Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has given credit of the Krishi Karman Award, for which Madhya Pradesh has been selected, to the hard working farmers of the State. He said that through hard work day in and day out, farmers of the State have made Madhya Pradesh the top State in food grains production in the country.
Madhya Pradesh has been selected for this award consecutively for the second time. The award has been given to the state in excellence in gross food grains production category. The award will be given away by President Pranab Mukherjee during inaugural function of Krishi Vasant National Agriculture Fair and Exhibition at Nagpur on February 9, 2014. The Union Agriculture Ministry has congratulated Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister, all concerning officers and farmers.
The Union Government’s selection committee found that apart from Madhya Pradesh, other major food grains producer States include Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. It was found that maximum increase of 13.4 percent was registered in foodgrains production as compared to last year. It is noteworthy that 278 MT of all kinds of food grains were produced in year 2012-13 including 161 lakh MT wheat. In this way, Madhya Pradesh became the state with maximum food grains production in the country by securing lead of double digit. Madhya Pradesh is the only state which has maintained increase of double digit consecutive for second year.
The gross food grains production includes wheat, rice and coarse cereals. During year 2012-13, production of pulses, paddy and coarse cereals was 50 lakh tonnes, 30 lakh tonnes and 36 lakh tonnes, respectively. Increase in fruit productivity is also one of the norms for this award. State has registered 14.42 percent increase as compared to last year. It is noteworthy that wheat production in Madhya Pradesh is creating new records.