Review of Gujarat's Agri Sector

7/29/2019 Review of Gujarat's Agri Sector

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Secret of Gujarat's Agrarian Miracle after 2000Author(s): TUSHAAR SHAH, ASHOK GULATI, HEMANT P, GANGA SHREEDHAR and R C JAINSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 52 (DECEMBER 26, 2009-JANUARY 1,2010), pp. 45-55Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25663939 .

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Secret of Gujarat's Agrarian Miracle after 2000TUSHAAR SHAH, ASHOK GULATI, HEMANT P, GANGA SHREEDHAR, R C JAIN_

Semi-arid ujarat asclockedhigh nd steady rowth t9.6% per year inagricultural state domestic productsince1999-2000. hat has driven his rowth?heGujarat government has aggressively pursued aninnovative agriculture development programme byliberalisingmarkets, inviting rivate capital, reinventingagricultural extension, improving roads and otherinfrastructure.Canal-irrigated South and Central Gujaratshould have ledGujarat's agricultural rally.Instead it sdry aurashtrandKachchh,ndNorth ujarat hathave been at the forefront.These could not haveperformedowell butfor he improvedvailabilityfgroundwater for irrigation. rguably,mass-based waterharvesting and farmpower reformshave helpedenergise Gujarat's agriculture.

Tushaar Shah ([email protected]) is at the International WaterManagement Institute, Colombo. Ashok Gulati, Hemant P andGanga Shreedhar are at the International Food Policy ResearchInstitute. R C Jain isat the Central Groundwater Board, New Delhi.

1 Gujarat's Agricultural Growth since 2000Never known for agrarian dynamism, semi-arid Gujarathas clocked exceptionallyhigh and relativelysteadyrateofgrowthof9.6% per year in itsagriculturalstatedomesticproduct (sdp) intheearlyyears of thenewmillennium(Gulatietal 2009). This is insharpcontrastto therathermediocregrowthrateof2.9% per year inthenationalgdp from gricul

ture and allied sectors. It is also in contrast to Gujarat's ownhighlyvolatile agriculturalperformanceduring the decades before2000. Gujarat's economyhas been outperforming herest fthecountry ince1990.However, thishas been largely ecause ofrapidindustrialgrowth.Agriculturehas neverbeen an importantpart of theGujarat growth story. ver the long term,Gujarat'sagriculturegrew faster han Indianagricultureas awhole since1970. However, year-to-year fluctuations inGujarat's agriculturalgrowth rates were so violent that for years, researchers havebemoaned indifferentagriculturalgrowthperformance s a dragon Gujarat's overall growth in economic and human developmentterms Dholakia 2002; Hirway 2000;Mathur andKashyap 2000;Bagchi etal 2005).

Against thisgloomybackdrop,Gulati etal (2009) foundthat nthenewmillennium,Gujarat's agriculturehas not onlybuckedits wnpast trend ut also thenational trend.They reportedthat"agriculture nGujarat after2000 seems tohave pickedup dramatically, recording verage annual growthrateof9.6% during2000-01 to2006-07" (p4). Intheirpreliminarynalyses of stateleveltrends, ulati etal (2009) observed thatthemain sourcesofGujarat's agricultural growth post-2000 have been the massiveboom incottonproduction,thegrowth in thehighvalue sectorcomprising ivestock nd fruits nd vegetables, and the rise inwheat production.Table 1 (p46) providesa bird'seyeview of theannual ratesofgrowthof thevalue ofoutput indifferentropgroupingsbeforeand after 2000. Two striking aspects are noteworthy. First, annualgrowth rates of all crops, except paddy, have significantly accelerated after 2000 compared to before. Indeed, inwheat andpulses, thegrowthratenearlydoubled, and, incotton, tjumpedover 3.5 times. The growth rates accelerated as fast, or faster, forcash crops likepotato and banana; these had a relatively mallweight inthe rea cultivated uta disproportionatelyargeweightin the value of output. Livestockoutput,particularlymilk, tooexperienced an acceleration ingrowthrate.The onlymajor cropwhere growthratedeceleratedwas paddy.The second aspect oftheGujarat story as todo with the fluctuations. he coefficientofvariation (cv) for ll cropsand crop groupshas been lowerintheperiodafter2000 thanbefore.Thismakes itimportant oexplore thesourcesof stabilising nfluencesnGujarat agriculture.

Economic Politicalweekly QBS3 December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 45

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Table 1:AnnualAverageGrowthofMajor Sectors and Crops:Gujarat (1992-93o 005-06)Sectors_1992-93o1999-2000 CV 2000-01o 005-06 CVTotal foodgrains_73_42_1_0_3.4Total cereals_8__3.7 11.0 3.2Total pulses_53_6_9_117_4.0

Paddy_12__1__8__3.9Wheat_12_8_40_23_1_2.3

Maize_103_3_5_15_9_4.9Total cash crops (excludingcotton) 10.5_43_19__2.8Cotton_10_5__9_36/1_1.1Total others_33_32_04_7.2Total fruits nd vegetables__6_Z9_144_0.5

Banana_2__96_12/1_1.6Potato_5_3_44_11/1_1.7

Livestock_5.0 0.7_66__8_Milk_49_07__9_0.9Total agriculture nd livestock_54_3___1_2_U_Source: ulati tal(2009).

Table 2 highlights the rapidly changing composition ofGujarat's agrarianeconomywith cash cropsexpanding their hareat theexpense of foodgrain rops.Table 3 summarisestherapidgrowth in key aggre- Table 2: ChangingCompositionofGujarat'sgates since 1999-2000. FarmEconomy_ . Crops Sharen rossaluefThe Claims Gujarat lead- Output of griculturenders are making are tall T^iedSectors JEindeed, especially for _1999-2000 2006-07the most recent years: Total foodgrains_15.8 12.9agricultural income of Cotton_9A_116_farmers in Gujarat has Cash cropsother thancotton 274-2S__c ^ Fruits nd vegetables 9.9 12.5grown the fastest in the Total livestock 22.7 22.4countryatanannualrate Totalotners 4.8 1Mof 13% since 2004-05; tota, 10q.o 10o.o~the area Under food Crops *te refersoTrienniumnding.jumped from 36.6 lakh Source:Gu,atietal(2009)hectares in 2004-05 to 47.11 lakh hectares in 2007-08; totalfoodgrainproductionhas improved y55% from 1.53 lakhmetrictonnes (mt) in2004-05 to79-95 lakhmt in2007-08. Thoughit is early days, even in the 2009 drought,Gujarat's kharifsowing - at 82.5 lakh hectares - is higher than the 2008 kharif.1No matter how one looks at the data, post-2000 Gujarat agriculture has experienced rapid growth as well as enhancedstability both ofwhich togethermake the state's experiencelook likeamiracle.Table 3: Growth inKeyAggregates_ 1999-2000 005-06**2007-08

_(Forecast)Aggregate cottonoutput (millionbales)_2.15 6.87 8.28Aggregatewheat output (millionMT)_1.1 2.32 3.84Milkoutput (millionMT)_5.26 6.96 7.91Value ofoutput ofmilk andmajor crops (Rs rore)at 1999-2000 prices_21,730 36,953AValue ofoutput ofmilk andmajor crops per hectare 22,876 37,510#

(Rs)at 1999-2000 prices*_(19,191) (32,576)AGSDPA per farmer Rs)at 1999-2000 prices##_37,683.6 67,316.3 NA* Figuresn arenthesesrevalues alculated n the asis f elected rops ndmilk.# erhectare aluefor 005-06 is aseduponnet own rea stimates or 003-04, he ast earfor hichstate et own reafiguresre vailable.**The value f utput ataandgross tate omestic roduct n griculturalndallied ctivitiespublished y he entral tatisticalrganisationCSO) s or he eriod1999-2000 o2005-06.##asedon total umber f landholdingsata fromheAgriculturalensus 001 (http://agcensus.nic.in/cendata/StateT1table1.aspx),assumingochange etween 999-2000nd2005-06.

What isdriving thisbreakneck growth? Is ita succession ofgoodmonsoons? Or bettermarket opportunities?Or theSardarSarovar irrigation roject?Or the things the farmersand thegovernment of Gujarat have done? This paper attempts to unlockthesecretofGujarat's agriculturalgrowthmiracle inrecentyears. If themiracle is caused by acts of god - like favourablemonsoons - or other exogenous factors, it is of relatively littlepolicy interest.owever, if overnment olicydrivers re behindthemiracle, theGujarat story cquires great significanceforthelessons it offers to other governments about how to kickstartrapid agriculturalgrowth.2 Exogenous Drivers ofAgricultural GrowthSeveral exogenous factors have helped Gujarat's exceptionalagricultural growth performance after 1999-2000. Much ofGujarat - especially the drought-prone regions of Saurashtra,Kachchh and North Gujarat - have received above-normal rainfallduringall theseyears.During 2002,when almostall of Indiaexperienced shortfall nrainfallprecipitation,Gujarat too facedan overall shortfall. owever, droughthit only the central andsouthern parts, which are covered by canal irrigation. Thedrought-prone regions all had above or near-normal rainfall asshown in Figure 1.Figure1:Rainfall Pattern- Percentage Deviation fromNormal160 - -? -

^ _Northujarat_11

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007-40 -______Also helpfulhas been themarket environment. he highlyre

munerative minimum support prices (msp) for cotton, wheat andother crops announced by the central government have providedstrong incentive to farmers to increase production. For Gujaratfarmers, f particular significancehas been thehighmsp forcotton since the Cotton Corporation of India has a sizeable procurement operations in the state. Export demand for cottonhas been strong, too. During recent years, Gujarat has emergedas India's largest cotton-producing state and a major cottonsuppliertoChina.

The spontaneous emergence - and wildfire growth - of "illegal"localproduction fBt cotton eedby relativelynknownentrepreneurs was for long viewed with concern by the central authorities.The Gujarat government,however, expressed its inabilitytobring these informalseed producers under control even as itkept paying lip service to theneed todo so. It cannot be anybody's case that this development has been an unmixed blessing. ndeed,unregulated developmentofBt cottonseed industryhas brought intothe fraymany fly-by-nightperatorswho sellfake seeds and bring farmers to ruin. However, it is also truethat Gujarat's cotton boom has been aided in no small measureby theavailabilityof reasonably priced qualityBt cotton seed.

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= = REVIEWOF AGRICULTUREDespite the threatof fake seeds, farmersfromfaraway Punjabthrong oNorthGujaratwhereMansa townhas emerged as theBt cotton seed productionhub. Indeed, a trainbringinghordesofPunjab farmers romJalandhar toMehsana isnow popularlycalled "Bt cottonseed express".

The Gujarat government tolerated local Bt cotton seed manufacturers in early years because they undercut

Monsanto whoseseedswere found tobe prohibitivelyxpensive atRs 1,600 perpacket. But gradually,localproducers toobegan tochargehighprices. To regulate these, the state government first used moralsuasion with seed producers, and when that failed, imposed aceilingofRs 750 perpacket toensure that farmers ot seeds at areasonable price. Since then, Bt cotton seed production inGujarathas increasedrapidly. he steepfall inthepriceofBt cottonseedfrom s 1,600 toRs 650 for 450 gmpackethas helped spreadtheexpansionofBt cottoncultivation nGujarat (Gupta2008).2

These exogenous factors however cannot explain the Gujaratagricultural miracle. After the 2002 drought, monsoons havebeen kind tomost partsoflndia, except in2009. The highmsp ofwheat, cotton nd othercropswere available tofarmers n ll thestates. Even the Bt cotton revolution spread in all cotton-growingstates ikeMaharashtra,Andhra Pradeshand Punjab. The overalleconomic boom that India has enjoyed should have generated ademand pull for farmproducts all throughthe country. et, itwas onlyGujaratwhich experienced rapidacceleration inagricultural growth during theseyears. This ledus tohypothesisethatGujarat's agriculturalboom is likelydriven by Gujaratspecific rivers,whichmay includepolicy initiatives f thegovernment of Gujarat.

3 Policy Drivers ofAgricultural GrowthAlthough widely lauded foradopting an aggressive industrialpolicy that has made Gujarat amuch-favoured destination forinvestment, the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) government hasactually devoted a great deal of energy and resources to accelerating agriculturalgrowth inthestatethrough broad spectrumofpolicy initiatives.hese canbe grouped intofive ategories:Improved Market Access: This cluster includes all measures thegovernment took to improve farmers' access to better markets,enhance their margins and in general strengthen forward linkages. Gujarat was amongst the early states to amend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (apmc) Act to enable farmersto directly sell their produce towholesalers, exporters, industriesand largetrading ompanieswithout having tooperate througharhatias or commission agents. It also allowed large players toestablish spot exchanges. The amendment also helped createconditions conducive forthe spread of contract farming.Thegovernment also encouraged large corporates to establish retailchains and source their requirementsdirectly fromfarmers.Gujarat governmenthas also pursued aggressive policies topromotediversification ohighvalue crops, especially fruit ndvegetables, and spices and condiments. For example, itbegan offering armers irectcapital subsidy fRs 2.5 lakhto setup greenhouses, besides 25% reliefinelectricity uty.3 hese measureshave produced some outcomes. For example, between 2000-01

and 2005-06, Gujarat's horticultureproduction increased by108% (Government fGujarat 2009a).Technical Support, Extension and Credit: This cluster ncludesgovernment nitiatives ostrengthen ackward linkagesintermsof extension, research support, nd inputsupply.Here, Gujaratgovernment id some remarkablethings, ith thepoliticalclassleadingfrom hefront. ike elsewhere in India, theagriculturalresearch and extension system nGujarat has deteriorated.Theold,World Bank-induced "training nd visit" (t&v) system sallbut defunct. The bjp government took several initiatives to revive farm extension, technical and credit support to farmers. Itunbundled themonolithicGujarat AgriculturalUniversityintofour independentuniversitieswith significant ncrease in resourcesand autonomyprovidedtoeach of them. he scientists fthe revitalisedagriculturaluniversitieswere thenmobilised toreinvent the defunct t&v agricultural extension model.

Gujarat evolved its annual month-long Krishi Mahotsav campaign as a unique extensionmodel thatbrought griculturalscientists, extension staff, agro-industries, input suppliers, cooperatives,banks, local and state-levelpolitical leaders together n aplatformto exchange knowledge and informationn the latesttechnologies nd market opportunities. arge exhibitions rganised in ll theagricultural niversity ampuses and district ownsarewidely attended by thousands of farmers.A Krishi Rath -complete with audio-visual equipment, posters, models and accompanied by scientists nd administrators visitseveryvillageof the state.Scientistsgive some lectures ut also undertake soilhealth testsand give soil-health cards to the farmersdetailingthe soilcomposition, nd thebest possible crops for he soil type.They also carryoutvaccination of the cattle,distributekitsonagriculture, nimalhusbandry, nd horticulture othe five oorest farmers n thevillage.4 Gujarat officialsrecount several effects f thereinvented xtensionmodel. For instance,they rguethat inusing chemical fertilisers, ujarat farmershave movedwholesale from a 13:7.5:1 nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium composition to a 6.5:3.5:1, thereby reducing cost, optimising productionand improving et income.5 he farm reditsystemtoohasbeen revitalised. Agricultural loan disbursements inGujarat haveclocked 22-25% annual growth rate, thanks to supportive government policies. In the three years ending 2006-07, for example, agricultural loan disbursals inGujarat doubled from4,735crore in 2003-04 to 10,468 crore in 2006-07.6Canal Irrigation:Amajor priority or ll governments nGujaratsince Indian independence has been irrigationdevelopment.Under theBritishRaj, theGujarat part of theerstwhileBombaystatereceived little r no public irrigationnvestment. s a result,after becoming a state in 1959, successive Gujarat governmentshave devoted substantialbudgetaryresources toconstruction fmajor and medium canal irrigation rojects. By far the largestsuch project is the Sardar Sarovar Project (ssp) on Narmada -called the"lifeline fGujarat" -which has beenmired incontroversies and disputes.Gujarat has, however, raised the ssp damheight to 121.5metres; and there isenoughwater inthe dam toirrigate 1.8million hectares as originally planned. However, ssp

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irrigationevelopment is stuckbecause of the slowpace ofcommand area development.The main and branchcanals arenearlycomplete.However, thegovernment isfacingmajor road blocksinacquiring land forcreatingthe network ofdistributaries,minors and sub-minors. As a result, against a target of 1.8 millionhectares, the ssp is irrigating nly 80-100 thousand hectaresmostly intheNarmada, Bharuch and Vadodara districts.Despitessp's lacklustre progress, several large canal irrigation systems -Mahi, Ukai-Kakrapar, Karjan, Damanganga - provide a networkof canalsmostly inCentral and SouthGujarat,which have over70% of Gujarat's command areas.7 While Gujarat has surpassedotherstates inmany fields fagriculturalpolicy,management oflarge irrigation rojects remains an area withmuch scope forimprovement and innovation.

Management of theGroundwater Economy:While ssp remainsa distant dream and progress incanal irrigation s, ingeneral,lukewarm, the Gujarat government has undertaken some unconventional initiatives nmanaging thegroundwater conomy,themainstay of itsirrigated griculture.Forone, thegovernment asenthusiasticallymade common causewith farming ommunitiesinundertakingdecentralised rainwaterharvestingand ground

water recharge work. This movement had started as a massmovement in the late 1980s. However, the bjp government underKeshubhai Patel aswell as Narendra Modi lentstronggovernment support to communities and non-governmental organisations (ngos) to expand thiswork ina participatorymode underthe Sardar Patel Sahakari JaiSanchaya Yojana. The schemeperformed est inSaurashtra and Kachchh regions;but for hestateas a whole, by December 2008, nearly 5,00,000 structures werecreated -1,13,738 check dams, 55,917 bori bandhs, 2,40,199 farmponds, besides 62,532 largeand small check dams constructedunder theoversightof theWater Resources Department of theGovernment of Gujarat - all in a campaign mode.8

Then, Gujarat also pioneered a new programme to popularisemicro-irrigation technologies in groundwater irrigated areas.While thegovernment f India offers n annual subsidy f all ofRs 400 crore to promote micro-irrigation for the whole country,the Gujarat government created the Gujarat Green RevolutionCompany (ggrc), a special purpose vehicle (spv) for romotingmicro-irrigation, with an initial funding of Rs 1,500 crore to bereplenishedas needed, ggrc developed a subsidy-loanschemewhich isby far thebest offered yany statetoadoptersofmicroirrigation.s a result, hespreadofmicro-irrigation echnologiesismore rapid inGujarat than other states during recent years.

Finally,a reform that has had by far themost far-reachingimpactonGujarat's agriculture isJyotigramojana, whichwasdesigned, ironically, o rationpower supplyto farmers nd provide 24/7 three-phaseelectricity onon-farmruralusers (ShahandVerma 2008).Most Indian statescharge subsidisedflat ariffforfarmpower supply;some likePunjab, TamilNadu andAndhra Pradesh, provide freepower. However, thequalityof farmpower supplyisvery poor; farmers eldomgetpower accordingto a pre-announced schedule; power comes with frequent interruptions nd very lowvoltage. InAndhra Pradesh, theutility sunable to control illegal connections; as a result, every farmer on

a feedergetspowerwith lowvoltage.Because they et subsidisedor freepower, farmers o not complainabout quality; butpoorqualityof farm ower supplyremainsamajor speed breaker foragriculturalgrowth nd a bane for uralsociety.The way out, it is suggested bymany, is tometer farm connec

tions, charge farmers based on power consumed, and providethem24/7 three-phasepower supply.However, farmershaveforcefullyesisted uchproposalsbecause ofa varietyofreasons.Since 2000, International Water Management Institute (iwmi)has been suggesting secondbest solution: a) rationfarm owersupply ofitirrigationemand schedules; (b) providepower rationagainsta fixed, reannounced schedule;and (c) overcomefarmerresistancebyoffering ofarmersuninterrupted ower supply ffull voltage.

During 2003-06, Gujaratgovernment mplementedJyotigramYojana with theaim ofproviding24/7power supplytovillages.However, thiscould notbe donewithout effectiverationingoffarmpower supply.This led thegovernmentto investRs 1,200crore in separating agricultural feeders from non-agriculturalfeeders throughout ujarat.This done, Gujarat governmentbegan rationingfarmpower supply.During thepast twoyears,Punjab has also fully separated farm fromnon-farmfeeders;Andhra Pradesh, too, has done it in most districts. However,Gujarat follows all three iwmi recommendations: itprovidesfarmersa rationed power supplybut the power thatGujaratfarmersget is 430-440 voltage,with few interruptions nd isprovided on a strictschedule. Farmers inPunjab and AndhraPradesh get rationedpowerbut ofpoor quality,withmany interruptions and on uncertain schedules.

Road and Other Infrastructure:Gujarathas alwaysbeen aheadof other states in investing n the road networksince the 1960s.One reasonwhy rural roads inmany partsofGujarat are good isthe rise of dairy cooperatives which sent trucks to collect milkfrom hevillages twicedaily.These provideda push forimproving rural road connectivity. Indeed, many dairy unions contributed toroadconstruction; heNational Dairy DevelopmentBoardtoo once gave a large loan to the Gujarat government to construct/resurface rural roads. Today, Gujarat has 37.77 km of roadsper 100 sq km and a road densityof 1.35km per sq km. Some98.7% ofGujarat villages have road connectivity,nd 77% ofrural roads are surfaced.9 The government claims that while Gujarat invested Rs 3,484 crore on roads during the 40-yearperiod during 1960-2001, ithas investedRs 4,783 croreduringseven years from 2001 to 2007. Whether these claims are credibleor not, Gujarat appears to have amongst the best-maintainedroad networks in thecountrytoday.And as International oodPolicyResearch Institute ifpri) and Asian Development Bank(adb) studieshave shown,good roadsare thebestbuildingblocksfor rapidly rowing griculture Fan etal 2008; adb 2005).4 HypothesesTo explorewhat the role of each of these policy drivers hasbeen, we decided to unpack Gujarat's growth story andundertake a district-level analysis. To this end, we dividedGujarat districts ntofour grarian socioecologies as outlined in

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Table 4: FourAgrarianSocioecologies ofGujarat_Regions_Districts_Features_Tribal reas Dahod, Panchmahal First r second generation crop andand Dangs dairyfarmers; low level f economicenterprise; rainfed arming;semi-aridtohumid climate.NorthGujarat Ahmedabad, Enterprising armers; roundwater is heGandhinagar, main sourceof irrigation;eep, alluvial

Patan,Mehsana, aquifer systemthat is verexploited;Banskantha, highly eveloped dairying nd dairy_Sabarkantha_cooperatives._Canal districts Anand, Kheda, Humid and water-abundant partofGujarat;(Southand Vadodara, Bharuch, large reas under canal irrigationystemsCentral ujarat) Surat,Narmada, such asMahi, Ukai-Kakarapar,Karjan,Navsari,Valsad Damanganga, SardarSarovar; conjunctiveuse ofgroundwater and canal waterthroughfarmer nitiative;lluvial aquifersthat reamply recharged ysurface rrigation;

_enterprisingarmers;strongairy ooperatives.Saurashtra Amreli,Bhavnagar, Arid to semi-aridclimate;groundwater theand Kachchh Junagadh,Jamnagar, main sourceof irrigation; ard rock quifersPorbandar,Rajkot, have poor storativity;open ugwells are theSurendranagar, main source f irrigation;feudalulture; oorKachchh dairycooperatives. Agriculture ependentmostly onmonsoon; earlywithdrawal ofmonsoon the bane of kharif rop.

Figure2: FourAgrarian Socioecologies ofGujarat

SB Tribalreas JE^flli North ujaratfill Saurashtra nd KutchSB CanaldistrictsTable 4 and Figure 2. The fourregionsdiffer from ach otherin several respects: socio-economic, cultural, hydrological,geological and institutional.Then, we postulated that the increase in the sdp fromtheagriculture and allied sectors is a product of changesin fourvariables: (i) shift from low-value crops tohighvalue crops (c); (ii) increase inthevalue ofcropyieldperhectare (y); (iii) increase nthegrosscropped rea (gca) (a);and (iv) improvedfarm-gate ricesandmargins (m).We thenhypothesised thatdifferentpolicydriverscontribute oagricultural rowthby influencingne ormore ofc,y, a and m. For example, all initiatives we grouped under"marketaccess" promote agricultural growthprimarilythrough irect impact nm; and cropdiversification ouldwork chiefly hrough hangingc, and so on. These hypotheses re setout incolumns2 and 3 inTable 5.The numberof sign ssigned suggests ur expectationof thequantitativeimpact f thepolicydriver n thevariable concerned.

We assumed thatwhile some of thepolicydriverswork statewide, others may not. Thus, "market access", "roads and infrastructure", "technical support, extension and credit" are implemented in the entirestate.As a result, heir mpacts houldbe felteverywhere. However, some other interventions are, by their nature, confined to one or more of the four regions. For example, if"canal irrigation" underwent major reforms or received largeinvestments, ts impactwould be stronglyfelton agriculturalperformance of central and southern districts where much canalirrigations located.On thecontrary, ad improved erformanceof public irrigationsystemsbeen a major driver of Gujarat'sagrarian growth,we shouldnot expect to see a large impact inNorthGujarat, Saurashtra andKachchh,which have onlya smallshare in Gujarat's canal irrigation area. "Decentralised ground

water recharge" activities are concentrated in Saurashtra andKachchh. Micro-irrigation too has spread more in Saurashtra andKachchh, and North Gujarat.10 "Farm power reform" too affectsthe latter wo regionsfarmore than canal-dominated and tribaldistricts here agricultureis far essdependent on electrictubewells. It sagainst thisbackground that e undertooka disaggregated analysis ofGujarat's agriculturalperformance to isolatethepolicydriversmost responsiblefor herally.5 Disaggregated AnalysisDisaggregated analysiswas carriedout using district-levelroparea, production and yield (a-p-y) data (Government ofGujarat 2008, 2009a) and the value of output data forvariouscrops at the state level (Government f India 2006, 2008). Thevalue ofoutput from particular crop at the district levelwascomputedfrom hevalue ofoutputat thestate level inproportionto the contribution f the districtto the overall stateproductionof that rop.A basket of 14crops includingmilk has been used fortheanalyses.11 his basket accounts for 5.8% of thevalue ofoutput from gricultureand allied sectorsfor the stateas a wholebut only61.2% of thegca. This could notbe helped because noa-p-y data is reported on a large number of minor crops whichtogether ccount fornearly39% of thegca.To beginwith,we examined trends n ggregate landproductivityy computingthevalue of (selected) crop andmilk outputperhectare at 1990-2000 prices.12 igure 3 (p 50) shows that forGujarat as awhole, theproductivity f farm ands- captured bythevalue ofcropsand milk perhectare - increasedby 34.8% in

Table 5; Influence fGovernment EffortsnValue ofOutput_Driversf ujarat'sgrarianoom C=crop hoice _Regions Likelyo eAffected_Y=yield er ectare Canal Tribal Northujarat aurashtraA=croppedrea Districts DistrictsndM=farmerarginsKachchh1_2_3_4_5_6_7

1.1Marketaccess_M_ttt TTT Ttt ttt1.2 Crop diversification_C_ttt_T_TT_TT2.1 Technical support,extension and credit_Y_TTT TTT_TTTTTT3.1 Large-scale irrigation_C/Y/A_t_TT_T_T_T4.1 Decentralised groundwaterrecharge_C/Y/A_T T_TTT4.2 Micro-irrigation_C/Y/M_t_T_TT TTT4.3 Farmpower reform_C/A_It_|_TTT_TTT5.1 Road and other infrastructureM_TTT TTT TTT TTT

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the triennium ending (te) 2006 compared to te 2000. However,the productivity increase was not uniform across the fourregions (Figure 3). In the canal-irrigatedCentral and SouthGujarat, output per hectare increased by 20.9%. In tribaldistricts, the increase was 22.5%. The increase in North Gujarat

was 35-5%. The highest increase by far - 43.6 % - was inSaurashtra and Kachchh.Figure3: Increase inLandProductivity: alue ofCropandMilkOutput Per Hectare(Rs t1999-2000rices)40000 -TE1999-2000TE 005-0630000-^-~?20000it -I-wm10000iiHih^H?IfiiHr^fl?PHHfl?|HH! ~^^|?W-^

Saurashtrand Northujarat Canal istricts Tribalistricts GujaratKachchhAnothermajor contributor o theGujarat agriculturalgrowthstory s therapid increase inthegca. During the 1990s,Gujarathad experienced nearly 8% decline in the gca (Figure 4).

Between te 2002 and te 2008, the state increased gca by over amillion hectare, or more than 19%. Year-to-year comparison (notshown inFigure 4) suggests thatsince2000, the statehas beenadding around two lakhhectaresper year tothegca.Figure : Gujarat - Increase inGCA (lakh ectares) ?

TE 1999-2000 TE2001-02 TE2005-06 TE2007-08Figure5: Increase inGCAbySocioecology (lakh ectaresveragedortheriennium)

433405

-"

Canal istricts Northujarat Saurashtrand ribal districtsKachchhAlmost all this increase is occurring in Saurashtra and

Kachchh, and NorthGujarat as Figure 5 shows.These togetherhave added 12 lakhhectares to theirgca between te 2002 andte 2006. Tribal districtshave increased theirlandproductivity

by22% and gca tooby33%. However, South and CentralGujarathave not shown much increase in the gca. Inmany canal-irrigatedareas, the gca is virtually stagnant. Figure 5 also shows that theincrease in the cropped area in Saurashtra and Kachchh andNorth Gujarat appears to be a long-term trend rather than aone-off event.

This general picture is also evident inFigure 6which showsabsolute increase in gca in Gujarat districts between 2001 and2008. Between them, Rajkot, Porbandar and Junagadh districtsinSaurashtra have added over four lakh hectares to theirgcaduring this period. In contrast, canal-irrigated districts of Centraland South Gujarat such as Vadodara, Valsad, Navsari and Suratare at the bottom in terms of increase in gca.Figure : Increase inGrossSownArea under 14Crops(Thousand ectares,etween E 002 ndTE2008)17MMBM^M ^m?^^ HB^^KM I16 ??I??15 Mi^H ^HHM^HI M^MM14Bi^^M M^^M^M H13 MBMI^M HUH12M^HMM H^MI^M11 ^ MMBM-M MMMUM10HHMH^^H BMM8HBH7654

1_ 0 000 150 20050(1) alsadNavsari*2) urat 3)Dangs4)Mehsana+Patan+Gandhinagar*5) adodara6)Kachchh(7)Bhavnagar8) urendranagar9) haruch+Narmada*10) mreli11)Jamnagar12)Anand+Kheda*(13)Panchmahal+Dahod*14) hmedabadGandhinagar*15) abarkantha16)Banaskantha+Patan*(17)Junagadh+Porbandar*18) ajkot.(* reas omputed akingnto ccount istrictssexsting riorotheir eorganisation).

We noted at theoutset thatrapidexpansion in thearea underBt cotton and wheat accounts for the bulk of the increase inGujarat's agricultural SDP pjgUre a:Gujarat- Increase in ultivatedAreapost-2000. Figures 7a and (lakh ectare)7b show recent provi- 30sional data reflecting 25 -H HT^lili??-??M i:i1! 20045 20(Y-?8trendsthatbegan at the 20 iii11 1 2006-07_startfthe ewmillen- B jjj 1 200P"06VJ'_nium. hemorerecent ~W iii|| | flmfour ears avewitnes- 10 illf \8 r~\lIf 'sed: a)hardlyny xpan- 5~H- jjj|~B" 1 fi~M liHisionn tate-wideharif 0 UL! iiillll l \faim\l lljiMKl_rea nderharifAreaunaerraDiArea nder abi

foodgrains area; (b) a foodgrains foodgrains wheatsignificantecline inrain

fed COtton area; (c) seven fjarat-"""easein ultivatedArea

lakh hectare increase in 15-,~ mtosim.%rabifoodgrainrea of iijj|| | j 20|"?2oo7-o8whichwheat ccounted 10i F=| i iif FH1 ffffrafor .4 lakh ectares; iijjIILHJ Hi!ifand d) .4 akh ectares Hi! fif^M" Hi! Iincrease n he reaunder 0~JHU?II II I I?ill 11ilIIP. Area nderrrigated Area nder aintedirrigated cotton, most of cottonottonitBt cotton.

Most of the expansion in Bt cotton area as well as the areaunder rabiwheat has occurred inSaurashtra and Kachchh,withNorthGujarat following uit s Figures8 and 9 (p51) show.Tribal

50December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 QQ29 Economic Politicalweekly



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districts showno particular trendeitherway in thearea underrabi wheat and irrigated Bt cotton. However, even canal-irrigatedCentral and SouthGujarat districts howhardlyany increase inthe area under irrigated cotton or rabi wheat.Figure : Distribution ofExpansion in rrigated ottonArea ( 00hectares)1200 1071.6982.8BH

soo-MLM-iii2006-07 611||l005-0649oiiiT||M2004-05 rrf:::8oH400I 11 I-Ipill90.196.5221 194.5 ill^'' XX^B553 19942130Mia.?M?.. liiii. bbmCanal istricts Tribalistricts Saurashtrand achchh NorthujaratFigure : DistributionofGrowth inIrrigated heat Area (000hectares)600-___-_-_??-?-~~- _

oil^^HoHiLl j Ji.l.llanal istricts Tribalistricts Saurashtrand achchh NorthujaratThis is surprisingecause 50 years ago, South and Central

Gujaratwere theheartland f India'scotton conomywith someofIndia's most renowned cotton cooperatives located in and aroundSurat and Bharuch districts. Today, these districts are, however,more or lessmarginalised from the cotton economy and theirplace has been taken Figure10:Gujarat'sTop-10Talukas in ottonProductionup by Saurashtra (Thousandsf ales n 007-08)F y100 150 20050and NorthGujarat. Gatriadhar,BhavnagarL^BLMLlAgain, North Gujarat Botad,BhavnagarHMalways had a sign,- ^ Rajkotm^mmjîcantwheat culti- nL^ Bhavnagar^^H^^^^^HiîîVIvation. However, a Chotila,Surendranagarnew development ^... Rajkot^^^^^^^Hhas been the signi- ^^^^^^^^Lalpurjamnagarncant expansion ofwheat cultivation Rajula'Amreliffin Saurashtra and Chuda,Surendranagar?Kachchh, which ex- Talaja


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Table 6: ComponentsofAgriculturalGrowth inFourAgrarian Socioecologies ofGujarat_ACM Compoundnnual% Increasenhe Growthn CA % Increase ImprovedarmerGrowthate f heValue f ropnd TE1999-2000 in CAnder Margins3 Valuef utputfMilkutput to E 007-08** Cash rops Crops andMilk%)4PerHectareE1999-2000to 1991-92to 1999-2000toTE1999-2000to TE2007-08***2 1998-99 2005-06_TE2005-06*1_Canal districts 219 2A iT9777.2_(30,967)_(1^8)_(39)_NorthGujarat 36.6 5.9 16.1VV .5.7_(24,913) (22.3)_(45)_Saurashtra and Kachchh 47.8 14.9 18.5VV 13.3 21.4_(21,297)_(376)_(81)_Tribal districts 21.7 3.3 3.7 VV.10.7_(23,898)_(4^6)_(6)_*Figuresn racketsreRs n E1999-2000. ** Figuresn racketsre akhectaresn 999-2000.*** Figuresn racketsre% ofGCA nderash rops n E1999-2000.(1) ince he istrict-wiserea own or harif,abi nd ummers ot vailable,he et own rea s akensthe own reaunder electionf rops inus reaunder abi heat.(2) rops nder ash rop ategoryre otton,ilseeds groundnut,easum,astor,apeseedndmustard),ugarcane,otatoand nion. he ood rops onsistfrice,heat, ajra, aize nd owar.(3)We could ot et rop-wisealue ddedf gureso rackhe hanging arginsn ifferentrops. herefore,e areindicatingur mpressionf he rends ere. urkey ssumptions hat apid rowthn t otton n orthujarat,aurashtraandKachchh asgreatlymprovedarmer'sargins uring ecentears ecause f xport oom swell s remunerativericesannouncedy oi ndmassive rocurementy he ottonorporationflndia.(4) nY bO b1*t here he ependentariable is otal nnualutputromelectedropsndmilk romhe egion.Source:Author's alculations. ata in olumn is romovernmentfGujarat 2003).

different istricts.The results re reported inTable 7.The thirdequation shows the 2004-05 relationship at current prices andsuggeststhatadding a rain-fed ectare to district ould add anaverage ofRs 17,090 to itsvalue of crop and milk output. Incontrast, a hectare of groundwater irrigated area would addRs 37,174; nd a hectare of canal and groundwater irrigatedreaTable 7: Irrigationnd LandProductivity:Results ofRegressionswithDistrict-LevelPata_Dependentariable Intercept anal reasnder Area nder Rain-fedrea R-square AdjustedConjunctivese Groundwater (Hectares) R-square

_(Hectares)_IrrigationHectares)_1 Valueofdistrict-levelrops* ndmilkoutput (Rs) 000-01 @ 1999-2000prices_-5,91,11,916 68,969(4.9) 30,196(5.19) 4,067(1.46) 0.71 0.672 Value ofdistrict-levelrop ndmilk utput(Rs) 004-05 @ 1999-2000prices_-15,72,52,555 63,040(4.14) 32,223(4.09) 16,168.90(4.39) 0.80 0.773 Valueofdistrict-levelrop ndmilk utput (Rs) 004-05 @ currentrices -32,89,07,296 83,993(4.38) 37,174(3.75) 17,090(3.69) 0.76 0.73*Crops ncluded n he alculation ncludeaddy, heat,cotton,roundnut,anana,sugarcane,otato, nion, ajra,maize, awar,esamum,castor, apeseed ndmustard.Figuresn aranthesesret-ratios

would add Rs 83,993 to thedistrict'svalue of crop and milkoutput.The lastneeds emphasis; there isnot a single taluka inGujarat's canal com- Figurel2:Gr0UndndSurfaceWater Irrigationnmands which is irri- GujaratDistricts 000 200 300gated exclusively by Bhavnagar

Ig,^ml^m?Ugravity flow from Junagarh^^^^^ m^^^m Bcanals. The rule is Narmadaconjunctive use of Dahodsurface and ground- PanchMahaiUmwater. *tari^ g?This is lso evident Rajkot**!^mmm^^mm^^machchhjsjss?-^^^^in Figure 12 which w j j =* _Vadodara^gjjj^^^m fmm^^m Bshows Gujarat dis- Bharuchtricts in ascending Ahmedabadorder of their gross NavsanB==larea irrigated by KhedasssLmmm^^gravity flow irriga- Anandtion from canals, Surat ^^>Grossreairrigatedy anals, anks,therourcestanks and Other Grossrea rrigatedy ells nd ube ells

sources. The chart also plots district-wise grossarea irrigated y openwells and tubewells. Thechart shows that: (a)wells and tubewellsare byfar the dominant source of irrigationverywhereinGujarat; (b) indistrictswith little anal irrigation,groundwater is theonly sourceof irrigation;(c) however, even indistrictswith a largepresence of canals, groundwater wells are a dominantmode of irrigation. urat istheonlydistrict herethe gross area irrigated by canals exceeds thearea irrigatedbywells and tubewells. The keyrole surfacewater bodies increasingly layhere isnotof directgravityflow rrigationut of sustaining the groundwater irrigation conomy by recharging theaquifers.A Government ofGujaratTaskforce onManaged Aquifer Recharge (mar)estimated that while the expansion in groundwaterirrigation nSaurashtra and Kachchh, aswellas NorthGujarat has over thepast fourdecadescreated an accumulated groundwater deficit of

nearly 30 billion cubicmetres (bcm),well and tubewell irrigation in Central and South Gujarat has created virtually nogroundwater deficit on account of the continuous recharge provided by surfacewater bodies (Government fGujarat 2009b).This raises important uestions about thepotential to improvethemanagement ofwater resources inGujarat.Table 8 (p 53) uses the results

of our 2004-05 regression tomakeworking estimates of the productivity f landaswell as irrigation

water stored in large dams, aquifers and small-scale rainwaterharvesting structures in Gujarat.The results are instructive. TheGujarat's 37.9 bcm of dam storagefeeds the canal systems and supports conjunctiveuse of ground

and surface water over a net area of 6,50,000 hectares (grossarea of 7,35,000 hectares). This yields a veryhigh landproductivityfRs 83,994 perhectare but a very lowwater productivityof Rs 144 crore per bcm. In contrast, a smaller 11.5 bcm storageof groundwater wets a four times larger area, and generates incremental landproductivity fRs 37,500perhectare but amuchlargerwater productivityof Rs 884 croreper bcm. The small

water harvesting structures - check dams, tanks, percolationponds - represent even smaller total storage and low land productivity;but these returnextremely highwater productivityof Rs 4,327 crore per hectare bcm. Arguably, decentralisedmass movement forwater harvesting on a large scale is not onlyaugmenting theproductivity f rain-fedfarmingbut also contributing ubstantiallytogroundwater recharge.On thisfront,there are indications thatGujarat is settingan example fortherest f thecountry. hen groundwater evelsare dropping inlargepartsof thecountry, ujarat istheonly statewhose ground

water balance has turned positive during the recent years.Figure 13a (p 53) and Figure 13b (p 54), based on theanalyses of

52December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 13259 Economic Politicalweekly



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Figure13a: Monsoonal Changes inGroundwaterLevels in 000 (May2000to November2000)GujaratndUT f amannd iuFluctuationfWater evel N

( J ^ ' ^^^^^^^^^

a sample ofobservationwells by theCentral GroundwaterBoardshow thataround 2000, groundwater tables recordeda declineeven during post-monsoon inmuch of Saurashtra,Kachchh andNorth Gujarat; in 2008, the situation was reversed. Since groundwater tables were rising post-monsoon, farmers in these partswere able touse groundwater irrigation o expand rabiwheatcultivation and irrigate Bt cotton.The comparison inTable 8 needs to be handled with care.For one, the three forms of storages are not independent. Thus,rainwater harvesting structures provide irrigation but also contribute to groundwater storage, as does canal irrigation. Then,Table 8: Productivity f Land and StorageWater inGujaratAgriculture_1 2 3 4 5 6 7TypefWatertorage Naturef VolumefWater Gross rea Value f rop Gross and GrosstorageIrrigation (BCM) Served andMilkutput Productivity Water(Thousand (Rs rore) (Rs/hectare) ProductivityHectares) (Rs004-05t (Rs rore/

_Currentrices) BCM)Largegovernment ams Canalsandwells/ 37.9

_tubewells_(including SSP) 650 5,460 83,994_144Groundwater torage Wells and tubewells 11.5_2,736 10,171 37,174_884Decentralisedwater Supplemental rrigationharvestingtructures to rain-fedcrops_25_6,330 10,818 17,090 4,327

Total_515_9,716 26,448 27,222_510Column is asedonthe hird egressioneportedn able7.Total alue f rop ndmilk utput column )was computed s a product f herelevant and roductivityiguresnd thenetareaserved y anals, roundwaternd rain. verage roductivityfwater (column)was computed y ividingross rop ndmilk utput or achof the hree ategoriesf reasby he olume fwaterdiverted or rrigationromarge ams, quifersndsmall aterharvestingtructurescolumn ).Source: overnmentfGujarat 007,2009b.

small surfacestructuresdryup longbefore largereservoirs ndgroundwateraquifers; in timesofdrought, small surface structures re leasthelpfuland groundwaterstorage isthe lastresort.From this point of view, spreading surface water storage over alarger rea and converting part of it intoaquifer storagehasgreat merit. For example, a bcm of canal water whose productivity in South Gujarat is Rs 144 crore can generate six times the return ifconverted intogroundwater storage through quifer recharge intubewell-irrigatedorthGujarat.There are also otherstrongreasonswhy Gujarat shouldboldlyconsider alternative uses of its surface storage. Over recent decades,

much of Saurashtra and Kachchh, aswellas North Gujarat have sustained theiragriculturebydepletingtheiraquifers.TheGujarat government's taskforce on managed aquiferrechargeestimated thatmostof Gujarat's accumulated groundwater deficit of some 30 bcm is concentrated in theseregions (Governmentof Gujarat 2009b).

Around 2008, over 8,00,000 electric tubewells pumped some nine bcm of groundwater for irrigation, ostly inSaurashtraand Kachchh, and North Gujarat. The taskforce also estimated that Saurashtra andKachchh, and North Gujarat account for

Economic& Politicalweekly Q3S3 December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 53



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Figure13b:Monsoonal Changes inGroundwater Levels in 008 (May2008 toNovember2008)

75% of the total of 1,200 crorekWh of electricity hatGujaratuses forgroundwater extraction; and this can be curtailed bythree-quarters fgroundwater evelsthroughout hisregion ouldbe raised toeightmetres below ground levelthrough n aggressiveprogrammeofmanaged aquiferrechargeusing surplusfloodwaters of the rain aswell as a portionof the surface storage,which anyway serves just 6-7% of Gujarat's farmingareas ofaround 10million hectares.

7 Summary and ConclusionNever known for grariandynamism,Gujarathas chartedout anew course for itsagricultural economywhich has posted animpressive .6% rateofgrowth since 1999-2000. Interms f thevalue ofoutputperhectare ofnet cropped area,Gujarat stillhasa lotof catchingup todowith traditionally grarian states likethe Punjab, leave alone plantation economies like Kerala.Even so, therapid stridesGujarat agriculturehas made deservedeeper study simplybecause most Indian stateshave found itdifficult o achieve even themodest Plan targetof4% agricultural growth per year. This paper analysed the drivers ofGujarat's agriculturalgrowth through isaggregatedanalyses ofperformanceof fourdistinctagrarian socioecologies ofGujarat,viz, South and Central Gujarat, tribal region,North Gujarat,Saurashtra and Kachchh.

In interpreting hese regional trends, e have taken theviewthatpublic policies and investments nd privateenterprise nd

initiative have come together to create Gujarat's agriculturalmiracle. Excellent road networks, government initiatives toreform agricultural marketing institutions, a reinvented agricultural research and extension system, and improved infrastructurehave laid the ground forrapid growth. The role of theprivate sector in ushering in the Bt cotton revolution cannotbe overstated.

With all these, thespectacularrallyintheagriculturaleconomies of Saurashtra, Kachchh and North Gujarat, remains aconundrum. Our hypothesis - which needs a more comprehensiveprobe - is that it s doubtful if aurashtra and Kachchh, andto lesserextent,NorthGujarat,would have benefited smuch asthey have done in the absence of the mass-based water harvestingand groundwaterrechargemovement. During therelativelygood monsoons between 2003 and 2008, the vast corpus of checkdams, percolation ponds, boribunds and farmponds increasedthe vailabilityofgroundwater thatmade rabi irrigationn suchvast scalepossible.Rationingoffarm ower supply ost-Jyotigrambroughtabout a certain order and discipline in theextractionofgroundwater,but the improvedquality and reliability f farmpower supply also made it possible for farmers to makeambitious plans to grow Bt cotton and wheat on a large scale.Promotion ofmicro-irrigation, oo,must have helped irrigationof Bt cotton and horticulture crops.

Improvingthe agriculturalmarketing environment,KrishiMahotsavs, agriculturaldiversification,mproving oad and other54December 26, 2009 vol xliv no 52 13301 Economic Politicalweekly



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= REVIEW F AGRICULTUREinfrastructure all theseareas inwhich Gujaratgovernment as

made major strides must continue. Tribal agriculture needs attention, s does South and Central Gujaratwhich are ideallyplaced fortaking dvantage offavourablepublic policies,marketreform and private initiatives.

The success of agriculture in Gujarat in recent years has beenfoundedon groundwater irrigation.fGujarat failstomanage itsgroundwater, its agrarian gains will evaporate. Therefore,Gujarat must do a major rethink on itswater resources strategy.Rational planning and utilisation ofwater storage is critical tosustainingthe tempoofagricultural growthGujarat has generated. For now, Gujarat's large government dams store over

25bcmofwater but spread itonlyon ameagre 6.5 lakhhectares.In contrast, farmers use 11.5 bcm of groundwater storage to irrigate over 27.5 lakh hectares. The groundwater-irrigated agriculture inNorthGujarat, Saurashtra and Kachchh is steadilybuildingup an accumulated groundwaterdeficit that imposes highenergy costs on the state and is also rushing towards unsustain

ability.Gujarat must consider spreading its large reservoirstorage on a much larger area as a strategy of securing its agricultural future. ne way ofdoing this is to use a portionof thesurface storage for "groundwater banking", an idea which iswell-tested inAustralia and theus butwhose timehas come inGujarat as well.

NOTES1 Accessed 23 May 2008: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/krushi-mahotsav-a-mix-of-funand-learning-for-gujarat-farmers/313402/02 Accessed 15 September 2009: http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=2i6i8teditionid=588ccatgid=2&subcatgid=9733 Accessed 18April 2007: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/apmc-act-amendment-boostscontract-farming-in-gujarat/196958/4 KrishiMahotsav does thingson a grand scale. In2006, forexample, guidance provided by agricultural scientists reached an estimated 14,50,655farmers; personal counselling was provided to6,74,416 farmers;guidance byAPMC was madeavailable to 1,66,615farmers; 1,42,711 griculturekits, 1,36,773horticulture kits, 1,00,000 animalhusbandry kits, and 98,827 Kisan Credit Cardswere distributed.All-village employment schemewas implemented in 10,172villages; 11,123selfhelp groupswere created; 48.8 lakh cattlewerevaccinated; and e-grams statuswas accorded to6,074 villages. Accessed 5April 2008: www.supportgujarat.org/GujaratProgressSummary.pdf5 Accessed 23 May 2008: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/krushi-mahotsav-a-mix-of-funand-learning-for-gujarat-farmers/313402/26 Accessed 6 June 2007: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Gujarat-doubles-farm-lending^-2006-07-/200912.7 According to the Government ofGujarat's dataon area irrigatedby different ources (2003-04)72.3% of thearea irrigatedby canal is in thedistrictsof South and Central Gujarat. North Gujarat and Saurashtra and Kachchh have about14% each of the total area under canal irrigationinGujarat.8 Accessed 24 March 2007: http://guj-nwrws.gujarat.gov.in/pdf/check_demo_240309.pdf.9 Accessed 16December 2008: http://www.mbgujarat.org/achievements.htm10 For instance during the period 2007-09 about55% of the area covered undermicro-irrigationwas in Saurashtra and Kachchh and about 28%was inNorthGujaratwith the topfour istricts intermsof area covered undermicro-irrigation being Junagadh, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha andRajkot. Based on data fromGGRC, accessed 7December 2009: http://203.77.203.14/ggrchome/niriRptDistTictWiseApplicationReportHectare.aspx.11 The basket includeswheat, rice,bajri,maize, jawar,groundnut, castor, rapeseed and mustard, sesamam, cotton,sugarcane, potato, onion, and milk.12 Increase invalue of output per hectare isa product of increase inphysical output per hectare, ofchange in cropping patterns towards high valueproducts and change inrealprices ofagriculturalproducts. Our surrogate is thusonly a partial indicator of the true landproductivity.

13 Accessed 23 June 2009: http://www.indiastat.com/agriculture/2/commercialcrops/i7i88/cotton/17205/stats.aspx

REFERENCES_ADB (2005): "Assessing the Impact ofTransport andEnergy Infrastructure on Poverty Reduction",ADB, DFID, JBICandWorld Bank.Bagchi, A K, P Das and S K Chattopadhyay (2005):"Growthand Structural Change in theEconomyof Gujarat, 1970-2000", Economic & PoliticalWeekly,40(28): 3039-47.Damor, Kalpesh (2008): "Gujarat Cotton Yield MayCrossWorldAverage",Business tandard,8October.Dholakia, R H (2002): "EconomicReforms and Development Strategy in Gujarat", Working Paper,Indian Institute fManagement, Ahmedabad.Fan, S, A Gulati and S Thorat (2008): "Investment,Subsidies and Pro-poor Growth inRural India",AgriculturalEconomics, 39(2): 163-70.Government of Gujarat (2003): "Season CropReports: 1991-92 to2002-03".- (2007): "Irrigation in Gujarat", Directorate ofEconomics and Statistics.- (2008): "Twenty-fifthurveyReport on EstimatesofMajor Livestock Products 2007-08", Director ofAnimal Husbandry, Gandhinagar.- (2009a): "District-wise Area, Production and

Yield inGujarat State Based on Final ForecastReports for he ear 2004-05 to2008-09", accessed30 September, http://agri.gujarat.gov.in/hods/dir_agriculture/download/dist_apy 0409.xls.- (2009b): "FirstApproximation Report to IncreaseGroundwater Resources Through ArtificialRecharge in Gujarat State", Narmada, Water

Resources,Water Supplyand Kalpsar Department,Gandhinagar.Government of India (2006): "State-wise Estimates ofValue ofOutput fromAgriculture and Livestock:1990-91 to 2002-03", CSO, Ministry of Statisticsand Programme Implementation,New Delhi.- (2008): "State-wise Estimates ofValue ofOutputfromAgriculture and Allied Activitieswith NewBase Year 1999-2000 to2005-06" CSO, Ministryof Statistics and Programme Implementation,New Delhi.

Gulati, A, T Shah and G Shreedhar (2009): Agriculture Performance in Gujarat since 2000: CanGujarat Be a 'DivadandV (lighthouse) for OtherStates? IWMI and IFPRI,New Delhi.Gupta, A (2008): "ModifiedYarn", Outlook Business,18 October. Accessed 15 September 2009:http//business.outlookindia.com/newolb/article.aspx?ioi597Hirway, I (2000): "Dynamics of Development inGujarat: Some Issues", conomic & PoliticalWeekly,35(35): 3106-20.Mathur, N and S P Kashyap (2000): "Agriculture inGujarat: Problems and Prospects", Economic &PoliticalWeekly, 35(35): 3137-46.Shah, T (2009): Taming theAnarchy: GroundwaterGovernance in South Asia, Resources for theFuture,Washington DC.Shah, T and S Verma (2008): "Co-management ofElectricity and Groundwater: An Assessment ofGujarat's Jyotigram cheme",Economic & PoliticalWeekly,43(7): 59-66.

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Review of Gujarat's Agri Sector