Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav asserted on Monday that Madhya Pradesh is on its way to becoming the country’s ‘food basket’, which in turn would propel India to the position of becoming the leading food provider to the world.

The CM said through an official statement that in the ‘Global Investors Summit’ (GIS) at Bhopal on 24-25 February, investors presented investment proposals worth more than Rs 4,000 crore in the fields of agriculture, organic farming, food processing, and dairy production. Dr Yadav described this as a milestone for the state’s green and white revolution.

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The CM said Madhya Pradesh has already become the country’s largest organic farming state. It contributes 40 per cent of the country’s total organic farming, and now the state government has set a target to expand this area from 17 lakh hectares to 20 lakh hectares.

He informed that the government is providing free solar pumps to farmers so that they can produce in an environment-friendly manner. The CM said that remarkable growth has also occurred in the state’s horticulture sector. In the past years, the area of horticultural crops has increased from 27 lakh hectares to 32 lakh hectares. This will also directly benefit the state’s fruit and vegetable producers.

Dr Yadav said the state has joined the leading states in milk production in the country. Currently contributing 9 per cent of the country’s total dairy production, Madhya Pradesh is now moving forward with the target of increasing this to 20 per cent. Chief Minister Dr Yadav said that the Sanchi brand has made a strong identity in national and international markets. At present, 591 lakh kg milk is produced daily in the state. With this, MP has become the third largest dairy-producing state in the country.

The CM informed that a special session centered on the ‘Seed-to-Shelf’ theme was organised in GIS-Bhopal, in which investors recognised the immense possibilities of the state. He said that eight food parks, two mega food parks, five agro-processing clusters, and one logistics park are being established in the state. Under the Prime Minister’s Micro Food Processing Scheme, an assistance amount of Rs 930 crore has been approved. More than 70 large industrial units and over 3800 micro, small, and medium enterprise units are already active in the state, and through these, the processing of agricultural products is being promoted.

Dr Yadav pointed out that the irrigated area in the state has increased rapidly. In the year 2003, only 3 lakh hectares of land were irrigated, which has now reached 50 lakh hectares. The government has set a target to increase this to 1 crore hectares by 2028-29.

He noted that this target would be possible through irrigation projects built on perennial rivers like Narmada, Chambal, Tapti, Betwa, Son, Kshipra, Kalisindh, and Tawa.