CROPPING PATTERN ANALYSIS IN COMMAND OF SAMRAT ASHOK SAGAR PROJECT IN MADHYA PRADESH

Abstract

India occupies two percent of the world's area but carry about sixteen percent of its population. The livelihood of almost seventy percent of population depend directly on agriculture or agro-industry. At the time of independence, although a lot of scientific information in the •field of agriculture was available throughout the world but the same has not reached to the fields of farmers. In India, irrigation is a costliest input in cultivation of crops. It is made available to the farmers almost free of cost. A nominal revenue is charged from the farmers towards meeting the expenses of operation and maintenance of the canal system. The State Governments are liberal and bear the remaining cost as subsidy to promote agricultural production from irrigated areas. It is good that the country is constantly recording an ever increasing trend in food grain production. Madhya Pradesh State has a large network of irrigation, but yields of most of the major food grain crops are recording significantly low than India's average production. The cropping intensity is also low. and this reflects the fact that in unirrigated areas only one crop can normally be grown, since there is considerable variation in climate, soils and topography throughout the State.....