Improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers

A tool for planning agricultural water management investments

LIVELIHOOD ZONES ANALYSIS

Madhya Pradesh

Prepared by Centre for Advanced Research & Development (CARD), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India in consultation with FAO, 2010

About this report The AgWater Solutions Project aimed at designing agricultural water management (AWM) strategies for smallholder farmers in sub Saharan Africa and in India. The project was managed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and operated jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) and International Development Enterprise (IDE). It was implemented in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia and in the States of Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal in India. Several studies have highlighted the potential of AWM for poverty alleviation. In practice, however, adoption rates of AWM solutions remain low, and where adoption has taken place locally, programmes aimed at disseminating these solutions often remain a challenge. The overall goal of the project was to stimulate and support successful pro-poor, gender-equitable AWM investments, policies and implementation strategies through concrete, evidence-based knowledge and decision-making tools. The project has examined AWM interventions at the farm, community, watershed, and national levels. It has analyzed opportunities and constraints of a number of small-scale AWM interventions in several pilot research sites across the different project countries, and assessed their potential in different agro-climatic, socio-economic and political contexts. This report was prepared as part of the efforts to assess the potential for AWM solutions at national level. The livelihood zones analysis divides the country in a series of areas where rural people share relatively homogeneous living conditions on the basis of a combination of biophysical and socio-economic determinants. It describes the main sources of livelihood of rural populations (by category of people), their natural resources base, potential and key constraints to development. It analyses the relation between people and water and helps understanding to what extent and how water can be a factor for development.

Contents

GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................... III

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1

THECHAMBALREGION ..................................................................................................................... 1

NORTHERNCHAMBALZONE ............................................................................................................. 2ZONE7:NORTHERNCHAMBALRAVINESZONE‐NRRIGATEDMUSTARDPREDOMINANT.........................................2

CENTRALDRYCHAMBALZONE ......................................................................................................... 5ZONE8–GWALIORZONE–NRYDEGRADEDMININGANDPASTORAL .................................................................5

SOUTHERNCHAMBALZONE ............................................................................................................. 8ZONE9:SOUTHCHAMBALZONE‐NROGRESSIVEFARMING,WHEAT‐SOYA ..........................................................8

THEMALWAREGION ...................................................................................................................... 10

WESTERNJHABUAHILLSZONE........................................................................................................ 13ZONE2:WESTERNMALWAHILLZONE–NHILTRIBEPREDOMINANT ...............................................................13

THECHITTORMALWAZONE ........................................................................................................... 15ZONE1:NORTHMALWA‐CHITTORZONE–IPIUM‐SILICAPRODUCTION.............................................................15

THENIMARZONE ........................................................................................................................... 17ZONE3:NIMARPLAINSZONE–NOTDRY–COTTON,CHILLI,BANANA,SUGARCANE...........................................17

MALWASUBZONE .......................................................................................................................... 19ZONE4:MALWAPLATEAUPLAINZONE–ARADITIONALAGRICULTURE(SPICESPRODUCTION) ..............................19

MALWAEXTENSIONZONE .............................................................................................................. 22ZONE5:EASTERNMALWAEXTENSIONZONE–QUALITYWHEATANDPIGEONPEAPRODUCTION............................22ZONE6:INDUSTRIAL/URBANSUBZONEOFMALWA(INDOREANDBHOPAL) ......................................................25VINDHYAREGION ....................................................................................................................................27

THEBUNDEL‐KHANDREGION ......................................................................................................... 28

UPPERBUNDELKHANDZONE .......................................................................................................... 29ZONE11:UPPERBUNDELKHANDZONE–LOWSOCIO‐ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT,LOWPRODUCTIVITYWASTELAND 29

LOWERBUNDELKHAND‐VINDHYAZONE ......................................................................................... 31ZONE10:LOWERBUNDELKHANDZONE–LOWSOCIOECONOMICDEVELOPMENT,LOWPRODUCTIVITYWASTELAND.31

THEBAGHEL‐KHANDREGION.......................................................................................................... 33

EASTERNBAGHELKHANDZONE ...................................................................................................... 34ZONE13:EASTERNBAGHELKHANDZONE‐GOREST,GAMERESERVEANDENERGYPRODUCTION ...........................34

WESTERNBAGHELKHANDZONE ..................................................................................................... 37ZONE12:WESTERNBAGHELKHANDZONE‐GOREST,GAMERESERVEANDENERGYPRODUCTION..........................37THEMAHAKAUSHALREGION .....................................................................................................................40

THESATPURAHILLSMAHAKAUSHALZONE ..................................................................................... 42

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ZONE15:SATPURAHILLSMAHAKAUSHALZONE–NRIBALFORESTGATHERERSANDDRYLANDFARMERS ...............42

MAHAKAUSHALMAIKALHILLZONE................................................................................................ 44ZONE16:MAHAKAUSHALMAIKALHILLZONE–NOREST,WATERRICH,SUBSISTENCE(MILLET)TRIBALZONE ..........44

CENTRALNARBADASUBZONE........................................................................................................ 48ZONE14:CENTRALNARBADASUBZONE‐NRRIGATEDINTENSIVEAGRICULTUREPRODUCTION(HORTICULTURE) .....48

UPPERNARBADASUBZONE ........................................................................................................... 51ZONE17:UPPERNARBADASUBZONE–NIXEDCOMMERCIALTRIBALFARMERS,INDUSTRIALACTIVITIES ................51

ANNEX1–LIVELIHOODZONESATTRIBUTETABLE–GENERALCHACTERISTICS .................................. 1

ANNEX2–LIVELIHOODZONESATTRIBUTETABLE–AWMPRIORITYSOLUTIONS .............................. 2

ListofTables

1–GroundwaterdataintheChambalregion 22–GroundwaterdataintheMalwaregion 123–WastelandsinBundelkhand‐RegionofMP 284–GroundwaterdataintheBundel‐Khandregion 285–GroundwaterinBaghelkhandregion 346–GroundwaterstatusinMahakaushalregion 41

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GlossaryBPL Belowpovertyline

FAO FoodandAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNations

FMCG FastMovingConsumerGoods

HDI Humandevelopmentindex

Kharif Rainyseasoncrops

Lahk UnitinAsiansystem.Onehundredthousand,usuallywrittenas1,00000

Mandi Agricultureproducemarket

MP MadhyaPradesh

NGO Non‐governmentalorganization

NTFP Non‐timberforestproducts

Patidars Landowners

Rabi SpringharvestinIndiaandPakistan

SC Scheduledclass

ST Scheduledtribe

UP UttarPradesh

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INTRODUCTIONHistorically, Madhya Pradesh (MP) State used to have six regions. The sixth region, however,Chhattisgarh, became autonomous in November 2000. Hence, currently MP state has only fiveregions. There are about 52143 villages, 23044 panchayats and 313 development blocks in 50districts. Regions forming MP state are the Chambal, Malwa, Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand andMahakaushalregions.TogethertheBaghelkhandandBundelkhandregionsareknownastheVindhyaregion.So,inalltherearefiveregions.

THECHAMBALREGIONTheChambalregionisknownforitsbeehadsorravines,whichoccuralongthescoresofrivuletsandriversformingthetributariesoftheChambalriverflowinginYamuna.

This region has eight districts. Datia district is similar to Baghelkhand and not the Chambal region,which iswell known for its dacoits, itsmustard crop.Gwalior is the largest city in this region,withGwalior‐basedindustries,andaverylowgenderratio.

Inthelast10yearstherecordedaverageannualrainfallwas800mm.

About21percentofthepopulationisscheduledcastes(SC)whosesettlementsrepresentpocketsofpoverty. In 2002 it was reported that, during the drought, people from the Sahariya tribe, whichdominatesvillagesinPohriBlock,inShivpuridistrict,diedfromstarvation.

The northern Madhya Pradesh Chambal region can be divided into three parts based on thelivelihoods of the inhabitants and geo‐morphological characteristics. These three regions are thefamousravine‐dominatedregionontheextremenorthborderofthestatealongthebanksoftheriverChambal, the central dry zone comprising the undulating plains ofGwalior region and the irrigatedplainsofthesouthernregion.Thecharacteristicsofeachregionareoutlinedbelow:ExtremeNorthernBorder–Higherirrigatedarea,bettereducation,mustardandgramasmaincrops.CentralDryZone–Livestock‐basedlivelihoods,promotionalgoatryandminingarea/degradedland.SouthernArea–Doublecroppedwell‐irrigatedarea,soyabeanandwheatproduced.

Critical areas identified in the region as requiring attention include: irrigation water, crops andcropping intensity, land type, water‐centre issue, efficiency of water use, lack of proper waterdistributionsystem,livestockandlengthofcropgrowingperiod,marketinfrastructure/institutionandvaluechainsoffarmproduct.SeeTable1fordataongroundwaterintheChambalregion.

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Table1–GroundwaterdataintheChambalregion

S. No. District Status of Groundwater

1 Bhind All blocks in White Zone (Much groundwater is still available)

2 Guna

3 Ashok Nagar

All blocks are in white zone, except Chachoda block is in Grey zone- Grey zone means the area is reaching the over-exploitation stage of groundwater fast.

4 Gwalior All blocks in White Zone

5 Morena All blocks in White Zone

6 Sheopur All blocks in White Zone

7 Shivpuri Karera & Narwar in Grey zone. Remaining six blocks in white zone

8 Datia Datia Block is in Grey Zone, remaining two blocks in white zone

Source:MP‐HumanDevelopmentReportArchive

TheregionstatesapositiveforgroundwaterstatuswithonlyoneblockeachofGunaandDatia,andtwo blocks of Shivpuri district out of 40 development blocks of the eight districts of the Chambalregionfailinginthegreyzone.

NORTHERNCHAMBALZONE

Zone7:NorthernChambalRavinesZone‐Irrigatedmustardpredominant

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographiccomposition:TheregioncomprisespartsofthedistrictsofBhind,MorenaandSheopurandislocatedintheextremenorthborderregionofthestate,borderingRajasthanandUttarPradesh(UP). The average family size is more than 6.37 and more than 6.60 in the districts of Bhind andMorenaandlessthan6inSheopur.Thescheduledcastepopulationvariesbetween16.16(Sheopur)to 21.48 (Bhind) and is cumulatively placed at 19.57 and above the state average of 15.19. Thescheduled tribe population though is below 8 percent, but varies widely within the zone. In Bhind(0.47) andMorena (0.81) the scheduled tribe (ST) population is below 1 percent while in Sheopur(21.53) it is considerable. In fact inSheopur, theSTsalongwith theSCpopulationexceedone‐third(36percent)ofthetotalpopulationandareconsideredhighlyvulnerable.

AcommonfactorsharedbyallthedistrictsisthattheyallhavemorethanthestateaverageshareofSCpopulation.Inthetoptwodistricts(BhindandMorena)theabsenceoftribalcommunitiesmakeitsomewhatdistinctfromthebottomdistrictofSheopur.

Development–Allthreedistrictshaveuniformperformanceonthehumandevelopmentindex(HDI).Alldistrictsareabove0.51pointsonascaleof0to1.Thelandholdingpatternsuggestthatthereareabout44.6percentcultivatorsand8.35landlesslabourers(agriculture),whichsuggeststherearelessthan10percentlandlessintheareaandthepercentageofpeopleengagedinagricultureislessthan55percent.Translatedintoacrudeeconomicalindicator,itisagoodsignthatfewerhouseholdsaredependentonagriculture.

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Thelevelofpovertyisreflectedinbelowpovertylevel(BPL)numbersandthecumulativeanddistrictfigures suggest that less than 21 percent are in the poverty indicators top bracket. There iscorrespondence between all these numbers and percentages suggesting absolute poverty to bearound20percentandisrelatedtoaccesstoandmanagementofresources.

Literacy–Cumulative literacy shows that 49.21 percent of the population is literate. Across thedistricts Sheopur has a literate population of 37.09. On the cumulative score of 48.74, the zone isbehind the state averageof 52.42percent literate. Literacy amongwomen is just overone‐thirdoftotalwomenor 35.32 percent. It is far below the state average of 41.33 percent (which in itself isquite low). Bhind district is better off than the rest with 45.35 percent of the female populationliterate.TheconcernisSheopurwithjust23.12percentofliteratewomen.

Gender–Thezonehasoneofthe lowestsexratios inthestateandthescene isuniformacrossthezone.Withacumulativesexratioof849,thezonalratiois69pointsbelowthestateaverageof918(which in itself isofconcern).Bhind(829)andMorena(822)havethe lowestsexratios inthestate,whileSheopur(894)isnotfarbehind.SexratiointheSCisworseat833whichis7pointslowerthanthegeneralpopulationand62points lowerthanthestateaverage(905).Heretoo,as inthecaseofthegeneralpopulation,thetwodistrictswiththelowestsexratiosareBhind(812)andMorena(817)andthethirdfollowsthepatternofthegeneralpopulation.

Inthetribalpopulation(905)thesexratioisbetterthanthegeneralpopulationorthedalitpopulationbutisstill50pointslowerthanthestateaverageforthetribalpopulation.Heretoo,asinthecaseofthegeneralanddalitpopulation,thelowestsexratioisinBhind(877)andMorena(894)andtherearebetterresultsinSheopur(945).

Withlowerliteracyandlowersexratiointhezone,especiallyBhindandMorenadistricts,thedistrictsare lowongenderequityandshouldbeofconcerntoplanners.Withmorethan69percentofgirlsmarryingbeforethelegalageof18,thereisgreatconcernforgenderequity.

The trend of low sex ratio and low literacy and high earlymarriages (7 out of 10 girls) shows thatgenderdiscriminationisrampantanduniformlyspreadthroughouttheruralareasinallcommunitiesinthiszone.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–About26.24percentofthetotalareaisunderkharifcultivation.Thisis29percentpoints lowerthanthestateaverage.Withinthezone,Sheopur (38.51)hasthehighestkharifcultivableareaandthelowestkharifareaisinBhindat13.50percent.

The lower area for kharif is compensated by the higher cultivable area for rabi at 73.76 percentcumulatively.Bhindhasalowerkharifareaandoneofthehighest(86.50)rabiareas.Inallthedistrictstherabicroppedareaisabovethestateaverageof44.15percent.

Pulses–Theareaunderpulsesinkharifis3.01(fromalowof2.22inSheopurto4.46inMorena)andislowerthanthestateaverageof8.49percentofkharifareaunderpulses.Theareaunderpulsesinrabiisalsoverylow(16.73)comparedtothestateaverageof43.35andvarieswildly(fromameager3.99inMorenato10.37inBhind).ThecombinedkharifandrabiareaunderpulsesishighestinBhindandlowerinbothMorenaandSheopur(belowacumulativescoreof10).

The share of pulses production to total production in kharif is than 0.77 percent and is as low as0.09percent in Bhind,which has about 2.35 percent of the area under pulses in kharif. In rabi theshareofpulsesfortotalproductionis5.59(12.54percentareaunderpulsesinrabi)andiswellbelowthe state average of 14.61 percent. In this zone, Bhind has a better share of pulses in the total

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productionat2.28and11.31(total13.59),whileMorenaandSheopurhasthelowestshareofpulsesfortotalproduction.

Cereals–Theareaundercereals inkharif isabout68.28percentandis36percentpointsabovethestateaverage. Theareaunder cereals is highest (90.51) inMorena for kharif (whichhas the lowestareaandproductionofpulses)andthelowestinSheopur(whichhasthehighestareaandproductionfor pulses) at 43.35percent. The areaunder cereals in rabi is 36.87percent anddeviates from thestatetrend(45.87).Therearenowildswingswithinthedistricts.

Theshareofcerealsinkhariftotalproductionis16.87percent(with68percentareashare)andinrabiitis40.56(againsttheareashareof37percentarea).Cerealproductionhassharplyincreasedinrabi,thefactorcontributingtothisincreasedproductioniswateruse.

Land‐usepattern–There is fairly good cumulative forest coverbut the scene is disturbing inBhind(2percent)andMorena(10.1percent)whileinSheopur(43.84)itisquitegood.

Theareaunderpastureis4.3,whichisuniformacrossthezonebutbelowthestateaverageof4.38.Thenetsownareais49.35percentandiscomparabletothestateaverageof47.91.Bhindhasalargenet sownarea (72.06)whileSheopur (23.64)hasoneof the least sownareas.Thedisparities innetsownareas are the result of the availability of irrigation in thedistrictswith SheopurhavingbetterwaterinfrastructurethanBhindandMorena.Thedoublesownareaisfarless(9.26)andisabouthalfthestateaverage.

Irrigation–Openwellsare themajor sourceof irrigationwithwidedisparities.Openwells’ share inirrigation is above50percent inBhind (60.58) andMorena (50.74)but is as lowas8.86percentoftotal irrigation in Sheopur. Incidentally, Sheopur has 51 percent of irrigation by canal followed by31percent by tube wells. This indicates that in Sheopur use of open wells, and use of traditionalsourcesofirrigation,hasreducedwithuseofmoderntechnologies.

Canal irrigation is the second largest source of irrigationwith 34 percent share for total irrigation.Bhind has the lowest (21.28) percentage, but all districts have more than the state average of18.12percent.

TubewellsformthethirdsourceofirrigationandarealmostuniforminthetwodistrictsofBhindandMorenaandarelowerthanthestateaverageof25.5percent.Sheopurhasthehighestshareoftotalirrigationat31.64percent.

Thezonehasgoodirrigationfacilitiesandoneofthedistricts,Sheopur,hasabout60percentofthetotalcultivableareaunderirrigation,whichisoneofthehighestinthestate.

Work force–Workers’ participation rate is 38.28percent and female workers’ participation rate is26percent.Cultivatorsshareintotalworkersis45percentandagricultureworkers8percent.

Livestock production–The subzone comprising the three districts are similar. The Chambal northzone,as for theChambal regionasawhole,hasgood livestockandmilkstatusand isasuccessfullyoperating flood region that registered amilk revolution during the 1980s.Milk production for theindividual districts is 223.6 (Bhind) and 490.3 and (Morena and Sheopur combined) 1000 tonnes.Meat production is only 0.2 tonnes and egg production is 5.6 lakh1 for Bhinddistrict. The region isfamousfortheBhaindehibreedofbuffalo.

Soilandrainfall–Thezonehasveryfew(30)rainydaysandtheaveragerainfallis608mm,whichisalsoonthelowside.Bhindhasabout479mmofreliefandMorena–Sheopur569.9mm,whichislessthantheaveragerainfallandiscompensatedbyirrigationinfrastructure.

1UnitinAsiansystem,onehundredthousand,usuallywrittenas1,00000

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Thenorthernborderareaishighlyirrigatedandsomeofthedistrictshavethehighestirrigationbyanysource in thestate. Irrigation is fromgroundwater liftingand flooding.Thesocial fabric isextremelytraditionalandcastediscriminationmayeasilybediscerned.The landholdingpattern is, toacertainextent, on the lines of caste division; almost 30 percent of the households are without holdings.Another50percentaresubsistencefarmersand,alongwiththelandless,almost80percentoffamilieshaveprecariouslivelihoods.Only20percentiscashcropswithlargelandholdings.

The main cropping area is under mustard and gram, which are the main cash crops. Excessivegroundwater lifting has turned the area into a critical zone. In the first exercise, on‐farm andcommunity water management was identified as the number one priority area followed by watergovernance (conflictmanagement) and efficient use ofwater. In the subsequent exercise, irrigationmanagementisconsideredhighestpriorityfollowedbylandreclamation.

Consideringthesocio‐economicpatternoftheareawithlandholdingandland‐usepattern,thereisaneed for water governance andmanagement as the top priority with share equity to landless andmarginalfarmers.

CENTRALDRYCHAMBALZONE

Zone8–GwaliorZone–Drydegradedminingandpastoral

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–Popularly known as Gwalior zone, comprises the districts of Gwalior,Datia and Shivpuri. The average family size ismore than 6.13, varing between 5.86 (Datia) to 6.70(Gwalior).

TheSCpopulationinthezoneis20.93percentandinalldistrictsitismorethanthestateaverageof15.19percent.ThehighestpercentageofSCisinDatia(24.95),whichisfollowedbyGwalior(21.08).Thetribalpopulation is just4.27percent,except forGwalior (11.19), therestof thedistrictshaveanegligibletribalpopulationrangingfrom0.81 inMorenato3.49 inShivpuri.Thetribalpopulation inthezoneiswellbelowthestateaverageandonlyinGwaliorthecombinedSCandSTshareisabout30percentofthetotalpopulation.

Development–HDIhasauniformperformanceacrossallfourdistricswithcumulativelyagregatesto0.51,whichisbetterthanotherzonesinthestate.Thegenderdevelopmentindexis0.52andisbetterthanthegeneralhumandevelopmentindex.

Thereare42.40percentwhoarecultivatorsinthezoneand7.23percentarelandlesslabourers.Thepercentageoflandlesssuggeststhatpovertyinthezonecouldbebelowthestatestatisticalaverage.Thisiscorroboratedbythepercentageofhouseholdsbelowthepovertyline(19.58)andthespreadofpovertyisuniforminalldistricts.

Literacy–Thecumulativeliteracyofthezoneshowsthatmorethanhalfthepopulationisliterateat54.48 percent. The literacy rate is uniformly spread, except for Gwalior (47.34), which is below50percent and is less than the state average of 52.42percent. The difference in female to maleliteracyisabout13percentagepointsand,again,Gwalior(32.61)hasthedubiousdistinctionofhavingthelowestfemaleliteracyinthezone.

Gender–Thezonehasoneofthe lowestsexratios inthestateandthescene isuniformacrossthezone.Withacumulativesexratioof846,theratioforthezoneis72pointsbelowthestateaverageof

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918(whichinitself isapointofconcern).Morena(822)hasthelowestsexratiointhezonebutthethreeothershaveapoorsexratio(860),whichis61pointsbelowthestateaverage.

TheSCsexratioislessat841andat817MorenahasthelowestSCsexratio.TherestarelowerthanthegeneralpopulationsexratioandinconformitywiththestatetrendsfortheSCpopulation.Thoughthis is in line with the state trends, the sex ratio among this segment of the population is below850andisahugeconcern.

ThesexratioamongtheSTpopulationiscomparativelybetterat915butwellbelowthestateaverageof 976. Except for Shivpuri (945), the rest of the districts (especially Morena with 894) haveconsiderable lower sex ratios among the tribal population. The lower sex ratio among the tribal isdiscernible as the tribal population is a minority in the zone and the influence of the generalpopulation’scustomsandtraditionscouldaffectthisresult.

Thezoneisofconcernbecauseabout56.75percentofgirlsmarrybeforethelegalageof18,exceptforGwalior(35.8).Intherestofthedistrictsmorethan50percentofgirlsmarrybeforethelegalageof 18. The highest figure is forMorena (73.9), followed by Shivpuri (68.3). The trend suggests thatgenderdiscriminationinthiszoneiscriticalandshouldbeamatterofconcernforall.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Areaundercropsandproduction–29.87percentoftheareaisunderkharifcultivationandisabout36 percentage points lower than the state average. Rabi cultivation is about 70.13 percent and is26percentagepointsabovethestateaverage.Thissuggeststhatthezonehaseitheragoodirrigationinfrastructureorgoodirrigationpotential.

Pulses–Inkharif theareaunderpulses is10.68and,except forMorenaandGwalior (4.46and8.03respectively),theothertwodistrictshavemorethan10percentofthekharifareaunderpulses(18.50and11.73percentrespectivelyforDatiaandShivpuri).BecauseofDatiaandShivpuritheareaunderpulsesismorethanthestateaverageof8.49percent.Theareaunderrabicultivationofpulsesislowat20.68and is lowerthanthestateaverageof43.68bymorethan23points.Nosingledistricthasequal to or more than the state average for rabi area under pulses; though the trend in kharif isexactly opposite in almost three districts. Datia (37) followed byGwalior (29.21) have considerableareaunderpulsesduring the rabi season.Onaverage, the totalareaunderpulses (combinedkharifand rabi) is very low and varies between Morena (4.46 kharif plus 3.99 rabi: total 8.45 percent),Gwalior(8.03kharifplus12.53rabi:total20.56percent),Shivpuri(11.73kharifplus29.21rabi:total40.94percent)andDatia(18.50kharifplus37rabi:total55.50percent).

The kharif production of pulses is ameager 0.93 percent of the total production,whereas the rabishare is 9.95 percent. In both kharif and rabi the share of pulses is less than the state average. Inaddition,theproductionofrabishowsagreateryieldofmorethan39percentpointsoverkharif.

Thetotalproductionofpulsesinthezoneis10.88percentofthetotalproductionandiswellbelowthestateaverageof16.79percent.Comparedtothestateaverageproductionofpulsesat0.32perunit,theproductionofpulses(yield)isbetterat0.34perunit.InDatia,theaverageyieldofpulsesis24percentpointshigherthanthestateyield.

Cereals–Theareaundercerealsduringkharifisabout45.55percentandis13percentpointsabovethestateaverage.TherearewildvariationsfromDatiaat16.93toMorenaat90.51percentofkharifareaundercereals.AnotherlowareaisShivpuriat21.37percent.Therabiseasonareaundercerealsismoreorlessequaltothestateaverage,butGwaliorhasabout60.07percentoftherabiareaundercereals,followedbyDatiaat53.15.Morenahasthelowestrabiareaundercerealsat29.30percent,

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therestofthedistrictshaveahigherrabiareaundercultivation,whichmaybeattributedtobetterirrigationpotentialinthedistricts.

Theshareofcereals is14.56percentagainst16.44percentatthestatelevel.Theshareofcereals is47percentoftotalproduction(thestateaverage is31.63percentwith identicalareaaverageundercultivation).

Theaverageyieldofcerealsduringthekharifseason isbelowthestateaverageof0.50percentperunitofarea.ItislowestinDatiaat0.10andhighestinGwaliorat0.61.InrabithesituationisreversedwithDatiaaveragingthehighestyieldforcerealsat1.24percentagainstthestateaverageof0.68.Alldistrictshavebetterrabicerealyieldproductionat1.02,withthe lowestbeingGwaliorat0.80.Theshare of cumulative cereals for total production is 61 percent, and is above the state average of48percent.Gwalioristheexception,withlowerthanthestateaverageshareofcerealsproductiontothetotalproduction,therestofthedistrictshaveabettershareofcerealsfortotalproduction.

Cumulativelytheyieldforcereals(0.67)isbetterthanthestateaverageof0.61ThiscouldhavebeenbetterstillifMorenahadnotgiven0.46yield.

Thetrendsshowthattheshareofcerealsfortotalproductionisquitehighandisbettersuitedintherabiseasoneither,becauseoftheavailabilityofprotectiveirrigationorassuredirrigation.

Land‐use pattern–Cumulative forest cover is of concern, as the average does not provide a clearpicture.Theaverage,at17.31,is11percentagepointslowerthan28.28percent,exceptforShivpuri(33.16)and,toalesserextent,Gwalior(16.07).DatiaandMorenahaveabout10percentoftheforestcover.Pastureandgrazingland isaonly3.15percent (againstthestate4.38percent).Thenetsownareaisveryhighat51.22percentandishigherthanthestateaverageof39.58and,at63.11percent,is very high in Datia. The double sown area is far less at 15.16 (against the state average of 17.49percent).

Irrigation–Openwellscomprisethemajorsourceof irrigation inthezoneshowingwidedisparities.Openwellshareofirrigationisabove50percentinShivpuri(52.17)andMorena(50.74);about42.42in Datia and just 16.48 in Gwalior. This is followed by canal irrigation at 34.15 (against the stateaverageof18.12percent).Datiahasthehighestcanalirrigationshareinitstotalirrigationpotentialat55.11percent.ThelowestisShivpuri.Thisisfollowedbytubewellswith20percent.Gwaliordelivers37.55percentof its irrigationviatubewellsandthelowest is inDatia(1.22). Irrigationfromtanks isbelow1percentandonlyShivpurihasalmosttheequalshareasthatofthestate(2.35).

Workforce–ThedistrictsofGwalior,DatiaandpartsofShivpuriandMorenashowvariationsinworkforce distribution. Datia leadswith 50percent ofworker participation rate, followed by Shivpuri at45.2percent and, the other extreme, is 32percent for Gwalior. The femalework participation ratefollowsinthesameorderat43.2percent,37.3percentand14.7percentforthethreedistrictsinthesameorderrespectively.Similarly,thereare53.7percentcultivatorsinShivpuri,47.8forMorena,45.5in Datia and 40.8 in Sheopur. Agricultural labourers are amaximum of 10 percent in Sheopur and5percentinGwalior.GwaliordistrictdistortstheotherworkerscenariobecauseofthesizableurbanpopulationinGwaliorcity,with52percentofotherworkers.

Livestockproduction–Thesubzonecomprisesfourdistrictsand,becauseofitssize,iswellplacedinthefieldoflivestockproduction.Chambalregion,asawhole,hasgoodlivestockandmilkstatusandisa successfullyoperating flood region,which registeredamilk revolutionduring the1980s. Themilkproduction for the individual districts in 1000 tonnes is 117.2 (Datia), 221.6 (Gwalior) and 259.3(Shivpuri).Meatproduction isamoderate300tonnesperdistrictperannum.Eggproduction is low

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and the combined figure of 97.5 lakh is for the four districts. The combined cattle and bovinepopulationofthesedistrictsis10.73lakh,over10.55lakhforgoatsand1.19lakhforsheep.

Soilandrainfall–Thezonehasanaverageof34rainydaysandanaveragerainfallof662.57,whichisevenlyspreadacrossalldistricts.Thesoilhasgoodcopperandironcontentbutlowtomoderatezinccontent.

Theareaismarkedbyahighlevelofpoverty,asfortheneighboringChambalnorthzonewithalmost20 percent landless labourers and close to 60 percent aremarginal farmers. The land is degraded,miningisoneofthemainactivities,therearelargelivestockholdingsandgoatrearing.

Availiabilityofwateristoolow.Therearehugedifferencesbetweenthosethathaveandthosewithnoaccess to resources. There are few echnological interventions. Water management is almost non‐existent. In the first round [of the workshop], water harvesting, water management and water forlivestock were identified as primary areas for intervention. Subsequently, irrigation and watershedmanagementhasbeenprioritizedforfocussedinterventions.

Theareaneedstwoimportantinterventions:resource‐sharingknowledgemanagementandcollectiveresourcecreationandmanagement.

SOUTHERNCHAMBALZONE

Zone9:SouthChambalZone‐Progressivefarming,wheat‐soya

GENERALINDICATORS

Composition–The subzone is comprised of Guna district, which is now split into two districtsAshoknagar and Guna. The average family size in the zone is more than 6, varing between 6.12(Ashoknagar)to6.03(Guna).Thezonehasabovethestateaverageoffamilysize.TheSCpopulationinthezoneis20.43percent,whichismorethanthestateaverageinbothdistrictsasAshoknagar(23.25)havingalmostone‐quarterSCpopulation.TheSTpopulationisjust7.66percentandiswellbelowthestateaverageof20.30percent.There isaconsiderableSTpopulation inGunaat12.22percentand,together with the SC population, the vulnerable and traditional resource‐poor families comprise30percent.

Development–Thehumandevelopmentindexisbelow50at0.47.Thegenderdevelopmentindexisidentical with the general HDI. The percentage of main workers is 74.48, which is quite highconsidering that almost 20 percent are children. Taking into account the elderly, with the above20percent for children, the two‐thirds of main workers is quite high. Even at the state level, thepercentageformainworkersis73.86.

The zone has 39.97 percent cultivators, which is above the state average of 34.33 and just12.94percent landless laborers.Thoughthe landless labourersare low, themainworkersandotherindicatorssuggestthatthepovertylevelisuniformandprofound.

Literacy–Thezoneat49.97percent literatepopulation,hasoneof the least literatepopulations inthestate,whichisbelowthestateaverageof52.42.Ashoknagarhasaslightlybetter(52.07percent)literacythanGuna(47.88).Femaleliteracyisafurther13pointsdownat36.17percent.Thetrendisthesameas for thegeneralpopulationandGunahasoneof the lowest female literacyrates in thestate.

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Gender–The zone has one of the lowest sex ratios in the state; both the districts have almostidentical sex ratiosand thecumulative sex ratio is882.97,which iswellbelow the stateaverageof918.5.ThesexratiofortheSCcategoryfollowsalmostthesametrendsandthecumulativesexratiois883.94. The sex ratio for the ST category is a welcome change at 54 points above the generalpopulationsexratio. Inasense, if thetribalsexratio issubtracted, thegeneralpopulationsexratiomaybefurtherreducedandisamatterofconcern.

Earlymarriagesarethenorminthiszonewithalmost70percentofgirlsgettingmarriedbeforethelegalageof18.Theseindicatorsindicatethatgenderdiscriminationisacriticalissueinthiszone.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Cropping area and production–Two‐fifths of the area is under kharif cultivation and is about15percentage points lower than the state average. Rabi cultivation is about 59.99 percent and is15percentage points above the state average. This suggests that the zone has a relatively betterprotectiveirrigationinfrastructureorgoodirrigationpotential.

Pulses–Duringkharif theareaunderpulses is13.80and isalmost5percentpointsabovethestateaverage.Thepulsesinkharif,however,arealmostone‐quarterinAshoknagar(23.32)againstalowof4.29 percent in Guna. The area under pulses in rabi is almost half the total area under cultivation(50.63) and both the districts have a considerable area under pulses during rabi with Ashoknagar(56.30)marginallyaheadofGuna(44.96);bothareabovethestateaverageof43.35.

Thoughthereisgreaterareaunderpulsesduringkharif,theshareinproductionisjust1.84percentoftotal production. The state average yield is 0.25percent, the twodistricts are lower than the stateaveragewith0.11and0.13.Thestateaverageforpulses inkharif is8.49percent,thestateshareofpulses is 2.18 percent of total production; whereas the two districts under discussion have13.80percentoftheareaunderpulsesinkharifbuttheshareisjust1.84percentoftotalproduction.Inrabitheareaunderthepulsesis50.63(againstthestateaverageof43.35),theshareinproductionis29.18percentoftotalproduction.Thestateyieldis0.32,andtherabipulsesyieldinAshoknagaris0.55pointsandinGuna0.44pointshigherthanthestateaverage.

Cereals–Theareaundercereals inkharif isabout11.44percentand is22percentagepointsbelowthe state average of 32.67. There is uniformity across both district. The rabi area under cereals ishigherbutbarelytouchesthestateaverageof45.87.Combined,theareaundercerealsinkharifandrabiisjust66pointsagainstthestateaverageof88points.

The cerealsproduction share in kharif is 4.12percent. Theaverage yield in kharif (cereals) is about0.35,andisbelowthestateaverageof0.50.InfacttheyieldforkharifcerealsinAshoknaarisjust0.29andisquitelow.Inrabi,though,withjust44.47percentoftheareaundercereals(against45.87atthestate level),theshare is34.61percent(against31.63atthestate level).Atfirstsighttheyield looksgoodinrabiforcereals,whichispoorinkharif.Inrabithestateaverageyieldis0.68andGunaisonparwiththis(0.66)whileAshoknagarhasawhopping0.90returnofyieldinrabi.Theyieldduringrabishowsmarkedimprovementoverthekharifyieldaswellasthestateaverages.

Land‐usepattern–Cumulativeforestcoverisquitehealthyat25.58,theforestcoverisgoodinGuna(39.88)andaverageat11.29percent inAshoknagar.Theareaunderpastures isagainbetterat4.87(against the state average of 4.38). Guna has good pastures and grazing with a percentage of7.07percent,whileAshoknagarhasjust2.67percentforpasturesandgrazing.

The total net sown area is quite high at 52.35 (five points higher than the state average of47.91percent). The net sown area shows the same trend as for the other area distribution. In

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Ashoknagar thenetsownarea isveryhighat65.71and the returnonsuchahighnetsownarea isverylow.Thedouble‐croppedareaisverylowat12.68percentandisamysterywhencomparediwiththehighrabisownarea.

Irrigation–Tubewells are themain sourceof irrigation at 37.68percent share. This is followedby21.95percent share of openwells. The share for canals is 11.68 percent and tanks are aminiscule2.52percent. As far as irrigation trends are concerned, there are no disparities between the twodistricts.

Work force–Total workers to total population in the two districts differ significantly and are41percent(Guna)and34percent(Ashoknagar),whereasthereisawidedisparitybetweenthefemaleparticipation rate forGuna (29.1percent) andAshoknagar (15.8percent). The ratioof cultivators tototalwork force is in the range of 54percent. The ratio of agriculture labourers is similar for bothdistricts(13percent).

Livestockdevelopment–Thecowandbuffalopopulationis4.35lakh,whichissignificant.Therearefew sheep, around 5000 and goats are 2.45 lakh. Adwani has predominance of local non‐descriptbreedcattle.Asperthe2009–2010animalhusbandrydataformilk,eggandmeatproduction,whicharecombinedforGunaandAshoknagar,was2.11lakhtonne,29.8lakhand300tonne.

Soil and rainfall–The zone has an average of 41 rainy days and an average rainfall of 832.9mm.Coppercontentisgoodandtheironisadequatetomoderatebutzincisverylow.

The area hasmoderate levels of poverty with about 20 percent of rural households being landlesslabourers.About50percentofthefarmareaisundercashcrops.ThisareaisthesoutherntipoftheChambalregionandhasbetteraccesstoirrigation.Wateraccessismoderatewithlowtechnologicalinputsandthetechnology inuse isdieselandelectricitypumpstodrawwater fromtheground.Themajorcropsarewheatandsoybean.Theregionhasseena large‐scale inflowofprogressivefarmersfromPunjab since the 1970s and the area has become a landmark for agriculture revolution in thestate.

In the first exercise, communityon‐farmwatermanagementwas the toppriority followedbywatergovernanceandwaterforlivestock.Watergovernanceisacriticalissueinthisareaandtheimportantaspectsrequiringattentionareconflictsbetweenuppercastesandlowercastesoverwateraccessanduse.

Subsequently, other areas needing improvement have been identified. These are irrigationmanagement,accesstoextensionservicesandagricultureinputs.

Considering the socio‐economic situation in the area, the focus should be on communitywatershedmanagement,watergovernanceeducationandcommunitymanagedextensionservices.

THEMALWAREGIONTheMalwaRegionelects the largestnumberof legislativesandgrowsa largequantityof soybeans,gram,potatoes,wheatandgovernment‐controlledopium.In2005theMalwaregionhad18districts.Ithasarichculturalandliteraryheritage,owingtoitsvariousarchitecturalsitesandtherecognitionoftheMalwidialectasbeingoneof theprimesourcesof theHindi language.Besides,Malwawas theseatof theGreatUjjainKing–RajaVikramaditya– the JuliusCaesarof India,whogavetheVikramiCalendartoIndia,notunliketheJuliancalendargivenbyCaesar.

Malwarecordedanaveragerainfallofabout1000mmoverthelast10years.MalwaRegionhastwodistinct subregions: distinct hilly areas, such as the four districts of Nimar, Dhar and Jhabua and

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SailanaandBajnablocksofRatlamdistrictandthesecondsubregioncontainsrelativelyplain‐plateauland.

Indoreisthelargestcityintheregionandthestate.BhopalisthesecondlargestcityintheregionandthestateandisthecapitalofMadhyaPradesh.Malwahastwolargeindustrialareas,onenearIndoreandtheothernearBhopal.TheMalwaregionhasthedubiousdistinctionofhavingthethreepoorestdistrictsinthestate,whicharethedistrictsofJhabua,KhargoneandBarwani,inhabitedbyalargebeltoftheBhiltribes.

Thesedistrictshavesuffered land,water, soilandbiomass‐baseddegradationonanunprecedentedscale. Because of the loss of biomass on the peaks, along the slopes andmassive topsoil erosion,productivityonmanybigparcelsof landhasbeenirreversibly lost.ThesamehashappenedinmanypartsofKhandwa,Ratlam(Sailana,Bajna)andDharareas,butatasmallerscalethen inJhabuaandKhargone.Hencemostofthedegradation‐affectedinhabitantsmigratetoremoteareastoseektheirlivelihoods.

Thisregionalsohasalargepoolofgrassrootsnon‐governmentalorganizations(NGOs)engagedintheprotectionofJal, jungle,zamin,JanvarandJan(5Js:water,forest, land,livestockandhuman)ofthissubregion in Malwa. Interestingly, some small parts of these districts still use the circuitous paat‐based traditionalBhili irrigation system. The government is investing huge resources to restore theecologyofthesehillyareas.

Thereare three setsof rivers inMalwa.The first setofmove fromeast towest, i.e.Narmada riveroriginatingonMaikalpeakinAmarkantak(Shahdoldistrict)andTaptiriveroriginatinginMultaiblockofBetul district. Both rivers exit into theArabian Sea, afterpassing theMalwa tract and crossing asmallpartofGujarat.AseriesofdamshavebeenbuiltontheNarmadariver,whichprovideirrigationandhydraulic power to the state. The second set is comprisedof two relatively small rivers,whichoriginateintheMalwaregionitselfandreceivesomewaterfromRajasthan.TheyaretheArabianSea‐boundMahiandAnasrivers.Mahi‐KadanaandMahi‐BajajaretwomajordamsontheMahiriver.

ThethirdsetofriversaretheeastwardmovingtributariesofChambalriver,suchasShipra,Parvati,KaliSindh,etc.TwooftheseoriginateinMadhyaPradeshandtheotherscomefromRajasthan,therearefivesuchChambal‐boundrivers.GandhiSagarlake,alargewaterbodyinMandsaurdistrict,liesononeoftheChambaltributaries.

TheparticipantsofMalwaregionattheAWMworkshopinBhopalagreedtodividetheregionintofivesubzones.Startingfromthewest,theJhabuahillszoneextendsintothewholewesternboundaryofGujratstate.Thenorthregion,apartofChittorregion isfamousfornarcoticscultivation,theNimarplainsandhillssouthofNarmada,theMalwaplateauplainregionandMalwaeastextension.Further,thisregionalsohasahigherconcentrationofurbanandindustrialactivitiesbecauseofthepresenceof Bhopal, which is the state capital, and the Indore‐Dewas‐Pitampur industrial belt. Thecharacteristicsofeachregionare:

Western Jhabua hills Zone–Bhil tribe dominated hilly terrain not suitable for intensive cultivation,comparativelylowerrainfallof800mm.Maincropsaremaizeandjowar.

CentralMalwaZone–Soya,wheatandpotatobelt.Alsofamousforproductionofspices(coriander,ginger, onion, garlic) cattle‐based livelihoods, large‐scale exploitation of groundwater through tubewellsnowincriticalcondition.

SouthernNimarArea–Cotton,chilliandsugarbeltsouthofNarmada,veryhotanddryclimate.

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Livelihoodbased Mahua,chirongi,hurra,awalan,tenduleaves

Tourism

Nonreligious:

Livestock

Smallruminants

Birds

Horticulture

Spices:

Agriculture

Waterbased

Ujjain,Dewas,Khargone,Vidisha,Raisen

Indore,Dhar,Jhabua,Vidisha,Raisen

Largeruminants:cow,buffaloandbullock

Goat

Poultry,swan

Citrus,pomegranate,grapes,guava,

Papaya,banana,mango,vegetables,

Allspices,turmeric,chilly,cumin,vetiverra

Wheat,maize,soybean,mustard,sea‐sum,gram,cotton,tobacco

Fisheries,shellnuts

Thebigchallengeistodrought‐proofthe18districtsofMalwa.RajivGandhiWatershedMissionhasbeenengaged indoing this since1996.Majorwatershed‐relatedworkshavebeen takenup inboththehillyandplateauareasoftheregion.Muchmoreremainstobeaccomplished.DataonthestatusofgroundwaterinMalwaregionisshowninTable2.

Table2–GroundwaterdataintheMalwaregion

S.No. District StatusofGroundwater

1 BhopalPhandaBlock inGreyzoneandBerasiablock isstill inwhitezonebutnotvery far fromthegreyzone.

2 Dewas

Except for Kannod block all others are in low groundwater holding stage. Particularly, twoblocks of Sonkutch andDewas have almost exhausted their groundwater. Bagli, KhategaonandTonklkhurdarethethreeblocksthathavedepletedabout42percentto45percentofthegroundwaterthroughharnessing.

3 DharFour Blocks, viz. Badnawar, Dhar, Mannawar and Nalcha are in Black zone. Three blocks:Bakaner,DhrampuriandSardarpurareingreyzone.Remainingsixblocksareinwhitezone.

4 IndoreOfthefourblocksonlyMhowblockfallsintothewhitezone,remainingthreeareintheblackzone.

5 JhabuaAll 12 Blocks fall in the white zone. Pellawad and Sendhwa blocks have harnessed theirgroundwatermuchmorethantheothertenblocks

6 KhargoneOnlyoneblock,viz.ofBadwahahasreachedthegreyzonestagebutGogaon,KhargoneandMaheshwarblocksalsoarenearingthegreyzonestage.Remainingfiveblocksareinsafeorwhitezone.

7 BarwaniPanscimalBlockfallsintotheblackzone(alreadydeclaredoverexploited,nomoreharnessingofgroundwater shouldbeallowed in theblock)Thikariblock is in grey zoneand remainingfiveblocksareinwhitezone.

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8

9

Khandwaand

Burhanpur

Chhegaonmakhan is the only block that has reached the grey stage of water exploitation.Punasa,KhandwaandKhaknerblocksarealsousinggroundwateralotandareclosetogreystage. Remaing five blocks still have a lot of groundwater available and are hence inwhitezone.

10 RaisenAllinwhitezone.Butfourblocks,viz.ofBagumGanj,GairatGanj,SilwaniandObaidullaganjare reaching the grey zone stage fast (when 60 percent of all groundwater has beenexhausted)andremainingfiveblocksaresafelyinthewhitezone.

11 Rajgarh

This district is leftwith very little groundwater. Khichipurblock is clearly in theblack zone,havingexploited108percentofitsgroundwater,butZirapurisalsonotveryfar,ithasalreadyexploted>82percentof itstotalgroundwater.Allotherblocksareveryclosetogreyzone.Biora block has the most potential for untapped groundwater but 52percent of totalgroundwaterhasalreadybeenharnessed.

12 RatlamSailanaandBajnablocksare in thewhitezone.Except for theSailanaandBajanablocksallfourblocksareover‐stretchedforgroundwater.

13 UjjainUjjain,GhatiaandBadnagararethethreeblocksthathaveoverexploitedthewaterbalance.OnlyMahidpurblockisinthewhitezone.

14 Sehore SehoreandAshthablocksareintheblackzone.Remainingthreeblocksareinthewhitezone.

15 Shajapur Allsevenblockshavedrawnandexploitedaquiferreserves

16 MandsaurOfthefiveblocks,GarothandManpuiraareinrelativelybetterposition,thoughnotbelow65percentoflevelofexploitation.Remainingthreeblockshaveover‐exploitedgroundwater.

17 NeemuchOfthethreeblocksNummuchhasalreadyused160percentofitsresource,JavadblockisinthewhitezoneandManasaisnearinggreyzone.

18 Vidisha Allsevenblocksareinthewhitezone.

Source:MP‐HumanDevelopmentReportArchive‐2002

Overall,Malwaisfacinggroundwaterdepletionmoreseriouslythantheotherdistrictsorregions.

WESTERNJHABUAHILLSZONE

Zone2:WesternMalwaHillZone–BhiltribePredominant

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–theWestern Jhabua hills subzone has three districts: Jhabua, Alirajpurand Ratlam. Alirajpur is a recently carved out district and therefore has similar characteristics toJhabua.Botharetribaldistricts,withan87percentshareofthetotalpopulation,whereasRatlamhascomparativelylessshareoftribalpeople,whoarelocatedmainlyinthetwosouthernblocksofBajnaandSailana.One‐quarterof thepopulation is tribal,more thanthestateaverage (20.30percent)oftribalpopulation.TheSCpopulationis lessthan5percent inthetribaldominateddistricts(5.58and2.82percentrespectively)butRatlamhasSCrepresentation(13.41),almostequaltothestateaverage(15.19).Cumulatively,thesubzonehasmorethan66.60percentoftribalpopulationand7.27percentofSCpopulation.Togetherthesegroupscompriseaboutthree‐quartersofthetotalpopulation.

Development–HDIis0.46percentandmaybeconsideredgood.Thereare,however,widevariationswithinthesubzone;Alirajpur/Jhabuahave0.36HDI,thelowestinthestateandRatlamhas0.55HDIanditisinthetoptenbracketforthestate.Thiscreatesthedisparityindevelopmentwithinthezone.

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Onthegenderdevelopmentindex,thereisuniformityacrossthezoneanditiscomparativelyhigherat0.56(statehigh0.64),whichistheresultofthehighersexratioamongbothSCsandSTs.

Theratiooflandlesslabourersinthezoneisalsolowat6.94percent(verylowinJhabuaandAlirajpurandabout13inRatlam).Onlyone‐quarterofthetotalpopulationlivesbelowthepovertylineandisbetteroffthanwherepovertyismorepronouncedthanthiszone.

Literacy–The literacy rate in the zone is quite low at 35 percent. This is because the two tribaldistrictshaveoneofthelowestliteracyrates(21and28respectively)inthestate.Thefemaleliteracyrateisabysmallylowerat26percent.

Gender–Thesexratioofthezoneisquitegoodcumulativelyat980.Thisisbecauseof997and986ofthetwotribaldistricts.EveninRatlamthesexratio(957)ishigherthanthestate(918)average.Thechildsexratio isalsobetterat970(981,974and957forAlirajpur,JhabuaandRatlamrespectively).Theonlyanomalyistheearlymarriageofgirls.About53percentofgirlsaremarriedbeforethelegalageof18

The sex ratio of the ST in Alirajpur is above 1000 and in Jhabua it is close to 1000 (993) andcumulativelyitis990inthethreedistrict.TheSCsexratioislowerthanthegeneralsexratioandisabigconcernasitshowsthepreferencefor‘males’isincreasinginSCcommunities.

Thetrendinthemaletofemaleliteracygapshowsthatinthetribaldistrictstherateisaround14to17 percent but is more than 20 percent in Ratlam. A primary inference can bemade that genderdiscrimination ismore pronounced in the non‐tribal communities in this zone. Even earlymarriagedatashowsthereisnotmuchdifferencebetweenthetwodistinctdistrictsofthiszone.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–About80percentof thearea isunderkharifandabout21percentunderrabicrops.Cerealsshareintheproductionisabout55percentandpulses13percent.Whereas,cerealsproductionismorethanthestateaverage,pulsesproductionis less.Withcerealsandpulsescombinedtheproductionshareis68percentandshowsthatthereisvery less ingenuity, innovationand adaptability tomarket as far as the selection of crop is concerned. The reasons are related toknowledgemanagement,lackofextensionservicesandlackofinfrastructure(water,markets,etc).

Land‐usepattern–Thoughtwodistrictsaretribaldominated,andwithmorethan66percentasthetotalpopulation,forestcoverisverylowat11percent.Eveninthetwotribaldistricts,forestcoveris(14percent)belowthestateaverageof28percent.Thenetsownarea isabout60percentandtherestisfallow.Lessthan1percentofthelandisundertreesorhorticulture.

Irrigation–Interestingly, thetribaldistrictshavebettercanal irrigationthanthenon‐tribalareas.Ofthe20percentoftheareaunderirrigation,thetribaldistrictshave15percentundercanals,whereasthenon‐tribaldistricthasjust1.51percentofcanalirrigation.Theshareoftankirrigationinthetribalareas isequaltocanal irrigation,tubewellsshare just3percent,openwellsaround36percentandothersources(thepaatsandtraditionalsources)29.55percent.Inthenon‐tribaldistrictofRatlamthepercentage for tanks is similar to that for canals (1.6) but the tubewell share is 56.31percent andopenwells35.39percent.Thetwoareasinthezonehavedistinctirrigationfeatures.

Work force–Thepercentage of thework force in theBhil predominant tribal Jhabua andAlirajpurdistricts is53percentwith51percentfemaleworkparticipationrate. Incomparison,Ratlamfiguresare45and36percent.Similarlycultivatorsareoverwhelminginthefirsttwodistricts(57and54)andthere is an almost miniscule representation of agriculture labourers. This is because of the

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governmentland,patta,distributionpolicytoST,whichisreflectedintheaveragefarmsizeofaround1.7ha.Ratlamdistrictincomparisonhas38percentcultivatorsand13percentagriculturallabourers.

Livestockproduction–Thesubzoneismoderatelyplacedinthelivestockproductionfield.Theannualmilk production is low at 115 and 151000 tonnes for Jhabua and Ratlam respectively. Meatproductionisalsomoderateat650tonnesperannum.Butthetribalhillregion(Jhabua/Alirajpur)farexcelsineggproductionat286lakhoutofatotalof6714lakhforthestate,whichincludesorganizedpoultriesinurbancentressuchasBhopal,Indore,etc.Thecombinedcattleandbovinepopulationofthesedistrictsis4.5lakhandthereareover7lakhgoatsand16000sheep.

Soilandrainfall–Theareahasauniformrainfallofaround1000mmwithabout40rainydays.Thesoilisrichincopperandironbutlackszincsupplements.

This subzone isahilly terrain thatadjoins theGujarat’s tribaldistricts. TheBhil tribedominates thiszonewithitshillyterrainandlowrainfallofaround800mm.Maizeandjowararethemaincrops.Theregionishighlyvulnerabletodroughtandthepovertylevelisalsohigh,withabout30percentlandlessandtherestofhouseholdsaresubsistencefarmers(about70percent).

Groundwater availability is very high but technological intervention is moderate and is mostlytraditional.Themanagementoftraditionaltechnologiesisgood,comparativelylessefficientforwatermanagementsolutions.Adaptabilitytonewformsandmanagementisextremelylow.Vulnerabilitytodroughtishigh.Intheearlierexercise,theprioritiesforthezonewerewater‐harvestingtechnologies,watersheddevelopmentanddevelopmentofanagro‐pastoralbasedlivelihoodoption.

In the subsequent exercise the area was identified as being in need of watershed development,agricultural extension services andmicro‐credit. The institutional base in the area is veryweak andneedstobedeveloped.

THECHITTORMALWAZONE

Zone1:NorthMalwa‐Chittorzone–Opium‐silicaproduction

GENERALINDICATORS

Composition–The Chittor‐Malwa zone (Neemuch and Mandsaur districts) bordering the famousChittor of Rajasthan, has a combined 15.29percent SC population (12 and 17 in Neemuch andMandsaur respectively) and 6 percent ST population (8.51 and 3.17 in Neemuch and Mandsaurrespectively) and together forms one‐fifth of the total population. The state has 15.19 and 20.30percent respectivelyofSCandSTpopulation forming35percentof the totalpopulation.Comparedwith this and other high SC and ST population districts, these two are in the middle range;neverthelessMandsaur is in the tophalf (fifteenth) of the SCpopulation and, as such, at a greaterlevelofdisadvantage.

Development–Comparedtootherzonesanddistricts,NeemuchandMandsaurhaveagoodHDIof0.54(thelowestinthestateis0.36andthehighestis0.64).Thegenderdevelopmentindexplacesthiszoneinapositivepositionwith0.61inboththedistricts(0.43and0.66asthelowestandhighestinthestate).Aboutone‐fifthofthepopulationlivesbelowthepovertyline(at23percenteach)butthispalesincomparisonwithdistrictsandzoneswithmorethan75percentofthepopulationlivingbelowthepovertyline.Theregionisinthelowerhalfofthepovertylinewithjust12districtsbeingbetteroffthanthiszone.

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Thesexratioofthezoneiscomparativelygoodat949and956andisabovethestateaverageof918(16districtshavelessthan900andanother8havelessthanstateaverageof918).ThereisaconcernaboutthechildsexratioinNeemuch(andMandsaur)at931,whichisbelowthestateaverageof932andputsthisregioninthegrowingtrendoftraditionalpreferenceforboys.

Literacy–Thezonehasoneofthebetterliteracyratesinthestatewithmorethan56percentofthepopulationliterate.Thefemaleliteracyrateisaround43percent.

Gender–Though thesex ratio is favouarble, theother indicators suggest thatgenderbias isoneofthe issues in the subzone. Earlymarriages takeplace and as per theNational FamilyHealth Surveyround3,around59percentofgirlsmarrybeforethelegalageof18.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Cerealsandpulsesare the twomajor crops in the subzone.Of thetotalcroppedarea,about70(69to75)percentiskhariforrainfedandonly26(31to25)percentisirrigated.Apartfromthepoppycultivation,whichthissubzoneisfamousfor,cerealsformthemajoragriculture production followedby pulses. Cereals share is between 30 to 40 percent,whereas theshareforpulsesisbetween6to7percentoftotalproduction.Thisisfarbelowthestateaverageof48and17percentrespectivelyforcerealsandpulses.

Land‐usepattern–Thesubzonehastwodistinctcharacteristicsasregardsforestcover.Neemuchhasabout23percentoftheforestcoverandMandsaurhasnegligibleforestcoverof7percent.Therearevariationsinthenetsownareainthetwodistricts.InNeemuch,thenetsownareaiscomparabletothestateaverageof47percentwhereasinMandsaurthenetsownareaisabout65percent.

Irrigation–Ofthetotal irrigatedarea,about75percentof thearea is irrigatedbyopenwells.Tubewellsarebetween22and9percentrespectivelyinNeemuchandMandsaur,whilecanalirrigationisameager4to1percentrespectively.

Workforce–Asthetwodistrictsarepartofthesamedistricttheworkforcedistributionissimilarfortotal worker participation rate (48 percent) and female work participation rate (44 percent). Theproportion of cultivators to total workers is a uniform 44 percent, but the ratio of agriculturelabourersvariesat17percentforMandsaurand14percentforNeemuch.

Livestockpopulation–Theregion isgood forpastoralistsasmilkproduction is sizableat28.74 lakhtonnes but egg production is low at 24.6 lakhduring 2008‐2009. There are over 45000 crossbreedanimals.Thesheeppopulationis23000andthereare3.40lakhgoats.

Soilandrainfall–Thesubzonehasaround32rainydaysspreadoverfourmonthswithatotalannualrainfallbetween830and1117mm.Copperandironnutrientfertilityismoderatetohighbutzincislower.

This subzone has two districts and belongs to NorthMalwa region adjoining the Chittoor region ofRajasthan and is famous for its poppy cultivation and spices. It is also famous for its silica‐slatereserves. The region has a bad name for child labour, which is absorbed in the silica industry, andcaste‐basedprostitutionbytheBachhracastealongtheAgra‐Bombaynationalhighways.Thepovertylevel inthisregionisestimatedtobelowbasedonthecompositionofthehouseholdswith lessthan10percentof landless,about10percentsubsistencefarmersandabout80percentaregrowingcashcrops. The area has not overused groundwater and is in the safe zone. The availability of water ismoderateandpotentialforcropsishigh.TheregionbeinginthecatchmentofMaharanaPratapsagardam on the Chambal river has a good water level because of the high rate of percolation. Drip

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irrigation technology is being used in the area with a higher than average knowledge base forirrigationmanagement.Droughtvulnerabilityislimitedtopartsofthissubzone.

In one of the primary exercises to define probable solution applications in the zone, groundwaterrecharge and micro‐irrigation were two of the solution‐applications identified. In the subsequentexercise,watershedmanagement,groundwater rechargeandmarket linkageswere identifiedas thetopthreepriorities(inthatorder)asprobableapplicationsforsolutionsinthezone.

THENIMARZONE

Zone3:NimarPlainsZone–Hotdry–cotton,chilli,banana,sugarcane

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–The Nimar (east and west) is a traditional cultural zone of MadhyaPradeshsouthoftheNarbadariver,whichdividestheMalwafromNimarhorizontally.Theregion isknownforchilliandthesugarbeltsouthoftheNarbada,andaveryhotanddryclimate.ThezoneiscomprisedofBarwani,Khargone,KhandwaandBuranpurdistricts.

Theaveragefamilysizeis5.80,whichishigherthanthestateaverageof5.52.TheSTmakeup28.99percentofthetotalpopulationandtribalpopulationinBarwaniisaround67percent.TheBhiltribalbelt, which is spread across the three states of MP, Rajasthan and Gujrat is concentrated in MP,mainly in Jhabua,AlirajpurandBadwanidistrictsandsomeblocksofneighbouringRatlamandDhardistricts. The other four districts have between 15 to 24 percent of the tribal population andcumulatively twodistricts:BarwaniandKhandwa (24percent)havemore than the stateaverageof20.30percent.SCsarecomparativelyfewerandmakeupabout9.44percentofthepopulation,whichislowerthanthestateaverageof15.19percent.Inallthedistrictsthedalitpopulationislessthanthestate average and may indicate the migration of the SC population (especially from Burhanpur,Khandwa and Khargone with 9.03, 13.87 and 11.20 percent of the share) to towns and cities,especiallyBhopalandIndore.

The sex ratio of the general population is above the state average at 945 but there are variationswithin the districts. Barwani has 971 whereas Khandwa has 929, between Burhanpur (942) andKhargone(934)suggeststhatthereisaconnectionbetweentribalandsexratioaselsewhere.Inthetribal communities the sex ratio is 965 (average of four districts) but here the influence of themainstreamHindusocietiescanbeseeninthesexratiooftribesinKhandwa(945),whichisonaparwiththegeneralsexratio in thezone(945). In thedalitcommunities thesexratio is justabovethegeneral ratio but is more because of the better sex ratio among dalits in Barwani district. ForKhandwa,thesexratiofordalitsisonparwiththegeneralsexratiointhedistrict(929).Thesexratioofdalitsisbetterthanatthestatelevel(905)andthetribalislessthanatthestatelevel(976atstatelevelandlessthan950intwodistrictsandjustonedistricthasmorethanthestateaverage)

Development–TheHDIis0.40inthezoneandmaybeconsideredgoodastherearenovariationsinthezone.Thegenderdevelopmentindexisalsogoodat0.59andheretootherearenovariations.Butthepovertyrateisalarminglyhighat67percentandisashighas75percentinBarwaniandKhargone.

Thehighpercentageoftribalpopulation inBarwani,andtheequalnumber livingbelowthepovertyline isunderstood,butthehighrateofpoverty inotherdistricts (also inKhandwathepercentage is50percentandisquitehigh)isalarming.

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Literacy–The literacy rate in the zone is50percent. TherearevariationswithBarwani (32.40)andKhargone (58.21). The three districts have almost similar literacy percentages: between 53.38 and58.21.The literacyrate is lower thanthestateaverageandcorresponds to thepovertypercentage.The literacy rate forwomen isonparwith the stateaverageof41andalmostall the statesexceptBarwani(24.83)areinthesameliteracybandinallcategories.

Gender–The sex ratio of the zone is poor (cumulatively) and, individually, Khandwa (929) andKhargone(934)haveverypoorsexratiosbutthesearestillbetterthanthestateaverageof918.Thesexratioforchildrenisalsopoor,especiallyforBurhanpur(926)andKhargone(933),whichareeitherlessthanstateaverageoronapar.ThesamegoesfordalitsaswellastribalcommunitiesinthezonewiththeexceptionofBarwani.Thefemaleparticipationintheworkforcealsoshowsthesametrendandassuchgenderdiscrimination isacritical issue in thezoneexcept forBarwanidistrict.Data formarriagesisunavailableforallthefourdistricts,butvariationsarecomparablewithotherdistricts.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Cropping area and production–About 85.25 percent of the area is under kharif and about14.75percentunderrabicrops.InallthedistrictsexceptKhandwa(79.52),thekharifareaismoreorless85percentandtherabiareaisaround11to15percent.InKhandwatheareaunderrabiisabout20.48 percent, which suggests comparatively better irrigation than in the other districts. The areaunderkharif inthezoneisveryhighandisalmost30percentmorethanthestateaverageof55.85.Therabionthecontraryis30pointslessthanthestateaverageof44.15.

Cerealsformthebulkoftheareaundercultivationwith51.72percentofthetotalproduction.CerealproductionisveryhighinBarwaniat71.92percent,intheotherthreedistrictsitisuniformbetween43and45percentandisonparwiththestateaverageof48percent.Theshareofpulsesproductionisvery low at 5.16 and in Barwani (2.86) and Khargone (3.03) it is almost negligible. Overall pulsesproductionis10percentlessthanthestateaverage.Lowlevelofcultivationforpulsesandcerealsiscompensated by cotton (in almost all the districts) and plantains (in Burhanpur and partially inKhandwa).CottonisthecashcropinthezoneandKhandwaisoneofthebiggestmandisinthestateforcottonprocurement.

Land‐use pattern–Burhanpur (58.92) has one of the better forest coverage in the state (28.28),overalltheforestcoverisaround35.98percentofthetotallandarea.ApartfromBurhanpur,Barwani(34.53)andKhargone(30.18)havegoodforestcover.OnlyKhandwa(20.29)hasbelowstateaverageforest cover. The forest cover in Khandwa is alarmingly low against the tribal percentage. The netsownareaisabout40percentandisintheuniformbandof30to40percent.Morethanoncethenetsownareahasbeenabout8percent.Bothnetsownareaandsownareahavebeen lowerthanthestateaverageatmorethanonetime(48and18respectively).

Irrigation–Irrigation by canal in the zone is very low and is around 4.79 percent. Here Khargone(10.79) has a large share of canal irrigation, followed by Khandwa (5.45). In Burhanpur the canalirrigationislessthan1percentoftotalirrigationandthemajorityoftheirrigationisfromopenwells(69.79) followed by tube wells (23.94). In Barwani; wells (44.73), tube wells (26.69) and othersources/traditionalsources(25.72)makeupthe irrigationscenario. Irrigationfromopenwells inthezone is far higher (58) than the state average (39.55) where tank irrigation is almost non‐existent(0.36)against2.35atstatelevel.Interestingly,KhargoneandBarwaniderivemorethanone‐quarterofwaterforirrigationfromothersources/traditionalmethods.

Workforce–Totalworkerstototalpopulationrangebetween40percent(Burhanpur)and53percent(Khandwa)whereasthefemaleparticipationratevarieswidelyamongworkersofdifferentdistrictsof

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the region as shown in descending order: Khandwa 51percent, Badwani (44), Khargone (31) andBurhanpur (28). The ratio of cultivators to total work force is in the same range of femaleparticipation;Khandwa(54),Badwani(45),Khargone(24)andBurhanpur(21).TheratioofagriculturelabourersisveryhighforBurhanpur(33)andverylowforKhandwa(4).

Livestockdevelopment–ThecowandbuffalopopulationishighestforKhargone(2.72lakh),followedbyKhandwaandBadwani(1.92lakhand1.83lakh)andisleastforBurhanpur(0.54lakh).SheepandgoatpopulationsarethesameforKhargone/Badwani(8000and6.25lakh)andKhandwa/Burhanpur(18.2000 and 2.68 lakh) respectively. Badwani has a predominance of the local non‐descript cattlebreed.

Livestock production data is available for the two districts of Khandwa and Khargone, which alsoaccountsfortheothertwodistricts.Asperthe2009‐2010animalhusbandrydataformilkproduction,eggandmeatproduction forKhandwaandBurhanpur is (10.9 lakh tonne,51.1 lakhand800 tonnerespectively)andforKhargoneandBadwaniitis(23.47lakhtonne,330.8lakh,and800tonne).

Soilandrainfall–theareahasauniformrainfallofaround675mmwithabout37rainydays.Thesoilisrichincopperandironbutlackszincsupplements.

TheBhiltribedominatesNimarregion(subzone).TheareaiscomprisedofthetypicalblackcottonsoilsinthecottonbeltofMadhyaPradesh.Theregionisalsoknownforitsextremehotanddryclimate.Theeconomic profile is mixed with around 10 percent landless and another 30 percent marginal orsubsistencefarmers.Theareaalsohasagoodshareofcashcropsanditisestimatedthatmorethan50 percent of the area is under cash crops. The cash crops are mainly cotton, chilly, papaya andbanana. Bananas are also grown in the neighbouring Maharashtra district of Jalgaon, which hasinfluencedtheircultivationinthisregion.

Thoughcottonisoneofthemajorcashcrops,itisalsogrownonhillyterrainwithoutirrigation.Buttheproduction of cotton in this part is substantial in the state with Khandwa as the main mandi(agricultureproducemarket).

Wateravailabilityislowand,becauseofthehillyterrain,groundwateruseislow.Useoftechnologyisgood as well as knowledge management. The region is vulnerable to drought as watershedmanagement is patchy. During the earlier exercise with some of the development workers andagriculture experts from the state, three priorities were identified: groundwater recharge, on‐farmwatermanagementandcapacitydevelopmentofusergroups.

Threemainpriorities/constraintsthatcouldimpactproductionanderadicatepovertyintheregionarewatermanagement,marketregulationsandvalueadditiontocashcrops.

MALWASUBZONE

Zone4:MalwaPlateauplainzone–Traditionalagriculture(spicesproduction)

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–Ujjain, Dewas, Dhar, Rajgarh and Shajapur comprise theMalwa region(minusIndore).Indore,likeBhopal,hasbeenexcludedfromthemainzonebecausethecityofIndoredominatesthedistrictstatistics.Theregionisatraditionalagriculturerichbelt.Theaveragefamilysizeis5.74,which isabove the stateaverageof5.52andall thedistrictshave family sizes from5.69 to5.87.

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The SC population is 29.17 percent of the total population. All the districts have above the stateaveragefortheSCpopulation,thehighestbeinginUjjain(24.72)followedbyShajapur(21.98),Dewas(18.26) and Rajgarh (16.07). Dhar is the only exception with lower than 6.5 percent for the SCpopulation. The region is, however, occupied by rich patidars (land owners) withmany pockets ofpoverty,whichareinhabittedbytheSCs.TheSTpopulationissizable(26.86)becauseofDhardistrictintheregion.Onlytwodistricts:Dhar(54.5percent)andDewas(16.45percent)haveconsiderableSTpopulations, the other districts have lower percentages 3.80 (Rajgarh), 3.11 (Ujjain) and 2.74(Shajapur).

Development–46.7 percent of the total population work, the state average is 42.42. In Rajgarh(49.52), Shajapur (48.80) thework force ismade up of almost half the population,while in Dewas(44.37)andUjjain(44.14)thepercentageisnotmuchlower.Women’sparticipationintheworkforceat 39 percent is also higher than the state average and is one of the highest in the state. Rajgarh(45.21)andShajapur(42.01)havesomeofthehighestpercentagesforparticipationofwomeninthework force.Dewas (36.42)andUjjain (33.88)have relatively lowerparticipationofwomen.Womenworkinagricultureandwith62percentofgirlsmarryingbeforethelegalageof18,theirparticipationis a forgone conclusion.Of the total population 38 percent are cultivators,which ismore than thestateaverage.At43.24,Rajgarhhasoneofthehighestpercentagesofcultivators.

Landless labourers amount to 15.38 percent, which is almost uniform across all the districts.Urbanizationisnotasprominent;althoughaconsiderablepercentageofUjjain(38.74)isurban.ThiscouldbebecauseUjjain isprominentasapilgrimagecentre.Dewasalsohasmorethanone‐quarter(27.35)percentageofthetotalpopulationlivinginurbanareas.ThisisbecauseoftheindustrialzoneinandnearDewas(Pitampur).Otherdistrictshave16.56(Dhar)17.33(Rajgarh)and18.55(Shajapur)andoverall23.7percentoftheurbanpopulation,whichcouldbetermedasquitegood.

At53,thehumandevelopmentindexisfairlyplaced.ThelowestbeinginRajgarh(0.46)andhighestatDewasandUjjain (0.57).Thegenderdevelopment indexseemshealthyat0.58and it isveryhigh inDharandDewas(above0.6)andlowinRajgarh(0.56).

Almostone‐quarterofthepopulationinthezonelivesbelowthepovertyline(23.68).ItishighestinRajgarh (28.7) and lowest in Ujjain (20.1). Nevertheless, one‐quarter of the total population is toohigh.

About 60 percent of girls marry before the legal age of 18. This percentage is as high as 83.7 inShajapur and could be termed as one of the highest and most critical districts as far as genderdiscrimination is concerned.Ujjainhasa relatively lowerpercentageofgirls (42.4)whoaremarriedbeforethelegalageof18.

Literacy–Justhalfthepopulationinthiszoneisliterate(verypoor)andtheliteracyrateislowestinRajgarh(36.40).At50.97,theliteracyrateistwopointsbelowthestateaverage.Thefemaleliteracyrate is also lower than the state average and at 24.63, Rajgarh againhasoneof the lowest femaleliteracyratesinthestate.

Gender–Thesexratiois937.5,ashadebetterthanthestateaverageof918.Allthedistrictsareinanarrowbandofsexratiobetween926and938,exceptDhar,thetribaldistrict,whichhas955.TheSCsex ratio is reversed (against the state trend)and is above thegeneral sex ratioby twopercentagepoints. It is in abandof 923 to953 in all thedistricts. The ST sex ratiohas somehow reversed thetrendandat937isthelowestinallcategories.Itis54pointslowerthanthestateaverageandexceptfor Dhar (981) and Dewas (955), which has a sizable ST population, the rest of the districts havecritically lower ST sex ratios at 913 (Rajgarh), 918 (Shajapur) and920 (Ujjain). Superficially it seems

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thatthegeneralpopulationisinfluencingthesexratio,whichisabovetheSTpopulationandneedstobeascertained.

The female literacy rate is also a concern and critically so in Rajgarh (24.63). It is below 40 in twodistrictsandbelow50intheremainingtwodistricts.

With60percentofgirlsmarryingbefore18,ashighas83percentinShajapur,thezoneisverycriticalforgenderdiscriminationindicators.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Kharifseasoncultivation isquitehighat70.58percent, inanarrowbandof67.40to73.86inalldistricts,whichisabovethestateaverageby15percentagepoints.Rabialsoshowsthesametrendacrossalldistricts.

Pulses–The kharif area under pulses in is just 1.88 percent and iswell below the state average of98.49.Thepercentageforpulsesinkharifareasareinanarrowbandof0.77(Ujjain)to2.68(Rajgarh).The rabi area under pulses has increased phenomenally to 62.65 percent (but the rabi area is only29percent)andis inauniformbandof58.61(Ujjain)to66.79(Dewas).Forbothkharifandrabithereturnonpulses isaverage(inkharif it is thesameormarginallyabovethestateaverage,while forrabiitislowerthanthestateaverageby11points).Thereturnforpulsesseemstobeonthelowsideinthiszone.

Cereals–Thekharifareaundercereals isverylowandat11.76it ismorethan20pointslowerthanthestateaverage.Itvariesinabroadbandof2.42(Ujjain)and5.45(Dewas)to15.90(Shajapur)and23.25(Rargarh).Forrabithecerealsarelowerthanthestateaveragebymorethan10points,movinginthenarrowbandfrom32.37to40.62foralldistricts.

Thereturnsonkharifcerealsarehealthyat0.78and,exceptforUjjain(0.51whichisonparwithstateaverageof0.50),therestarefrom0.75to0.84.Inrabithereturnislowerthanthestateaverageof0.68.At0.47,theyieldistoolowandisalmostuniformforalldistricts.

The total kharif area under pulses and cereals is less than 15 percent. The kharif area is almost70percent indicatingthatbothareminorcrops inthiszone.Spicesarethenumberonecrop inthiszone.Forrabithetotalpulsesandcerealsaremajorcropsbuttheareaunderrabiisverylowat29.42.

Land‐usepattern–At8.45percent,forestcoverisverylowandexceptforDewas(29.46)therestofthe districts have almost no forest cover (Rajgarh/2.86, Shajapur/0.97, Ujjain/0.52) and is quitecritical.

Grazingandpasturesarecomparativelybetterat8.42anddoublethestateaverage. It isgoodinallthedistrictsandespeciallyinRajgarh(10.74).Thenetsownareaisveryhighat69.49andisoneofthehighestinthestate.At80.59,Ujjainhasoneofthehighestnetsownareasinthestate.

Doublecroppingisalsogoodandat37.67percent,itismorethandoublethestateaverage.InUjjain,doublecroppingismorethanhalfat53.81.

Irrigation–Canals and tanks are almost non‐existent amounting to not more than 4percentcumulatively(1.69and1.84forcanalandtanksrespectively).Thedistributionis inanarrowbandof0.50to2.57forcanalsand0.68to2.48fortanks.

Theshare for the twosources isalmost identical.Whileopenwellsoccupy thenumberonespotat44.66 cumulatively followed by 42.06 percent by tubewells,which are themajor source forUjjain

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(62.36)andDewas(53.81).ForRajgarh, theopenwellsare in firstpositionat67.80percentandforShajapur51.74.

Though tube wells are number two by source share, the percentage for Rajgarh is 18.88 and inShajapuritis33.20isquitehigh.

Soil and rainfall–The rainfall is average at 883 with 36 rainy days. The soil has adequate to highcopperandironcontentandmarginaltoverylowzinccontent.

The area is the most developed industrial belt in the state from Dhar to Indore and stretching toBhopal.About10percentofhouseholdsarelandlesslaborersintheruralareasandcloseto30percentmarginalfarmers.Cashcropsareimportantinthisareawithhorticulture,spices,wheat‐soya,mustard,cottonandtobacco.

Water availability is good as is the use of groundwater putting the area in the critical stage.Technology use is low; flood irrigationwith someminor aberrations. Thewatermanagement needsmuchimprovement.

Theearlierexerciseidentifiedgroundwaterrecharge,on‐farmwatermanagement,capacitybuildingofwater user groups and water harvesting as the priority areas. Subsequently, the priority areas forintervention in this area have remained the same with watershed management as a solution forgroundwaterrechargeasthenumberonepriorityandtechnologicalandknowledgemanagementasthe second priority. Both these measures, it is assumed, should be addressed together becausegroundwaterisdepletingfastandneedstoberecharged.Inaddition,theuseofavailablegroundwatershouldbeefficientlymanagedusingtechnologicalaswellasknowledgemanagement.

MALWAEXTENSIONZONE

Zone5:EasternMalwaExtensionZone–qualitywheatandpigeonpeaproduction

GENERALINDICATORS

Composition–TheregionextendstotheMalwaplateautotheeastborderingorrathersurroundingBhopal.TheregioncomprisesVidisha,RaisenandSehoredistricts,andbearscharacteristicscommontotheMalwaregion.Thescheduledcastepopulationisabovethestateaverageof15.19andis(18.9)close to one‐fifth of the total population. In Sehore it is more than one‐fifth; Vidisha (19.85) andRaisen (16.37) is more than the state average. The tribal population is just 10.46 percent, nearly50percentofthestateaverage.Vidishahas(4.88)thelowesttribalpopulation.

Family size (5.71) is above the state average (5.52) but the sex ratio (888) is well below the stateaverage(918.5).ThesexratiointheSCcategoryinVidishaandRaisendistrictsisequallybad,lessthantheotherpopulationandisaconcern.TheSTsexratioinbothdistrictsiswellbelowtheSTsexratioatthestatelevel,whichishealthyat976.TheSTsexratioisbetterthantheSCorthegeneralpopulationbutisstillat931and45pointsseparatethisfromthestateaverageandassuchisaconcern.ItreflectstherelativeinfluencemainstreamsocietyhashadontheSTpopulationandthelessthangeneralsexratiooftheSCshouldbeinvestigatedfurtherbutcouldindicatepersecutionofdalits.

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Development–Thecompositehumandevelopmentindexisfavourableat0.54andthegenderindexisgoodat0.54.Thepovertyratethoughdoesnotmatchthegeneralhumandevelopmentindex.Morethanone‐thirdofthepopulation/households(34.13percent)livebelowthepovertyline.

Literacy–Theliteracyrateinthezoneis52.42percent.TheliteracyrateinRaisenisquitegoodandis58.54butthereisadisparitybetweentheliteracyrateformalesandfemales.InRaisenthedisparityisabout17percentagepoints,andmorethan20percentagepointsinVidishaandSehore.

Gender–Thesexratio inall threedistricts isalarmingly lowandshouldbeaconcernwithonly888aggregatesexratioingeneraland883forSCand931fortheSTpopulation.Inthetribalcommunitiesinthiszone,thesexratiovariesmorethan30,22and46pointsfromthestateaverage.Therearetwoor threeprobable factors fora lowsex ratio:onecouldbe the influenceof thegeneralpopulation,which traditionallyprefersboys. The second couldbe thegeneral atrocities and violenceexpressedagainstwomenandgirlsbyantisocialelementsbecausefemalesareconsideredtobeaburdenonthefamily.

The third could be the atrocities and violence specifically directed against the economically andresource‐poor weaker sections of the society. Traditionally dalits and tribal populations have beenmore vulnerable and as such the sex ratio in these two categories is poor. Another indicator isprevalentchildmarriage.Reportedly,53percentofgirlsaremarriedbeforethe legalageof18.Thereportedoccurrenceofearly/childmarriageisexceptionallyhighinVidishaat60percent.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Thepercentageofareaunderkharifisabout43percentofthetotalareaunderproductionandislessthan12percentagepointsfromthestateaverageof55.85percent.The rabi areaunderproduction isquitehighat57.71percentandhigher than the stateaverageof44.15byalmost13percentagepoints.Thissuggeststherearebetterirrigationfacilitiesforrabicropsinthiszone.OnlySehorehasahigherpercentageofareaunderkharif(63.7)thanunderrabi(36.3).

Pulsesform11.57percentandcereals19.23percentofthekharifareaundercrops.Areaunderpulsesinkharifismorethanthestateaverageof8.49andalsotheareaunderpulsesismorethan15percentpointshigherthanthestateaverageof43.35fortherabiseason.Cumulativelytheareaunderpulsesisverymuchhigherthanthestateaverageforbothseasons.

Thekharifareaundercereals isa lowly8.3percent,whichisalmostfourtimes(32.67) lessthanthestate average. The rabi area under cereals (40.56) is too less than the state average (45.87) by 5points.

Cumulativelypulsesandcerealsinthekharifareaareabout20percent,whichmeansthereareothercropsthatoccupyamajorplaceinthekharifseason.Ofcourse,thecontributionofpulsesisnotlesswhencomparedtothestateaverage.Butthecerealsareacomparativelyisfarlowerandlessbyfourtimesthestateaverage.

Though11percentoftheareaisunderpulsesinkharif,thecontributionofpulsesis1.70percenttothetotalproduction inkharif.Thesamegoes for therabiseasonwith59percentof theareaunderpulsescultivationcontributing28.87percenttothetotalproduction.

Cereals area for kharif is 19percent of the total and the contribution to the production is just3.23percent. For rabi, the area under cereals is 41 percent and contribution to total production is31.63percent.

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Theshareofpulsestototalproductionisabout30.57percent(stateaverageis16.79)andcerealsare31.57percent (stateaverage48.06).Pulsesproduction isveryhighand, togetherwithcereals, formmorethan75percentoftotalproduction.

Land‐usepattern–Forestcoverisnear(26.67percent)withthestateaverageof28.28.ButtherearedistrictdisparitiesandRaisenhasafairlygoodforestcoverof39.31percent.Theareaunderpastureis2.31 and is less than the state average of 4.38 percent. The net sown area is 60.75 and is13percentage points higher than the state average. Interestingly, the double sown area is21.36percent against the state average of 17.49 percent. This suggests that a large area remainsfallowduringthekharifseason.

Irrigation–Tubewells (35percent)arethemajorsourceof irrigation inthesubzonewithvariationsacross thedistricts.This is followedbycanal irrigation (22.1)andopenwells (18).The tanks formaminiscule(1.68percent)oftotalirrigation.Tubewellirrigationis15percentagepointshigherthanthestateaverage,whilecanaluseishigherby5percentagepoints.Openwellsarealmost16percentagepoints less than the state average and tanks by leass than 1 percentage point. As tank irrigation ismuchlessinthestate(at2.35),thefurtherdropsuggeststhatmoderntechnologyismostlyusedforirrigation in the zone. Canal irrigation is well placed in Raisen with almost one‐third of the totalirrigationpotential.

Workforce–TheworkforcepercentageintheMalwaextensionzoneisplacedlowforalldistrictsat38.54, evenworse is theparticipationofwomenat 25.75. Similarly, cultivators areonly33percentandagriculturelabourersare20percent.

Livestockproduction–Thesubzoneismoderatelyplacedinthefieldoflivestockproduction.Annualmilkproductionis165and124000tonnesforVidishaandRaisenrespectively.Meatproductionisalsomoderateat1800tonnesperannum.Eggproductionislowat15.6lakhforVidishaand48.2lakhforRaisen. The combined cattle and bovine population of these districts is 5.3 lakh and 7.86 lakh forgoats.

Soilandrainfall–With43rainydaysandabout1000mmofrainfall,theareaismoderatelyserved.Copperfertilityandironisrichwhereaszincismarginaltolowinthearea.

Thisisthewheatandpigeonpeabeltofthestate.TheSujataandSharabatibrandsofrainfedwheatarefamousthroughoutthecountry.Landlessnessismorepronouncedinthisarea,morethanone‐fifthofruralhouseholdsarelandless.Thesocialcompositionofthelandlessindicatesthescheduledcastes.Ofallfarmers30percentaresubsistenceormarginalizedandthefamily livesonlessthan2acresofland.Cashcropsaregrownby60percentoffarmersandwheatandpigeonpeaarethetwoimportantcashcrops

Wateravailabilityismoderateandwaterusehasbeenlow.Technologyandknowledgemanagementhaveahugescopeforimprovement.Inthefirstofitskindexercisefordevelopmentworkers,thegroupidentifiedwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, capacity buildingofwater user associationsandon‐farm management as top priority areas. In the subsequent exercise water management wasidentifiedasthetoppriority.Thereisminimumuseoftechnologyorofadaptationandarecomponentsthatneed toclosely followedalongwithwatermanagementandwaterusedasacommodity in thewatermanagementsection.Fertilizers,especiallyunsuitablechemicals,areonthemarketandaccessto fertilizers is the next priority for the area. The third priority is the development of infrastructure,especiallyaccesstomarkets,developmentofmandisandqualityextensionservices.

The area has low irrigation potential and because of the topography it is suggested that the toppriorityshouldbewatermanagementwithadaptivetechnologies.

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Zone6:Industrial/UrbanSubzoneofMalwa(IndoreandBhopal)

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographiccomposition–Theaveragefamilysizeis5.39andisbelowthestateaverage.ItisonaparwiththestateaverageinIndore(5.51)andcomparativelylowatBhopal(5.27).

TheSCpopulationislessthanthestateaverageat14.88andisinthenarrowbandof14.00(Bhopal)and 15.75 (Indore). The ST population is quite low at 4.97 with Bhopal accounting for 3.29 whileIndore6.65.ThissuggeststhattherehasbeenlessmigrationoftheSCandSTtotheurbancentresinMP.

Development–34.16percentofthepopulationworkandislessthanthestateaverageby8percent.ItiscomparativelylowerinBhopal(32.08)thaninIndore(36.24)andindicatesthatmorechildrenareinschoolthanintheruralareas.

Female participation is a lowly 17.04 percent. The urban characteristics showmore women are inschoolsandeducationalinstitutesthanareworking.

Just11.81percentofthepopulationiscultivators,withBhopalatthelowerendwith9.62andIndoreattheupperend(19.14).Landlesslabourersare7.27percentwithBhopalatthelowerendat5.65andIndoreattheupperendat8.89,whichislessthanthestateaverage.

Urbanizationisveryhighat76.05percent,whichisunderstandable.Bhopalhasaslightlymoreurbanpopulationat80.53,whiletheurbanpopulationofIndoreis71.57percent.Thehumandevelopmentindex ishealthyat0.63 (Bhopal/0.61and Indore/0.64).Thegenderdevelopment index ishealthyat0.62withalmostidenticalindicesforbothdistricts.

Thepercentageofpovertyissomewhathighandcouldbelinkedtothelargeslumpopulationlivinginthesetwocities.At36.5percent,everythirdpersoninBhopal ispoorandinIndorethisamountsto32.8percentofthepopulation.

Despitethehighurbanpopulation,thezonehasahighearlymarriagerateforgirls.At38.60,itisoneofthehigherratesofearlymarriageandfaresworstthansomeofthesoutherndistricts.At42.6(with71percenturbanpopulation)inIndorealmosthalfofgirlsmarrybeforethelegalageof18.InBhopalthisis34.6percentandeverythirdgirlismarriedbeforethelegalage.

Literacy–At 63.40, the percentage for literacy is higher. Both districts have almost similar literacypercentagesat62.91(Bhopal)and63.89(Indore).Consideringthehighurbanpopulation,theliteracyrateisrelativelylow.Femaleliteracyisat55.46,whichisnumericallygoodbutwiththehighhumandevelopmentindex,highgenderdevelopmentindexandhighurbanpopulation,thefemaleliteracyisrelativelylow.

Gender–ThestatecapitaldistrictofBhopalhasoneoftheworstsexratiosinthestateat895.3inthegeneral category. Indore is relatively better off, but at 912 it is below some of the less urbanizeddistricts. Cumulatively, at 903.90, much critical thought should go into finding and addressing thecauses.

TheSCsexratioisbelowthestateaverageforBhopalandis902.IndorehasacomparativelybetterSCsexratioat939.Cumulatively,thesexratioofSCinthezoneisaround920.35andshouldbetermedcritical.TheSTsexratioforthefirsttimeislessthantheSCsexratioforbothBhopal(901)andIndore(918)andcumulativescoreof909.33.

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Thehighrateofchildmarriages, lowsexratio inallcategoriesandrelatively lowliteracyrateplacestheurbancorridorofBhopal‐Indoreinthemostcriticalbracket.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Ofthetotalareaundercultivation,kharifis56percentandrabiis44percent. Indore has a high kharif area at 62.07 and Bhopal has exactly 50 percent of the area forkharif.

Pulses–Inkharif theareaunderpulses isvery lowat0.70percent.Bhopalhas1.1while Indorehasjust0.30percentofthekharifareaforpulses.Therabiareaforpulsesismorethanthestateaverageat51.19,Indorehas62.84andBhopal39.53percentoftheareaunderpulses.Consideringtheurbanpopulation,thelowareaforkharifunderpulsesisjustified.

Thereturnfrompulsesgrownduringkharifandrabiislowerthanthestateaverage.At0.19and0.23respectivelyforBhopalandIndore,thereturnfrompulsesinkharifdoesnotjustifycultivation.Butthededicatedareaforpulsesinkharif isalmostnegligibleandassuchcouldbeignored.Inrabitheareaunder pulses is almost half of the total rabi area (43 percent of the total cultivation area) and thereturnsof0.29(Bhopal)and0.28(Indore)arelessthanthestateaverageof0.33percentanddoesnotjustifydedicationtosuchalargecultivationareainrabi.

Cereals–Theareaundercerealsinkharifisabout4.07percentandiseighttimeslowerthanthestateaverage. Inrabithecerealsareaincreasesto48.37percentandisabovethestateaverage. Inkharifthe return from cereals is below the state returns for Bhopal (0.42) and slightly above for Indore(0.53).Inrabi,thereturnsremainlessthanthestateaverageforbothBhopal(0.67)andIndore(0.58)

In kharif, the combined area for pulses and cereals is less than 5percent of the total area undercultivation.This impliesthat inkharifpulsesandcerealsarenotmajorcropsandsomeothercrop/soccupy themajor cropping areas in both districts. In rabi though the combined cereals and pulsesoccupyalmosttheentireareaundercultivation.Cerealsarethemajorcropsinrabi.

Land‐usepattern–Despitealmost76percentbeingtheurbanpopulation,aforestcoverof27.08 isquitegoodandisoneofthebestinthestate.Infact,at38.3IndorehasoneofthebestforestcoversinthestateandBhopalat15.87percentisnottoobad.

Atotalof8.02percentofgrazingandpasturelandisgoodandisdoublethestateaverage.At12.15,Bhopalhasoneofthebestgrazingandpasturesinthestate,butIndoreat3.89isonthelowside.

With50.09percentofthenetsownarea,theareahasquitehighsownareainthestate.InBhopalitisashighas55.18,whileinIndoreitis45percent.Thedoublesownareais28.15percentandinIndoreitis30.44whileinBhopalitis25.86.

Irrigation–Tubewellsareprimarilyusedformajorirrigationat49.54percentanditisashighas62.26inIndore,whileinBhopalitis36.82percent.Openwellsareasecondmajorirrigationsourceat21.75cumulatively(Bhopal/29.48andIndore/14.02).Thethirdsource iscanalsat10.02(Indore/13.43andBhopal/6.61).Thetanksarealmostnon‐existentat1.24(Bhopal/1.93andIndore/0.56).

Theregionis inthecriticalzonebecausethereismorethandoublethenumberoftubewells inthezonethanforthestateaverageof25.51andforIndoreat62.26.

Soilandrainfall–Bhopalgets892.1mmrainfallin38rainydayswhileforIndoreitismarginallybetterat903.9with40rainydays.Soilcopperandironcontentishightomoderaterespectively,zinccontentismarginal.

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The industrial,urbanandperi‐urbanareathatstretches fromDhar (Pitampur), Indore toBhopalhaspeculiar characteristics. Farmers in the rural areas surrounding the urban centres have largelandholdings and other non‐farming communities and, apart from vegetables and horticulture, thelandismarkedforindustrialandorrelatedhousingdevelopment.

Closeto40percentofthepopulationintheareaislandlessness.Landholdershavebeenconsolidatingtheir landholdings through acquisitions, large landholders account for more than 40percent withremaining 20 percent subsistence ormarginal landholders.Water availability ismoderate but couldbecome critical shortly. Technology use is high for flood irrigation but the efficient use of waterresourcesandoptimumreturnsontheuseoftechnologyarestillareasrequiringimprovement.Duringtheearlierexercise,thethreepriorityareasidentifiedweregroundwaterrecharge,micro‐irrigationandon‐farm water management. The subsequent exercize prioritized water conservation, groundwaterrechargeandregulationsasareasforintervention.

Theareacouldabsorbtheurbanunemployedaswellastheperi‐urbanunemployedyouths.Towardsthis end, there is a need to create a water bank, water management skills education, shift inproductionwithafocusonurbandemandforvegetables,milkandtheprocessingindustry.Though,atpresent, these are two disjointed pockets, the thrust of development in the state is concentratedaround these two points. Over time the belt could become a consistent semi‐urban industrial beltcoveringtwocitiesandothertowns.

VindhyaRegionVindhya region comprises three distinct regions and is known for its complex sociopolitical andagricultureland‐usesystem.Onethingthatstandsoutintheareaisthattherearemanyfarmerswithlarge holdings, are from 50 to 300 ha each. The legacy of landholders giving shelter, kutcha, tolabourers within the precincts of the land,makes this system a halwahi system, a type of bondedlabour.Themajorcropsproducedinthestatearerice,sugarcane,banana,pulsesandwheat.

Bundelkhand–Bundel‐Khand, andprobably someparts of Baghel‐Khand, are the toughest areas towork.Theproblem isbasically socio‐political and related to thepolitical economy. Issues related toBundel‐Khand are the legacy of the zamindari system, unresolved agrarian issues, large share ofwasteland, inefficient use of water tanks, problems of large‐share of wasteland, inefficient use ofwatertanks,problemsoffisher‐folk,rampantcaste‐basedpolitics.

Baghelkhand–TheLandofTigers,whichistheliteraltranslationofthename‘Baghel‐khand’,wasnotsettleduntiltheseventeenthcentury.Later,therulersoftheregionadoptedthetitleofBaghel.Theregion isproudof itswhite tigers;ofhaving the largestnationalwild lifepark in India;ofbeing theenergycapitalofIndia,asaresultofthemanythermalandonehydropowerplant,itsstrongindustrialbase,especiallycementandofhavingtwowell‐knownseatsoflearning,theuniversitiesofRewaandChitrakoot.

Vindhya plateau–The southern slopes of the range are drained by the Narmada river, whichproceedswestwardtotheArabianSeathroughthewidevalleybetweentheVindhyarangeandtheparallelSatpurarangefarthertothesouth.

HillsofChhattisgarh–Theforestproductsproducedareteak,saal,bamboo,sisal,mahua,tamarind,haldu,saja,sheeshamandvariousherbs.

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THEBUNDEL‐KHANDREGIONOfthetotal12districts intheBundel‐Khandregion,sevenare inUPandfiveare inMP.Fourofthefive MP districts are well known: Tikamgarh for its centuries‐old water tanks; Sagar district is theleadingBeedi‐producingdistrict;andChhatarpur isworld‐famous for theKhajurahotemplesofLordVishnu; Panna is known for its National Park and diamond mines; Damoh was once inhabited byCleopatra‐like‘RaniDamyanti’,theconsortofNal;ofNal‐Damyanti‐Puranic‐fame.‘Dammo’orDamohwasthenicknameforDamyanti,soDamyantigavehernametothedistrict.

Bundel‐Khand,andprobablysomepartsofBaghel‐Khandarethetoughestareastowork.Theproblemin theseparts is related to thesocio‐politicalandpoliticaleconomy. Issues related toBundel‐Khandare the legacy of the Zamindari system, unresolved agrarian issues, large share of wasteland,inefficientuseofwatertanks,problemsoffisher‐folk,rampantcastpolitics,problemslinkedtplarge‐scale stone‐quarrying; halwahas; women beedi workers; child‐labour; prevailing untouchability;exploitation;femalefoeticide;lackofreproductivehealthcare;atrocitiesagainstwomen.

Bundel‐Khanddoesnothavealargetribalpopulation,exceptinsomepocketsofDamoh,Sagar,PannaandChhatarpur. Settlementsof four typesof communitygroupsoccur in these tribalpockets.Theyare Khairwars, Gonds, Bhumiyas and Bhils. In contrast to the small proportion of scheduled tribesBundel‐Khand has a large share of scheduled caste population. Overall the SC proportion in theBundel‐Khandregionisaround22.5percentofthetotalpopulation.Theregionisalsocharacterizedbythevaststretchesofwastelands.

Table3–WastelandsinBundelkhand‐RegionofMP

Bundelkhad Damoh Panna Sagar Tikamgarh Chhatarpur

Percent wasteland of total

geographical area 25.56 17.91 20.45 41.64 17.94

(Source:WastelandsAtlasofIndia,2000,Govt.ofIndia)

DataforthestatusofgroundwaterintheBundel‐KhandregionispresentedinTable1.4.Table4–GroundwaterdataintheBundel‐Khandregion

S. No. District Status of Groundwater

1 Damoh Of the seven blocks, only four blocks are within the safe limits of white zone. Patharia is the only block that has actually reached the grey zone. But the blocks of Damoh and Batiagarh are not very far from being in the grey zone.

2 Chhattarpur Bain Nagar and Chhatarpur are two blocks are in the grey zone. Bada Malahara and Nowgown are two blocks that are very close to reaching the grey stage. Remaining four blocks are well within the white zone.

3 Panna Ajaigarh block is the only one of the five blocks that has exhausted its entire groundwater stock. Remaining four blocks are in the white zone.

4 Sagar All blocks in this district fall into the white zone. Sagar and Rehli blocks are fast reaching the grey zones.

5 Tikamgarh Almost all blocks have exhausted their 58 percent or more of groundwater stocks. Prthvipur and Niwari blocks are the worst affected and are in the grey zone. The remaining four blocks are not far behind.

Source:MP‐HumanDevelopmentReportArchive

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UPPERBUNDELKHANDZONE

Zone11:UpperBundelkhandZone–lowsocio‐economicdevelopment,lowproductivitywasteland

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–Tikamgarh and Chhatarpur districts are representative of upperBundelkhandregion.Theaveragefamilysizeislessthan6,around5.83,whichisstillhigherthanthestateaverageof5.52.Thelargerfamilysizeisoneconstraintontheeconomicstatusofthefamilyandshouldbeanalysedalongwiththepercentageofworkers.

Thescheduledcastepopulationis23.77percent.BothdistrictshaveanalmostidenticalSCpopulation,which is more than the state average by eight percentage points. Almost one‐quarter of thepopulationisSCand,togetherwiththeSTpopulation(3.91percent)isdisadvantagedasfarasaccesstoandcontrolofresourcesisconcerned,whicharevitalfordevelopmentandprogress.

Development–At0.45,thehumandevelopmentindexisaverageandthegenderdevelopmentindexisafurtherimprovementonthegenericHDI.

About 43.62 percent of the totalworking population is above the state average. In Tikamgarh, thispercentageis47.06percentandalmosthalfthepopulationworks,whichmaybehighconsideringthatchildrenmakeupmorethan20percentofthepopulationandanother20percentareelderly.

Thepercentageofcultivators ishigh (46.36)andthereare few landless labourers (8.12).Cultivatorsaremorethanthestateaverageby12pointsandlandlesslabourersarelessthanthestateaverageby6points.Thisisafavouarblesituationbutneedstobeanalysedinconnectionwiththeirrigationandreturnsontheareaundercultivation.

Literacy–At43.95percent,theliteracyrateis low,11pointslowerthanthestateaverage.At32.19the female literacy shows the samepatterns as elsewhere and is less than the state averageby11points.

Gender–Thiszonebelongstothecategoryofdistrictshaving lowestsexratios.At877.55and is42pointslowerthanthestateaverage;genderdiscriminationispronounced.Bothdistrictshavesimilarcharacteristics.

Asthetrendsinthestatesuggest,theSCsexratioislowerthanthegeneralsexratioandisplacedat871.62.TheSTsexratioshowsmarginal improvementsoverthegeneralandSCsexratiobutfailstocatchupwiththetribaldominatedzoneshealthySTsexratio,whichis933.Thereasonforthisfigurecouldbetheinfluenceofthegeneralpopulationanderodingoftribalculture.

Morethan70percentofearlymarriagesarereported;thezoneisoneofthemostcriticalforgenderdiscriminationandopportunitiestowomen.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Thekharifareais36.40percentofthetotalarea;kharifseasonis20percentagepointslowerthanthestateaverage.Therabiareais63.60percentofthecroppingarea,whichis20pointsabovethestateaverageandmaybeattributedtobetterirrigationpotentialinthezone.

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Pulses–Thekharifareaunderpulsesisfourtimeshigherthanthestateaverageat32.47percent.Therabiareaunderpulsesis10pointslowerbutalmostequaltothekharifarea,whichisrareforallthezones.

The kharif production share is very low with 32.47 percent of the area the returns are just3.18percent.At the state level,with8.49percentof thearea, the returnsare2.18percentof totalproduction.Atthestatelevelforkharif,thereturnsare0.25percentwhileherethereturnsareaslowas0.10percent. Intherabiseasonthere ismarginal increaseoverthekharifseason,which isbetterthanthestatefiguresof0.33and0.56percent.Comparedtothezonesinthenorth,especiallyDatia,Shivpuri,etc.thereturnsforrabiarenotencouraging.Itseemsthattheonlyinputthatgoesintorabiiswaterandcropmanagementneedsurgentattention.

Cereals–Thekharifareaundercerealsislessthanpulsesandat19.96islessthanthestateaverageby13points.Therabicerealsareahasincreasedoverpulsesby24points,andoverthestateaverageby12points.Themajorcropiscerealsinrabiandpulsesinkharif.

Astheareaundercerealsinkharif is low,itssharetototalproductionislower.Thereturnsinkharifarepeggedat0.28percentagainstthestateaverageof0.50.Therabiproductionshareisquitegoodand is almost 40 points above the state average and also better than the pulses in rabi. At 1.10percentinChhatarpur,thereturnsfromcerealsarefarbetterthanforpulsesandTikamgarhisnotfarbehind.

Land‐usepattern–The cumulative forest cover is not healthy. At 19.19 percent this is averagebutTikamgarh has just 13.6 percent,while Chhatarpur has 24.79 percent forest cover. The pastures inChhatarpurare7.33percent,whileTikamgarhisonaparwiththestateaverageof4.38.Cumulatively,pasturesandgrazinglandis6.09percentandquitehealthy.Thenetsownareais39.25percentandisbetter than somedistricts in other zones.Double cropping is limited to 14.05 percent and is lowerthanthestateaverage.

Irrigation–Irrigationfromtanksishigherthanthestateaveragebymorethan2percentandstandsat4.46percent. InTikamgarh it is ashighas6.45percent,while inChhatarpur ismore than the stateaverage.

Themajorsourceofirrigationisfromopenwellsandat75percent,maybethehighestinthestate.Alongwithtanks,thisexceeds80percent,whichmeansthatthetraditionalsources,tanksandopenwells,arestillthemajorsourcesofirrigationinthezone.

At 8.65 percent, canal irrigation is a distant second. Tube wells have the lowest position at 3.08percentandinChhatarpur,tubewellirrigationisjust0.75percentofthetotal.

Livestockdevelopment–Together thesedistricts produce around3 lakh tonneofmilk as per 2009figures. Egg production ismore than 60 lakh during the same periodwith two‐thirds coming fromTikamgarhdistrict.Meatproductionis2000tonnes.Thesubzonehasaround11.7lakhcattle,whichincludes7.7lakhmilchcows,6.7lakhbuffalo,8lakhgoatsand0.78lakhshipheads.

Soil and rainfall–The zonehas an averageof 36 rainydays and an average rainfall of 809.75mm.Chhatarpur has 1035.3mm rainfall over 41 rainy days,which is quite good, and Tikamgar receives584.2mmover31 rainydays,which is scanty.Thesoilhas richcopper,moderate ironand lowzinccontent.

The northern tip of the state is characterized by high poverty, low education level, influence oftraditionalvaluesystemsandnon‐adaptability tonewformsofagriculturepractices.Theareahasahighconcentrationoflandlessness,alongwithahighlevelofsubsistencefarmers(30percentlandless

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and 60 percent are subsistence farmers) throughout the state.Water use has been low as well asaccesstowateruse.Technologicaladaptationsandknowledgemanagementareverylow.

The area has some water tanks and a typical agriculture practice. Watershed management is thepriority issue in this area followed by water for livestock and micro‐irrigation for horticulture.Agricultureextensionservicesarealmostnon‐existentandagriculturalinputsareminimal.

Againstthisbackdrop,thepriorityareasthatneedtobe looked intoare:developmentofknowledgeinstitutionsforextensionservices;institutionsformicro‐creditforagricultureoperationsandforvalueadditionsandwatermanagementwithspecificfocusoncommunitywatermanagementandcapacitydevelopmentforwateruserassociations.

LOWERBUNDELKHAND‐VINDHYAZONE

Zone10:LowerBundelkhandZone–lowsocioeconomicdevelopment,lowproductivitywasteland

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographiccomposition–ThisregioniscomprisedofthetwodistrictsofSagarandDamohspreadovertheVindhyanrangesnorthoftheNarbadariver.Theaveragefamilysizeisaround5andiswellbelowthestateaverageof5.52.Thescheduledcastescompriseone‐fifthofthetotalpopulationinthezone and both the districts have a similar percentage (20 percent), which is more than the stateaverageof15.19.TheSTpopulation is11.14percentandtogetherwiththeSCpopulation,thezonehasabout30percentofthepopulationbelongingtodisadvantagedgroups.

Theworkersparticipationrate is45percentand42percent forDamohandSagar, respectively.Thefemaleparticipationrateis36and30percentrespectively.Alittlelessthanthree‐quartersofthetotalworkers are main workers, which is almost equal to the state average. The percentage of mainworkers ishigh.Landless labourersareabout16.64percentandcultivatorsare23.33percent lowerthanthestateaverageof34.33percent.

Development–HDIis0.48andcanbeconsideredaverage.Thegenderdevelopmentindexis0.58andishigherthanthegeneralhumandevelopmentindex.Morethanhalfthepopulationlivesbelowthepovertyline,whichishighbyanystandard.

Literacy–Thecumulativeliteracyofthezoneisonaparwiththestatefiguresandis52.42percent.Thefemaleliteracyfollowsthesametrendasstatefiguresandis41.36percent.

Gender–Thezonehasalowsexratioofbelow900and,cumulatively,is892.Damohisthebetterofthe two at 900 and Sagar at 884 is on the lower side. The sex ratio is 26 points below the stateaverage,whichis918andonthelowside.TheSCsexratioislower(875).TheSTsexratiois946andisbelowthestateaverageby30points.

More than 57 percent of girls are married before the legal age of 18, which is high. The urbanpopulationinthezoneis24percentandtheruralis75percent.

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AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Cropping area and production–The kharif area is 34.60 percent,which is almost identical in bothdistricts. The figure is 21points lower than the state average. The rabi areaunder cultivation is 21pointshigherat65.40percentandboththedistrictshavealmostidenticalareasunderrabicultivation.

Pulses–Areaunderpulses in the kharif season is 12.55percentof the total and there is notmuchvarianceinthetwodistricts.Theareaisaboutfivepointshigherthanthestateaverage.Therabiareaunderpulses isabout21pointshigher thanthestateaverage.This is the firstzonewherepulses inbothseasonsoccupyagreaterareathanthestateaverage.

Thereturnonpulsesisverylowinkharifandisabout12pointslowerthanthestateaverage.Intherabi season the return is better than the state average by about 20 points. The kharif area (12.55percent) yields a 1.74 percent share of the total production whereas, at the state level, just8.40percentoftheareareturns2.18percentoftotalproduction.

Thisistheresultforkharif,asisthecaseforthetwonorthernzones.Thepictureforrabiisreversedwith 64.49 percent of the area returning about 34.37 percent of production against the state areaaverage of 43.35 returning just 14.61 percent of total production. This trend is reversed in rabi foryields from pulses but the return is not as pronounced as for Ashoknagar‐Guna zone or the othernorthernzones,wherethereturnisaround0.90pointsandabout60pointshigher.

Cereals–Theareaundercerealsinkharifisabout25.80percentandis7percentagepointslowerthanthestateaverage.ThedistrictshavewildswingsforcerealsinkharifwithDamohhaving43.75percentofitscroppedareainkharifforcereals,whileSagarisverylowat7.85percent.Inrabitheareaundercerealsislessthanthestateaverageat33.12,andtogetherDamohhasabout70percentoftheareaundercereals,whileSagarhasjust47percentundercereals.

On25.80percentoftheareathereturnisjust7.40percentoftotalproduction,whileatthestatelevelthereturnis16.44percentwith32.67percentofthearea.Thereturnis0.28pointsagainsta0.50atthestatelevelinkharif. Inrabithetrendisreversed;withjust33.12percentoftheareathereturnsare40.04percentof the share toproduction. That is, the returns at 0.98percent against the stateaverageof0.68inrabi.InDamoh,forexample,thereturnis1.10percentandismorethan40pointsoverthestateaverage.

Land‐usepattern–Thezonehasgoodforestcoverat32.9percent,whichisabovethestateaverage.Damohhas36.66percentandSagar29.14percent,whichcanbe termedasadequate forest cover.Pasturesandgrazinglandis6.50percent,twopointsabovethestatelevel.InSagar,thegrazingandpasturescomprise8.35percent.Thenetsownareaislessthanhalfthetotalareaat47.64percentandinDamoh isbetter thanthestateaverageat42.74percent.This isacleardeviation fromtheotherzoneswherethenetsownarea ismuch largerandthereturnssmaller.Thedoublecroppingarea is16.19percentandisonthelowerside.

Irrigation–Openwellscomprise36.59percentofthetotalirrigationpotentialinthezoneagainstthepopularperceptionthattanksarethemajorsourceofirrigationinthearea.InSagar,whichiscalledthetankdistrict,irrigationfromopenwellsis49.43percent,whiletankirrigationisonly1.08percent.TheoldChandeltanksaregonebuttheeffectofpercolationhasresultedinincreasedwaterlevelinthewells.

Tubewellsaresecondasthesourceofirrigation(inDamohitistheprimarysourceat25.72percentagainst23.77percentforopenwells,with21.28percentshare.Canalsarethethirdimportantsourceat 5.69 percent, Damoh has 9.35 percent of irrigation from canals and Sagar has 2.04 percent

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irrigationfromcanals.Tanksinthestatecomprise2.35percentofirrigation,butthezoneisbelow1percentat0.75percent.

Livestockdevelopment–Totalcattlepopulation is5.91 lakh inDamohand8.80 lakh inSagar,madeupofmostlyindigenousbreeds.Bovineregister1.3lakhand2.42lakhrespectively.Thereare1.3lakhgoats combined. Milk production during 2009 was 112 tonnes and 195 tonnes respectively. Sagarleads ineggandmeatproductionwith123.4 lakhand5000 tonnes respectively, compared toonly36.8lakhtonneand1000tonneforDamoh.

Soilandrainfall–Thezonehasanaverageof43rainydayswithanaveragerainfallof988.4,whichisquitegood.Thesoilhasgoodcopperandironcontentbuthaslowtomoderatezinccontent.

The area is marked by large malgujari tanks that are either taken over by the governmentdepartments,orstillownedbyprivateparties.Mostvillageshaveat leastonetankandsomeofthevillageshavemorethanonetank.Thetanksareusedfortwopurposes:forirrigationandfishing.Inthelastfewyears,therehavebeenconflictsbetweenthefishingcommunityandtheagrariancommunityovertheaccess,controlandmanagementofthetanks.

There is moderate poverty but about 20 percent of the household is landless and 50 percent aresubsistencefarmers.Only30percentofthetotalsownareaisundercashcrops.

Wateravailabilityismoderate.Themalgujaritanksareeithernotmaintainedoraresilted,ortheareaunderthewaterbodyisshrinking.Theownership‐control‐managementofthewatertanksisacriticalissue.Intheensuingconflict,thewaterbodiesarenotbeingconservedanddeveloped.

Theuseoftechnologyhasbeenalmostnon‐existent.Intheabsenceofknowledgetransfertheneedforawatergovernancemechanismisacutelyfelt.Inthefirstexercise,groundwaterrechargewasthetoppriority identified followed by rehabilitation of tanks and micro‐irrigation for horticulture. In thesubsequentexercise,accesstowaterandirrigationstructureshavebeenaddedtothelistofpriorities.

Takingintoaccounttheabovebackgroundthemostimportantissuestobeaddressedare:

i)Establishmentofanefficientmechanismforthegovernanceandmanagementoftheexistingwatertanks.Thestatehastakenoverownershipofsometanksbutmanyarestillownedbyprivateowners.Policy level changes need to be in place to ensure thatwater bodies are a state resource and thatcommunity or institutional governance mechanisms are established. In the absence of such aninterventionthereareconflictsbetweentheagrarianand fishingcommunities,andtheresult is thatthewaterbodiesareslowlydeteriorating.Thereismuchscopefortheefficientuseofthewaterbodiestoalleviatepovertywithproperpolicychanges.

(ii)Creationofnewwaterbodies:thereisareductioninthenumberofwaterbodiesbutthecroppingareaisincreasing.Thisisbecauseattentionhasnotbeengiventothecreationofwaterbodiesinthearea.Theareahasarichtraditionofwaterbodies,andtheiruseistraditional.

(iii)Establishmentofknowledgemanagement(agricultureextensionservices,communitytraditionsofknowledge transfer, adaptations to new technologies, alignment with new concepts of water ascommodityandsalevalue,etc.).

THEBAGHEL‐KHANDREGIONWhenHuen Sang, the Chinese Budhist scholar, visited India in the sixth century he found that thisregionadjoiningthewesternpartofAllahabadwasalarge,thicklyforestedregionandtherewerefewsettlements.Majorsettlementsbegantobeestablishedafterthesixthcentury.

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Baghelkhandregionisproudofits:whitetigers.Thefirst‐everwhitetiger,calledMohun,wasspottedinthisregion;thelargestNationalWildlifeParkinIndia,theSanjayGandhiNationalPark,whichisover2000km2starts in this region, inKushmiblockofSidhidistrict.There isalsotheBandhavgarhTigerReserveintheregion;andtheregionretainsthestatusofbeingtheenergycapitalofIndia.Singraulihassixhugepowergenerationunits,whichtogethergeneratesabout60percentofthetotalenergyneeds of the capital. There are also cement factories, and two universities Rewa and ChitrakootUniversity.TheliteralmeaningofBaghelkhandis–theLandofTigers.EventherulersofBaghelkhandadopted the surname of Baghels or tigers for themselves. Baghelkhand region did not have anysignificanthumansettlementsuntil theseventhcentury.HuensangaBuddhistscholarwhotravelledfrom China to India during the Raja Harsha Vardhan’s rule of North India, in the seventh centuryreferredextensivelytotheregioninhistravelmemoirs.

Thehalwahisystemisprevalentinthisregion.Therearemanyfarmerswithbetween50hato300haeach.The legacyofgiving residentialhouses to labourerswithin theprecinctsof lands,by the largelandlords,makesitthepotenthalwahisystem.Inotherwords,thelabourersfinditdifficulttoseveretheirrelationswiththeirhostlandlordsandstillsurvive.

ThestatusofgroundwaterintheBaghelkhandregionisshowninTable5.Table5–GroundwaterinBaghelkhandregion

S. No. District Status of Groundwater

1 Rewa All nine blocks are in white zone. But Gangev block has exploited up to 58 percent of its total available grdt.

2 Satna All blocks fall in the white zone. Nagod, Amarpatan and Sohawal are nearly at 40 percent level of groundwater exploitation. Remaining blocks have exploited between 17 percent and 31 percent of the total groundwater available to them

3 Umaria All the blocks are in the white zone. None of the blocks exploited even 10 percent of the total available groundwater available.

4 Sidhi All blocks are in the white zone. Widhan Block that has Singrauli registered utilization of about 17 percent groundwater by the year 2000.

5 Shahdol

6 Anuppur

All blocks in white zone. Jaithari Block, the district that exploited the most groundwater has done so by harnessing mere 16 percent of the total water available and Pushaprajpur has not even exploited 1percent of its water.

Source:MP‐HumanDevelopmentReportArchive

EASTERNBAGHELKHANDZONE

Zone13:EasternBaghelkhandzone‐Forest,gamereserveandenergyproduction

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–The region comprises three districts Anuppur, Shahdol and Sidhi. Theaveragefamilysizeisjustabove5at5.12,buttherearevariationswithinthezone:Shahdolhas4.89wereasAnuppur(5.00)andSidhi(5.48)abovefive.Allthreedistrictshavelessthanthestateaveragefamilysize.

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Thisisalsoatribaldominatedzonewithacumulativepercentageof35.37;ShahdolhasthehighestSTpopulation at 44.48 percentwhile Anuppur has 31.73 and Sidhi has 29.89. All three are above thestateaveragefortheSTpopulation.

TheSCpopulationis lessthanthestateaverageat9.60percentandallthethreeareinthebandof7.36to11.85percent.

Together,SCandSTform45percentofthetotalpopulation,whichexceeds50percentinShahdolat51.84percent.Theothertwodistrictshavemorethan40percentofthetotalpopulation.

Development–About 39.59 percent of the populationworks and is less than the state average bythreepoints.Cultivatorsmakeup30.77percentof thepopulation,which is low inAnuppur (21.83)andhighinSidhi(39.31).Landlessnessfollowsasimilarpatternwithanaverageof13.28percent,lowinAnupur(10.38)andhighinSidhi.

TheHDIisalmostuniformat0.47andcouldbetermedsatisfactory.Thegenderdevelopmentindexishigherat0.57.About35percentofinhabitantslivebelowthepovertyline,whichisuniformacrossthedistricts.

Literacy–Isashadebelow50percent.Cumulativelyliteracyinthezoneis48.06percent.Therearenolargevariationsinthiszone.Anuppurhas53.94percentliteracyfollowedbyShahdolwith48.73andSidhi41.50.Femaleliteracyis19pointslowerthanformaleliteracyandissomewhatlowerthanthestateaverage.

Gender–The sex ratio is uniform in all three districts. Cumulatively this is 944.14 and is 26 pointshigherthanthestateaverage.ThesexratiointheSCcategory(asforothertribaldominatedzones)is950andbetterthanthegeneralpopulation.ThisisagainstthestatetrendswheretheSCsexratioisthelowest.Inthiszonethesexratioisuniformforallthreedistrictsandis45pointshigherthanthestateaverage.

Allthreedistrictsareabovethegeneralsexratio,whichisahealthysign.IntheSTcategory,thesexratiois979,whichismarginallyhigherthanthestateaveragebecauseofSidhiwheretheSTsexratioisequaltotheSCsexratioat950.Intheothertwodistricts,thesexratioforSTis995forAnuppurand993forShahdol.Earlymarriagesare67percent,whichissimilartootherhighearlymarriagedistrictsdespitetheveryhightribalpopulation.Thereisaneedforgenderequity.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Thekharifareainthiszoneishighat75.43percent,whichishigherthanthestateaverageby20percentagepoints.InShahdolthekharifareaisabout84percentandinAuppuritis77.34percent.Sidhihasacomparativelylowerkharifareaat64.76butisstillquitehigh.Inrabitheaverageareaundercultivationisfarlessand20pointslowerthanthestateaverage.

Pulses–The area under pulses in kharif is very low but still higher than the state average of8.49percent.At11.90itseemsimpressivebutthisisbecauseofSidhi,whichhas20.28percentofitskharifareaunderpulses,whileAnuppur(5.94)andShahdol(9.46)havelessareaunderpulses.

In rabi the area under pulses is 20 percent points lower than the state average. Again, Sidhi has aconsiderablearea (27.19) in rabi forpulseswhileAnuppurhas27.66percentof thearea forpulses.Shahdolhasalowerareadedicatedforpulsesinrabi.

Thereturninkharifishigherthanthestateaverageat0.47percent.Anuppurreturnsare0.36percentandShahdol0.54.Thereturnsonpulsesinrabishowadownwardtrendat0.16(thestateaverageis0.33).Thereturnsareaslowas0.07forShahdoland0.12forAnupur,whileSidhiisasatisfactory0.24.

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Cereals–More than two‐thirdsof the area is under cereals in kharif 79.60percent,with almost 60percentinrabi.

Cereals share are in a narrowbandof 71 to 84percent in kharif and50 to 68percent in rabi. Theproductionshareofcerealsisquitegoodandindicatesbetterresultsat0.84percentagainstthestatereturnsof 0.50 in kharif. The top twoproducers areAnuppurandShahdolwith identical returnsof0.91areexemplary.OnlyinSidhithereturnsareclosetothestatelevelbutstillhigherby18points.

Inrabithereturnsare lowerandarealmosthalfthestateaverage.Rangingfrom0.19inShahdolto0.24inAnuppurandtherearesomewhatbetterreturnsof0.47inSidhi.Thelowreturnfromrabiforboththepulsesoverkharifisaphenomenoninthisregion.

Looking atboth thepulses and cereals returns inboth the seasons, it seems that the kharif has anadvantageovertherabicrops.Thiscouldbeattributedtouncertainirrigationalongwithinadequaciesinsoilandcropmanagement.

Land‐use pattern–Cumulative forest cover is one of the best in the state at 34.28 percent. Sidhi(41.84) and Shahdol (40.62) have extremely good forest cover and Anuppur has just 20.4 percent,whichcouldbebelowthestateaveragebutisnotbadcomparedtosomeofthetribaldistricts.

Thegrazingandpastureisuniformacrossthethreedistrictsandisabareminimumof1.21percent.Thenetsownareais35percentandcouldbetermedgood.Thedouble‐croppedareaismuchlessat8.81(aslowas5.15inShahdol)andthereisscopeforimprovement.

Irrigation–Openwellsarethemainsourceof irrigation inthiszoneandat33.51percentrepresentone‐thirdofthetotalirrigationpotential.Twodistrictshaveabout41percentofopenwellirrigationandShahdolhas18percentfromthissource.

Canals are the secondmajor source of irrigation,which is uniform across the three districts and iscumulatively 21.58 percent. Tube wells are the third most important source of irrigation with12.79percent, and increasing. In Sidhi there is 19.49 percent irrigation from tubewells, which is 1pointoff the share fromcanals, in Shahdol this is 12.38percent and inAnuppur it is stableat6.51percent.

Tanksform4.23percentoftheshare,whichisbecauseofShahdol,whichhas8.46percentandisoneofthebestinthestate.At3.43,Anuppurisnottoobadfortankirrigation.

Soilandrainfall–Rainfallisaverageat890mmanditisquitegoodinShahdolat986mmandlowinSidhiat814mm.Thereare46.66daysofrainandthereliefspreadisgood,especiallyinShahdolwith51rainydaysand48inSidhi.

Thisisanextensionofthezonenumber11and12butwithminorchanges.Povertylevelsareveryhighbutthereisalowerleveloflandlessness.Theareaundercashcropsisnegligibleandalmost80percentof farming is subsistence. Water availability is moderate to high but access is low. Technologicaladaptabilityisverylowalongwithextensionservices.

Thereisanabsenceofinfrastructureinthearea:institutionalaswellasaccesstoroadsandelectricity.Thehigh levelofmarginal farmingneeds tobeconsolidatedwithwaterusergroupsandknowledgetransfer. The use of fertilizers is too low and productivity is affected. Need for an institutionalmechanismforfarminginputsisapriority.

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WESTERNBAGHELKHANDZONE

Zone12:WesternBaghelkhandzone‐Forest,gamereserveandenergyproduction

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–The districts of Rewa, Satna, Umariya and Panna comprise theBaghelkhandregion.The landof tigers isnowfamous for itswhite tigers.Theaverage familysize isjustabove5at5.25andtwoofthedistrictsPannaandRewalhavefamilysizesof5.14and5.04,whichislessthanthestateaverageof5.52andcanbeconsideredgood.

TheSCpopulationofthezoneis14.66percent,butisunevenlydistributedinthefourdistricts.WhilePannahasahighof20followedbySatnawith16.27andRewaby15.57(allabovethestateaverageof15.19),Umraiyahas just6.81percentof theSCpopulation.TheSTpopulation in the zone is21.66,whichismorethanthestateaverage.TheSTpopulationisunevenlydistributedwithUmariyahavingaround44percentoftheSTpopulationandPanna(15.39),Satna(14.34)andRewahave12.87.

TogetherSTandSCpopulationexceeds50percentinUmariyawhileinPannaismorethanone‐third(35.39), Satna (30.61) and Rewa (28.44). Cumulatively, for the zone, the SC and ST populationcomprises36.32percentofthetotalpopulationandisamajorblockinsocio‐politicaldevelopments.

Development–42.34percentofthetotalpopulationworks,lessthanthestateaverage.Thisratioisalmostuniformacrossallthedistrictsinabandof39.85and43.73percent.

Cultivators represent 31.53 percent, against the state average of 34.33, and in the band of 27.53(Rewa)and37.69(Panna).Thereare17.11percentlandlesslabourerswithRewahaving20.70andtheUmariyawith14.38percent.Theaverageforthezoneisgreaterthanforthestate.

UrbanizationisnotpronouncedinthezoneandPannahas12.66percenturbanpopulationandRewahas20.70percent.TheHDIis0.44,whichisashadebelowtheaverageandisuniformacrossallthefourdistricts.Thegenderdevelopmentindexisbetterplacedat0.55.

Povertyoreconomicconditionsareuniformlyspreadacrossallfourdistricts.About28.85percentofpopulations/households livebelowthepoverty linewithUmariyaat33.4 followedbyRewaat29.4,Satnaat28.8andtheleastisPannaat23.8.Withmorethan36percentofthevulnerablepopulationandabout21.66percentoftheSTpopulation,thesefiguresforthoselivingbelowthepovertylineareencouraging.

Literacy–Isashadebelow50percent.Cumulativelyliteracyinthezoneis49.98percent.Therearenogreatvariationsinthiszone.InSatnathereis52.66percentliteracyfollowedbyRewawith50.24andPanna(49.11)andUmariya(47.93).

Thetrendatthestatelevelismaintainedandfemaleliteracyis22pointslowerthanformaleliteracy.The trend lines are similar across the four districts with Satna topping female literacy with41.58percentfollowedbyRewawith38.62andPannawith38andUmariyawith36percentfemaleliteracy.

Gender–The zone is better placed than some of its northern counterparts in the sex ratio.Cumulativelythesexratio is928and is10pointshigherthanthestateaverage. ItwouldhavebeenmuchhigherbutPanna(901)hasboughtdowntheratiotoitspresentlevel.ThesexratioisquitegoodinUmariya(946)andRewa(941),whileSatnahasfairlysatisfactoryratioof925.Thehighsexratioin

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Urmariyamaybeattributedto44percentoftheSTpopulationand,inthiscategory;Umariyahas972sexratio,lessthan2pointsoffthestateSTratio.

ThecumulativeSCsexratio isabovethestateaverageand looksgoodat930.23.ButtherearewildswingsandconcerninPanna(895)andbetterperformancefromUmraiya(950),Rewa(939)andSatna(937).Umariyahasconsistentlybettersexratiosinthiscategory,whichmaybeaffectedbythetribalculture influencing the sex ratio among the most vulnerable communities (because of unsocialelementsandgroups).

ThecumulativeSTsexratioishealthyat946.90.Theinfluenceofotherfactorscanbediscernedinthesexratioofthethreedistrictshaving lessthana950sexratio intheSTcategory.Eventhenthesexratioisfarbetterthansomeofthenortherncounterparts.UmariyahasabetterSCsexratiowithjust6.81percent of the population. This could be attributed to the presence of the tribal population,whichisalmosthalfofthetotalpopulationinthedistrict.

About60percentofgirlsaremarriedbeforethelegalage.ThetrendsuggeststhatthisisuniversalforMadhyaPradesh,anddespiteahighSTandSCpopulation,thepercentagehasnotincreased.

Genderdiscriminationislesssevereinthiszoneandtherearesomepositivetrendsthatcanbenotedingenderequity.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingarea and production–About 45.92 percent of the area is under kharif cultivation and is10points lower than the state average of 55.85. The kharif cultivation area is unevenly distributedwithUmariya(66.30)atoneendandPanna(31.26andlessthanhalfofUmariya)attheotherandinbetweenRewa(46.05)andSatna(40.08)haveanaveragekharifarea.

ThetrendisreversedinrabiwithPanna(68.74)atthetopendandUmariya(33.70)atthelowerend.In between Rewa (53.95) and Satna (59.92) have substantial gains over the kharif area and at54.08percentcumulativelythezoneisaheadofthestaterabiaverageby10points.

Pulses–Theareaunderpulsesinkharifis13.95andisabout5pointshigherthanthestateaverage.There is variance in the kharif pulses cultivation area with Satna having the maximum area of20.01percentunderpulses.Satnahas40.08percentof thekharifareaandoutof thisabouthalf isunderpulses.Bycontrast,Umariyahas66.30percentofthekharifareaandjust8.75percentofthisisforpulses.Pannahas63.09percentof itsareaunderpulses inrabi,whileRewahas just33.60of its53.95percentrabiareaunderpulses.

Panna (63 of 68 percent and 14.19 of 31.26 percent) has one of the highest areas under pulses,followedbySatna(45.45of59.92and20.01of40.40).

Fromanaverage13.95percentofkharifarea,theshareofpulsesproductionis3.23or0.23percentreturnsagainstthestateaverageof0.25percent.Umariyahasaverylowareaunderpulsesbuthasoneofthebetterreturnsof0.46percentinkharif,whilePanna,whichhasaveryhighareainkharifhasaverylowreturnof0.14percent.

With44.32percentof thekharif area, the return is 21.28percent shareof totalproduction. This isbetter(0.48)thanthestateaverageof0.33percent.ThereturnfromrabiinUmariyacontraststhatforkharifreturnsandisverylowat0.23percent.TheadaptabilityofpulsesinrabiinUmariyaneedstobefurther investigated. The restof thedistricthavebetter rabi returns ranging fromPannawith0.64,which has very low kharif returns at 0.14, to Satnawith 0.42,which has lower returns in both theseasonswith0.18percentinkharif.

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Cereals–The area under cereals in kharif is more than pulses and at 69.80 percent is more thandoublethestateaverage.Umariyahasahighof85percentofitsareainkharifdedicatedtocereals,followedbyPannawith74.19percentandRewawith72.32percent.OnlySatnahas46.71(belowfifty)percentofthekharifareaundercereals,whichismorethanthestateaverageof32.67percent.

Inrabitheareaundercerealsislessthanthekharifareabutisalmostonaparwiththestateaverage.Therearetwogroupshere:atoneendisRewawith60.11percentandSatnawith51.79percentoftherabi cereal area. The other group is Umariya (31.60) and Panna (34.69 percent) rabi area undercereals.

The return from cereals in kharif is almost equal to the state returns but districts have their ownvariations.Pannahasareturnratioof0.26percent,whichisthelowestandUmariyahasareturnof0.74,whichisthehighest.Incidentally,UmariyahasbetterreturnsforbothpulsesandcerealsinkharifandPannahaspoorreturnsforthesetwocropsinkharif.

The return from rabi follows similar trends for pulses. At 0.76 percent, the cumulative returns arebetterby8pointsoverthestateaveragebutPanna(0.98)andSatna(0.92)havepulledtheaverageup,whileUmariya (astrangecaseof rabi loweroutputs)with0.48andRewa(0.64)havepulledtheaveragedown.

Ageneralinferencecouldbedrawnfromthissituation,Umariya’sbetterresultsforkharifratherthanforrabineedstobestudiedtodiscoverthefactorscontributingtothishighreturnforkharifandlowreturnforrabi.

Land‐usepattern–Cumulative forestcover isoneof thebest inthestateat34.06andsomeof thedistricts have far better forest cover. Umariya for example has exemplary forest cover of52.56percent (this may solve some of the mystery surrounding the high returns in kharif); Panna(42.64)alsohasgoodforestcover.Agoodforestcoveralongwithhightribalpercentageisthefactorcontributing to the better results in Umariya during the kharif season, but has not helped Pannadistrict.Inaddition,Satna27.43andRewa13.62percentforestcoverisnottoobad.

Grazingandpasturelandcoveronly2.88percentand isas lowas1.18percent inPannaand2.74 inSatna.Rewa(4.27)andUmariya(3.36)arerelativelybetteroffbutthestateaverageis4.38andthezonedoesnothavegoodgrazingandpasturereserve.

Thenetsownareais39.66percentandisbetterthansomeoftheotherdistrictsinotherzones.Thereare variations with Rewa having 56.02 percent of the net sown area followed by Satna (45.97).Umariya(23.37)andPanna(33.3)havedecentpercentagesofsownarea.

Doublecroppingislow,andlowerthanPanna(4.96)andUmariya(7.11),satisfactoryinRewa(20.08)andSatna(15.48).ThereisscopefordoublecroppinginPannaandUmariya.

Irrigation–Tubewellsarethemajorsourceofirrigationat26.03(onparwithstateaverage).Butitisashighas45.20percentinSatnaand33.91percentinRewa,whichshouldplacethesetwoinacriticalstage.Thesecondsourceisopenwellsat25.19(wellbelowthestateaverageof39.55)andthereisuniformity across all the districts. The third source is canal irrigation at 11.93 and, except in Satna(4.96),therestofthedistrictshavefrom11.59(Panna)to16.12(Rewa)butisbelowthestateaverageof18.12percent.Tanksmakeup4.61percent(stateaverage2.35)andareashighas7.08inPanna,to5.30inUmariya,and3.43inSatnaand2.67inRewa.Tanksseemtobethesecondsourceofirrigationafteropenwellsthatarepreferredinthetribalandforest‐covereddistrictsofPannaandUmariya.

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Soil and rainfall–Rainfall is good at 999.92mm and 43 rainy days. It is better in Panna at 1196followedbyUmariya984andSatna(965).Itis852inRewa,whichistheodddistrictoutofthisgoodreliefzone.

TheLandofTigers,whichistheliteralmeaningofBaghel‐khand,didnothaveanyhumansettlementuntil theseventhcenturyAD.LatertherulersoftheregionadoptedthetitleofBaghel.Theregion isproud of itswhite tigers, the largestNationalWild life Park of India, and it is the energy capital ofIndia. The region has a strong industrial base, especially cement and two well‐known universities:RewaandChitrakoot.

Thehalwahisystemisprevalent inthisregionasmanyfarmershavingholdingsofbetween100and300ha.Thelegacyoflandownersprovidingresidentialspacetofarmlabourersmeansthatthereisagreaterpossibilityofthehalwahisystembeingpracticedinthisregion.

The skewed land use alongwith lower area for cultivationmeans there are a higher proportion ofmarginalandsmall‐scalefarmers.

The uneven topography, poor soil quality and low irrigation levels, despite the reasonably goodgroundwater,makessmallfarmerslivesdifficult.

Thepeoplemoreasatraditionratherthenanenterprisepracticeanimalhusbandry.

TheMahakaushalregionMahakaushalregionhad17districtsinCentralProvinceandBerar,until1947.Ofthese,eightdistrictsarenowinMP.FourdistrictshavegonetoChhattisgarhstate,threedistrictstoMaharashtraandthreetoAndhraPradesh.ThesedistrictswereoncecalledGondwanaregion.Theseeightdistrictsarenowelevendistricts.ThearealeftinMPisnowcalledcentralGondwanaregion.

Mahakaushal region is famous for thehighestpeak in theSatpurahills and the townofPachmadhithatsurroundingit,whichistheonlyhill‐stationinMadhyaPradesh.Theregionisalsofamousforitsthree major rivers the Narmada, Tapti, which are west flowing rivers to the Arabian Sea andWaingangaofBalaghat,WardhariverofChhindwaramergewithIndravatiriverthatflowsfromBastardistrictinChhattisgarhstateandthentoGodavari.Narmadariverisconsideredtobeaholyriver,asistheGanges by theHindu residents ofMadhya Pradesh. The Kanha Tiger Reserve is famous for thelargenumberoftigersandbisons,andthelegendaryelephant.

Inaddition, therearethedistrictsofChhindwaraandBetul,whichhavehalfadozencoalminesandonethermalpowerunit is locatedatSarni, inBetuldistrict. (Thenthere is thedensest forest in thestateandinthisregion.TheforestoftheBorirange,forestsofPachmadhiBio‐ReserveandthePenchforestsareverythick.Thisregionhasa largetribalpopulation,43percentof thetotalpopulation iscomprisedofGonds,Baigas,BhariasandKorkus,thefourmajortribesoftheMahakaushalregion.

TheregionhasfivemediumandmajordamsbuiltontheNarmadaandotherriversflowingthroughit.Jabalpur is the largest town in this region. This region is rich in natural resources and rainwater,althoughthereisalackofenterpriseandtechnology.

TheMahakaushal region,whichmostly lies in theMaikal andSatpurahills region southofNarbadariver, starts on the eastern border of the state adjoining the Chhattisgarh state and moves downstreamofNarmadauptoHoshangabad.LinguisticallyandculturallytheregionisofMandla,Dindori,Balaghat,Betul,Chhindwara,Hoshangabad,Jabalpur,SeoniandUmariadistrictsinthestate.

TheMaikalhillsregion–ThisisaricebeltcomprisingmainlythedistrictsofMandlaandDindori,andpartlytheareasofJabalpurandSeoni.BaigaandGondarethemaintribes.

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NarmadaValleyregion–ComprisesthefertileplainsofHoshangabad,Harda,Narsinghpur,Jabalpur,Katni.

SatpuraHillsregion–TheSatpurahillsareknownforthehillqueenPachmarhiandtheTamiaforestareaBharia is oneof the tribesofChhindwaraandKorku inBetul areas in addition to themajorityGondtribe.

Chhattisgarh Plains–is the rice belt of Balaghat, known for more than one hundred local paddyvarieties.

Thetopographyoftheregionisakeyparameter.

Socio‐economicdistribution–Underdevelopedtribes,Korku,Gond.

Croppingpattern–Wheat,rice,pulses,soyabean,vegetable,horticulture.

Mining–Katni,Jabalpur,Betul,Chindwaraminegranite,marble,coal.

Rainfall–Mandla,Betul,Balaghat(highbuterraticrains).

Market (Mandi)–The large markets are Jabalpur, Hoshangabad, Itarsi, Betul, Chindwara, Seoni,Mandla,Balaghat,Katni,Harda,Narsinghpur,medium‐sizemarketsare inDindori,Pandurna,Multai,KareliandthesmallmarketisinNainpur.

FisheriesareinJabalpur,Mandla,whichispartofBalaghat.

Agriculture–Vegetables are cultivated in Chindwara and Jabalpur. There are sugar mills inNarsinghpur,BetulandMandla.LivestockisraisedinJabalpurandNarsinghpur.Sericultureiscarriedout in Mandla. (NTFP) timber Forest Products in Harda, Chindwara, Mandla. Dindori, Seoni andBalaghat.BedornamentsaremadeinMandla,juteinDindori.

Table6showsgroundwaterstatusintheMahakaushalregion.

Table6–GroundwaterstatusinMahakaushalregion

S. No. District Status of Groundwater

1 Balaghat All the blocks lie In the white zone. Wara Seoni and Lanji blocks, with 16 percent and 14 percent harnessing levels of water respectively. The Highest exploitation level has been obtained for drawing groundwater.

2 Chhindwara

Mohkheda and Chhindwara are the two worst hit districts In terms of groundwater balance. Because nothing much Is left as groundwater reserve In these blocks. Amarwara, Choraiand Pandurna are three other blocks that are fast consuming their groundwater stocks. The remaining five blocks are In the safe limits of the white zone.

3 Hoshangabad All blocks are in the white zone. Piparia and Bankhedi blocks have used a lot of groundwater but there is still enough residual groundwater left.

4 Harda All fall in the white zone. Khirkhia block has used up about 50 percent Of their groundwater stocks. The remaining two blocks have plenty of untapped groundwater.

5 Jabalpur

All blocks are in the white zone. Shahpura block has already drained out about 56 percent of its groundwater stock and Patan is a distinct second with about 60 percent of the groundwater stock remaining intact. All other blocks have between 65 and 94 percent of untapped groundwater.

6 Katni All blocks fall in the white zone.

7 Mandla All blocks fall in the white zone..

8 Dindori All blocks fall in the white zone..

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9 Seoni All blocks fall in the white zone.. But Barghat block has already used 41 percent of the total groundwater stock.

10 Narsinghpur Although all blocks fall In the white zone, except for one block of Kareli, which still has 78 percent of its unused groundwater., All others have used between 45 and 71.1 percent of their groundwater..

11 Betul Five out of ten blocks have expanded their 37 percent to 40 percent of water reserves. These blocks are Prabhatpatnam, Multai, Chicholi, Amla and Betul. The remaining five blocks lie safely within the white zone.

Source:MP‐HumanDevelopmentReportArchive

THESATPURAHILLSMAHAKAUSHALZONE

Zone15:SatpuraHillsMahakaushalZone–Tribalforestgatherersanddrylandfarmers

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–Betul and Chhindwara tribal districts comprise this zone. The averagefamily size is around5.41 and is below the state average. It is higher in Betul at 5.60 and lower inChhindwaraat5.21.

At 11.08 the SC population is less than the state average and is similar in both districts. The STpopulationismorethanone‐thirdat37.05.Inbothdistricts,theSTpopulationismorethanone‐third39.41inBetuland34.68inChhindwara.

Both Betul and Chhindwara are among the districts with amajority of ST population.With the SCpopulation,thetotalblockformsalmosthalfthetotalpopulation.

Development–Atotalof43.15percentofthetotalpopulationwork,whichvariesfrom44.15(Betul)to42.15(Chhindwara).Thesefiguresareonparwiththestateaverageinonedistrictandmarginallyaboveintheanother.Femaleparticipationismorethanone‐thirdandisabovethestateaverage.

There are just 33.33percentof total cultivators,which is a littlebelow the state average.Both thedistricts have similar figures. There are 16.35 percent landless labourers and the two districts areabovethestateaverageof14.53.

About21.52percentofthepopulationlivesinurbanareas.ThefigureishigherforChhindwara24.46,almostone‐quarterofthetotalpopulationandlowerforBetul(18.57).Urbanizationisontheupswinginthenon‐tribalareasofboththedistricts.

Thezone’sHDIis0.48andisneithergoodnorbadcomparatively.Thegenderdevelopmentratioisonparwiththebestinthestateat0.6andisuniformforboththestates.

The poverty rate is very high and, at 48.40 percent and every other person is poor. This is a verycriticalcondition,especiallyinBetulwhere65.6percentofthepopulationlivesunderthepovertyline.InChhindwaraeverythirdpersonispoor,povertyinthezoneiscritical.

Therearefewerearlymarriagesascomparedtoothernortherncounterparts.At29.50percentthereareearlymarriagesbut this is low compared to thehighsof above60percent in someofdistricts.Genderdiscriminationcouldbetermednotsosevere.

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Literacy–At55.20percent,literacyisonthehighside.Bothdistrictshavealmostsimilarpercentagesfor literacy 55.21 (Betul) and 55.19 (Chhindwara). The female literacy rate is at 45.99, which iscomparativelygoodandisuniformforboththedistricts.

Gender–Thezonehasoneofthebestsexratiosinthestateat958.62.ThesexrationisevenbetterinBetul(965.2)andinChhindwaraitis952.1.Thesexratioislowerthanthegeneralpopulationandis942 is37pointsabovethestateaverage.TheSTsex ratio isoneof thebest in thestateand in thecountry,at991.54andis15pointsabovethestateaverage.InBetulitis994andinChhindwaraitis989andcanbetermedbetterinrelationtotheotherdistricts.

With a favourable female literacy rate of 45 percent and a low rate of early marriages, genderdiscriminationisnotsevere;onthecontrary,genderequityisoneofthebestinthestate.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–77.84percentoftheareaisinkharifwhile22percentisinrabi.Thekharifarea isveryhighat80.69percent inChhindwaraand75.00 inBetul.Thezonehasoneof thelargestareasunderkharifandapoorshareunderrabi.

Pulses–Kharif area under pulses is on par with the state average of 8.26 percent. Betul has8.76percent while Chhindwara has 7.76 percent of kharif pulses cultivation. The figure for rabi at34.07percentismorethankharif,andislessthanthestateaverageby9points.

The return of pulses in kharif is double than the state returns and is comparatively better inChhindwara (0.61) than in Betul (0.41). In rabi the return is less than half the state average (0.33).Bothdistrictshave0.12and0.13percentreturnforBetulandChhindwararespectively.

Cereals–Theareaundercerealsinkharifisabout37.02percentandis5percentagepointsabovethestateaverageof32.67.Cerealscultivationisanarrowbandof35.82(Betul)and38.22(Chhindwara).Thepercentageofareaforrabiundercerealsis60.10percentofthetotalareaundercultivationandis15 points above the state average. It is as high as 62.95 percent in Betulwhile in Chhindwara it is57.25percent.

Thereturnonkharifcerealsisfarbetterthanthestateaverageof0.50percent.At0.84,Chhindwarahascomparativelybetter returns thanBetul (0.76).Returns for rabidecreasebyhalfat0.32againstthestatereturnsof0.68.Bothdistrictsshowsimilaritiesforreturnsinrabiforcereals.

Land‐use pattern–At 39.91 percent, the forest cover is one of the best in the state. Both districtshavesimilarforestcover,withChhindwara(40.46)marginallyaheadofBetul(39.36)andwellabovethestateaverageof28.28percent.Therearefewerpasturesandgrazinglandthanthestateaverageat3.55.ThisiscomparativelybetterinChhindwara(4.39)thanBetul(2.71)

Thenetsownareais40.51percentandlessthanthestateaverageby7points.Itisonthelowsideforthestate.Thedoublecroppingareaisjust13.48andisbelowthestateaverageby5points.

Irrigation–Openwellsmakeup64.58percentoftotalirrigation,oneofthehighestratesinthestate,being25pointsabovethestateaverage.Boththesedistrictshaveopenwellsfortheirmajorsourceofirrigation at 65.50 (Betul) and 63.67 (Chhindwara). Tube wells come a distant second at 15.78cumulativelybut isthirdforBetul(10.87). InChhindwar(20.71)tubewellsareontheriseandcouldmovethedistrictintothesemi‐criticalzone.

At10.66percent,canalirrigationisthethirdmajorsourcecumulativelybutforBetul(12.50)itisthesecondmajorsource for irrigation.Theshare for tanks is1.25percentand isalmostnon‐existent inBetul(0.10)andonparwiththestateaverageinChhindwara(2.41).

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Soilandrainfall–Betul(925.8)hasbetterrainfallthanChhindwara(667.8).ThenumberofrainydaysinBetul is46and inChhindwaraare41.Copperand ironcontent isadequatetohighwhilethezinccontentisadequatetomarginal.

Chhindwara and Betul districts are predominant for their agro‐ecological diversity and ecotourismpotential.Theyareclose to the largemetropolisofNagpur.Thearea is tribaldominatedwithKorkuand Gond tribes. These are forest gatherers and dry land farmers. The major crops are millet andwheat.Thereare twocommunities in thearea, the tribalpoppulations live in forestvillagesand theothermainstreamcommunities live intherevenuevillagesand inthetowns.There ishighdegreeofexploitationofthetribalaswellasothercommunities,butmoresoofthetribalcommunities.Limitedcultivablelandnon‐traditionalforestproductsaretheresultoftheundulatingtopography,whichhasconstrainedprogress.

Knownforthedenseforests,highreturnsarepromisedunderdiversifiedfarmingpractices.Thezonecould develop into a ‘business hub’ for fruit processing particularly oranges and grafted mangoes,aromatics,scentedriceandfish.Chhindwarainparticular,withitsstrongpoliticalpatronage,canleadtowards multi‐sectoral activities with intensive cultivation and processing of cash crops, fruits,vegetablesandNTFPs.

Thereisabout30percentlandlessnessandmarginalfarmersareanother40percent.About40percentoftheareaisundercashcrops,mainlysoyabean.Waterusehasbeenmoderateandtechnologylow.The priority areas for interventions are: water harvesting and water management; InstitutionalInfrastructureformicro‐creditandmandis;knowledgetransfer/extensionservices.

MAHAKAUSHALMAIKALHILLZONE

Zone16:MahakaushalMaikalHillZone–Forest,waterrich,subsistence(millet)tribalzone

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographiccomposition–theregionispartofMahakaushalregionandisalsoknownasMaikalHillZone.Mandla,Dindori,SeoniandBalaghatdistrictsaregatheredunderthisregion.Theaveragefamilysizeisbelow5at4.80,whichislowerthanthefiveandsixinotherzones.ExceptforSeoni,whichhasamarginalhighof5.03averagefamilysize,therestofthedistrictshavefamilysizesofbetween4.63to4.83.

Thisisatribaldominatedzonewith45.07ofSTpopulation,exceptforBalaghat,whichhasclosetothestateaverageSTpopulationof21.80percent,therestofthedistrictshaveveryhighpercentageofSTpopulation.MorethanhalfthepopulationistribalinDindori(64.48)andMandla(57.23),whileSeonihas 36.78percent STpopulation. The cumulative SCpercentage is below ten at 7.13percent 10.34percentinSeoni,followedby7.75inBalaghatandalowof4.62inMandlaand5.83inDindori.

Together, SC and ST populations exceed 50 percent cumulatively. It is 70 percent in Dindori,62percentinMandla,47percentinSeoniand32percentinBalaghat.WithsuchahighcombinedSTandSCcombined,thefamilysizeoflessthan5isencouraging.

Development–Exactly50percentofthepopulationwork,which isveryhighcomparedtothestateaverageof42.42.Asmuchas56.98percentofthetotalpopulationinDindoriwork.Thisindicatesthatchildrenandtheelderly,anddifferentlyabledpeople,areworking.Thepercentageisabove50inthe

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other twodistricts and just below50 in the third, indicating thatmost children and theelderly areworkinginthezone.

Cultivatorsamountto38.34percent,againstthestateaverageof34.33,withonly29.61inBalaghatand54.51percent inDindori.Landless labourersamountto18.25percentandarealmostuniformlyspreadacrossallthedistricts,thefigureisabovethestateaverageof14.53.

Urbanization is very low at 9.67 percent, except for Dindori (4.64), which is the lowest, the otherdistrictshavealmostuniformpercentagesfortheurbanpopulation.

TheHDI is0.48, inanarrowbandof0.45and0.52,which indicatesuniformdevelopmentwithveryfewmarginalizedgroupswithinthedistricts.Thegenderdevelopmentratioisahealthy0.64percent,whichisalmostuniforminallthedistricts.

As47.38percentofthepopulationlivesbelowthepovertyline,thisisoneofthemosteconomicallybackwardzones inthestate.AttheupperendofthespectrumisDindoriandMandlawith identical53.7percentofthepopulationlivingbelowthepovertyline,inBalaghat45.3percnetandSeoniatthelowerendwith36.8percentofthepopulationarelivingbelowthepovertyline.

Literacy–Literacyisashadeabove50percent,cumulativelythezonalis51.93percent.Therearenowide variations in this zone. Balaghat has a 58.12 percent literacy rate followed by Seoni 54.54,Mandla (49.99)andDindori (45.07)below50.Thetrendat thestate level ismaintainedand femaleliteracy is 22 points lower than for the male literacy. At 40.85 percent, female literacy requiresimprovements.

Gender–This tribal dominated zone is a better example of gender equity than some of themoreurbanized counterparts. In the general category, the sex ratio is almost 1000 and at 997.68 is80pointsabovethestateaverage.Allthedistricts’performanceonthisscaleisnotable,withBalaghatat1022.2followedbyMandla(996.3),Dindori(990.7)andSeoni(981.5).

PerhapsthisistheonlydistrictinthewholeofMPtohaveanSCsexratiothatisabovethegeneralsexratio.At1038itisoneofthebestnotonlyinthezoneandthestate,but,perhaps,inthecountry.ThecumulativesexratioforSC is972.16and is67pointsabovethestateaverage.Apart fromBalaghat,thesexratio fortheSCpopulation intherestof thedistricts isnotbad,butthere isadifferenceofmore than 94 points between the highest and the lowest (Dindori/944) and theother two are justabovethe950mark.Thisisphenomenalandneedstobeunderstoodandstudied.

Thecumulative sex ratio in theSTcategory isextraordinary,andat1026.37 is50pointsabove thestateaverage.Again,Balaghatleadswith1050followedbyMandla(1028),Seoni(1016)andDindori(1011).AllthedistrictsinthiszonehavesexratioinSTcategorythatisabove1000.

Earlymarriages are37.25percent, as comparedwith their counterparts in themoreurbanizedandbetter‐developeddistricts,whichis25to30pointslowerthanthem.Thisisalsoagoodindicatorandisuniforminallthedistricts.

Genderequityismostvisibleinallaspectsinthetribaldominatedzone,whichisoneofthebestzonesinallMadhyaPradesh.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–About66.89percentoftheareaisunderkharifcultivationandis11points higher than the state average of 55.85. The kharif cultivation area is uniformly above 60percent,but ishigher inBalghat(78.38)followedbyMandla(67.72).BothDindori (61.25)andSeoni(60.24)havemorethanthestateaverageareaforkharifseason.

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ThereisadownwardtrendforrabiinthisregionandBalaghathastheleastareainrabi.Incidentally,Balagharhasoneofthebetterirrigationfacilitiesinthestateatabout40percentofthetotalareabutitslowfigureforrabidoesnotcorrespondtotheirrigationpoterntial.

In other districts, the rabi area is in the 30s with Seoni at 39.76 (the highest) followed by Dindori(38.75)andMandlaat32.28percent.Thelatereliefandmoistureretentioncouldbefactorscausingrabi to be so high in DIndori andMandla, which has less than 10 percent of the total area underirrigationandDindorihasthelowestirrigationfromanysource.

Pulses–Theareaunderpulsesinkharifis4.11andishalfthestateaverageandisuniformacrossallthe districts. The pulses in rabi increases to 39.04 percent, almost on par with the state average,except forDindori (33.68),which hasmarginally low rabi in the zone, the rest of the districts haveuniformcoverage.

Thoughthereislessareaunderpulsesinkharif(halfthestateaverage),theshareintotalproductionis almost equal to the state average of 2.18 (from 8.49). The return from kharif (pulses) is 0.52percent,whichismorethandoublethestateaverage.Thereisuniformitythroughoutallthedistricts(between0.44, 0.45 and0.54percent) except forMandla,whichhas a high returnof 0.70 (against0.25atthestatelevel).

Theareaunderpulsesinrabiincreasesmanyfold,butthereturnislow.Asagainstthestateaverageof0.33forrabi,theaverageforthezoneis0.19,whichswingsfromalowof0.12inBalaghatto0.27inSeoni.

It seems thatpulsesproduction ismore suited tokharif in the tribaland forest coveredhillsof thisregion.

Cereals–The area under cereals in kharif is more than two‐thirds at 78.03 percent. Two districts:Balaghat (94.93) andMandla (90.34) havemore than 90 percent of the area in kharif dedicated tocereals.Thisisstaggering,andisonlylowinSeoniwith52.79percent,whichisalso20pointshigherthanthestateaverage.

ThecerealsareainrabiislowandexceptforSeoni,whichhasalmostidenitical(54.33)areacoverageinkharif and rabi, the restof thedistrictshave from23.99 (Balaghat), to32.03 (Mandla)and38.49(Dindori)area,whichislowerthanthestateaveragebyeightpoints.

The kharif returns for cereals are better than the state average in all the districts with Balaghattoppingthereturnswith0.88percentfollowedbyDindori(0.75),Mandla(0.66)andSeoni(0.63).Therabi returns though are very poor and are 0.38 about 30 points lower than the state average. InBalaghatthereturnsarelessat0.13,ahuge55pointslowerthanthestateaverage.

From both the pulses and cereals returns in both the seasons, it seems that the kharif has anadvantageover the rabi crops,which couldbe attributed to theuncertainityof the irrigation alongwithinadequaciesinsoilandcropmanagement.

Land‐usepattern–Thecumulativeforestcovercouldbetermedthebest inthestate40.15percentagainststateaverageof28.28.ItisveryhighinMandla(61.44)followedbyBalaghat(54.62)andSeoni(37.49).TheonlyblackspotisDindori,whichhasjust7.06percentoftheforestcoverandishometooneoftheprimitivetribesinthestate.

There is only 2.79percent pastures and grazing,which is lower than the state averageof 4.38 andcouldbetermedinadequate.Thisshowsthatthecommunitiesmayconsideranimalhusbandrytobealowpriority.Thenetsownareais37.74percent,whichisrelativelylowcomparedtothestateaverageof 47.91 percent. But it is as high as 56.74 percent in Dindori,which is quite high, considering the

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percentageofthetribalpopulation.It isonthegreysideoftheland‐usepattern,whichexplainsthelowforestcoverinthedistrictat7.06percent.

Thedouble‐croppedareaisbelowthestateaverageof17.49percentat11.95,thisislowinBalaghat(7.37)andMandla(6.7)andaboveteninDindori(19.81)andSeoni(13.94).

Irrigation–63percentoftotalirrigationisbycanalwithalldistrictsaveragingabove50percent.Thehighest is inMandla at 77.34 followed by Dindori (66.47), Balaghat (60.79) and Seoni (50.70). Theshareofcanalintotalirrigationisveryhighinthiszoneamost45pointshigherthanthestateaverage.This indicates that irrigation itself isanewconcept in the tribal landandcouldbegauged fromthesecondmajorsource,i.e.openwellsatjust16percent.ThecontributionofopenwellstoirrigationinthetribaldistrictsofBalaghat (13.79),Dindori (9.57)andMandla(13.77) indicatethat irrigationwaslessofapriority for thetribaldistricts.Forexample,Dindorihas just3percentof itsnetsownareaunder irrigation,Outofthis,66percent is fromcanalsand just9.57percentfromopenwells.Tanksandtubewellsarezero. Itdoessuggest thatbefore theadventofcanal irrigation, thecommunitieshadnottriedirrigation.Thecommunitiesareopentochangebutneedcatalystagents.

Tanks are the third major source for irrigation, but the cumulative figures in the zone could bemisleading.Thoughthezonehas7percentirrigationfromtanks,this iszeroand0.21inDindoriandMandla respectively,and isashighas21.12percent inBalaghatand6.97 inSeoni.The influenceofChhattisgarhcanbeeasilyseeninBalaghataswellasdevelopmentoftanksinSeoni.

Soilandrainfall–Rainfall isgoodat1110.15mmand54rainydays.It isuniformlygoodinBalaghat(1027),Dindori(1292)andMandla(1235)and,below900inSeoni(884).

ThisispredominantlyatribalzonewiththemaintribesbeingGondsandBaigas.Theareahasoneofthe lowest levelsof irrigation in thestate.About3percentof thearea isunder irrigation (inDindoriwiththeexceptionofBalaghat).Thelandlessnessareabout10percentofthepopulation,andtherestoftheholdingsaresubsistencefarmers.Thecashcropisrice,mostlyconcentratedinBalaghatdistrict.Themajorcropsareminormillets(kodo,kutki,etc.).Waterusehasbeenminimumandtheextensionservicesnon‐existent.

Mandla and Dindori are resource‐rich districts of poor inhabitants have the glory of the past GondKingdom,exceptionallyrichbiodiversityandprimitivetribeshavevastscopeforecotourism.

Balaghathasexceptionallyrichbiodiversity,withforestcoverspreadoverhalfofthedistrict.Thereisalarge, untapped irrigation potential, which has not seen much progress because of limitation ofcultivablelandsandundulatingtopography.Balaghatisknownforproducingfamousvarietiesofricecultivatedbothusingtraditionalaswellasmoderntechniques.

Thesedistrictsneedtodepartfromthetraditionaldevelopmentapproach,fromsubsistencefarmingtoa more diversified approach that integrates fishery, poultry, sericulture, horticulture. In addition,brandsoftraditionalorganicminormillets,pulses,oilseedscouldbepromotedaswellasscentedricebasedonapublicprivatecommunitypartnership

SeoniisadistrictthatisdrainedbytheWaingangaandPenchwatersheds.ItisfamousfortheMogliofthe past and today the Pench National Park has the advantage of being located on the NationalCorridor (GoldenQuadrangle). The district could develop into amarket hub for farm fresh products(fish,egg,vegetables,fruits)andorganicfarmproducebyestablishinginter‐statelinkages.

The priority areas could be: institutional framework for knowledge transfer, extension services andmicro‐credit; creation of water bodies with community water management and water users

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association capacity building; aquaculture as an alternative source of occupation; strongmarketingsupportfordiversifiedfarmingactivities.

CENTRALNARBADASUBZONE

Zone14:CentralNarbadaSubZone‐IrrigatedIntensiveagricultureproduction(horticulture)

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–The district of Hoshangabad, now Harda and Hoshangabad, form thissubzone. The average family size is above the state average of 5.52, which indicates traditional,mainstream and upper‐caste dominance. At 5.66 Harda is above the state average, whileHoshangabadat5.41isabitlower.

The districts are in the Narmada basin and have 15.91 percent SC population. Both districts havealmostuniformSCcompositionat16.06(Harda)and15.75(Hoshangabad).TheSTpopulationisalsoonparwiththestateaverageof20.88percent.Thereis11pointsdifferencebetweenthetwodistrictswith Harda at 26.63 and Hoshangabad at 15.13 percent. Cumulatively, SC and ST population formabout 36 percent of the population, which is about 42 percent in Harda and 30 percent inHoshangbad.

Development–About40.32percentofthepopulationisengagedinwork.Thisislessthanthestateaverage. Female participation is very low at 28.48 (lower than the state average of 32.67). Femaleparticipationisquitegoodat36.43inHardaandverylowinHoshangabad(20.53).

Thereare just28.02percent cultivators,which isquite low (buta good indicator thatpopulation isengagedinotheremploymentthancultivation).Itisabout30.85inHardaand25.20inHoshangabad.Thelandlesslabourersare20.89percentandhigherthanthestateaverageof14.53.

UrbanizationisquitevisibleinthesetwodistrictsbutmoresoinHoshangabadwith30.95percentofthepopulationbeingurban.At26.14,cumulatively, theurbanpopulation isquite largewithoutanymajorcities(withsmalltowns)inthedistricts.

TheHDIisoneofthebestinthestateat0.55andissameforboththedistricts.At0.57,thegenderdevelopmentindexisalsosatisfactory.

Almost40percentofthepopulationislivingbelowthepovertyline.Thiscouldbeattributedmoretourbanization thanother factors.Bothdistrictshaveabout39percentof thepopulation livingbelowthepovertyline.

Child marriages are considerably lower than other high incidence districts. At 48.30 percent, thisindicatesthatalmosthalfofgirlsareluredawayfromschoolingandmarriedbeforeattainingthelegalageof18.

Literacy–Bothdistrictshavefairlyhighliteracyat56.48cumulatively,whichmaybetermedasoneofthebestinthestate.HoshangabadhasaslightlyedgeoverHardaandismarginally,fourpoints,overitsneighbourat58.64percent.

Femaleliteracyis19pointslowerthanformaleliteracybutat46.20isbetterthanthestateaverage.In Hoshangabad there is 48.29 female literacy while Harda has 44.11 percent literacy rates. Here

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female literacy is 19 points lower than for themale literacy and is somewhat lower than the stateaverage.

Gender–Thesexratiois(907.64)belowthestateaverageof918.At919,Hardaisbarelyabovetheaverage. In Hoshangabad the sex ratio of 896.3 is critical, indicating the dominance of traditionaluppercastedominance.

Thesexratio intheSCcategoryisstill lowat899.12(belowthestateaverageof905).BothdistrictshavelowersexratiointheSCcategoryandinHardaitislowerthanthegeneralpopulationsexratiowhileinHoshangabaditisequaltothegeneralpopulationsexratio.

The 20 plus ST sex ratio ismarginally above the average alongwith the SC sex ratio at 937, but isalmost40pointsbelowthestateaverageof976.

Withhalf thegirlsmarriedbeforethe legalage, thisagriculturallyandeconomicallydevelopedzonepresentsanexampleofretrotrendsingenderequity.

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–At50.33percent,thezonehashalftheareainkharifandtheotherhalfinrabi.Thisindicatesgoodirrigationfacilitiesinthezone.Hoshangabadismarginallybetteroffforirrigationwith54percentoftherabiarea,whileHardahasjust45.38percentoftherabiarea,whichis,nevertheless,betterthanthestateaverage.

Inrabitheaverageareaundercultivationisfarlessandis20pointslowerthanthestateaverage.

Pulses–Ofthe50percentofkharifareaonly2.57isdedicatedtopulseswithaslittleas0.93percentinHardaand4.22inHoshangabad,whichiswellbelowthestateaverageof8.49percent.Withaboutthesameareaunderrabi,thepulsesshareisjust22.20,withHoshangabadhaving24.85percentandHardahaving19.54percentoftheareadedicatedtopulses.

The return forkharif isonparwith thestateaverage forpulsesandat0.28percent it ismarginallyaheadofthestateaverage.Forrabitheshareofproductionforpulsesandreturnsis8pointsabovethestateaveragewithbetterreturnsinHarda(0.44)thaninHoshangabad(0.40).

Cereals–Theareaundercereal inkharif isvery lowinHardaat1.51percent.Cumulativelytheareapercentage is6.26percent,withamarginal increase inHoshangabadat11.02.As50percentof thekahrifareaand just9percentcombinedofpulsesandcereals, there isapossibleneedformappingbecausecashcropsotherthanpulsesandcerealscouldbethemajorcrops.

Inrabithecerealsdedicatedareaisquitelargeat77.02,withanother23percentforpulses,therabiseasonisexclusivelyacombinationofcereals(majorstakeholder)andpulses(minoritystakeholder).Hardahas80.25percentareaundercereals,whileHoshangabadhas73.79percentundercerealsforrabi.

Thereturnsare lessforkharifat0.34(statereturnsat0.50);Hoshangabadat0.33 is lower inHarda(0.41) thoughmarginally. In rabi thereturns increaseby9pointsover thestateaverageand is0.77percent.Hoshangabadismarginallybetterplacedforresultsat0.86overHardaat0.70.

In kharif, the total area is dedicated to other crops rather than cereals and pulses. Vegetables andsoybeancouldbetwocropsthatarecultivated inkharifascashcrops. Inrabi, theshift is toa totalcombinationofcerealsandpulses(99percentcombined)withlessthan1percentforothercrops.

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Land‐use pattern–Cumulative forest cover is on par with the state average and is 28.01 percent.Hoshangabadhasbetterforestcover31.7,whileHardahasrelativelylowforestcoverat24.33percentofthetotalarea.Thisisoneofthebetterzonesforforestcover.

Pasturesarerelatively lowat3.6(stateaverage,4.38).Hardahas3.06,whileHoshangabadhas4.15andpasturesareonthelowside.

Thenetsownareaismorethanthestateaverage,andis48.75cumulativley.Hoshangabadhas54.63percentsownarea,whileHardahas42.88percent.Thenetsownareaisrelativelyhigh,signifyinglowreturnsforyield.

Irrigation–Both districts have very high irrigation, as more than 40 percent of the area is underirrigation,andcanalsarethemajorsourceof irrigationat56.03percent.Bothdistricthavetheirfairshareofcanalirrigation:Harda(57.09)marginallyaheadofHoshangabad(54.98).Thesetwodistrictshaveoneofthebestcanalirrigationsystemsinthewholestate.Thestateaverageforcanalirrigationis18.12.

Openwellsarethesecondmajorsourceofirrigationat22.25.BothdistrictsareidenticalfortheiruseofopenwellsasforcanalsandHarda(23.64) ismarginallyaheadofHoshangabad(20.86).Thethirdsource of irrigation is tube wells and at 13.27 is lower than the state average of 25.51 percent.Hoshangabadisaheadwith18.65percentofirrigationfromtubewells,whileHardahas7.90percentfromtubewells.TheneedfortubewellsisverylowbuttheincreaseinuseoftubewellsisgrowinginHoshangabad.

Tanks are almost non‐existent in both districts. Cumulatvely, this source is having 0.22 percent ofshare;Hoshangabadhas0.34percentwhileHardaishaving0.11percentfromtanks.

Soil and rainfall–With 936mm rainfall, the zone has good relief. There is variation though withHardahavinggoodreliefat1045mm,whileHoshangabadis826mm.Therearebetween44and41rainydays.Copperfertilityisgood,whilezincsupplementsareadequate.Ironislowinbothdistricts.

This is a champion district for agriculture production in theMahakaushal region. The region shouldmake a mark in the national agriculture scenario through selective crop development along withintensive promotion of micro and minor irrigation for the development of horticulture (fruits andvegetables),poultry,fisheryandsericulturebasedfarmingsystemsusingamarket‐ledapproach.Theareaisarichagriculturezoneforwheatandpigeonpea.Thezonehasoneofthebestmandisinthestate, andproduce ismarketedoutside the state.Most large firms (FastMovingConsumerGoods ‐FMCG)havewarehousesnearthemandis.

IntheNarmadariverbasin,which isoneofthehighest irrigationzones inthestat, irrigation is fromcanal and canal‐based groundwater recharge. There are about 10 percent landless in the area andabout40percentarefsubsistencefarmers.Subsistencefarmersarebetteroffinthisregionbecauseoftheavailabilityofandaccesstocanalirrigation.

Thepriorityfocusintheareacouldbeinstitutionbuilding:creationofwateruserassociations/buildingthe capacities of the water user associations, knowledge transfer (extension services) throughinstitutionalsetupandtechnologicaladaptationsforefficientuseofwater.

The second priority is for technology inputs, policy andmechanismappropriateness and communityknowledgetransferforwaterlogginganddrainageissues.

Thethirdpriorityistheareaofscarcityamidstplenty.Therearepocketsofaffluence(wateravailabilityanduse)andpocketsofdryland farming.Theseblocksareconnected to tribaldominatedareasand

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negligence.There isaneedforan integrated intervention inthesepocketsofnegligencefocusingonresourcebuilding,institutionalinfrastructureformicro‐creditandknowledgemanagement.

UPPERNARBADASUBZONE

Zone17:UpperNarbadaSubZone–Mixedcommercialtribalfarmers,industrialactivities

GENERALINDICATORS

Demographic composition–Jabalpur, Katni andNarsingpur cover the region of theUpperNarbadacatchment. The average family size is just above 5 at 5.04 and, with minor variations, is almostuniformforthethreedistricts.Katnihasthelowestat4.92,Jabalpur4.98andNarsignpurmarginallyhigherat5.23.Alldistrictshavelessthanthestateaveragefamilysize.

ThezonehasrelativelylowSCpopulationandat13.45,itismarginallylowerthanthestateaverageof15.19. Katni has the lowest with 11.48 followed by Jabalpur at 12.73 while Narsingpur has16.14percentoftheSCpopulation.TheSTpopulationshareismorethantheSCsharebutat17.08itis still lower than the state average by three points. Katni has the highest ST population of23.07percentfollowedby15.01percentforJabalpurand13.17percentforNarsignpur.

Together,SCandSTformmorethan30percentcumulativelyforallthedistricts.

Development–At40.33,thepercentageofpopulationengagedinworkislessthanthestateaverage.Jabalpurhasthelowestworkingpopulationat37.17percentand,understandablyasithasoneofthestate’s largesturbancitycentres inJabalpur.With57.51percentoftheurbanpopulation,Jabalpur’sworking population is quite naturally placed at 37.17 percent, as there would a higher number ofchildreninschoolthanworking.

At 40.33 the percentage of population working is not proportional to the urban population and isbarelybelowthestateaverage.Jabalpurisbetterplacedat37.17,withoneofthebestpercentagesofworkers to the total population. Female participation ratio is 27.70, which is indicative of genderdiscrimination.At12.67, Jabalpurhasoneof the lowestnumbersof cultivatorsperhundredpeopleand cumulatively, thepercentageof cultivators is 22.15. This is lower by 12percent than the stateaverage. Thepercentageof agricultural landless labourers is very low in Jabalpur andKatni (almostidenticalat13),whileinNarsingpurisalmostdoublethestateaverageof14.53.InJabalpurandKatni,it is understood that there are fewer agriculture labourers with urbanization and industrializationbeingbetterinthesetwodistricts,whileNarsinghpuristotallyanagriculture‐basedeconomy.

The percentage of urban population is almost one‐third of the total population but it is as low as15.99percentinNarsingpurandslightlybetterat21.15inKatni,whileinJabalpurmorethanhalfthepopulationisurban(57.51).Thezone’sHDIis0.55andisquitegoodinNarsinghpurat0.60.TheGDIis0.61andisoneofthebestinthestate.

Thepoverty rate, however, is not as goodandnot in syncwith thedevelopment indices.At 35.73,almost one‐third of the population lives below the poverty line. In Jabalpur and Katni, the belowpovertyline(BPL)percentageismuchhigherat42.2percenteachwhileinNarsinghpuritisrelativelybetterat22.8.Urbanizationandindustrializationhascontributedtotheincreasednumberofpeoplelivingbelowpovertyline.

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Earlymarriagesarecommonacrossallthedistrictsasforthestate,43.97percentofgirlsaremarriedbeforethelegalageof18.

Literacy–The rate is quite good, above the state average by 8 percentage points. At 65.24,Narsinghpurhasoneofthebest literacyratesinthestate,whileJabalpurisnotfarbehindat64.90.TheliteracyrateinKatniisonparwiththestateaverage.

Thefemaleliteracyfollowsthesamepatternsaselsewhere.At57.42and56.37percentrespectivelyforNarsinghpur and Jabalpur, female literacy is comparatively quite good.At 39.54, Katni is a darkspotforfemaleliteracybutfollowstheoverallpattern.

Gender–Thesexratioisashadebetterthanthestateaverageof918andat919.30cannotbetermedgood. In fact two of the districts Jabalpur and Narsinghpur have 908 and 909, while Katni has arelativelybettersexratioat940.ThepatternisfollowedintheSCcategorywithanoverallbetterratioof927.Narsinghpursexratioispoor(908andlessthangeneralpopulation);itisgoodforKatni(954betterthanthegeneralpopulationandareverseinthegeneraltrend)and,at921,Jabalpurcannotbetermedasgoodorbadbut,relativetothegeneralpopulationthereisanincreaseof13pointsabove,which isagaina signof reversalof thegeneral trend foundelsewhere.TheST sex ratio is relativelybetterplacedat964.88butislowerthanthestateaverageof976.KatnihasafairlygoodSTsexratioat981andtheJabalpurwith958andNarsinghpurwith955,havealmostsimilarSTsexratios.

Withhalfofgirlsmarriedbelowthelegalageinallthedistrictsthereisgenerallyaverylowsexratio,aswell as SC category in twoof thedistricts, it canbeassumed thatgenderdiscrimination ismorepronouncedinJabalpurandNarsighpurandislesssevereinKatni(orcouldbebetter).

AGRICULTURALINDICATORS

Croppingareaandproduction–Thekharifseasoncultivation is40.98andtherabi is59.02percent.Therearevariationsinthecultivationpatternsandat51.11percent,KatnihashalfthecultivationinKharifwhile,theothertwohavejustone‐thirdoftheirareasunderkharifcultivation.

Pulses–Theareaunderpulsesinkharifishigherthanthestateaverage(8.49).Itisashighas28.75inJabalpurand26.95inNarsinghpur,whileitisverylow(6.13)inKatni.Inrabitheareaunderpulsesismorethanthestateaverageby12points(almostthesameaskharif).Pulsescover65.23percentoftherabiareainNarsinghpurand59.78percentinJabalpur.At41.28aconsiderableareaiscultivatedinKatni in rabi forpulses.On thewhole,both rabi andkharif together,pulses comprisemore thanone‐thirdofthearea,whichthisisquitehigh.

TheaveragereturnonpulsesinkharifisonparwiththestateaverageexceptforJabalpur(0.20)itisnotbadinothertwodistricts.Inrabi,thereturnsareslightlybetterthanthestateaverage,exceptforJabalpur,whereitmorethandoublefromkharif,rabipulsesreturnsareaverageorbelowaverage.

Cereals–Theareaundercerealsinkharif isveryhighinKatni(91.16)andisverylowinNarsinghpur(10.79),whileinJabalpuritis62.75;cumulativelyitis54.93percent,morethanthestateaverageof32.67.Thetrendreverses inrabiandonly52percentofthearea inrabi isundercereals inKatni, inJabalpuritisjust36.96,andinNarsinghpuritis25.95.

Cumulatively, only Katni has about 70percent of the areaunder cerealswhile Jabalpur has 48 andNarsinghpurhas18percent.Thisindicatesthatthezone(orsomepartofit)ismoreinclinedtopulsesthancereals.

Inkharifthereturnisashadebelowthestateaveragecumulatively,andisgoodforKatniat0.54butpoor in Jabalpur (0.27)andNarsinghpur (0.23). In rabi, thoughthe returnoncerealshas jumpedby

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doubleto0.91(37pointshigherthanthestateaverage)andinJabalpuritis1.15andNarsinghpuritis1.16,twoofthehighestreturnsinthestate.At0.62,Katniisonparwiththestateaverage.

As the returns fromcereals in rabi isquitegood, it isnotknownwhypulsesoccupy themajorcroppositioninthetwodistrictsofJabalpurandNarsinghpurinrabi.

Land‐use pattern–At 19.9 percent, the forest cover is average and below the state average. It isalmost on parwith the state average inNarsinghpur (26.58)while it is low in Jabalpur (13.63) andKatni (19.49).Grazinglandandpasturesareon the lowside.At1.29 inKatni, it isoneof the lowestpercentages,while in Jabalpur (5.08)andNarsinghpur (4.62) it isonparwith thestateaverage,butcannotbetermedgood.

Thenetsownareaisveryhighat59.82percent,12pointsabovethestateaverageandindicateslinearcultivationpatternandoccupations.At67.14,Jabalpurhasoneofthehighestnetsownareas,whiletheothertwoarenotfarbehindat59.13(Narsinghpur)and53.21(Katni).ThedoublecroppingareainJabalpurisveryhighat51.79percent,whileitisverylowinKatni(10.35)andNarsinghpur(16.49).

Irrigation–AlthoughamajordamliesontheriverNarmadainthiszone,canalirrigationisalow8.20(against18.12atstate level)and isas lowas0.63percnet inNarsinghpur,nearthestateaverage inJabalpur (7.24)anddouble thestateaverage inKatni (16.76).Themajorsourceof irrigation is fromopen wells at 38.73 cumulatively, but occupies primary position in Narsinghpur (52.88) and Katni(37.90),while in Jabalpur (25.43) it issecondbehindtubewells (55.09).At33.63percenttubewellsare the second major irrigation source, but occupies first position in Jabalpur (55.09), second inNarsinghpur (42.53)andthird inKatni (3.28),afteropenwellsandcanal irrigation.Tank irrigation is0.42,belowthestateaverage.ItisalmostnilinNarsinghpur(0.00)andJabalpur(0.08).

Soil and rainfall–Rainfall is quite good at 1204.6with 46 rainy days. All three district have above1000mmofrainfallwithNarsinghpurat1400andJabalpurat1200mmandKatniat1000plusmm.Copperandironcontentisveryhighandzincverylow.

Thisisamixedpopulationzonewithtribal,mainstreamcommunitiesandindustrialactivities.Theareahastwomainmajorcropsriceandwheatwithminormillets.Theareaisrich insoilandproductivityalongtheNarmadabasin.Landholdingsaresomewhatlargewithonly20percentsubsistencefarmersandaboutthesameshareoflandlesslabourers.

Jabalpur, the gateway to and the epi‐centre of Mahakaushal region’s backward districts is wellconnected by rail, road and air to the larger Indian urban markets, whereas, Katni district is aconglomerationofthreeculturalzonesinthestate:Mahakaushal,BundelkhandandBaghelkhand.Itisrichinmineralresources.AsaresultofitsstrategiclocationithasemergedasamainrailjunctionofCentral India serving the backward rural hinterland of the vast region. It has great developmentpotentialasthecentreofnichefor‘eco‐agroproduce’(ecologicallysustainablefarmingproduce)andahubforfruitsandvegetables,withitsstronglinkstothehinterlandsofKymore,MaikalandMahadeoHillsregion.Jabalpur,incomparison,canemergeasachampionofprocessing,packagingandtradingoffarmfreshproduceforthewholeregionofBundelkhandandBaghelkhand.

Narsinghpurdistrict,situatednorthofNarbada,isknownfortheholykachharsofNarbadariver,offersa salutary environment to its people for experimentation and innovation. In the past it inspired theinternationally renowned sagas (Acharya Rajnish, Maharishi Mahesh and the ShankracharyaSavrupanand. Recently, the National Innovation Foundation recognized four innovators from thisdistrict.Thedistrictalsoofferstraditionalwisdomofitsprogressivefarmerstoinnovateinagriculture.Itcanbeamodelofmicro‐irrigation,andseedproductionandcertificationintheCentralIndiaRegion.

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The priority areas in the region are:micro‐irrigation; aquaculture in rice fields; drainage in floodedareas.

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ANNEX1–NIVELIHOODZONESATTRIBUTETABLE–GENERALCHACTERISTICS

Farmerstypology PrioritiesforlivelihoodsLivelihoodzones

Povertylevel Landless Subsistence

Commercial(cashcrops)

Wateravailability/access

Technology Management1st 2nd 3rd

Vulnerabilitytodroughts

1 Low 10% 10% 80% High Moderate HighWatershedmanagement

Gwrecharge

Marketaccess

High

2 High 30% 70% 0% High Moderate LowWatershedmanagement

Ag.InputMicrocreditinst

High

3 Moderate 10% 30% 60% Low High HighWatermanagement

Marketregu

Proces High

4 Moderate 10% 30% 60% High Low LowWatershedmanagement

Gwrecharge

High

5 Moderate 20% 30% 60% Moderate Low LowWatermanagement

Fert‐chemiavail

Infrastroads

Moderate

6 Low 40% 20% 40% Moderate High HighWaterconseration

Gwrecharge

Regulations High

7 High 30% 50% 20% High Low LowIrrigatmanagement

Landrclam

Low

8 High 20% 60% 20% Low Low LowIrrigatmanagement

Watershmanag

High

9 Low 20% 30% 50% Moderate Low LowIrrigatmanagement

Agextension

Aginputs Low

10 Moderate 20% 50% 30% Moderate Low Low Accesstowater Irrstruct High

11 High 30% 60% 10% Low Low LowWatershed/tanksrenovation

Waterdistr

Processing(oilseeds).Pulses

High

2

12 High 30% 60% 10% Low Low LowConservationofwaterbodies

Agext Aginputs High

13 Moderate 10% 80% 10% Moderate‐High Low Low Watermanag Agext Aginputs Moderate

14 Moderate 10% 50% 40% Moderate‐High Low HighIrrigationmanagement

Agext Aginputs Moderate

15 High 30% 40% 30% Moderate Low LowWatermanagement

Microcredit

Extservices Moderate

16 High 20% 70% 10% High Low LowWatmanagement

Extserv Aginputs Moderate

17 Moderate 20% 20% 60% Moderate‐High High HighWatmanagement

Agext Moderate

ANNEX2–EIVELIHOODZONESATTRIBUTETABLE–BUTEPRIORITYSOLUTIONSAWMsolutions

Livelihoodzones1stpriority 2ndpriority 3rdpriority 4thpriority 5thpriority

1 GroundwaterrechargeMicro‐irrigation(horticulture)

2 Waterharvesting Watershedmanagement Agro‐pastoralism

3 GroundwaterrechargeOn‐farmwatermanagement

Capacitybuilding(wuas)

4 GroundwaterrechargeOn‐farmwatermanagement

Capacitybuilding(wuas)

Waterharvesting

5 Waterharvesting GroundwaterrechargeCapacitybuilding(wuas)

On‐farmwatermanagement

3

6 GroundwaterrechargeMicro‐irrigation(horticulture)

On‐farmwatermanagement

7On‐farmandcommunitywatermanagemnt

Watergovernance(conflicts)

Congentiveuseofwater

8 Waterharvesting Watershedmanagement Waterforlivestock

9On‐farmandcommunitywatermanagemnt

Watergovernance(conflicts)

Congentiveuseofwater

Energysaving Waterforlivestock

10 Groundwaterrecharge RehabilitationoftanksMicro‐irrigation(horticulture)

11 Watershedmanagement Rehabilitationoftanks Acquaculture

12 Watershedmanagement WaterforlivestockMicro‐irrigation(horticulture)

13 Groundwaterrecharge WaterharvestingMicro‐irrigation(horticulture)

Waterforlivestock

14On‐farmwatermanagement(drainage)

CongentiveuseCapacitybuilding(wuas)

15 WaterharvestingMicro‐irrigation(horticulture)

16 Waterharvesting Acquaculture Waterdiversion Relaycropping

17 Micro‐irrigation(horticulture) Acquaculture+rice Drainage