The flip side of agricultural growth in Madhya Pradesh

Agricultural growth rate figures in the state appear to be unrealistic if one considers farm suicides and increase in number of landless farm labourers

I am in a dilemma over the veracity of the data available on the state of agriculture in Madhya Pradesh. Perhaps, the reader could help me in this effort. Chances are he or she could be as befuddled as I am on the matter.

In 2012, the Madhya Pradesh government prepared an integrated agriculture budget, deviating from the practice of preparing separate budgets for agriculture and its allied sectors. The same year, Rashtriya Kisan Sangh or the National Farmers Organisation, affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), picketed in the state capital with 100,000 farmers. In January 2013, the president of India felicitated the Madhya Pradesh government with Krishi Karmanya Puraskar, an award for agricultural excellence or achievements of the highest order in agriculture. There is no better feeling than knowing that farmer and farm workers are not only merely alive but better paid and living a contended life. What else could a grateful society desire for their food providers or the ‘annadatas’!

Year	No of farmers who committed suicide
2001	1,372
2002	1,340
2003	1,445
2004	1,638
2005	1,248
2006	1,375
2007	1,263
2008	1,379
2009	1,395
2010	1,237
2011	1,326
2012	1,172
Total	16,190
Source – National Crime Records Bureau reports

Census data reveals real picture

Districts at a glance

In the districts where the percentage of farmers has decreased, the number of farm labourers has increased by approximately the same (or near about)

In Sidhi district the percentage of farmers has gone down by 23.5 per cent while the farm labourers have increased by 19.4 per cent
In Singroli, the decrease in farmers is 26 per cent while farm labourer increase is 20.1 per cent
Dindori has 22.4 per cent less farmers and 19.7 per cent more farm labourers
Tikamgarh has 19.7 per cent less farmers and 17.3 per cent more farm labourers
This trend is also seen in Rewa, Umariya, Panna, Chhatarpur, Siwani, Sheopur and Shivpuri. There is not a single district in Madhya Pradesh where farmers or producers have not gone down and farm labourers are not increased

Producer farmers and farm labourers data from 2001 and 2011 Census
	2001	2011	Change (in absolute number)	Change (in percentage)
Total population of the state	60,348,000	72,626,809	12,278,809	(+) 20.34
Total working population	25,793,519	31,574,133	5,780,614	(+) 22.41
Percentage of working population to total population	42.74%	43.47%	0.73%	(+) 0.73
Producers/farmers	11,037,906	9,844,439	-1,193,467	(-) 10.81
Percentage of producers/farmers to total working population	42.80%	31.20%	(-) 11.6%	(-) 11.6
Farm labourers	7,400,670	12,192,267	4,791,597	(+) 64.74
Percentage of farm labourer to the total working population	28.70%	38.60%	(+) 9.9%	(+) 9.9
Total people in agriculture (farmers +labourers)	18,438,576 (2001)	22,036,706 (2011)	(+) 3,598,130	(+) 19.51
Percentage of people in agriculture to total working population	59.86	69.79	9.93%	(+) 9.93
Percentage of people in agriculture to the total population	30.55	30.34	-0.21%	(-) 0.21
Percentage of farm labourer to the total population	12.26	16.78	4.525	(+) 4.52
Percentage of people dependent on agriculture to total working population in year 2001	18,438,576*100/25,793,519			71.48%
Percentage of people dependent on agriculture to the total working population in year 2011	22,036,706*100/31 5741 33			69.79%
Percentage of farm labour opportunities to the total opportunities from 2001 to 2011	4,791,597*100/5,780,614			82.89%
Source of data: 1. Census 2001 and 2011 2. Survey carried out by Vikas Samvad