Yogi govt chalks out strategy to enhance production of Rabi crops

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 8 (ANI): In order to meet the needs of farmers of Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi government under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has devised a strategy to increase the production of food grains and oilseeds under the Rabi campaign for 2023.

The state government has set a production target of 448.66 metric tonnes for food grains and oilseed crops, surpassing the 2022-23 production of 427.83 metric tonnes.

In addition, the UP government has also decided to send farmers, scientists and officials from other districts on field visits to the progressive farmers of the districts with maximum productivity, as well as for the training of other farmers.

Under Rabi Campaign 2023, the government has set the target to cover 134.85 lakh hectares of area and produce 448.66 lakh metric tonnes of food grains and oilseeds.

It is worth mentioning here that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has from time to time reiterated his commitment to double the income of farmers and has also undertaken several initiatives in this regard, including incessantly working on raising the output and reducing production costs.

Additionally, the government has also emphasised on ensuring the timely sowing of Rabi crops. Detailed crop-wise production targets have been established, including 397.80 lakh metric tonnes for wheat, 6.13 lakh metric tonnes for barley, 9.71 lakh metric tonnes for gram, 8 lakh metric tonnes for peas, 6.69 lakh metric tonnes for lentils, and 19.50 lakh metric tonnes for mustard. In total, the aim is to produce 428.77 lakh metric tonnes of food grains and 19.90 lakh metric tonnes of oilseeds, contributing to the overall target of 448.66 lakh metric tonbes for Rabi 2023.

The government has prepared a multi-pronged strategy for Rabi 2023, including making timely arrangements for agricultural investments, adopting cluster-based approach to increase crop productivity, cropping system-centric intervention keeping pulses, oilseeds and nutri-cereals at the centre, raising cropping density, increasing seed replacement and species replacement rates and working towards enhancing efficient use of water for irrigation and nutrition of crops. .

There were notable disparities in the area coverage, overall production, and productivity of crucial Rabi crops across several districts. According to the available data of crop-wise production in 2022-23, Shamli recorded the maximum productivity of wheat reaching 48.88 quintals per hectare. Similarly, in Jaunpur, gram recorded highest yield, with an impressive 21.41 quintals per hectare. In the case of lentils, Sultanpur led with a productivity of 20.40 quintals per hectare, while the productivity of mustard in Firozabad was 25.05 quintals per hectare, and Mathura boasted the highest barley yield of 37.30 quintals per hectare.

On the basis of these facts, the Yogi government decided that farmers, scientists and officials from other districts should be sent on field visits as well as for training.