State to garner 40% agriculture output: Minister
Abundant rains in the state this year will result in 40 per cent rise in agricultural production during current season that in turn would spurt annual growth to 6.8 per cent.

Giving this information on Saturday to the media, state agriculture minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma said the kharif crop production in 2003 has been Rs 15,000 crores while the rabi crop is estimated to be Rs 20,000 crores. If the current year’s gain could be consolidated it could be a turning point for the state’s economy which will help it reach top position in the country.

He said the planning of Department of Agriculture and Gujarat Agriculture University made this agricultural turn possible. The Gujarat Agriculture University held meetings with 6,936 farmers at various villages in Narmada, Bharuch, Vadodara and Panchmahals to tell them how best to use the Narmada water for irrigation purposes. The value of crops in these districts is estimated to be Rs 320 crores.

In horticulture too, the state is expecting to reap a bumper 31.50 lakh tonnes of fruits, 31.25 tonnes of vegetables and 3.65 lakh tonnes of spices this year. The Government’s incentive of Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,440 per hectare of fruit crops helped farmers go for bringing 926 hectares of additional land under fruit crop cultivation.

In 2002-03, Bhavnagar district produced bumper crop of onion and to save the farmers from distress selling and to check onion prices falling, the government introduced a subsidy scheme of Rs 250. It helped farmers get an average price of Rs 250-330 as against the then market price of Rs 100.

Mr Chudasma also highlighted the achievements of the department of Rural Development and said that they have an elaborate plan to raise the level of one lakh families living below the poverty line every year over the next five years with people’s participation.

To improve the perennial water problem, the government has built 1,350 boribunds and 1,457 check dams during the last year which helped save the rain water from flowing into the sea and instead was used to irrigate rabi crops. The Centre has approved 548 watershed projects for development of the Rann, drought prone and uncultivated land spread over 3.19 lakh hectare.

Republished from The Asian Age