With country facing acute crisis of dal an accusing finger has been raised towards Uttar Pradesh where production of pulse has come down drastically in last five decades leading to its shortage.
A recent report by NABARD said that though production of food grains have increased in UP since independence the production of pulses has come down in the state. The report says that this decline in production has impacted India’s food grain balance.
The productivity of pulses which was 27.68 quintals per hectare in 1950-51 has come down to just 6.5 quintal per hectare in 2013-14. Besides there was just a marginal rise in the productivity of oilseeds just went up to 7.49 quintal per hectare in 2013-14 from 5.24 quintal per hectare in 1950-51.
It is believed that this downslide in production of pulses in the state during last six decades was the reason of shortage of pulses in the country leading to rise in prices forcing government to import it to meet the demand.
The scenario of the oilseeds production is also as its productivity in UP is lower than the average productivity of the country.
The average yield of total food grains has increased from 6.89 quintals per hectare to 25.61 quintal per hectare since independence. The yield of wheat which was just 8.21 quintal per hectare in 1950-51 has gone up to 32.01 quintal per hectare in 2013-14. Similarly production of rice has gone up to 24.46 quintals per hectare from 5.19 quintal per hectare.
The major rise in the productivity in UP was that of sugarcane. In 1950-51, one hectare produced 291.04 quintals of sugarcane but in 2013-14 UP produced 637.53 quintals from one hectare. Similarly, potato production too has reached 211.65 quintal per hectare in 2013-14 from 78.08 quintal per hectare in 1950-51.
The report however expressed concern over a wide gap between the actual and potential yield of major crops. As per the statistic the potential yield of paddy during 2013-14 is 47 quintal per hectare but the actual yield is 24.46 quintal with a gap of 14.54 quintal per hectare. Similarly against the potential yield of 57 quintal per hectare of wheat the actual yield was 32.01 quintal, a gap of 27.99 quintal per hectare.
The report further said the performance of agriculture production in the state has been found to vary considerably across districts and regions due to varied agro climatic conditions, level of input usage, availability of infrastructural facilities and agri extension services.
"Of four regions of the state, the productivity of major crops has been higher in western and central regions and relatively poor in eastern and Bundelkhand regions," it said.
The report said that as per the 2011 census there are 190.57 lakh cultivators and 199.41 lakh agricultural labourers which is around 59.30 per cent of the total main workers in the state.
The report further said that the percentage share of cultivators to total workers has reduced from 41.1 per cent in 2001 to to 29 per cent in 2011 whereas the share of agricultural labourers to total workers has increased from 24.8 per cent to 30.3 per cent during this period. The overall workforce engaged in agriculture is 59.3 per cent of the total workforce in 2011 as against 65.9 per cent in 2001.