofexport andKachchh prices years improved margins during massive oflndia. Goiand Cotton announced procurement bythe Corporation by = bO + b1*t milk from theregion. selected and Y is total annual from wherethe variable (4) InY crops output dependent A is from ofGujarat(2003). Source: Author's calculations. Data in column government

water bodies increasingly role surface play here is not ofdirect gravity flow irrigation but of sustain ing the groundwater irrigationeconomy by re charging the aquifers. A Government of Gujarat Taskforce on Managed Aquifer Recharge (mar)
estimated that while

ter irrigationin Saurashtra and Kachchh, as well as North Gujarat has over the past fourdecades
created an accumulated groundwater deficit of

the expansion

in groundwa

different districts.The resultsare reported inTable 7. The third

equation shows the 2004-05

would add an hectare toa district suggests thatadding a rain-fed average of Rs 17,090 to itsvalue of crop and milk output. In
contrast, a hectare of groundwater irrigated area would add

relationship

at current

prices

and

nearly 30 billion cubicmetres (bcm),well and tubewell irriga tion in Central and South Gujarat has created virtually no water bodies (Governmentof Gujarat 2009b). vided by surface raises This questions about the potential to improve important
the management of water resources groundwater deficit on account of the continuous recharge pro

area Rs 37,174;and a hectare of canal and groundwater irrigated

Table 7: Irrigation and Land Productivity:Results of Regressionswith District-LevelPata_ under Rain-fed Area under Area Canal Areas Variable Intercept Dependent Groundwater (Hectares) Use Conjunctive

Table 8 (p 53) uses the results

our 2004-05 tomake regression R-square Adjusted of R-square estimates of the produc working water fers stored and in large dams, structures are

in Gujarat.

(Hectares)_ _(Hectares)_Irrigation 1 Value ofdistrict-level crops*andmilk 0.67 0.71 4,067(1.46) 68,969(4.9) 30,196(5.19) output (Rs)2000-01 @ 1999-2000prices_-5,91,11,916 2 Value ofdistrict-level cropandmilkoutput 0.77 63,040(4.14) 32,223(4.09) 16,168.90(4.39) 0.80 (Rs)2004-05 @ 1999-2000prices_-15,72,52,555 3 Value ofdistrict-level cropand 0.73 milkoutput (Rs)2004-05 @ current 17,090(3.69) 0.76 -32,89,07,296 83,993(4.38) 37,174(3.75) prices sesamum, in thecalculationinclude maize, jawar, onion, wheat, cotton, potato, bajra, banana,sugarcane, groundnut, *Cropsincluded paddy, castor, rapeseedandmustard. aret-ratios parantheses Figuresin

of land as well as irrigation tivity

aqui small-scale rainwater in Gujarat. The

harvesting The results

instructive.

Gujarat's feeds

37.9 bcm of dam systems

storage and sup

the canal

ports conjunctive use of ground

of 6,50,000 hectares (gross

would add Rs 83,993 to the district's value of crop and milk output.The lastneeds emphasis; there is not a single taluka in
Gujarat's mands canal which comis irriin Water Irrigation and Surface Figurel2:Gr0Und GujaratDistricts 0 200 100 300

and

surface water

over

a net area

area of 7,35,000 hectares). This yields a very high land produc ofRs 83,994 per hectare but a very lowwater productivity tivity
of Rs 144 crore per bcm. wets In contrast, a smaller 11.5 bcm and storage in of groundwater a four times larger area, generates

gated exclusively by gravity flow from

canals. The rule use is of conjunctive surface and

Bhavnagar Ig,^ml^m?U Junagarh m^^^m ^^^^^

Narmada E Dahod PanchMahai Um

cremental land productivityofRs 37,500 per hectare but a much water productivityof Rs 884 crore per bcm. The small larger
harvesting represent structures even check total dams, storage tanks, and percolation low land pro smaller

water ponds

water.
in Figure shows tricts order in

ground-

This isalso evident

12 which disGujarat of their

? g Rajkot *tari^

ductivity; but these return extremelyhigh water productivity

of Rs 4,327 movement crore per hectare bcm. forwater harvesting decentralised Arguably, on a large scale is not only

**!^mmm^^mm^^m Kachchh jsjss?-^^^^ 0 w j j =* _ Vadodara^gjjj^^^m B fmm^^m Bharuch

Ahmedabad Navsan B==l Anand

mass

ascending gross

area
gravity tanks

irrigated by
flow irrigaOther

Kheda ^sssLmmm^^ Surat 1

augmenting the productivityof rain-fed farmingbut also con tributingsubstantially to groundwater recharge. On this front, there are indications that Gujarat is setting an example for When groundwater levels are dropping in the restof the country. whose ground the of country, Gujarat is theonly state largeparts
water balance has turned

tion from canals,

and

e> ^^ areairrigated sources other Gross tanks, bycanals, wells area irrigated wellsandtube Gross by

Figure 13a (p 53) and Figure 13b (p 54), based on the analyses of
52 December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 weekly 13259 Economic& Political

positive

during

the

recent

years.

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Groundwater Levels in2000 (May2000to November2000) Figure 13a: Monsoonal Changes in Daman Water andUT of andDiuFluctuation of Level N Gujarat

(I

I ^ ' ^^^^^^^^^ J ^

a sample of observationwells by theCentralGroundwaterBoard show thataround 2000, groundwater tables recorded a decline even during post-monsoon inmuch of Saurashtra,Kachchh and
North Gujarat; water in 2008, the situation was reversed. farmers Since ground parts tables were rising post-monsoon, in these

small surface structuresdry up longbefore large reservoirsand groundwater aquifers; in times of drought, small surface struc turesare leasthelpful and groundwater storage is the last resort.
From

were able to use groundwater irrigationto expand rabiwheat

cultivation and

largerarea and convertinga part of it into aquifer storage has

great merit. ity in South For example, Gujarat is Rs a bcm of canal water 144 crore can generate whose productiv the re six times

this point

of view,

spreading

surface water

storage

over

The comparison in Table 8 needs to be handled with care.

For one, rainwater tribute the three harvesting forms of storages structures storage, are not independent. but also Thus, con Then, provide as does irrigation canal

irrigate Bt cotton.

NorthGujarat. charge in tubewell-irrigated There are also other strongreasonswhy Gujarat shouldboldly
consider alternative uses of its surface storage. Over recent decades,

turn ifconverted intogroundwater storage throughaquifer re

to groundwater

irrigation.

Table 8: Productivityof Land and StorageWater in Gujarat Agriculture_ 1 2 4 5 3 of Water Nature of Volume of Water Gross Area Value of Type Crop Storage Served and Milk (BCM) Output Irrigation Crore) (Thousand (Rs Hectares) dams Largegovernment Groundwaterstorage water Decentralised structures harvesting Canals andwells/ 37.9 SSP) 11.5_2,736 650 5,460 10,171 10,818

6 7 Gross Land Gross Storage agricultureby depleting theiraquifers.The Productivity Water on man taskforce (Rs/hectare) Productivity Gujarat government's at 2004-05 Crore/ (Rs (Rs most estimated that aged aquifer recharge Prices) BCM) _Current of Gujarat's accumulated groundwater defi 83,994_144 37,174_884 17,090 4,327 cit of some 30 bcm over is concentrated in these

much of Saurashtra and Kachchh, as well as North Gujarat have sustained their

_tubewells_(including Wells and tubewells

Supplemental irrigation to rain-fed crops_25_6,330

regions (Government of Gujarat 2009b).

Around 2008, 8,00,000 electric tube

26,448 Total_515_9,716 27,222_510 in 6 is Column based on thethird Table7. reported regression as a was the Totalvalueofcropandmilk of relevant land and thenet (column 5) output computed product productivity figures area served water (column of and rain. 7)was computed grosscropand bycanals, groundwater Average productivity bydividing waterdiverted milk eachof thethree ofareasbythevolume of forirrigation fromlarge and dams,aquifers outputfor categories water harvesting structures small (column 3). Source: Government ofGujarat 2007,2009b. weekly Economic& Political Q3S3 December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 53

wells pumped some nine bcm of ground water for irrigation, mostly in Saurashtra
and Kachchh, and North Gujarat. The task

force also estimated that Saurashtra and Kachchh, and North Gujarat account for

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Groundwater Levels in2008 (May2008 toNovember2008) Figure 13b:Monsoonal Changes in

75% of the total of 1,200 crore kWh of electricitythatGujarat uses forgroundwater extraction; and this can be curtailed by thisregioncould three-quartersif groundwater levels throughout metres below ground level throughan aggres be raised to eight siveprogrammeof managed aquifer rechargeusing surplus flood waters of the rain as well as a portion of the surface storage, which anyway serves just 6-7% of Gujarat's farmingareas of
around 10 million hectares.

initiative miracle.

have

come

together road

to create

Gujarat's

agricultural initiatives agricul infrastruc to

Excellent

networks,

government and

reform agricultural tural research and

marketing extension

institutions, system,

a reinvented improved

ture have laid the ground for rapid growth. The role of the
private sector in ushering in the Bt cotton revolution cannot be overstated.

With all these, the spectacular rally in the agricultural econo

mies of Saurashtra, Our Kachchh and which North needs Gujarat, a more remains comprehen a conundrum. hypothesis

7 Summary and Conclusion Never known foragrarian dynamism,Gujarat has charted out a new course for its agricultural economywhich has posted an impressive9.6% rateof growth since 1999-2000. In termsof the value of outputper hectare ofnet cropped area, Gujarat stillhas a lotof catchingup to do with traditionally agrarian states like

siveprobe - is that it isdoubtful ifSaurashtra and Kachchh, and to lesserextent, North Gujarat,would have benefitedas much as
they have done in the absence of the mass-based water harvest

movement. During the relatively ingand groundwater recharge

between 2003 and 2008, the vast corpus of check

tural growth per year. This paper analysed the drivers of Gujarat's agriculturalgrowth throughdisaggregated analyses of performance of fourdistinct agrarian socioecologies ofGujarat, viz, South and Central Gujarat, tribal region,North Gujarat,
Saurashtra and Kachchh.

the Punjab, leave alone plantation economies like Kerala. Even so, the rapid stridesGujarat agriculturehas made deserve deeper study simplybecause most Indian states have found it difficultto achieve even themodest Plan targetof 4% agricul

dams, percolation ponds, boribunds and farmponds increased on such made rabi irrigation theavailability of groundwater that vast scale possible.Rationing of farm power supply post-Jyotigram brought about a certain order and discipline in the extractionof groundwater,but the improvedquality and reliabilityof farm power supply also made it possible for farmers to make
ambitious

good monsoons

Promotion ofmicro-irrigation,too,must have helped irrigation

of Bt cotton and horticulture crops.

plans

to grow

Bt cotton

and wheat

on a

large

scale.

we have taken theview In interpreting these regional trends, and private enterpriseand thatpublic policies and investments

Improving the agricultural marketing environment, Krishi road and other Mahotsavs, agriculturaldiversification, improving
54 December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 weekly 13301 Economic& Political

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= = - all these areas in has which Gujarat government infrastructure

made

REVIEW OF AGRICULTURE

water but spread itonly on a meagre 6.5 lakhhectares. 25 bcm of

In contrast, farmers use 11.5 bcm of groundwater The storage to irri agricul gate over 27.5 lakh hectares. groundwater-irrigated

tention,as does South and Central Gujarat which are ideally placed fortakingadvantage of favourablepublic policies,market
reform and private The success initiatives. in Gujarat in recent years has been of agriculture its agrarian do a major

major

strides must

continue.

Tribal

agriculture

needs

at

ture inNorthGujarat, Saurashtra and Kachchh is steadilybuild ing up an accumulated groundwater deficit that imposes high
energy costs on the state and is also

foundedon groundwater irrigation.If manage its Gujarat fails to

groundwater, Gujarat must gains on will evaporate. resources Therefore, strategy. rethink itswater

ability. Gujarat must consider spreading its large reservoir

storage surface on a much

rushing

towards

unsustain

Rational planning and utilisation ofwater storage is critical to sustaining the tempo of agricultural growthGujarat has gener
ated. For now, Gujarat's large government dams store over

One way of doing this is to use a portion of the cultural future.

storage as well.

larger area

as a strategy

of securing an

its agri

well-tested inAustralia and theus butwhose timehas come in

Gujarat

for "groundwater

banking",

idea which

is

NOTES 23 May 2008: http://www.indianex press.com/news/krushi-mahotsav-a-mix-of-fun and-learning-for-gujarat-farmers/313402/0 2 Accessed 15 September 2009: http://business. outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=2i6i8ted itionid=58 8ccatgid=2&subcatgid=973 3 Accessed 18April 2007: http://www.financialex press.com/news/apmc-act-amendment-boosts contract-farming-in-gujarat/196958/ 4 KrishiMahotsav does things on a grand scale. In 2006, forexample, guidance provided by agricul tural scientists reached an estimated 14,50,655 farmers; personal counselling was provided to 6,74,416 farmers; guidance by APMC was made available to 1,66,615 farmers; 1,42,711agriculture kits, 1,36,773 horticulture kits, 1,00,000 animal husbandry kits, and 98,827 Kisan Credit Cards were distributed.All-village employment scheme was implemented in 10,172 villages; 11,123 self help groups were created; 48.8 lakh cattle were vaccinated; and e-grams statuswas accorded to 6,074 villages. Accessed 5April 2008: www.sup portgujarat.org/GujaratProgressSummary.pdf 5 Accessed 23 May 2008: http://www.indianex press.com/news/krushi-mahotsav-a-mix-of-fun and-learning-for-gujarat-farmers/313402/2 6 Accessed 6 June 2007: http://www.financialex press.com/news/Gujarat-doubles-farm-lending ^-2006-07-/200912. 7 According to the Government of Gujarat's data on area irrigatedby different sources (2003-04) 72.3% of the area irrigatedby canal is in the dis tricts of South and Central Gujarat. North Gu jarat and Saurashtra and Kachchh have about 14% each of the total area under canal irrigation inGujarat. 8 Accessed 24 March 2007: http://guj-nwrws.gu jarat.gov.in/pdf/check_demo_240309.pdf. 9 Accessed 16December 2008: http://www.mbgu jarat.org/achievements.htm 10 For instance during the period 2007-09 about 55% of the area covered under micro-irrigation was in Saurashtra and Kachchh and about 28% was inNorth Gujarat with the top fourdistricts in termsof area covered under micro-irrigation be ing Junagadh, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and GGRC, accessed 7 De Rajkot. Based on data from cember 2009: http://203.77.203.14/ggrchome/ niriRptDistTictWiseApplicationReportHectare.aspx. 11 The basket includes wheat, rice,bajri,maize, jawar, groundnut, castor, rapeseed and mustard, sesa mam, cotton, sugar cane, potato, onion, and milk. 12 Increase invalue of output per hectare is a prod uct of increase in physical output per hectare, of change in cropping patterns towards high value products and change in real prices of agricultural products. Our surrogate is thus only a partial in dicator of the true land productivity. 13 Accessed 23 June 2009: http://www.indiastat. com/agriculture/2/commercialcrops/i7i88/cot ton/17205/stats.aspx weekly Economic & Political QCE3 December 26, 2009 1 Accessed

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Resources,Water Supply and Kalpsar Department, Gandhinagar. Government of India (2006): "State-wise Estimates of Value of Output from Agriculture and Livestock: 1990-91 to 2002-03", CSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation,New Delhi. (2008): "State-wise Estimates ofValue of Output from Agriculture and Allied Activities with New Base Year 1999-2000 to 2005-06" CSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, New Delhi. Gulati, A, T Shah and G Shreedhar (2009): Agricul ture Performance in Gujarat since 2000: Can Gujarat Be a 'DivadandV (lighthouse) for Other States? IWMI and IFPRI,New Delhi. Gupta, A (2008): "Modified Yarn", Outlook Business, 18 October. Accessed 15 September 2009: http//business.outlookindia.com/newolb/article. aspx?ioi597 Hirway, I (2000): "Dynamics of Development in Gujarat: Some Issues",Economic& PoliticalWeekly, 35(35): 3106-20. Mathur, N and S P Kashyap (2000): "Agriculture in Gujarat: Problems and Prospects", Economic & PoliticalWeekly, 35(35): 3137-46. Shah, T (2009): Taming theAnarchy: Groundwater Governance in South Asia, Resources for the Future, Washington DC. Shah, T and S Verma (2008): "Co-management of Electricity and Groundwater: An Assessment of Scheme", Economic & Political Gujarat's Jyotigram Weekly, 43(7): 59-66.

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