CROPPING PATTERN IN MADHYA PRADESH

Overview:
The main crops grown in kharif season are Soybean, Paddy, Maize, Bajara and Tur etc. and in rabi season Wheat, Gram, Mustered, Cotton, Jowar and vegetables. Sugarcane, Custard apple and Banana are also grown in some districts. Madhya Pradesh is highest producer of pulses, Gram and Soybean contributing 21.38%, 40.33% and 59.92%, respectively and is second in oil seed production; Jowar, Masoor contributing 22.10, 14.11, and 22.30%, respectively to the total production of India.
The main crops grown in kharif season are Soybean, Paddy, Maize, Bajara and Tur etc. and in rabi season Wheat, Gram, Mustered, Cotton, Jowar and vegetables. Sugarcane, Custard apple and Banana are also grown in some districts. Madhya Pradesh is highest producer of pulses, Gram and Soybean contributing 21.38%, 40.33% and 59.92%, respectively and is second in oil seed production; Jowar, Masoor contributing 22.10, 14.11, and 22.30%, respectively to the total production of India.

Madhya Pradesh is predominantly Kharif Crops growing State. Kharif Crops occupies about 54.25% whereas Rabi Crops occupies about 45.75% area out of the total cropped area in the State. About 41% of cropped area generally occupied by cereal crops, while pulses occupied 21% area and oilseed occupied about 27% area. Vegetables, fruits, fodder and other horticultural crops occupy rest 11% area.

Trend over years:

Compound Annual Growth Rates of Area for Major Crops - 1967-68 to 2007-08 High( > 4.0% ) | Medium ( 2.0 – 3.9% ) | Low (0 – 1.9%) | Negative ( < 0% ) | | Total Oilseeds, Rapeseed & Mustard | Wheat, Maize, Cotton, Total Pulses, Gram | Rice, Total Food grains, Linseed, Small Millets, Tur, Total Cereals |

Compound Annual Growth Rates of Production for Major Crops - 1967-68 to 2007-08 High( > 4.0% ) | Medium ( 2.0 – 3.9% ) | Low (0 – 1.9%) | Negative ( < 0% ) | Total Oilseeds, Rapeseed & Mustard | Wheat, Maize, Gram | Total Pulses, Total Food grains, Total Cereals | Rice, Linseed, Small Millets, Pigeon pea |

Compound Annual Growth Rates of Yield for Major Crops - 1967-68 to 2007-08 High( > 4.0% ) | Medium ( 2.0 – 3.9% ) | Low (0 – 1.9%) | Negative ( < 0% ) | | Wheat, Total Oilseeds, Total Food grains, Total Cereals, Rapeseed & Mustard | Rice, Maize, Total Pulses, Gram, Linseed, Small Millets, Tur | |

Factors responsible for changing Cropping pattern:

* Resource related factors covering irrigation, rainfall and soil fertility. * Technology related factors covering not only seed, fertilizer, and water technologies but also those related to marketing, storage and processing. * Household related factors covering food and fodder self-sufficiency requirement as well as investment capacity. * Price related factors covering output and input prices as well as trade policies and other economic policies that affect these prices either directly or indirectly. * Institutional and infrastructure related factors covering farm size and tenancy arrangements, research, extension and marketing systems and government regulatory policies.

Climate change and effect on cropping patters:

Agriculture has a two way relationship with climate change. One, where the activities related to agriculture adds Green House Gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere and other where climatic variations impact the agriculture sector tremendously.

Burning of agricultural residues in fields and excessive use of energy intensive water pumps leads to emissions while traditional method of paddy cultivation may result in methane emissions.
Extreme events like frost, excess rain, and high temperatures have resulted in huge losses in productivity. Shifting of rainfall pattern seems to have affected the cropping patterns. Mono-cropping reduces the crop diversity and adversely affects the soil health.

The changes in the land use and cropping patterns and the selection process of the same over years is related to the effective changes in trends observed in socio-economy, climate variability and change, technological innovations and land degradation (ecologically). The socio-economic factors include changes in population growth as a result of migration, expansion into new and uncropped lands or unused lands. This would form basis of why a farmer would grow a certain type of crop and how this trend will change over time. This implies dynamism in the methods, techniques and objectives of farming.

Cropping Systems:
Rice-Wheat: Rice-Wheat system is the most widely adopted cropping system. Important issues emerging as a threat to the sustainability of rice-wheat system are: * Over mining of nutrients from soil * Disturbed soil aggregates due to puddling in rice * Decreasing response to nutrients * Declining ground water table * Build up of diseases/pests, Phalaris minor * Low input use efficiency in north western plains * Low use of fertilizer, appropriate varietal combination
Maize-Wheat: There are number of reasons for poor are: * Sowing time * Poor plant population * Poor weed management * Poor use of organic and inorganic fertilizers. * Large area under rain fed
Sorghum-Wheat: Problems are stiga, Fluctuating market prices
Sugarcane-Wheat: Late planting of sugarcane as well as wheat.
Soybean – Wheat: limited genetic diversity, short growing period available
Legume Based Cropping Systems: pigeon pea, groundnut-wheat. The major issues in legume based cropping systems are: * No technological breakthrough * Susceptibility of the pulses to aberrant weather conditions especially water logging and adverse soils making them highly unstable in performance * High susceptibility to diseases and pests * Low harvest index, flower drop, indeterminate growth habit and very poor response to fertilizers and water in most of the grain legumes. * Nutrient needs of the system have to be worked out considering N-fixation capacity of legume crops.