Madhya Pradesh : Livelihood Zones Analysis by Christina Dian Parmionova

Improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers

LIVELIHOOD ZONES ANALYSIS A tool for planning agricultural water management investments

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  THE CHAMBAL REGION ..................................................................................................................... 1  NORTHERN CHAMBAL ZONE ............................................................................................................. 2  ZONE 7: NORTHERN CHAMBAL RAVINES ZONE ‐ NRRIGATED MUSTARD PREDOMINANT .........................................2  CENTRAL DRY CHAMBAL ZONE ......................................................................................................... 5  ZONE 8 – GWALIOR ZONE – NRY DEGRADED MINING AND PASTORAL .................................................................5  SOUTHERN CHAMBAL ZONE ............................................................................................................. 8  ZONE 9: SOUTH CHAMBAL ZONE ‐ NROGRESSIVE FARMING, WHEAT‐SOYA ..........................................................8  THE MALWA REGION ...................................................................................................................... 10  WESTERN JHABUA HILLS ZONE........................................................................................................ 13  ZONE 2: WESTERN MALWA HILL ZONE – NHIL TRIBE PREDOMINANT ...............................................................13  THE CHITTOR MALWA ZONE ........................................................................................................... 15  ZONE 1: NORTH MALWA‐CHITTOR ZONE – IPIUM‐SILICA PRODUCTION .............................................................15  THE NIMAR ZONE ........................................................................................................................... 17  ZONE 3: NIMAR PLAINS ZONE – NOT DRY – COTTON, CHILLI, BANANA, SUGARCANE ...........................................17  MALWA SUBZONE .......................................................................................................................... 19  ZONE 4: MALWA PLATEAU PLAIN ZONE  – ARADITIONAL AGRICULTURE (SPICES PRODUCTION) ..............................19  MALWA EXTENSION ZONE .............................................................................................................. 22  ZONE 5: EASTERN MALWA EXTENSION ZONE – QUALITY WHEAT AND PIGEONPEA PRODUCTION ............................22  ZONE 6: INDUSTRIAL/URBAN SUBZONE OF MALWA (INDORE AND BHOPAL) ......................................................25  VINDHYA REGION ....................................................................................................................................27  THE BUNDEL‐KHAND REGION ......................................................................................................... 28  UPPER BUNDELKHAND ZONE .......................................................................................................... 29  ZONE 11: UPPER BUNDELKHAND ZONE – LOW SOCIO‐ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, LOW PRODUCTIVITY WASTELAND 29  LOWER BUNDELKHAND‐VINDHYA ZONE ......................................................................................... 31  ZONE 10: LOWER BUNDELKHAND ZONE – LOW SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, LOW PRODUCTIVITY WASTELAND .31  THE BAGHEL‐KHAND REGION.......................................................................................................... 33  EASTERN BAGHELKHAND ZONE ...................................................................................................... 34  ZONE 13: EASTERN BAGHELKHAND ZONE ‐ GOREST, GAME RESERVE AND ENERGY PRODUCTION ...........................34  WESTERN BAGHELKHAND ZONE ..................................................................................................... 37  ZONE 12: WESTERN BAGHELKHAND ZONE ‐ GOREST, GAME RESERVE AND ENERGY PRODUCTION ..........................37  THE MAHAKAUSHAL REGION .....................................................................................................................40  THE SATPURA HILLS MAHAKAUSHAL ZONE ..................................................................................... 42

ZONE 15: SATPURA HILLS MAHAKAUSHAL ZONE – NRIBAL FOREST GATHERERS AND DRY LAND FARMERS ...............42  MAHAKAUSHAL MAIKAL HILL ZONE ................................................................................................ 44  ZONE 16: MAHAKAUSHAL MAIKAL HILL ZONE – NOREST, WATER RICH, SUBSISTENCE (MILLET) TRIBAL ZONE ..........44  CENTRAL NARBADA SUB ZONE........................................................................................................ 48  ZONE 14: CENTRAL NARBADA SUB ZONE ‐ NRRIGATED INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION (HORTICULTURE) .....48  UPPER NARBADA SUB ZONE ........................................................................................................... 51  ZONE 17: UPPER NARBADA SUB ZONE – NIXED COMMERCIAL TRIBAL FARMERS, INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES ................51  ANNEX 1 – LIVELIHOOD ZONES ATTRIBUTE TABLE – GENERAL CHACTERISTICS .................................. 1  ANNEX 2 – LIVELIHOOD ZONES ATTRIBUTE TABLE – AWM PRIORITY SOLUTIONS .............................. 2    List of Tables  1 – Groundwater data in the Chambal region  2 – Groundwater data in the Malwa region  3 – Wastelands in Bundelkhand‐Region of MP  4 – Groundwater data in the Bundel‐Khand region  5 – Groundwater in Baghelkhand region  6 – Groundwater status in Mahakaushal region

2  12  28  28  34  41

Glossary  BPL

Below poverty line

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FMCG

Fast Moving Consumer Goods

HDI

Human development index

Kharif

Rainy season crops

Lahk

Unit in Asian system. One hundred thousand, usually written as 1,00000

Mandi

Agriculture produce market

Madhya Pradesh

NGO

Non‐governmental organization

NTFP

Non‐timber forest products

Patidars

Land owners

Rabi

Spring harvest in India and Pakistan

Scheduled class

Scheduled tribe

Uttar Pradesh

iii

INTRODUCTION  Historically,  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  five  regions.  There  are  about  52 143  villages,  23 044  panchayats  and  313  development  blocks  in  50  districts.  Regions  forming  MP  state  are  the  Chambal,  Malwa,  Bundelkhand,  Baghelkhand  and  Mahakaushal regions. Together the Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand regions are known as the Vindhya  region. So, in all there are five regions.

THE CHAMBAL REGION  The Chambal region is known for its beehads or ravines, which occur along the scores of rivulets and  rivers forming the tributaries of the Chambal river flowing in Yamuna.   This  region  has  eight  districts.  Datia  district  is  similar  to  Baghelkhand  and  not  the  Chambal  region,  which  is  well  known  for  its  dacoits,  its  mustard  crop.  Gwalior  is  the  largest  city  in  this  region,  with  Gwalior‐based industries, and a very low gender ratio.   In the last 10 years the recorded average annual rainfall was 800 mm.   About 21 percent of the population is scheduled castes (SC) whose settlements represent pockets of  poverty.  In  2002  it  was  reported  that,  during  the  drought,  people  from  the  Sahariya  tribe,  which  dominates villages in Pohri Block, in Shivpuri district, died from starvation.   The  northern  Madhya  Pradesh  Chambal  region  can  be  divided  into  three  parts  based  on  the  livelihoods  of  the  inhabitants  and  geo‐morphological  characteristics.  These  three  regions  are  the  famous ravine‐dominated region on the extreme north border of the state along the banks of the river  Chambal,  the  central  dry  zone  comprising  the  undulating  plains  of  Gwalior  region  and  the  irrigated  plains of the southern region. The characteristics of each region are outlined below:  Extreme Northern Border – Higher irrigated area, better education, mustard and gram as main crops.  Central Dry Zone – Livestock‐based livelihoods, promotional goatry and mining area/degraded land.  Southern Area – Double cropped well‐irrigated area, soya bean and wheat produced.

Critical  areas  identified  in  the  region  as  requiring  attention  include:  irrigation  water,  crops  and  cropping  intensity,  land  type,  water‐centre  issue,  efficiency  of  water  use,  lack  of  proper  water  distribution system, livestock and length of crop growing period, market infrastructure/institution and  value chains of farm product. See Table 1 for data on groundwater in the Chambal region.

Table 1 – Groundwater data in the Chambal region  S. No.

District

Status of Groundwater

Bhind

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

Guna

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.

Gwalior

All blocks in White Zone

Morena

All blocks in White Zone

Sheopur

All blocks in White Zone

Shivpuri

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

Datia

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

Source: MP‐Human Development Report Archive

The region states a positive for groundwater status with only one block each of Guna and Datia, and  two  blocks  of  Shivpuri  district  out  of  40  development  blocks  of  the  eight  districts  of  the  Chambal  region failing in the grey zone.

NORTHERN CHAMBAL ZONE  Zone 7: Northern Chambal Ravines Zone ‐ Irrigated mustard predominant  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic composition: The region comprises parts of the districts of Bhind, Morena and Sheopur  and is located in the extreme north border region of the state, bordering Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh  (UP).  The  average  family  size  is  more  than  6.37  and  more  than  6.60  in  the  districts  of  Bhind  and  Morena and less than 6 in Sheopur. The scheduled caste population varies between 16.16 (Sheopur)  to  21.48  (Bhind)  and  is  cumulatively  placed  at  19.57  and  above  the  state  average  of  15.19.  The  scheduled  tribe  population  though  is  below  8  percent,  but  varies  widely  within  the  zone.  In  Bhind  (0.47)  and  Morena  (0.81)  the  scheduled  tribe  (ST)  population  is  below  1  percent  while  in  Sheopur  (21.53)  it  is  considerable.  In  fact  in  Sheopur,  the  STs  along  with  the  SC  population  exceed  one‐third  (36 percent) of the total population and are considered highly vulnerable.   A common factor shared by all the districts is that they all have more than the state average share of  SC population. In the top two districts (Bhind and Morena) the absence of tribal communities make it  somewhat distinct from the bottom district of Sheopur.  Development – All three districts have uniform performance on the human development index (HDI).  All districts are above 0.51 points on a scale of 0 to 1. The landholding pattern suggest that there are  about 44.6 percent cultivators and 8.35 landless labourers (agriculture), which suggests there are less  than 10 percent landless in the area and the percentage of people engaged in agriculture is less than  55 percent. Translated into a crude economical indicator, it is a good sign that fewer households are  dependent on agriculture.

The level of poverty is reflected in below poverty level (BPL) numbers and the cumulative and district  figures  suggest  that  less  than  21  percent  are  in  the  poverty  indicators  top  bracket.  There  is  correspondence  between  all  these  numbers  and  percentages  suggesting  absolute  poverty  to  be  around 20 percent and is related to access to and management of resources.   Literacy – Cumulative  literacy  shows  that  49.21  percent  of  the  population  is  literate.  Across  the  districts  Sheopur  has  a  literate  population  of  37.09.  On  the  cumulative  score  of  48.74,  the  zone  is  behind  the  state  average  of  52.42  percent  literate.  Literacy  among  women  is  just  over  one‐third  of  total  women  or  35.32  percent.  It  is  far  below  the  state  average  of  41.33  percent  (which  in  itself  is  quite  low).  Bhind  district  is  better  off  than  the  rest  with  45.35  percent  of  the  female  population  literate. The concern is Sheopur with just 23.12 percent of literate women.   Gender – The zone has one of the lowest sex ratios in the state and the scene is uniform across the  zone. With a cumulative sex ratio of 849, the zonal ratio is 69 points below the state average of 918  (which in itself is of concern). Bhind (829) and Morena (822) have the lowest sex ratios in the state,  while Sheopur (894) is not far behind. Sex ratio in the SC is worse at 833 which is 7 points lower than  the general population and 62 points lower than the state average (905). Here too, as in the case of  the general population, the two districts with the lowest sex ratios are Bhind (812) and Morena (817)  and the third follows the pattern of the general population.   In the tribal population (905) the sex ratio is better than the general population or the dalit population  but is still 50 points lower than the state average for the tribal population. Here too, as in the case of  the general and dalit population, the lowest sex ratio is in Bhind (877) and Morena (894) and there are  better results in Sheopur (945).   With lower literacy and lower sex ratio in the zone, especially Bhind and Morena districts, the districts  are low on gender equity and should be of concern to planners. With more than 69 percent  of girls  marrying before the legal age of 18, there is great concern for gender equity.   The  trend  of  low  sex  ratio  and  low  literacy  and  high  early  marriages  (7  out  of  10  girls)  shows  that  gender discrimination is rampant and uniformly spread throughout the rural areas in all communities  in this zone.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – About 26.24 percent of the total area is under kharif cultivation. This  is 29 percent points lower than the state average. Within the zone, Sheopur (38.51) has the highest  kharif cultivable area and the lowest kharif area is in Bhind at 13.50 percent.  The  lower  area  for  kharif  is  compensated  by  the  higher  cultivable  area  for  rabi  at  73.76  percent  cumulatively. Bhind has a lower kharif area and one of the highest (86.50) rabi areas. In all the districts  the rabi cropped area is above the state average of 44.15 percent.   Pulses – The area under pulses in kharif is 3.01 (from a low of 2.22 in Sheopur to 4.46 in Morena) and  is lower than the state average of 8.49 percent of kharif area under pulses. The area under pulses in  rabi is also very low (16.73) compared to the state average of 43.35 and varies wildly (from a meager  3.99 in Morena to 10.37 in Bhind). The combined kharif and rabi area under pulses is highest in Bhind  and lower in both Morena and Sheopur (below a cumulative score of 10).   The  share  of  pulses  production  to  total  production  in  kharif  is  than  0.77  percent  and  is  as  low  as  0.09 percent  in  Bhind,  which  has  about  2.35  percent  of  the  area  under  pulses  in  kharif.  In  rabi  the  share of pulses for total production is 5.59 (12.54 percent area under pulses in rabi) and is well below  the  state  average  of  14.61  percent.  In  this  zone,  Bhind  has  a  better  share  of  pulses  in  the  total

production at 2.28 and 11.31 (total 13.59), while Morena and Sheopur has the lowest share of pulses  for total production.   Cereals – The area under cereals in kharif is about 68.28 percent and is 36 percent points above the  state  average.  The  area  under  cereals  is  highest  (90.51)  in  Morena  for  kharif  (which  has  the  lowest  area and production of pulses) and the lowest in Sheopur (which has the highest area and production  for  pulses)  at  43.35  percent.  The  area  under  cereals  in  rabi  is  36.87  percent  and  deviates  from  the  state trend (45.87). There are no wild swings within the districts.   The share of cereals in kharif total production is 16.87 percent (with 68 percent area share) and in rabi  it is 40.56 (against the area share of 37 percent area). Cereal production has sharply increased in rabi,  the factor contributing to this increased production is water use.   Land‐use  pattern – There  is  fairly  good  cumulative  forest  cover  but  the  scene  is  disturbing  in  Bhind  (2 percent) and Morena (10.1 percent) while in Sheopur (43.84) it is quite good.   The area under pasture is 4.3, which is uniform across the zone but below the state average of 4.38.  The net sown area is 49.35 percent and is comparable to the state average of 47.91. Bhind has a large  net  sown  area  (72.06)  while  Sheopur  (23.64)  has  one  of  the  least  sown  areas.  The  disparities  in  net  sown  areas  are  the  result  of  the  availability  of  irrigation  in  the  districts  with  Sheopur  having  better  water infrastructure than Bhind and Morena. The double sown area is far less (9.26) and is about half  the state average.   Irrigation – Open  wells  are  the  major  source  of  irrigation  with  wide  disparities.  Open  wells’  share  in  irrigation  is  above  50  percent  in  Bhind  (60.58)  and  Morena  (50.74)  but  is  as  low  as  8.86  percent  of  total  irrigation  in  Sheopur.  Incidentally,  Sheopur  has  51  percent  of  irrigation  by  canal  followed  by  31 percent  by  tube  wells.  This  indicates  that  in  Sheopur  use  of  open  wells,  and  use  of  traditional  sources of irrigation, has reduced with use of modern technologies.   Canal  irrigation  is  the  second  largest  source  of  irrigation  with  34  percent  share  for  total  irrigation.  Bhind  has  the  lowest  (21.28)  percentage,  but  all  districts  have  more  than  the  state  average  of  18.12 percent.   Tube wells form the third source of irrigation and are almost uniform in the two districts of Bhind and  Morena and are lower than the state average of 25.5 percent. Sheopur has the highest share of total  irrigation at 31.64 percent.   The zone has good irrigation facilities and one of the districts, Sheopur, has about 60 percent of the  total cultivable area under irrigation, which is one of the highest in the state.   Work  force – Workers’  participation  rate  is  38.28 percent  and  female  workers’  participation  rate  is  26 percent. Cultivators share in total workers is 45 percent and agriculture workers 8 percent.  Livestock  production – The  subzone  comprising  the  three  districts  are  similar.  The  Chambal  north  zone, as  for  the  Chambal  region  as a whole, has good livestock and milk status and is a successfully  operating  flood  region  that  registered  a  milk  revolution  during  the  1980s.  Milk  production  for  the  individual  districts  is  223.6  (Bhind)  and  490.3  and  (Morena  and  Sheopur  combined)  1 000  tonnes.  Meat  production  is  only  0.2  tonnes  and  egg  production  is  5.6  lakh1  for  Bhind  district.  The  region  is  famous for the Bhaindehi breed of buffalo.   Soil and rainfall – The zone has very few (30) rainy days and the average rainfall is 608 mm, which is  also on the low side. Bhind has about 479 mm of relief and Morena – Sheopur 569.9 mm, which is less  than the average rainfall and is compensated by irrigation infrastructure.                                                                 1

Unit in Asian system, one hundred thousand, usually written as 1,00000  4

The northern border area is highly irrigated and some of the districts have the highest irrigation by any  source  in  the  state.  Irrigation  is  from  groundwater  lifting  and  flooding.  The  social  fabric  is  extremely  traditional  and  caste  discrimination may  easily be  discerned.  The  landholding  pattern  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  on  the  lines  of  caste  division;  almost  30  percent  of  the  households  are  without  holdings.  Another 50 percent are subsistence farmers and, along with the landless, almost 80 percent of families  have precarious livelihoods. Only 20 percent is cash crops with large landholdings.   The  main  cropping  area  is  under  mustard  and  gram,  which  are  the  main  cash  crops.  Excessive  groundwater  lifting  has  turned  the  area  into  a  critical  zone.  In  the  first  exercise,  on‐farm  and  community  water  management  was  identified  as  the  number  one  priority  area  followed  by  water  governance  (conflict  management)  and  efficient  use  of  water.  In  the  subsequent  exercise,  irrigation  management is considered highest priority followed by land reclamation.   Considering the socio‐economic pattern of the area with land holding and land‐use pattern, there is a  need  for  water  governance  and  management  as  the  top  priority  with  share  equity  to  landless  and  marginal farmers.

CENTRAL DRY CHAMBAL ZONE  Zone 8 – Gwalior Zone – Dry degraded mining and pastoral  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – Popularly  known  as  Gwalior  zone,  comprises  the  districts  of  Gwalior,  Datia  and  Shivpuri.  The  average  family  size  is  more  than  6.13,  varing  between  5.86  (Datia)  to  6.70  (Gwalior).    The SC population in the zone is 20.93 percent and in all districts it is more than the state average of  15.19 percent. The highest percentage of SC is in Datia (24.95), which is followed by Gwalior (21.08).  The tribal population is just 4.27 percent, except for Gwalior (11.19), the rest of the districts have a  negligible tribal population ranging from 0.81 in Morena to 3.49 in Shivpuri. The tribal population in  the zone is well below the state average and only in Gwalior the combined SC and ST share is about  30 percent of the total population.   Development – HDI has a uniform performance across all four districs with cumulatively agregates to  0.51, which is better than other zones in the state. The gender development index is 0.52 and is better  than the general human development index.   There are 42.40 percent who are cultivators in the zone and 7.23 percent are landless labourers. The  percentage of landless suggests that poverty in the zone could be below the state statistical average.  This is corroborated by the percentage of households below the poverty line (19.58) and the spread of  poverty is uniform in all districts.  Literacy – The cumulative literacy of the zone shows that more than half the population is literate at  54.48  percent.  The  literacy  rate  is  uniformly  spread,  except  for  Gwalior  (47.34),  which  is  below  50 percent  and  is  less  than  the  state  average  of  52.42 percent.  The  difference  in  female  to  male  literacy is about 13 percentage points and, again, Gwalior (32.61) has the dubious distinction of having  the lowest female literacy in the zone.   Gender – The zone has one of the lowest sex ratios in the state and the scene is uniform across the  zone. With a cumulative sex ratio of 846, the ratio for the zone is 72 points below the state average of

918 (which in itself is a point of concern). Morena (822) has the lowest sex ratio in the zone but the  three others have a poor sex ratio (860), which is 61 points below the state average.   The SC sex ratio is less at 841 and at 817 Morena has the lowest SC sex ratio. The rest are lower than  the general population sex ratio and in conformity with the state trends for the SC population. Though  this  is  in  line  with  the  state  trends,  the  sex  ratio  among  this  segment  of  the  population  is  below  850 and is a huge concern.   The sex ratio among the ST population is comparatively better at 915 but well below the state average  of  976.  Except  for  Shivpuri  (945),  the  rest  of  the  districts  (especially  Morena  with  894)  have  considerable  lower  sex  ratios  among  the  tribal  population.  The  lower  sex  ratio  among  the  tribal  is  discernible  as  the  tribal  population  is  a  minority  in  the  zone  and  the  influence  of  the  general  population’s customs and traditions could affect this result.   The zone is of concern because about 56.75 percent of girls marry before the legal age of 18, except  for Gwalior (35.8). In the rest of the districts more than 50 percent of girls marry before the legal age  of  18.  The  highest  figure  is  for  Morena  (73.9),  followed  by  Shivpuri  (68.3).  The  trend  suggests  that  gender discrimination in this zone is critical and should be a matter of concern for all.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Area under crops and production – 29.87 percent of the area is under kharif cultivation and is about  36  percentage  points  lower  than  the  state  average.  Rabi  cultivation  is  about  70.13  percent  and  is  26 percentage points above the state average. This suggests that the zone has either a good irrigation  infrastructure or good irrigation potential.   Pulses – In kharif the area under pulses is 10.68 and, except for Morena and Gwalior (4.46 and 8.03  respectively), the other two districts have more than 10 percent of the kharif area under pulses (18.50  and 11.73 percent respectively for Datia and Shivpuri). Because of Datia and Shivpuri the area under  pulses is more than the state average of 8.49 percent. The area under rabi cultivation of pulses is low  at 20.68 and is lower than the state average of 43.68 by more than 23 points. No single district has  equal  to  or  more  than  the  state  average  for  rabi  area  under  pulses;  though  the  trend  in  kharif  is  exactly  opposite  in  almost  three  districts.  Datia  (37)  followed  by  Gwalior  (29.21)  have  considerable  area  under  pulses  during  the  rabi  season.  On  average,  the  total  area  under  pulses  (combined  kharif  and  rabi)  is  very  low  and  varies  between  Morena  (4.46  kharif  plus  3.99  rabi:  total  8.45  percent),  Gwalior (8.03 kharif plus 12.53 rabi: total 20.56 percent), Shivpuri (11.73 kharif plus 29.21 rabi: total  40.94 percent) and Datia (18.50 kharif plus 37 rabi: total 55.50 percent).  The  kharif  production  of  pulses  is  a  meager  0.93  percent  of  the  total  production,  whereas  the  rabi  share  is  9.95  percent.  In  both  kharif  and  rabi  the  share  of  pulses  is  less  than  the  state  average.  In  addition, the production of rabi shows a greater yield of more than 39 percent points over kharif.   The total production of pulses in the zone is 10.88 percent of the total production and is well below  the state average of 16.79 percent. Compared to the state average production of pulses at 0.32 per  unit, the production of pulses (yield) is better at 0.34 per unit. In Datia, the average yield of pulses is  24 percent points higher than the state yield.   Cereals – The area under cereals during kharif is about 45.55 percent and is 13 percent points above  the state average. There are wild variations from Datia at 16.93 to Morena at 90.51 percent of kharif  area under cereals. Another low area is Shivpuri at 21.37 percent. The rabi season area under cereals  is more or less equal to the state average, but Gwalior has about 60.07 percent of the rabi area under  cereals, followed by Datia at 53.15. Morena has the lowest rabi area under cereals at 29.30 percent,

the rest of the districts have a higher rabi area under cultivation, which may be attributed to better  irrigation potential in the districts.   The share of cereals is 14.56 percent against 16.44 percent at the state level. The share of cereals is  47 percent of total production (the state average is 31.63 percent with identical area average under  cultivation).   The average yield of cereals during the kharif season is below the state average of 0.50 percent per  unit of area. It is lowest in Datia at 0.10 and highest in Gwalior at 0.61. In rabi the situation is reversed  with Datia averaging the highest yield for cereals at 1.24 percent against the state average of 0.68. All  districts have better rabi cereal yield production at 1.02, with the lowest being Gwalior at 0.80. The  share  of  cumulative  cereals  for  total  production  is  61  percent,  and  is  above  the  state  average  of  48 percent. Gwalior is the exception, with lower than the state average share of cereals production to  the total production, the rest of the districts have a better share of cereals for total production.   Cumulatively the yield for cereals (0.67) is better than the state average of 0.61 This could have been  better still if Morena had not given 0.46 yield.   The trends show that the share of cereals for total production is quite high and is better suited in the  rabi season either, because of the availability of protective irrigation or assured irrigation.    Land‐use  pattern – Cumulative  forest  cover  is  of  concern,  as  the  average  does  not  provide  a  clear  picture. The average, at 17.31, is 11 percentage points lower than 28.28 percent, except for Shivpuri  (33.16) and, to a lesser extent, Gwalior (16.07). Datia and Morena have about 10 percent of the forest  cover. Pasture and grazingland is a only 3.15 percent (against the state 4.38 percent). The net sown  area is very high at 51.22 percent and is higher than the state average of 39.58 and, at 63.11 percent,  is  very  high  in  Datia.  The  double  sown  area  is  far  less  at  15.16  (against  the  state  average  of  17.49  percent).   Irrigation – Open wells comprise the major source of irrigation in the zone showing wide disparities.  Open well share of irrigation is above 50 percent in Shivpuri (52.17) and Morena (50.74); about 42.42  in  Datia  and  just  16.48  in  Gwalior.  This  is  followed  by  canal  irrigation  at  34.15  (against  the  state  average of 18.12 percent). Datia has the highest canal irrigation share in its total irrigation potential at  55.11 percent. The lowest is Shivpuri. This is followed by tube wells with 20 percent. Gwalior delivers  37.55 percent of its irrigation via tube wells and the lowest is in Datia (1.22). Irrigation from tanks is  below 1 percent and only Shivpuri has almost the equal share as that of the state (2.35).   Work force – The districts of Gwalior, Datia and parts of Shivpuri and Morena show variations in work  force  distribution.  Datia  leads  with  50 percent  of  worker  participation  rate,  followed  by  Shivpuri  at  45.2 percent  and,  the  other  extreme,  is  32 percent  for  Gwalior.  The  female  work  participation  rate  follows in the same order at 43.2 percent, 37.3 percent and 14.7 percent for the three districts in the  same order respectively. Similarly, there are 53.7 percent cultivators in Shivpuri, 47.8 for Morena, 45.5  in  Datia  and  40.8  in  Sheopur.  Agricultural  labourers  are  a  maximum  of  10  percent  in  Sheopur  and  5 percent in Gwalior. Gwalior district distorts the other worker scenario because of the sizable urban  population in Gwalior city, with 52 percent of other workers.  Livestock production – The subzone comprises four districts and, because of its size, is well placed in  the field of livestock production. Chambal region, as a whole, has good livestock and milk status and is  a  successfully  operating  flood  region,  which  registered  a  milk  revolution  during  the  1980s.  The  milk  production  for  the  individual  districts  in  1 000  tonnes  is  117.2  (Datia),  221.6  (Gwalior)  and  259.3  (Shivpuri). Meat  production is  a  moderate 300 tonnes per district per annum. Egg production  is  low

and  the  combined  figure  of  97.5  lakh  is  for  the  four  districts.  The  combined  cattle  and  bovine  population of these districts is 10.73 lakh, over 10.55 lakh for goats and 1.19 lakh for sheep.  Soil and rainfall – The zone has an average of 34 rainy days and an average rainfall of 662.57, which is  evenly spread across all districts. The soil has good copper and iron content but low to moderate zinc  content.  The area is marked by a high level of poverty, as for the neighboring Chambal north zone with almost  20  percent  landless  labourers  and  close  to  60  percent  are  marginal  farmers.  The  land  is  degraded,  mining is one of the main activities, there are large livestock holdings and goat rearing.   Availiability of water is too low. There are huge differences between those that have and those with no  access  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  for  livestock  were  identified  as  primary  areas  for  intervention.  Subsequently,  irrigation  and  watershed  management has been prioritized for focussed interventions.  The area needs two important interventions: resource‐sharing knowledge management and collective  resource creation and management.

SOUTHERN CHAMBAL ZONE   Zone 9: South Chambal Zone ‐ Progressive farming, wheat‐soya  GENERAL INDICATORS  Composition – The  subzone  is  comprised  of  Guna  district,  which  is  now  split  into  two  districts  Ashoknagar  and  Guna.  The  average  family  size  in  the  zone  is  more  than  6,  varing  between  6.12  (Ashoknagar) to 6.03 (Guna). The zone has above the state average of family size. The SC population in  the zone is 20.43 percent, which is more than the state average in both districts as Ashoknagar (23.25)  having almost one‐quarter SC population. The ST population is just 7.66 percent and is well below the  state average of 20.30 percent. There is a considerable ST population in Guna at 12.22 percent and,  together  with  the  SC  population,  the  vulnerable  and  traditional  resource‐poor  families  comprise  30 percent.   Development – The human development index is below 50 at 0.47. The gender development index is  identical  with  the  general  HDI.  The  percentage  of  main  workers  is  74.48,  which  is  quite  high  considering  that  almost  20  percent  are  children.  Taking  into  account  the  elderly,  with  the  above  20 percent  for  children,  the  two‐thirds  of  main  workers  is  quite  high.  Even  at  the  state  level,  the  percentage for main workers is 73.86.   The  zone  has  39.97  percent  cultivators,  which  is  above  the  state  average  of  34.33  and  just  12.94 percent  landless  laborers.  Though the landless labourers are low, the main workers and  other  indicators suggest that the poverty level is uniform and profound.   Literacy – The  zone  at  49.97  percent  literate  population,  has  one  of  the  least  literate  populations  in  the state, which is below the state average of 52.42. Ashoknagar has a slightly better (52.07 percent)  literacy than Guna (47.88). Female literacy is a further 13 points down at 36.17 percent. The trend is  the  same  as  for  the  general  population  and  Guna  has  one  of  the  lowest  female  literacy rates  in  the  state.

Gender – The  zone  has  one  of  the  lowest  sex  ratios  in  the  state;  both  the  districts  have  almost  identical  sex  ratios  and  the  cumulative  sex  ratio  is  882.97,  which  is  well  below  the  state  average  of  918.5. The sex ratio for the SC category follows almost the same trends and the cumulative sex ratio is  883.94.  The  sex  ratio  for  the  ST  category  is  a  welcome  change  at  54  points  above  the  general  population sex ratio. In a sense, if the tribal sex ratio is subtracted, the general population sex ratio  may be further reduced and is a matter of concern.   Early marriages are the norm in this zone with almost 70 percent of girls getting married before the  legal age of 18. These indicators indicate that gender discrimination is a critical issue in this zone.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping  area  and  production – Two‐fifths  of  the  area  is  under  kharif  cultivation  and  is  about  15 percentage  points  lower  than  the  state  average.  Rabi  cultivation  is  about  59.99  percent  and  is  15 percentage  points  above  the  state  average.  This  suggests  that  the  zone  has  a  relatively  better  protective irrigation infrastructure or good irrigation potential.   Pulses – During kharif the area under pulses is 13.80 and is almost 5 percent points above the state  average. The pulses in kharif, however, are almost one‐quarter in Ashoknagar (23.32) against a low of  4.29  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) marginally ahead of Guna (44.96); both are above the state average of 43.35.   Though there is greater area under pulses during kharif, the share in production is just 1.84 percent of  total  production.  The  state  average  yield  is  0.25  percent,  the  two  districts  are  lower  than  the  state  average with 0.11 and 0.13. The state average for pulses in kharif is 8.49 percent, the state share of  pulses  is  2.18  percent  of  total  production;  whereas  the  two  districts  under  discussion  have  13.80 percent of the area under pulses in kharif but the share is just 1.84 percent of total production.  In rabi the area under the pulses is 50.63 (against the state average of 43.35), the share in production  is 29.18 percent of total production. The state yield is 0.32, and the rabi pulses yield in Ashoknagar is  0.55 points and in Guna 0.44 points higher than the state average.   Cereals – The  area  under  cereals  in  kharif  is  about  11.44  percent  and  is  22  percentage  points  below  the  state  average  of  32.67.  There  is  uniformity  across  both  district.  The  rabi  area  under  cereals  is  higher but barely touches the state average of 45.87. Combined, the area under cereals in kharif and  rabi is just 66 points against the state average of 88 points.   The  cereals  production  share  in  kharif  is  4.12  percent.  The  average  yield  in  kharif  (cereals)  is  about  0.35, and is below the state average of 0.50. In fact the yield for kharif cereals in Ashoknaar is just 0.29  and is quite low. In rabi, though, with just 44.47 percent of the area under cereals (against 45.87 at the  state level), the share is 34.61 percent (against 31.63 at the state level). At first sight the yield looks  good in rabi for cereals, which is poor in kharif. In rabi the state average yield is 0.68 and Guna is on  par with this (0.66) while Ashoknagar has a whopping 0.90 return of yield in rabi. The yield during rabi  shows marked improvement over the kharif yield as well as the state averages.   Land‐use pattern – Cumulative forest cover is quite healthy at 25.58, the forest cover is good in Guna  (39.88) and average at 11.29 percent in Ashoknagar. The area under pastures is again better at 4.87  (against  the  state  average  of  4.38).  Guna  has  good  pastures  and  grazing  with  a  percentage  of  7.07 percent, while Ashoknagar has just 2.67 percent for pastures and grazing.   The  total  net  sown  area  is  quite  high  at  52.35  (five  points  higher  than  the  state  average  of  47.91 percent).  The  net  sown  area  shows  the  same  trend  as  for  the  other  area  distribution.  In

Ashoknagar  the  net  sown  area  is  very  high  at  65.71  and  the  return  on  such  a  high  net  sown  area  is  very low. The double‐cropped area is very low at 12.68 percent and is a mystery when comparedi with  the high rabi sown area.   Irrigation –  Tube  wells  are  the  main  source  of  irrigation  at  37.68  percent  share.  This  is  followed  by  21.95 percent  share  of  open  wells.  The  share  for  canals  is  11.68  percent  and  tanks  are  a  miniscule  2.52 percent.  As  far  as  irrigation  trends  are  concerned,  there  are  no  disparities  between  the  two  districts.   Work  force – Total  workers  to  total  population  in  the  two  districts  differ  significantly  and  are  41 percent (Guna) and 34 percent (Ashoknagar), whereas there is a wide disparity between the female  participation  rate  for  Guna  (29.1 percent)  and  Ashoknagar  (15.8 percent).  The  ratio  of  cultivators  to  total  work  force  is  in  the  range  of  54 percent.  The  ratio  of  agriculture  labourers  is  similar  for  both  districts (13 percent).  Livestock development – The cow and buffalo population is 4.35 lakh, which is significant. There are  few  sheep,  around  5 000  and  goats  are  2.45  lakh.  Adwani  has  predominance  of  local  non‐descript  breed cattle. As per the 2009–2010 animal husbandry data for milk, egg and meat production, which  are combined for Guna and Ashoknagar, was 2.11 lakh tonne, 29.8 lakh and 300 tonne.     Soil  and  rainfall – The  zone  has  an  average  of  41  rainy  days  and  an  average  rainfall  of  832.9  mm.  Copper content is good and the iron is adequate to moderate but zinc is very low.   The  area  has  moderate  levels  of  poverty  with  about  20  percent  of  rural  households  being  landless  labourers. About 50 percent of the farm area is under cash crops. This area is the southern tip of the  Chambal region and has better access to irrigation. Water access is moderate with low technological  inputs and the technology in use is diesel and electricity pumps to draw water from the ground. The  major crops are wheat and soybean. The region has seen a large‐scale inflow of progressive farmers  from  Punjab  since  the  1970s  and  the  area  has  become  a  landmark  for  agriculture  revolution  in  the  state.  In  the  first  exercise,  community  on‐farm  water  management  was  the  top  priority  followed  by  water  governance and water for livestock. Water governance is a critical issue in this area and the important  aspects requiring attention are conflicts between upper castes and lower castes over water access and  use.  Subsequently,  other  areas  needing  improvement  have  been  identified.  These  are  irrigation  management, access to extension services and agriculture inputs.   Considering  the  socio‐economic  situation  in  the  area,  the  focus  should  be  on  community  watershed  management, water governance education and community managed extension services.

THE MALWA REGION    The  Malwa  Region  elects  the  largest  number  of  legislatives  and  grows  a  large  quantity  of  soybeans,  gram, potatoes, wheat and government‐controlled opium. In 2005 the Malwa region had 18 districts.  It has a rich cultural and literary heritage, owing to its various architectural sites and the recognition of  the  Malwi  dialect  as  being  one  of  the  prime  sources  of  the  Hindi  language.  Besides,  Malwa  was  the  seat  of  the  Great  Ujjain  King  –  Raja  Vikramaditya  –  the  Julius  Caesar  of  India,  who  gave  the  Vikrami  Calendar to India, not unlike the Julian calendar given by Caesar.   Malwa recorded an average rainfall of about 1 000 mm over the last 10 years. Malwa Region has two  distinct  subregions:  distinct  hilly  areas,  such  as  the  four  districts  of  Nimar,  Dhar  and  Jhabua  and

Sailana and Bajna blocks of Ratlam district and the second subregion contains relatively plain‐plateau  land.   Indore is the largest city in the region and the state. Bhopal is the second largest city in the region and  the state and is the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Malwa has two large industrial areas, one near Indore  and the other near Bhopal. The Malwa region has the dubious distinction of having the three poorest  districts in the state, which are the districts of Jhabua, Khargone and Barwani, inhabited by a large belt  of the Bhil tribes.   These  districts  have  suffered  land,  water,  soil  and  biomass‐based  degradation  on  an  unprecedented  scale.  Because  of  the  loss  of  biomass  on  the  peaks,  along  the  slopes  and  massive  topsoil  erosion,  productivity on many big parcels of land has been irreversibly lost. The same has happened in many  parts of Khandwa, Ratlam (Sailana, Bajna) and Dhar areas, but at a smaller scale then in Jhabua and  Khargone. Hence most of the degradation‐affected inhabitants migrate to remote areas to seek their  livelihoods.   This region also has a large pool of grassroots non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in the  protection of Jal, jungle, zamin, Janvar and Jan (5Js: water, forest, land, livestock and human) of this  subregion  in  Malwa.  Interestingly,  some  small  parts  of  these  districts  still  use  the  circuitous  paat‐ based  traditional  Bhili  irrigation  system.  The  government  is  investing  huge  resources  to  restore  the  ecology of these hilly areas.   There  are  three  sets  of  rivers  in  Malwa.  The  first  set  of  move  from  east  to  west,  i.e.  Narmada  river  originating on Maikal peak in Amarkantak (Shahdol district) and Tapti river originating in Multai block  of  Betul  district.  Both  rivers  exit  into  the  Arabian  Sea,  after  passing  the  Malwa  tract  and  crossing  a  small part of Gujarat. A series of dams have been built on the Narmada river, which provide irrigation  and  hydraulic  power  to  the  state.  The  second  set  is  comprised  of  two  relatively  small  rivers,  which  originate in the Malwa region itself and receive some water from Rajasthan. They are the Arabian Sea‐ bound Mahi and Anas rivers. Mahi‐Kadana and Mahi‐Bajaj are two major dams on the Mahi river.    The third set of rivers are the eastward moving tributaries of Chambal river, such as Shipra, Parvati,  Kali Sindh, etc. Two of these originate in Madhya Pradesh and the others come from Rajasthan, there  are five such Chambal‐bound rivers. Gandhi Sagar lake, a large water body in Mandsaur district, lies on  one of the Chambal tributaries.   The participants of Malwa region at the AWM workshop in Bhopal agreed to divide the region into five  subzones. Starting from the west, the Jhabua hills zone extends into the whole western boundary of  Gujrat state. The north region, a part of Chittor region is famous for narcotics cultivation, the Nimar  plains and hills south of Narmada, the Malwa plateau plain region and Malwa east extension. Further,  this region also has a higher concentration of urban and industrial activities because of the presence  of  Bhopal,  which  is  the  state  capital,  and  the  Indore‐Dewas‐Pitampur  industrial  belt.  The  characteristics of each region are:   Western  Jhabua  hills  Zone – Bhil  tribe  dominated  hilly  terrain  not  suitable  for  intensive  cultivation,  comparatively lower rainfall of 800 mm. Main crops are maize and jowar.   Central Malwa Zone – Soya, wheat and potato belt. Also famous for production of spices (coriander,  ginger,  onion,  garlic)  cattle‐based  livelihoods,  large‐scale  exploitation  of  groundwater  through  tube  wells now in critical condition.  Southern Nimar Area – Cotton, chilli and sugar belt south of Narmada, very hot and dry climate.

Livelihood based

Mahua, chirongi, hurra, awalan, tendu leaves

Tourism

Ujjain, Dewas, Khargone, Vidisha, Raisen

Non religious:

Indore, Dhar, Jhabua, Vidisha, Raisen

Live stock

Large ruminants: cow, buffalo and bullock

Small ruminants

Goat

Birds

Poultry, swan

Horticulture

Citrus, pomegranate, grapes, guava,

Papaya, banana, mango, vegetables,

Spices:

All spices, turmeric, chilly, cumin, veti verra

Agriculture

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

Water based

Fisheries, shell nuts

The big challenge is to drought‐proof the 18 districts of Malwa. Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Mission has  been  engaged  in  doing  this  since  1996.  Major  watershed‐related  works  have  been  taken  up  in  both  the hilly and plateau areas of the region. Much more remains to be accomplished. Dataon the status  of groundwater in Malwa region is shown in Table 2.   Table 2 – Groundwater data in the Malwa region

S. No.

District

Status of Groundwater

Bhopal

Phanda Block in Grey zone and Berasia block is still in white zone but not very far  from the  grey zone.

Dewas

Except  for  Kannod  block  all  others  are  in  low  groundwater  holding  stage.  Particularly,  two  blocks  of  Sonkutch  and  Dewas  have  almost  exhausted  their  groundwater.  Bagli,  Khategaon  and Tonkl khurd are the three blocks that have depleted about 42 percent to 45 percent of  the groundwater through harnessing.

Dhar

Four  Blocks,  viz.  Badnawar,  Dhar,  Mannawar  and  Nalcha  are  in  Black  zone.  Three  blocks:  Bakaner, Dhrampuri and Sardarpur are in grey zone. Remaining six blocks are in white zone.

Indore

Of the four blocks only Mhow block falls into the white zone, remaining three are in the black  zone.

Jhabua

All  12  Blocks  fall  in  the  white  zone.  Pellawad  and  Sendhwa  blocks  have  harnessed  their  groundwater much more than the other ten blocks

Khargone

Only one block, viz. of Badwaha has reached the grey zone stage but Gogaon, Khargone and  Maheshwar blocks also are nearing the grey zone stage. Remaining five blocks are in safe or  white zone.

Barwani

Panscimal Block falls into the black zone (already declared over exploited, no more harnessing  of  groundwater  should  be  allowed  in  the  block)  Thikari  block  is  in  grey  zone  and  remaining  five blocks are in white zone.

8    9

Khandwa and  Burhanpur

Chhegaonmakhan  is  the  only  block  that  has  reached  the  grey  stage  of  water  exploitation.  Punasa, Khandwa and Khakner blocks are also using groundwater a lot and are close to grey  stage.  Remaing  five  blocks  still  have  a  lot  of  groundwater  available  and  are  hence  in  white  zone.

Raisen

All in white zone. But four blocks, viz. of Bagum Ganj, Gairat Ganj, Silwani and Obaidullaganj  are  reaching  the  grey  zone  stage  fast  (when  60  percent  of  all  groundwater  has  been  exhausted) and remaining five blocks are safely in the white zone.

Rajgarh

This  district  is  left  with  very  little  groundwater.  Khichipur  block  is  clearly  in  the  black  zone,  having exploited 108 percent of its groundwater, but Zirapur is also not very far, it has already  exploted > 82 percent of its total groundwater. All other blocks are very close to grey zone.  Biora  block  has  the  most  potential  for  untapped  groundwater  but  52 percent  of  total  groundwater has already been harnessed.

Ratlam

Sailana  and  Bajna  blocks  are  in  the  white  zone.  Except  for  the  Sailana  and  Bajana  blocks  all  four blocks are over‐stretched for groundwater.

Ujjain

Ujjain, Ghatia and Badnagar are the three blocks that have overexploited the water balance.  Only Mahidpur block is in the white zone.

Sehore

Sehore and Ashtha blocks are in the black zone. Remaining three blocks are in the white zone.

Shajapur

All seven blocks have drawn and exploited aquifer reserves

Mandsaur

Of the five blocks, Garoth and Manpuira are in relatively better position, though not below 65  percent of level of exploitation. Remaining three blocks have over‐exploited groundwater.

Neemuch

Of the three blocks Nummuch has already used 160 percent of its resource, Javad block is in  the white zone and Manasa is nearing grey zone.

Vidisha

All seven blocks are in the white zone.

Source: MP‐Human Development Report Archive‐2002    Overall, Malwa is facing groundwater depletion more seriously than the other districts or regions.

WESTERN JHABUA HILLS ZONE   Zone 2: Western Malwa Hill Zone – Bhil tribe Predominant  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – the  Western  Jhabua  hills  subzone  has  three  districts:  Jhabua,  Alirajpur  and  Ratlam.  Alirajpur  is  a  recently  carved  out  district  and  therefore  has  similar  characteristics  to  Jhabua. Both are tribal districts, with an 87 percent share of the total population, whereas Ratlam has  comparatively less share of tribal people, who are located mainly in the two southern blocks of Bajna  and  Sailana.  One‐quarter  of  the  population  is  tribal,  more  than  the  state  average  (20.30  percent)  of  tribal population. The SC population is less than 5 percent in the tribal dominated districts (5.58 and  2.82 percent respectively) but Ratlam has SC representation (13.41), almost equal to the state average  (15.19). Cumulatively, the subzone has more than 66.60 percent of tribal population and 7.27 percent  of SC population. Together these groups comprise about three‐quarters of the total population.         Development – HDI is 0.46 percent and may be considered good. There are, however, wide variations  within the subzone; Alirajpur/Jhabua have 0.36 HDI, the lowest in the state and Ratlam has 0.55 HDI  and it is in the top ten bracket for the state. This creates the disparity in development within the zone.

On the gender development index, there is uniformity across the zone and it is comparatively higher  at 0.56 (state high 0.64), which is the result of the higher sex ratio among both SCs and STs.   The ratio of landless labourers in the zone is also low at 6.94 percent (very low in Jhabua and Alirajpur  and about 13 in Ratlam). Only one‐quarter of the total population lives below the poverty line and is  better off than where poverty is more pronounced than this zone.   Literacy – The  literacy  rate  in  the  zone  is  quite  low  at  35  percent.  This  is  because  the  two  tribal  districts have one of the lowest literacy rates (21 and 28 respectively) in the state. The female literacy  rate is abysmally lower at 26 percent.   Gender – The sex ratio of the zone is quite good cumulatively at 980. This is because of 997 and 986 of  the two tribal districts. Even in Ratlam the sex ratio (957) is higher than the state (918) average. The  child sex ratio is also better at 970 (981, 974 and 957 for Alirajpur, Jhabua and Ratlam respectively).  The only anomaly is the early marriage of girls. About 53 percent of girls are married before the legal  age of 18  The  sex  ratio  of  the  ST  in  Alirajpur  is  above  1 000  and  in  Jhabua  it  is  close  to  1 000  (993)  and  cumulatively it is 990 in the three district. The SC sex ratio is lower than the general sex ratio and is a  big concern as it shows the preference for ‘males’ is increasing in SC communities.   The trend in the male to female literacy gap shows that in the tribal districts the rate is around 14 to  17  percent  but  is  more  than  20  percent  in  Ratlam.  A  primary  inference  can  be  made  that  gender  discrimination  is  more  pronounced  in  the  non‐tribal  communities  in  this  zone.  Even  early  marriage  data shows there is not much difference between the two distinct districts of this zone.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping  area  and  production – About  80  percent  of  the  area  is  under  kharif  and  about  21  percent  under rabi crops. Cereals share in the production is about 55 percent and pulses 13 percent. Whereas,  cereals production is more than the state average, pulses production is less. With cereals and pulses  combined the production share is 68 percent and shows that there is very less ingenuity, innovation  and  adaptability  to  market  as  far  as  the  selection  of  crop  is  concerned.  The  reasons  are  related  to  knowledge management, lack of extension services and lack of infrastructure (water, markets, etc).   Land‐use pattern – Though two districts are tribal dominated, and with more than 66 percent as the  total population, forest cover is very low at 11 percent. Even in the two tribal districts, forest cover is  (14 percent) below the state average of 28 percent. The net sown area is about 60 percent and the  rest is fallow. Less than 1 percent of the land is under trees or horticulture.   Irrigation – Interestingly,  the  tribal  districts  have  better  canal irrigation  than  the  non‐tribal areas.  Of  the 20 percent of the area under irrigation, the tribal districts have 15 percent under canals, whereas  the non‐tribal district has just 1.51 percent of canal irrigation. The share of tank irrigation in the tribal  areas is equal to canal irrigation, tube wells share just 3 percent, open wells around 36 percent and  other sources (the paats and traditional sources) 29.55 percent. In the non‐tribal district of Ratlam the  percentage  for  tanks  is  similar  to  that  for  canals  (1.6)  but  the  tube  well  share  is  56.31 percent  and  open wells 35.39 percent. The two areas in the zone have distinct irrigation features.   Work  force – The  percentage  of  the  work  force  in  the  Bhil  predominant  tribal  Jhabua  and  Alirajpur  districts is 53 percent with 51 percent female work participation rate. In comparison, Ratlam figures  are 45 and 36 percent. Similarly cultivators are overwhelming in the first two districts (57 and 54) and  there  is  an  almost  miniscule  representation  of  agriculture  labourers.  This  is  because  of  the

government land, patta, distribution policy to ST, which is reflected in the average farm size of around  1.7 ha. Ratlam district in comparison has 38 percent cultivators and 13 percent agricultural labourers.   Livestock production – The subzone is moderately placed in the livestock production field. The annual  milk  production  is  low  at  115  and  151 000  tonnes  for  Jhabua  and  Ratlam  respectively.  Meat  production is also moderate at 650 tonnes per annum. But the tribal hill region (Jhabua/Alirajpur) far  excels in egg production at 286 lakh out of a total of 6 714 lakh for the state, which includes organized  poultries in urban centres such as Bhopal, Indore, etc. The combined cattle and bovine population of  these districts is 4.5 lakh and there are over 7 lakh goats and 16 000 sheep.  Soil and rainfall – The area has a uniform rainfall of around 1 000 mm with about 40 rainy days. The  soil is rich in copper and iron but lacks zinc supplements.                              This  subzone  is  a  hilly  terrain  that  adjoins  the  Gujarat’s  tribal  districts.  The  Bhil  tribe  dominates  this  zone with its hilly terrain and low rainfall of around 800 mm. Maize and jowar are the main crops. The  region is highly vulnerable to drought and the poverty level is also high, with about 30 percent landless  and the rest of households are subsistence farmers (about 70 percent).   Groundwater  availability  is  very  high  but  technological  intervention  is  moderate  and  is  mostly  traditional. The management of traditional technologies is good, comparatively less efficient for water  management solutions. Adaptability to new forms and management is extremely low. Vulnerability to  drought is high. In the earlier exercise, the priorities for the zone were water‐harvesting technologies,  watershed development and development of an agro‐pastoral based livelihood option.  In  the  subsequent  exercise  the  area  was  identified  as  being  in  need  of  watershed  development,  agricultural  extension  services  and  micro‐credit.  The  institutional  base  in  the  area  is  very  weak  and  needs to be developed.

THE CHITTOR MALWA ZONE   Zone 1: North Malwa‐Chittor zone – Opium‐silica production  GENERAL INDICATORS  Composition – The  Chittor‐Malwa  zone  (Neemuch  and  Mandsaur  districts)  bordering  the  famous  Chittor  of  Rajasthan,  has  a  combined  15.29 percent  SC  population  (12  and  17  in  Neemuch  and  Mandsaur  respectively)  and  6  percent  ST  population  (8.51  and  3.17  in  Neemuch  and  Mandsaur  respectively)  and  together  forms  one‐fifth  of  the  total  population.  The  state  has  15.19  and  20.30  percent  respectively  of  SC  and  ST  population  forming  35  percent  of  the  total  population.  Compared  with  this  and  other  high  SC  and  ST  population  districts,  these  two  are  in  the  middle  range;  nevertheless  Mandsaur  is  in  the  top  half  (fifteenth)  of  the  SC  population  and,  as  such,  at  a  greater  level of disadvantage.       Development – Compared to other zones and districts, Neemuch and Mandsaur have a good HDI of  0.54 (the lowest in the state is 0.36 and the highest is 0.64). The gender development index places this  zone in a positive position with 0.61 in both the districts (0.43 and 0.66 as the lowest and highest in  the state). About one‐fifth of the population lives below the poverty line (at 23 percent each) but this  pales in comparison with districts and zones with more than 75 percent of the population living below  the poverty line. The region is in the lower half of the poverty line with just 12 districts being better off  than this zone.

The sex ratio of the zone is comparatively good at 949 and 956 and is above the state average of 918  (16 districts have less than 900 and another 8 have less than state average of 918). There is a concern  about the child sex ratio in Neemuch (and Mandsaur) at 931, which is below the state average of 932  and puts this region in the growing trend of traditional preference for boys.              Literacy – The zone has one of the better literacy rates in the state with more than 56 percent of the  population literate. The female literacy rate is around 43 percent.   Gender – Though  the  sex  ratio  is  favouarble,  the  other  indicators  suggest  that  gender  bias  is  one  of  the  issues  in  the  subzone.  Early  marriages  take  place  and  as  per  the  National  Family  Health  Survey  round 3, around 59 percent of girls marry before the legal age of 18.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping  area  and  production – Cereals  and  pulses  are  the  two  major  crops  in  the  subzone.  Of  the  total cropped area, about 70 (69 to 75) percent is kharif or rainfed and only 26 (31 to 25) percent is  irrigated. Apart from the poppy cultivation, which this subzone is famous for, cereals form the major  agriculture  production  followed  by  pulses.  Cereals  share  is  between  30  to  40  percent,  whereas  the  share for pulses is between 6 to 7 percent of total production. This is far below the state average of 48  and 17 percent respectively for cereals and pulses.   Land‐use pattern – The subzone has two distinct characteristics as regards forest cover. Neemuch has  about 23 percent of the forest cover and Mandsaur has negligible forest cover of 7 percent. There are  variations in the net sown area in the two districts. In Neemuch, the net sown area is comparable to  the state average of 47 percent whereas in Mandsaur the net sown area is about 65 percent.   Irrigation – Of  the  total  irrigated area,  about  75  percent  of  the  area  is  irrigated  by  open  wells.  Tube  wells are between 22 and 9 percent respectively in Neemuch and Mandsaur, while canal irrigation is a  meager 4 to 1 percent respectively.   Work force – As the two districts are part of the same district the work force distribution is similar for  total  worker  participation  rate  (48  percent)  and  female  work  participation  rate  (44  percent).  The  proportion  of  cultivators  to  total  workers  is  a  uniform  44  percent,  but  the  ratio  of  agriculture  labourers varies at 17 percent for Mandsaur and 14 percent for Neemuch.  Livestock  population – The  region  is  good  for  pastoralists  as  milk  production  is  sizable  at  28.74  lakh  tonnes  but  egg  production  is  low  at  24.6  lakh  during  2008‐2009.  There  are  over  45 000  crossbreed  animals. The sheep population is 23 000 and there are 3.40 lakh goats.  Soil and rainfall – The subzone has around 32 rainy days spread over four months with a total annual  rainfall between 830 and 1 117 mm. Copper and iron nutrient fertility is moderate to high but zinc is  lower.                              This  subzone  has  two  districts  and  belongs  to  North  Malwa  region  adjoining  the  Chittoor  region  of  Rajasthan  and  is  famous  for  its  poppy  cultivation  and  spices.  It  is  also  famous  for  its  silica‐slate  reserves.  The  region  has  a  bad  name  for  child  labour,  which  is  absorbed  in  the  silica  industry,  and  caste‐based prostitution by the Bachhra caste along the Agra‐Bombay national highways. The poverty  level in this region is estimated to be low based on the composition of the households with less than  10 percent of landless, about 10 percent subsistence farmers and about 80 percent are growing cash  crops.  The  area  has  not  overused  groundwater  and  is  in  the  safe  zone.  The  availability  of  water  is  moderate and potential for crops is high. The region being in the catchment of Maharana Pratap sagar  dam  on  the  Chambal  river  has  a  good  water  level  because  of  the  high  rate  of  percolation.  Drip

irrigation  technology  is  being  used  in  the  area  with  a  higher  than  average  knowledge  base  for  irrigation management. Drought vulnerability is limited to parts of this subzone.   In  one  of  the  primary  exercises  to  define  probable  solution  applications  in  the  zone,  groundwater  recharge  and  micro‐irrigation  were  two  of  the  solution‐applications  identified.  In  the  subsequent  exercise, watershed  management, groundwater recharge and market linkages were identified  as  the  top three priorities (in that order) as probable applications for solutions in the zone.

THE NIMAR ZONE  Zone 3: Nimar Plains Zone – Hot dry – cotton, chilli, banana, sugarcane  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – The  Nimar  (east  and  west)  is  a  traditional  cultural  zone  of  Madhya  Pradesh south of the Narbada river, which divides the Malwa from Nimar horizontally. The region is  known for chilli and the sugar belt south of the Narbada, and a very hot and dry climate. The zone is  comprised of Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa and Buranpur districts.   The average family size is 5.80, which is higher than the state average of 5.52. The ST make up 28.99  percent of the total population and tribal population in Barwani is around 67 percent. The Bhil tribal  belt,  which  is  spread  across  the  three  states  of  MP,  Rajasthan  and  Gujrat  is  concentrated  in  MP,  mainly  in  Jhabua,  Alirajpur  and  Badwani  districts  and  some  blocks  of  neighbouring  Ratlam  and  Dhar  districts.  The  other  four  districts  have  between  15  to  24  percent  of  the  tribal  population  and  cumulatively  two  districts:  Barwani  and  Khandwa  (24  percent)  have  more  than  the  state  average  of  20.30 percent. SCs are comparatively fewer and make up about 9.44 percent of the population, which  is lower than the state average of 15.19 percent. In all the districts the dalit population is less than the  state  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,  especially Bhopal and Indore.   The  sex  ratio  of  the  general  population  is  above  the  state  average  at  945  but  there  are  variations  within  the  districts.  Barwani  has  971  whereas  Khandwa  has  929,  between  Burhanpur  (942)  and  Khargone (934) suggests that there is a connection between tribal and sex ratio as elsewhere. In the  tribal  communities  the  sex  ratio  is  965  (average  of  four  districts)  but  here  the  influence  of  the  mainstream Hindu societies can be seen in the sex ratio of tribes in Khandwa (945), which is on a par  with the general  sex  ratio  in  the zone (945). In the dalit communities the sex ratio is just above  the  general  ratio  but  is  more  because  of  the  better  sex  ratio  among  dalits  in  Barwani  district.  For  Khandwa, the sex ratio for dalits is on par with the general sex ratio in the district (929). The sex ratio  of dalits is better than at the state level (905) and the tribal is less than at the state level (976 at state  level and less than 950 in two districts and just one district has more than the state average)       Development – The HDI is 0.40 in the zone and may be considered good as there are no variations in  the zone. The gender development index is also good at 0.59 and here too there are no variations. But  the poverty rate is alarmingly high at 67 percent and is as high as 75 percent in Barwani and Khargone.   The high percentage of tribal population in Barwani, and the equal number living below the poverty  line is understood, but the high rate of poverty in other districts (also in Khandwa the percentage is  50 percent and is quite high) is alarming.

Literacy – The  literacy  rate  in  the  zone  is  50  percent.  There  are  variations  with  Barwani  (32.40)  and  Khargone  (58.21).  The  three  districts  have  almost  similar  literacy  percentages:  between  53.38  and  58.21.  The  literacy  rate  is  lower  than  the  state  average  and  corresponds  to  the  poverty  percentage.  The  literacy  rate  for  women  is  on  par  with  the  state  average  of  41  and  almost  all  the  states  except  Barwani (24.83) are in the same literacy band in all categories.   Gender – The  sex  ratio  of  the  zone  is  poor  (cumulatively)  and,  individually,  Khandwa  (929)  and  Khargone (934) have very poor sex ratios but these are still better than the state average of 918. The  sex ratio for children is also poor, especially for Burhanpur (926) and Khargone (933), which are either  less than state average or on a par. The same goes for dalits as well as tribal communities in the zone  with the exception of Barwani. The female participation in the work force also shows the same trend  and  as  such  gender  discrimination  is  a  critical  issue  in  the  zone  except  for  Barwani  district.  Data  for  marriages is unavailable for all the four districts, but variations are comparable with other districts.     AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping  area  and  production – About  85.25  percent  of  the  area  is  under  kharif  and  about  14.75 percent under rabi crops. In all the districts except Khandwa (79.52), the kharif area is more or  less 85 percent and the rabi area is around 11 to 15 percent. In Khandwa the area under rabi is about  20.48  percent,  which  suggests  comparatively  better  irrigation  than  in  the  other  districts.  The  area  under kharif in the zone is very high and is almost 30 percent more than the state average of 55.85.  The rabi on the contrary is 30 points less than the state average of 44.15.   Cereals form the bulk of the area under cultivation with 51.72 percent of the total production. Cereal  production is very high in Barwani at 71.92 percent, in the other three districts it is uniform between  43 and 45 percent and is on par with the state average of 48 percent. The share of pulses production is  very  low  at  5.16  and  in  Barwani  (2.86)  and  Khargone  (3.03)  it  is  almost  negligible.  Overall  pulses  production is 10 percent less than the state average.  Low level of cultivation for pulses and cereals is  compensated  by  cotton  (in  almost  all  the  districts)  and  plantains  (in  Burhanpur  and  partially  in  Khandwa). Cotton is the cash crop in the zone and Khandwa is one of the biggest mandis in the state  for cotton procurement.   Land‐use  pattern – Burhanpur  (58.92)  has  one  of  the  better  forest  coverage  in  the  state  (28.28),  overall the forest cover is around 35.98 percent of the total land area. Apart from Burhanpur, Barwani  (34.53) and Khargone (30.18) have good forest cover. Only Khandwa (20.29) has below state average  forest  cover.  The  forest  cover  in  Khandwa  is  alarmingly  low  against  the  tribal  percentage.  The  net  sown area is about 40 percent and is in the uniform band of 30 to 40 percent. More than once the net  sown area has been about 8 percent. Both net sown area and sown area  have been lower than the  state average at more than one time (48 and 18 respectively).    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  canal  irrigation is less than 1 percent of total irrigation and the majority of the irrigation is from open wells  (69.79)  followed  by  tube  wells  (23.94).  In  Barwani;  wells  (44.73),  tube  wells  (26.69)  and  other  sources/traditional sources (25.72) make up the irrigation scenario. Irrigation from open wells in the  zone  is  far  higher  (58)  than  the  state  average  (39.55)  where  tank  irrigation  is  almost  non‐existent  (0.36) against 2.35 at state level. Interestingly, Khargone and Barwani derive more than one‐quarter of  water for irrigation from other sources/traditional methods.   Work force – Total workers to total population range between 40 percent (Burhanpur) and 53 percent  (Khandwa) whereas the female participation rate varies widely among workers of different districts of

the  region  as  shown  in  descending  order:  Khandwa  51 percent,  Badwani  (44),  Khargone  (31)  and  Burhanpur  (28).  The  ratio  of  cultivators  to  total  work  force  is  in  the  same  range  of  female  participation; Khandwa (54), Badwani (45), Khargone (24) and Burhanpur (21). The ratio of agriculture  labourers is very high for Burhanpur (33) and very low for Khandwa (4).  Livestock development – The cow and buffalo population is highest for Khargone (2.72 lakh), followed  by Khandwa and Badwani (1.92 lakh and 1.83 lakh) and is least for Burhanpur (0.54 lakh). Sheep and  goat populations are the same for Khargone/Badwani (8 000 and 6.25 lakh) and Khandwa/Burhanpur  (18.2 000  and  2.68  lakh)  respectively.  Badwani  has  a  predominance  of  the  local  non‐descript  cattle  breed.   Livestock  production  data  is  available  for  the  two  districts  of  Khandwa  and  Khargone,  which  also  accounts for the other two districts. As per the 2009‐2010 animal husbandry data for milk production,  egg  and  meat  production  for  Khandwa  and  Burhanpur  is  (10.9  lakh  tonne,  51.1  lakh  and  800  tonne  respectively) and for Khargone and Badwani it is (23.47 lakh tonne, 330.8 lakh, and 800 tonne).    Soil and rainfall – the area has a uniform rainfall of around 675 mm with about 37 rainy days. The soil  is rich in copper and iron but lacks zinc supplements.                              The Bhil tribe dominates Nimar region (subzone). The area is comprised of the typical black cotton soils  in the cotton belt of Madhya Pradesh. The region is also known for its extreme hot and dry climate. The  economic  profile  is  mixed  with  around  10  percent  landless  and  another  30  percent  marginal  or  subsistence farmers. The area also has a good share of cash crops and it is estimated that more than  50  percent  of  the  area  is  under  cash  crops.  The  cash  crops  are  mainly  cotton,  chilly,  papaya  and  banana.  Bananas  are  also  grown  in  the  neighbouring  Maharashtra  district  of  Jalgaon,  which  has  influenced their cultivation in this region.   Though cotton is one of the major cash crops, it is also grown on hilly terrain without irrigation. But the  production  of  cotton  in  this  part  is  substantial  in  the  state  with  Khandwa  as  the  main  mandi  (agriculture produce market).   Water availability is low and, because of the hilly terrain, groundwater use is low. Use of technology is  good  as  well  as  knowledge  management.  The  region  is  vulnerable  to  drought  as  watershed  management  is  patchy.  During  the  earlier  exercise  with  some  of  the  development  workers  and  agriculture  experts  from  the  state,  three  priorities  were  identified:  groundwater  recharge,  on‐farm  water management and capacity development of user groups.             Three main priorities/constraints that could impact production and eradicate poverty in the region are  water management, market regulations and value addition to cash crops.

MALWA SUBZONE  Zone 4: Malwa Plateau plain zone  – Traditional agriculture (spices production)  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – Ujjain,  Dewas,  Dhar,  Rajgarh  and  Shajapur  comprise  the  Malwa  region  (minus Indore).  Indore, like Bhopal, has been excluded from the main zone because the city of Indore  dominates the district statistics. The region is a traditional agriculture rich belt. The average family size  is  5.74,  which  is  above  the  state  average  of  5.52  and  all  the  districts  have  family  sizes  from  5.69  to  5.87.

The  SC  population  is  29.17  percent  of  the  total  population.  All  the  districts  have  above  the  state  average for the SC population, the highest being in Ujjain (24.72) followed by Shajapur (21.98), Dewas  (18.26)  and  Rajgarh  (16.07).  Dhar  is  the  only  exception  with  lower  than  6.5  percent  for  the  SC  population.  The  region  is,  however,  occupied  by  rich  patidars  (land  owners)  with  many  pockets  of  poverty, which are inhabitted by the SCs.  The ST population is sizable (26.86) because of Dhar district  in the region. Only two districts: Dhar (54.5 percent) and Dewas (16.45 percent) have considerable ST  populations,  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)  the  work  force  is  made  up  of  almost  half  the  population,  while  in  Dewas  (44.37) and Ujjain (44.14) the percentage is not much lower. Women’s participation in the work force  at  39  percent  is  also  higher  than  the  state  average  and  is  one  of  the  highest  in  the  state.  Rajgarh  (45.21) and Shajapur (42.01) have some of the highest percentages for participation of women in the  work  force.  Dewas  (36.42)  and  Ujjain  (33.88)  have  relatively  lower  participation  of  women.  Women  work in agriculture and with 62 percent of girls marrying before the legal age of 18, their participation  is  a  forgone  conclusion.  Of  the  total  population  38  percent  are  cultivators,  which  is  more  than  the  state average. At 43.24, Rajgarh has one of the highest percentages of cultivators.   Landless  labourers  amount  to  15.38  percent,  which  is  almost  uniform  across  all  the  districts.  Urbanization is not as prominent; although a considerable percentage of Ujjain (38.74) is urban. This  could be because Ujjain is prominent as a pilgrimage centre. Dewas also has more than one‐quarter  (27.35) percentage of the total population living in urban areas. This is because of the industrial zone  in and near Dewas (Pitampur). Other districts have 16.56 (Dhar) 17.33 (Rajgarh) and 18.55 (Shajapur)  and overall 23.7 percent of the urban population, which could be termed as quite good.   At 53, the human development index is fairly placed. The lowest being in Rajgarh (0.46) and highest at  Dewas and Ujjain (0.57). The gender development index seems healthy at 0.58 and it is very high in  Dhar and Dewas (above 0.6) and low in Rajgarh (0.56).   Almost one‐quarter of the population in the zone lives below the poverty line (23.68). It is highest in  Rajgarh  (28.7)  and  lowest  in  Ujjain  (20.1).  Nevertheless,  one‐quarter  of  the  total  population  is  too  high.  About  60  percent  of  girls  marry  before  the  legal  age  of  18.  This  percentage  is  as  high  as  83.7  in  Shajapur  and  could  be  termed  as  one  of  the  highest  and  most  critical  districts  as  far  as  gender  discrimination  is  concerned.  Ujjain  has  a  relatively  lower  percentage  of  girls  (42.4)  who  are  married  before the legal age of 18.   Literacy – Just half the population in this zone is literate (very poor) and the literacy rate is lowest in  Rajgarh (36.40). At 50.97, the literacy rate is two points below the state average. The female literacy  rate  is  also  lower  than  the  state  average  and  at  24.63,  Rajgarh  again  has  one  of  the  lowest  female  literacy rates in the state.   Gender – The sex ratio is 937.5, a shade better than the state average of 918. All the districts are in a  narrow band of sex ratio between 926 and 938, except Dhar, the tribal district, which has 955. The SC  sex  ratio  is  reversed  (against  the  state  trend)  and  is  above  the  general  sex  ratio  by  two  percentage  points.  It  is  in  a  band  of  923  to  953  in  all  the  districts.  The  ST  sex  ratio  has  somehow  reversed  the  trend and at 937 is the lowest in all categories. It is 54 points lower than the state average and except  for  Dhar  (981)  and  Dewas  (955),  which  has  a  sizable  ST  population,  the  rest  of  the  districts  have  critically  lower  ST  sex  ratios  at  913  (Rajgarh),  918  (Shajapur)  and  920  (Ujjain).  Superficially  it  seems

that the general population is influencing the sex ratio, which is above the ST population and needs to  be ascertained.   The  female  literacy  rate  is  also  a  concern  and  critically  so  in  Rajgarh  (24.63).  It  is  below  40  in  two  districts and below 50 in the remaining two districts.   With 60 percent of girls marrying before 18, as high as 83 percent in Shajapur, the zone is very critical  for gender discrimination indicators.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – Kharif season cultivation is quite high at 70.58 percent, in a narrow  band of 67.40 to 73.86 in all districts, which is above the state average by 15 percentage points. Rabi  also shows the same trend across all districts.  Pulses – The  kharif  area  under  pulses  in  is  just  1.88  percent  and  is  well  below  the  state  average  of  98.49. The percentage for pulses in kharif areas are in a narrow band of 0.77 (Ujjain) to 2.68 (Rajgarh).  The  rabi  area  under  pulses  has  increased  phenomenally  to  62.65  percent  (but  the  rabi  area  is  only  29 percent) and is in a uniform band of 58.61 (Ujjain) to 66.79 (Dewas). For both kharif and rabi the  return on pulses is average (in kharif it is the same or marginally above the state average, while for  rabi it is lower than the state average by 11 points). The return for pulses seems to be on the low side  in this zone.   Cereals – The kharif area under cereals is very low and at 11.76 it is more than 20 points lower than  the state average. It varies in a broad band of 2.42 (Ujjain) and 5.45 (Dewas) to 15.90 (Shajapur) and  23.25 (Rargarh). For rabi the cereals are lower than the state average by more than 10 points, moving  in the narrow band from 32.37 to 40.62 for all districts.   The returns on kharif cereals are healthy at 0.78 and, except for Ujjain (0.51 which is on par with state  average of 0.50), the rest are from 0.75 to 0.84. In rabi the return is lower than the state average of  0.68. At 0.47, the yield is too low and is almost uniform for all districts.   The  total  kharif  area  under  pulses  and  cereals  is  less  than  15  percent.  The  kharif  area  is  almost  70 percent indicating that both are minor crops in this zone. Spices are the number one crop in this  zone. For rabi the total pulses and cereals are major crops but the area under rabi is very low at 29.42.   Land‐use pattern – At 8.45 percent, forest cover is very low and except for Dewas (29.46) the rest of  the  districts  have  almost  no  forest  cover  (Rajgarh/2.86,  Shajapur/0.97,  Ujjain/0.52)  and  is  quite  critical.  Grazing and pastures are comparatively better at 8.42 and double the state average. It is good in all  the districts and especially in Rajgarh (10.74). The net sown area is very high at 69.49 and is one of the  highest in the state. At 80.59, Ujjain has one of the highest net sown areas in the state.   Double cropping is also good and at 37.67 percent, it is more than double the state average. In Ujjain,  double cropping is more than half at 53.81.   Irrigation – Canals  and  tanks  are  almost  non‐existent  amounting  to  not  more  than  4 percent  cumulatively (1.69 and 1.84 for canal and tanks respectively). The distribution is in a narrow band of  0.50 to 2.57 for canals and 0.68 to 2.48 for tanks.   The  share  for  the  two  sources  is  almost  identical.  While  open  wells  occupy  the  number  one  spot  at  44.66  cumulatively  followed  by  42.06  percent  by  tube  wells,  which  are  the  major  source  for  Ujjain

(62.36) and Dewas (53.81). For Rajgarh, the open wells are in first position at 67.80 percent and for  Shajapur 51.74.   Though  tube  wells  are  number  two  by  source  share,  the  percentage  for  Rajgarh  is  18.88  and  in  Shajapur it is 33.20 is quite high.   Soil  and  rainfall – The  rainfall  is  average  at  883  with  36  rainy  days.  The  soil  has  adequate  to  high  copper and iron content and marginal to very low zinc content.  The  area  is  the  most  developed  industrial  belt  in  the  state  from  Dhar  to  Indore  and  stretching  to  Bhopal. About 10 percent of households are landless laborers in the rural areas and close to 30 percent  marginal farmers. Cash crops are important in this area with horticulture, spices, wheat‐soya, mustard,  cotton and tobacco.   Water  availability  is  good  as  is  the  use  of  groundwater  putting  the  area  in  the  critical  stage.  Technology  use  is  low;  flood  irrigation  with  some  minor  aberrations.  The  water  management  needs  much improvement.   The earlier exercise identified groundwater recharge, on‐farm water management, capacity building of  water  user  groups  and  water  harvesting  as  the  priority  areas.  Subsequently,  the  priority  areas  for  intervention  in  this  area  have  remained  the  same  with  watershed  management  as  a  solution  for  groundwater recharge as the number one priority and technological and knowledge management as  the  second  priority.  Both  these  measures,  it  is  assumed,  should  be  addressed  together  because  groundwater is depleting fast and needs to be recharged. In addition, the use of available groundwater  should be efficiently managed using technological as well as knowledge management.

MALWA EXTENSION ZONE  Zone 5: Eastern Malwa Extension Zone – quality wheat and pigeonpea  production  GENERAL INDICATORS  Composition – The region extends to the Malwa plateau to the east bordering or rather surrounding  Bhopal. The region comprises Vidisha, Raisen and Sehore districts, and bears characteristics common  to the Malwa region. The scheduled caste population is above the state average of 15.19 and is (18.9)  close  to  one‐fifth  of  the  total  population.  In  Sehore  it  is  more  than  one‐fifth;  Vidisha  (19.85)  and  Raisen  (16.37)  is  more  than  the  state  average.  The  tribal  population  is  just  10.46  percent,  nearly  50 percent of the state average. Vidisha has (4.88) the lowest tribal population.   Family  size  (5.71)  is  above  the  state  average  (5.52)  but  the  sex  ratio  (888)  is  well  below  the  state  average (918.5). The sex ratio in the SC category in Vidisha and Raisen districts is equally bad, less than  the other population and is a concern. The ST sex ratio in both districts is well below the ST sex ratio at  the state level, which is healthy at 976. The ST sex ratio is better than the SC or the general population  but is still at 931 and 45 points separate this from the state average and as such is a concern. It reflects  the relative influence mainstream society has had on the ST population and the less than general sex  ratio of the SC should be investigated further but could indicate persecution of dalits.

Development – The composite human development index is favourable at 0.54 and the gender index  is good at 0.54. The poverty rate though does not match the general human development index. More  than one‐third of the population/households (34.13 percent) live below the poverty line.   Literacy – The literacy rate in the zone is 52.42 percent. The literacy rate in Raisen is quite good and is  58.54 but there is a disparity between the literacy rate for males and females. In Raisen the disparity is  about 17 percentage points, and more than 20 percentage points in Vidisha and Sehore.   Gender – The sex ratio in all three districts is alarmingly low and should be a concern with  only 888  aggregate sex ratio in general and 883 for SC and 931 for the ST population. In the tribal communities  in this zone, the sex ratio varies more than 30, 22 and 46 points from the state average. There are two  or  three  probable  factors  for  a  low  sex  ratio:  one  could  be  the  influence  of  the  general  population,  which  traditionally  prefers  boys.  The  second  could  be  the  general  atrocities  and  violence  expressed  against women and girls by antisocial elements because females are considered to be a burden on the  family.    The  third  could  be  the  atrocities  and  violence  specifically  directed  against  the  economically  and  resource‐poor  weaker  sections  of  the  society.  Traditionally  dalits  and  tribal  populations  have  been  more  vulnerable  and  as  such  the  sex  ratio  in  these  two  categories  is  poor.  Another  indicator  is  prevalent child marriage. Reportedly, 53 percent of girls are married before the legal age of 18. The  reported occurrence of early/child marriage is exceptionally high in Vidisha at 60 percent.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – The percentage of area under kharif is about 43 percent of the total  area under production and is less than 12 percentage points from the state average of 55.85 percent.  The  rabi  area  under  production  is  quite  high  at  57.71  percent  and  higher  than  the  state  average  of  44.15 by almost 13 percentage points. This suggests there are better irrigation facilities for rabi crops  in this zone. Only Sehore has a higher percentage of area under kharif (63.7) than under rabi (36.3).  Pulses form 11.57 percent and cereals 19.23 percent of the kharif area under crops. Area under pulses  in kharif is more than the state average of 8.49 and also the area under pulses is more than 15 percent  points higher than the state average of 43.35 for the rabi season. Cumulatively the area under pulses  is very much higher than the state average for both seasons.   The kharif area under cereals is a lowly 8.3 percent, which is almost four times (32.67) less than the  state  average.  The  rabi  area  under  cereals  (40.56)  is  too  less  than  the  state  average  (45.87)  by  5  points.   Cumulatively pulses and cereals in the kharif area are about 20 percent, which means there are other  crops that occupy a major place in the kharif season. Of course, the contribution of pulses is not less  when compared to the state average. But the cereals area comparatively is far lower and less by four  times the state average.   Though 11 percent of the area is under pulses in kharif, the contribution of pulses is 1.70 percent to  the total production in kharif. The same goes for the rabi season with 59 percent of the area under  pulses cultivation contributing 28.87 percent to the total production.   Cereals  area  for  kharif  is  19 percent  of  the  total  and  the  contribution  to  the  production  is  just  3.23 percent.  For  rabi,  the  area  under  cereals  is  41  percent  and  contribution  to  total  production  is  31.63 percent.

The share of pulses to total production is about 30.57 percent (state average is 16.79) and cereals are  31.57  percent  (state  average  48.06).  Pulses  production  is  very  high  and,  together  with  cereals,  form  more than 75 percent of total production.   Land‐use pattern – Forest cover is near (26.67 percent) with the state average of 28.28. But there are  district disparities and Raisen has a fairly good forest cover of 39.31 percent. The area under pasture is  2.31  and  is  less  than  the  state  average  of  4.38  percent.  The  net  sown  area  is  60.75  and  is  13 percentage  points  higher  than  the  state  average.  Interestingly,  the  double  sown  area  is  21.36 percent  against  the  state  average  of  17.49  percent.  This  suggests  that  a  large  area  remains  fallow during the kharif season.   Irrigation – Tube wells (35 percent) are the major source of irrigation in the subzone with variations  across  the  districts.  This  is  followed  by  canal  irrigation  (22.1)  and  open  wells  (18).  The  tanks  form  a  miniscule (1.68 percent) of total irrigation. Tube well irrigation is 15 percentage points higher than the  state average, while canal use is higher by 5 percentage points. Open wells are almost 16 percentage  points  less  than  the  state  average  and  tanks  by  leass  than  1  percentage  point.  As  tank  irrigation  is  much less in the state (at 2.35), the further drop suggests that modern technology is mostly used for  irrigation  in  the  zone.  Canal  irrigation  is  well  placed  in  Raisen  with  almost  one‐third  of  the  total  irrigation potential.   Work force – The work force percentage in the Malwa extension zone is placed low for all districts at  38.54,  even  worse  is  the  participation  of  women  at  25.75.  Similarly,  cultivators  are  only  33  percent  and agriculture labourers are 20 percent.  Livestock production – The subzone is moderately placed in the field of livestock production. Annual  milk production is 165 and 124 000 tonnes for Vidisha and Raisen respectively. Meat production is also  moderate at 1 800 tonnes per annum. Egg production is low at 15.6 lakh for Vidisha and 48.2 lakh for  Raisen.  The  combined  cattle  and  bovine  population  of  these  districts  is  5.3  lakh  and  7.86  lakh  for  goats.  Soil and rainfall – With 43 rainy days and about 1 000 mm of rainfall, the area is moderately served.  Copper fertility and iron is rich whereas zinc is marginal to low in the area.   This is the wheat and pigeon pea belt of the state. The Sujata and Sharabati brands of rainfed wheat  are famous throughout the country. Landlessness is more pronounced in this area, more than one‐fifth  of rural households are landless. The social composition of the landless indicates the scheduled castes.  Of all farmers 30 percent are subsistence or marginalized and the family lives on less than 2 acres of  land. Cash crops are grown by 60 percent of farmers and wheat and pigeon pea are the two important  cash crops    Water availability is moderate and water use has been low. Technology and knowledge management  have a huge scope for improvement. In the first of its kind exercise for development workers, the group  identified  water  harvesting,  groundwater  recharge,  capacity  building  of  water  user  associations  and  on‐farm  management  as  top  priority  areas.  In  the  subsequent  exercise  water  management  was  identified as the top priority. There is minimum use of technology or of adaptation and are components  that  need  to  closely  followed  along  with  water  management  and  water  used  as  a  commodity  in  the  water management section. Fertilizers, especially unsuitable chemicals, are on the market and access  to  fertilizers  is  the  next  priority  for  the  area.  The  third  priority  is  the  development  of  infrastructure,  especially access to markets, development of mandis and quality extension services.   The  area  has  low  irrigation  potential  and  because  of  the  topography  it  is  suggested  that  the  top  priority should be water management with adaptive technologies.

Zone 6: Industrial/Urban Subzone of Malwa (Indore and Bhopal)  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic composition – The average family size is 5.39 and is below the state average. It is on a  par with the state average in Indore (5.51) and comparatively low at Bhopal (5.27).  The SC population is less than the state average at 14.88 and is in the narrow band of 14.00 (Bhopal)  and  15.75  (Indore).  The  ST  population  is  quite  low  at  4.97  with  Bhopal  accounting  for  3.29  while  Indore 6.65. This suggests that there has been less migration of the SC and ST to the urban centres in  MP.   Development – 34.16 percent of the population work and is less than the state average by 8 percent.  It is comparatively lower in Bhopal (32.08) than in Indore (36.24) and indicates that more children are  in school than in the rural areas.   Female  participation  is  a  lowly  17.04  percent.  The  urban  characteristics  show  more  women  are  in  schools and educational institutes than are working.   Just 11.81 percent of the population is cultivators, with Bhopal at the lower end with 9.62 and Indore  at the upper end (19.14). Landless labourers are 7.27 percent with Bhopal at the lower end at 5.65 and  Indore at the upper end at 8.89, which is less than the state average.   Urbanization is very high at 76.05 percent, which is understandable. Bhopal has a slightly more urban  population at 80.53, while the urban population of Indore is 71.57 percent. The human development  index  is  healthy  at  0.63  (Bhopal/0.61  and  Indore/0.64).  The  gender  development  index  is  healthy  at  0.62 with almost identical indices for both districts.   The percentage of poverty is somewhat high and could be linked to the large slum population living in  these two cities. At 36.5 percent, every third person in Bhopal is poor and in Indore this amounts to  32.8 percent of the population.   Despite the high urban population, the zone has a high early marriage rate for girls. At 38.60, it is one  of the higher rates of early marriage and fares worst than some of the southern districts. At 42.6 (with  71 percent urban population) in Indore almost half of girls marry before the legal age of 18. In Bhopal  this is 34.6 percent and every third girl is married before the legal age.   Literacy – At  63.40,  the  percentage  for  literacy  is  higher.  Both  districts  have  almost  similar  literacy  percentages at 62.91 (Bhopal) and 63.89 (Indore). Considering the high urban population, the literacy  rate is relatively low. Female literacy is at 55.46, which is numerically good but with the high human  development index, high gender development index and high urban population, the female literacy is  relatively low.   Gender – The state capital district of Bhopal has one of the worst sex ratios in the state at 895.3 in the  general  category.  Indore  is  relatively  better  off,  but  at  912  it  is  below  some  of  the  less  urbanized  districts.  Cumulatively,  at  903.90,  much  critical  thought  should  go  into  finding  and  addressing  the  causes.   The SC sex ratio is below the state average for Bhopal and is 902. Indore has a comparatively better SC  sex ratio at 939. Cumulatively, the sex ratio of SC in the zone is around 920.35 and should be termed  critical. The ST sex ratio for the first time is less than the SC sex ratio for both Bhopal (901) and Indore  (918) and cumulative score of 909.33.

The high rate of child marriages, low sex ratio in all categories and relatively low literacy rate places  the urban corridor of Bhopal‐Indore in the most critical bracket.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – Of the total area under cultivation, kharif is 56 percent and rabi is 44  percent.  Indore  has  a  high  kharif  area  at  62.07  and  Bhopal  has  exactly  50  percent  of  the  area  for  kharif.   Pulses – In kharif the area under pulses is very low at 0.70 percent. Bhopal has 1.1 while Indore has  just 0.30 percent of the kharif area for pulses. The rabi area for pulses is more than the state average  at 51.19, Indore has 62.84 and Bhopal 39.53 percent of the area under pulses. Considering the urban  population, the low area for kharif under pulses is justified.   The return from pulses grown during kharif and rabi is lower than the state average. At 0.19 and 0.23  respectively for Bhopal and Indore, the return from pulses in kharif does not justify cultivation. But the  dedicated area for pulses in kharif is almost negligible and as such could be ignored. In rabi the area  under  pulses  is  almost  half  of  the  total  rabi  area  (43  percent  of  the  total  cultivation  area)  and  the  returns of 0.29 (Bhopal) and 0.28 (Indore) are less than the state average of 0.33 percent and does not  justify dedication to such a large cultivation area in rabi.   Cereals – The area under cereals in kharif is about 4.07 percent and is eight times lower than the state  average. In rabi the cereals area increases to 48.37 percent and is above the state average. In kharif  the  return  from  cereals  is  below  the  state  returns  for  Bhopal  (0.42)  and  slightly  above  for  Indore  (0.53). In rabi, the returns remain less than the state average for both Bhopal (0.67) and Indore (0.58)   In  kharif,  the  combined  area  for  pulses  and  cereals  is  less  than  5 percent  of  the  total  area  under  cultivation. This implies that in kharif pulses and cereals are not major crops and some other crop/s  occupy  the  major  cropping  areas  in  both  districts.  In  rabi  though  the  combined  cereals  and  pulses  occupy almost the entire area under cultivation. Cereals are the major crops in rabi.   Land‐use pattern – Despite almost 76 percent being the urban population, a forest cover of 27.08 is  quite good and is one of the best in the state. In fact, at 38.3 Indore has one of the best forest covers  in the state and Bhopal at 15.87 percent is not too bad.   A total of 8.02 percent of grazing and pastureland is good and is double the state average. At 12.15,  Bhopal has one of the best grazing and pastures in the state, but Indore at 3.89 is on the low side.   With 50.09 percent of the net sown area, the area has quite high sown area in the state. In Bhopal it is  as high as 55.18, while in Indore it is 45 percent.  The double sown area is 28.15 percent and in Indore  it is 30.44 while in Bhopal it is 25.86.   Irrigation – Tube wells are primarily used for major irrigation at 49.54 percent and it is as high as 62.26  in Indore, while in Bhopal it is 36.82 percent. Open wells are a second major irrigation source at 21.75  cumulatively (Bhopal/29.48 and Indore/14.02). The third source is canals at 10.02 (Indore/13.43 and  Bhopal/6.61). The tanks are almost non‐existent at 1.24 (Bhopal/1.93 and Indore/0.56).   The region is in the critical zone because there is more than double the number of tube wells in the  zone than for the state average of 25.51 and for Indore at 62.26.   Soil and rainfall – Bhopal gets 892.1 mm rainfall in 38 rainy days while for Indore it is marginally better  at 903.9 with 40 rainy days. Soil copper and iron content is high to moderate respectively, zinc content  is marginal.

The  industrial,  urban  and  peri‐urban  area  that  stretches  from  Dhar  (Pitampur),  Indore  to  Bhopal  has  peculiar  characteristics.  Farmers  in  the  rural  areas  surrounding  the  urban  centres  have  large  landholdings  and  other  non‐farming  communities  and,  apart  from  vegetables  and  horticulture,  the  land is marked for industrial and or related housing development.  Close to 40 percent of the population in the area is landlessness. Landholders have been consolidating  their  landholdings  through  acquisitions,  large  landholders  account  for  more  than  40 percent  with  remaining  20  percent  subsistence  or  marginal  landholders.  Water  availability  is  moderate  but  could  become  critical  shortly.  Technology  use  is  high  for  flood  irrigation  but  the  efficient  use  of  water  resources and optimum returns on the use of technology are still areas requiring improvement. During  the earlier exercise, the three priority areas identified were groundwater recharge, micro‐irrigation and  on‐farm  water  management.  The  subsequent  exercize  prioritized  water  conservation,  groundwater  recharge and regulations as areas for intervention.   The area could absorb the urban unemployed as well as the peri‐urban unemployed youths. Towards  this  end,  there  is  a  need  to  create  a  water  bank,  water  management  skills  education,  shift  in  production with a focus on urban demand for vegetables, milk and the processing industry. Though, at  present,  these  are  two  disjointed  pockets,  the  thrust  of  development  in  the  state  is  concentrated  around  these  two  points.  Over  time  the  belt  could  become  a  consistent  semi‐urban  industrial  belt  covering two cities and other towns.

Vindhya Region  Vindhya  region  comprises  three  distinct  regions  and  is  known  for  its  complex  sociopolitical  and  agriculture land‐use system. One thing that stands out in the area is that there are many farmers with  large  holdings,  are  from  50  to  300  ha  each.  The  legacy  of  landholders  giving  shelter,  kutcha,  to  labourers  within  the  precincts  of  the  land,  makes  this  system  a  halwahi  system,  a  type  of  bonded  labour. The major crops produced in the state are rice, sugarcane, banana, pulses and wheat.  Bundelkhand – Bundel‐Khand,  and  probably  some  parts  of  Baghel‐Khand,  are  the  toughest  areas  to  work.  The  problem  is  basically  socio‐political  and  related  to  the  political  economy.  Issues  related  to  Bundel‐Khand  are  the  legacy  of  the  zamindari  system,  unresolved  agrarian  issues,  large  share  of  wasteland,  inefficient  use  of  water  tanks,  problems  of  large‐share  of  wasteland,  inefficient  use  of  water tanks, problems of fisher‐folk, rampant caste‐based politics.   Baghelkhand – The Land of Tigers, which is the literal translation of the name ‘Baghel‐khand’, was not  settled until the seventeenth century. Later, the rulers of the region adopted the title of Baghel. The  region  is  proud  of  its  white  tigers;  of  having  the  largest  national  wild  life  park  in  India;  of  being  the  energy capital of India, as a result of the many thermal and one hydropower plant, its strong industrial  base, especially cement and of having two well‐known seats of learning, the universities of Rewa and  Chitrakoot.  Vindhya  plateau – The  southern  slopes  of  the  range  are  drained  by  the  Narmada  river,  which  proceeds westward to the  Arabian Sea through the wide valley between the Vindhya range and the  parallel Satpura range farther to the south.  Hills of Chhattisgarh – The forest products produced are teak, saal, bamboo, sisal, mahua, tamarind,  haldu, saja, sheesham and various herbs.

THE BUNDEL‐KHAND REGION  Of the total 12 districts in the Bundel‐Khand region, seven are in UP and five are in MP. Four of the  five  MP  districts  are  well  known:  Tikamgarh  for  its  centuries‐old  water  tanks;  Sagar  district  is  the  leading  Beedi‐producing  district;  and  Chhatarpur  is  world‐famous  for  the  Khajuraho  temples  of  Lord  Vishnu;  Panna  is  known  for  its  National  Park  and  diamond  mines;  Damoh  was  once  inhabited  by  Cleopatra‐like ‘Rani Damyanti’, the consort of Nal; of Nal‐Damyanti‐Puranic‐fame. ‘Dammo’ or Damoh  was the nickname for Damyanti, so Damyanti gave her name to the district.   Bundel‐Khand, and probably some parts of Baghel‐Khand are the toughest areas to work. The problem  in  these  parts  is  related  to  the  socio‐political  and  political  economy.  Issues  related  to  Bundel‐Khand  are  the  legacy  of  the  Zamindari  system,  unresolved  agrarian  issues,  large  share  of  wasteland,  inefficient use of water tanks, problems of fisher‐folk, rampant cast politics, problems linked tp large‐ scale  stone‐quarrying;  halwahas;  women  beedi  workers;  child‐labour;  prevailing  untouchability;  exploitation; female foeticide; lack of reproductive health care; atrocities against women.   Bundel‐Khand does not have a large tribal population, except in some pockets of Damoh, Sagar, Panna  and  Chhatarpur.  Settlements  of  four  types  of  community  groups  occur  in  these  tribal  pockets.  They  are  Khairwars,  Gonds,  Bhumiyas  and  Bhils.  In  contrast  to  the  small  proportion  of  scheduled  tribes  Bundel‐Khand  has  a  large  share  of  scheduled  caste  population.  Overall  the  SC  proportion  in  the  Bundel‐Khand region is around 22.5 percent of the total population. The region is also characterized  by the vast stretches of wastelands.     Table 3 – Wastelands in Bundelkhand‐Region of MP  Bundelkhad Percent wasteland of total geographical area

Damoh

Panna

Sagar

Tikamgarh

Chhatarpur

25.56

17.91

20.45

41.64

17.94

(Source: Wastelands Atlas of India, 2000, Govt. of India)

Data for the status of groundwater in the Bundel‐Khand region is presented in Table 1.4.   Table 4 – Groundwater data in the Bundel‐Khand region  S. No.

District

Status of Groundwater

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.

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.

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.

Sagar

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

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‐Human Development Report Archive

UPPER BUNDELKHAND ZONE  Zone 11: Upper Bundelkhand Zone – low socio‐economic development, low  productivity wasteland  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – Tikamgarh  and  Chhatarpur  districts  are  representative  of  upper  Bundelkhand region. The average family size is less than 6, around 5.83, which is still higher than the  state average of 5.52. The larger family size is one constraint on the economic status of the family and  should be analysed along with the percentage of workers.      The scheduled caste population is 23.77 percent. Both districts have an almost identical SC population,  which  is  more  than  the  state  average  by  eight  percentage  points.  Almost  one‐quarter  of  the  population is SC and, together with the ST population (3.91 percent) is disadvantaged as far as access  to and control of resources is concerned, which are vital for development and progress.   Development – At 0.45, the human development index is average and the gender development index  is a further improvement on the generic HDI.   About  43.62  percent  of  the  total  working  population  is  above  the  state  average.  In  Tikamgarh,  this  percentage is 47.06 percent and almost half the population works, which may be high considering that  children make up more than 20 percent of the population and another 20 percent are elderly.   The  percentage  of  cultivators  is  high  (46.36)  and  there  are  few  landless  labourers  (8.12).  Cultivators  are more than the state average by 12 points and landless labourers are less than the state average by  6 points. This is a favouarble situation but needs to be analysed in connection with the irrigation and  returns on the area under cultivation.   Literacy – At 43.95 percent, the literacy rate is low, 11 points lower than the state average. At 32.19  the  female  literacy  shows  the  same  patterns  as  elsewhere  and  is  less  than  the  state  average  by  11  points.   Gender – This zone belongs to the category of districts having lowest sex ratios. At 877.55 and is 42  points lower than the state average; gender discrimination is pronounced. Both districts have similar  characteristics.   As the trends in the state suggest, the SC sex ratio is lower than the general sex ratio and is placed at  871.62. The ST sex ratio shows marginal improvements over the general and SC sex ratio but fails to  catch up with the tribal dominated zones healthy ST sex ratio, which is 933. The reason for this figure  could be the influence of the general population and eroding of tribal culture.   More than 70 percent of early marriages are reported; the zone is one of the most critical for gender  discrimination and opportunities to women.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – The kharif area is 36.40 percent of the total area; kharif season is 20  percentage points lower than the state average. The rabi area is 63.60 percent of the cropping area,  which is 20 points above the state average and may be attributed to better irrigation potential in the  zone.

Pulses – The kharif area under pulses is four times higher than the state average at 32.47 percent. The  rabi area under pulses is 10 points lower but almost equal to the kharif area, which is rare for all the  zones.   The  kharif  production  share  is  very  low  with  32.47  percent  of  the  area  the  returns  are  just  3.18 percent.  At  the  state  level,  with  8.49 percent  of  the  area,  the  returns  are  2.18  percent  of  total  production. At the state level for kharif, the returns are 0.25 percent while here the returns are as low  as 0.10 percent. In the rabi season there is marginal increase over the kharif season, which is better  than the state figures of 0.33 and 0.56 percent. Compared to the zones in the north, especially Datia,  Shivpuri, etc. the returns for rabi are not encouraging. It seems that the only input that goes into rabi  is water and crop management needs urgent attention.   Cereals – The kharif area under cereals is less than pulses and at 19.96 is less than the state average  by 13 points. The rabi cereals area has increased over pulses by 24 points, and over the state average  by 12 points. The major crop is cereals in rabi and pulses in kharif.   As the area under cereals in kharif is low, its share to total production is lower. The returns in kharif  are pegged at 0.28 percent against the state average of 0.50. The rabi production share is quite good  and  is  almost  40  points  above  the  state  average  and  also  better  than  the  pulses  in  rabi.  At  1.10  percent in Chhatarpur, the returns from cereals are far better than for pulses and Tikamgarh is not far  behind.   Land‐use  pattern – The  cumulative  forest  cover  is  not  healthy.  At  19.19  percent  this  is  average  but  Tikamgarh  has  just  13.6  percent,  while  Chhatarpur  has  24.79  percent  forest  cover.  The  pastures  in  Chhatarpur are 7.33 percent, while Tikamgarh is on a par with the state average of 4.38. Cumulatively,  pastures and grazing land is 6.09 percent and quite healthy. The net sown area is 39.25 percent and is  better  than  some  districts  in  other  zones.  Double  cropping  is  limited  to  14.05  percent  and  is  lower  than the state average.   Irrigation – Irrigation from tanks is higher than the state average by more than 2 percent and stands at  4.46  percent.  In  Tikamgarh  it  is  as  high  as  6.45  percent,  while  in  Chhatarpur  is  more  than  the  state  average.   The major source of irrigation is from open wells and at 75 percent, may be the highest in the state.  Along with tanks, this exceeds 80 percent, which means that the traditional sources, tanks and open  wells, are still the major sources of irrigation in the zone.   At  8.65  percent,  canal  irrigation  is  a  distant  second.  Tube  wells  have  the  lowest  position  at  3.08  percent and in Chhatarpur, tube well irrigation is just 0.75 percent of the total.   Livestock  development – Together  these  districts  produce  around  3  lakh  tonne  of  milk  as  per  2009  figures.  Egg  production  is  more  than  60  lakh  during  the  same  period  with  two‐thirds  coming  from  Tikamgarh district. Meat production is 2 000 tonnes. The subzone has around 11.7 lakh cattle, which  includes 7.7 lakh milch cows, 6.7 lakh buffalo, 8 lakh goats and 0.78 lakh ship heads.   Soil  and  rainfall – The  zone  has  an  average  of  36  rainy  days  and  an  average  rainfall  of  809.75  mm.  Chhatarpur  has  1 035.3  mm  rainfall  over  41  rainy  days,  which  is  quite  good,  and  Tikamgar  receives  584.2  mm  over  31  rainy  days,  which  is  scanty.  The  soil  has  rich  copper,  moderate  iron  and  low  zinc  content.    The  northern  tip  of  the  state  is  characterized  by  high  poverty,  low  education  level,  influence  of  traditional  value  systems  and  non‐adaptability to new forms of agriculture practices. The area  has a  high concentration of landlessness, along with a high level of subsistence farmers (30 percent landless

and  60  percent  are  subsistence  farmers)  throughout  the  state.  Water  use  has  been  low  as  well  as  access to water use. Technological adaptations and knowledge management are very low.   The  area  has  some  water  tanks  and  a  typical  agriculture  practice.  Watershed  management  is  the  priority  issue  in  this  area  followed  by  water  for  livestock  and  micro‐irrigation  for  horticulture.  Agriculture extension services are almost non‐existent and agricultural inputs are minimal.   Against this backdrop, the priority areas that need to be looked into are: development of knowledge  institutions for extension services; institutions for micro‐credit for agriculture operations and for value  additions and water management with specific focus on community water management and capacity  development for water user associations.

LOWER BUNDELKHAND‐VINDHYA ZONE  Zone 10: Lower Bundelkhand Zone – low socioeconomic development, low  productivity wasteland  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic composition – This region is comprised of the two districts of Sagar and Damoh spread  over the Vindhyan ranges north of the Narbada river. The average family size is around 5 and is well  below the state average of 5.52. The scheduled castes comprise one‐fifth of the total population in the  zone  and  both  the  districts  have  a  similar  percentage  (20  percent),  which  is  more  than  the  state  average of 15.19. The ST population is 11.14 percent and together with the SC population, the zone  has about 30 percent of the population belonging to disadvantaged groups.   The  workers  participation  rate  is  45  percent  and  42  percent  for  Damoh  and  Sagar,  respectively.  The  female participation rate is 36 and 30 percent respectively. A little less than three‐quarters of the total  workers  are  main  workers,  which  is  almost  equal  to  the  state  average.  The  percentage  of  main  workers is high.  Landless labourers are about 16.64 percent and cultivators are 23.33 percent lower  than the state average of 34.33 percent.   Development – HDI is 0.48 and can be considered average. The gender development index is 0.58 and  is higher than the general human development index. More than half the population lives below the  poverty line, which is high by any standard.   Literacy – The cumulative literacy of the zone is on a par with the state figures and is 52.42 percent.  The female literacy follows the same trend as state figures and is 41.36 percent.   Gender – The zone has a low sex ratio of below 900 and, cumulatively, is 892. Damoh is the better of  the  two  at  900  and  Sagar  at  884  is  on  the  lower  side.  The  sex  ratio  is  26  points  below  the  state  average, which is 918 and on the low side.  The SC sex ratio is lower (875). The ST sex ratio is 946 and  is below the state average by 30 points.   More  than  57  percent  of  girls  are  married  before  the  legal  age  of  18,  which  is  high.  The  urban  population in the zone is 24 percent and the rural is 75 percent.

AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping  area  and  production – The  kharif  area  is  34.60  percent,  which  is  almost  identical  in  both  districts.  The  figure  is  21  points  lower  than  the  state  average.  The  rabi  area  under  cultivation  is  21  points higher at 65.40 percent and both the districts have almost identical areas under rabi cultivation.  Pulses – Area  under  pulses  in  the  kharif  season  is  12.55  percent  of  the  total  and  there  is  not  much  variance in the two districts. The area is about five points higher than the state average. The rabi area  under  pulses  is  about  21  points  higher  than  the  state  average.  This  is  the  first  zone  where  pulses  in  both seasons occupy a greater area than the state average.   The return on pulses is very low in kharif and is about 12 points lower than the state average. In the  rabi  season  the  return  is  better  than  the  state  average  by  about  20  points.  The  kharif  area  (12.55  percent)  yields  a  1.74  percent  share  of  the  total  production  whereas,  at  the  state  level,  just  8.40 percent of the area returns 2.18 percent of total production.   This is the result for kharif, as is the case for the two northern zones. The picture for rabi is reversed  with  64.49  percent  of  the  area  returning  about  34.37  percent  of  production  against  the  state  area  average  of  43.35  returning  just  14.61  percent  of  total  production.  This  trend  is  reversed  in  rabi  for  yields  from  pulses  but  the  return  is  not  as  pronounced  as  for  Ashoknagar‐Guna  zone  or  the  other  northern zones, where the return is around 0.90 points and about 60 points higher.   Cereals – The area under cereals in kharif is about 25.80 percent and is 7 percentage points lower than  the state average. The districts have wild swings for cereals in kharif with Damoh having 43.75 percent  of its cropped area in kharif for cereals, while Sagar is very low at 7.85 percent. In rabi the area under  cereals is less than the state average at 33.12, and together Damoh has about 70 percent of the area  under cereals, while Sagar has just 47 percent under cereals.   On 25.80 percent of the area the return is just 7.40 percent of total production, while at the state level  the return is 16.44 percent with 32.67 percent of the area. The return is 0.28 points against a 0.50 at  the state level in kharif. In rabi the trend is reversed; with just 33.12 percent of the area the returns  are  40.04  percent  of  the  share  to  production.  That  is,  the  returns  at  0.98  percent  against  the  state  average of 0.68 in rabi. In Damoh, for example, the return is 1.10 percent and is more than 40 points  over the state average.   Land‐use pattern – The zone has good forest cover at 32.9 percent, which is above the state average.  Damoh  has  36.66  percent  and  Sagar  29.14  percent,  which  can  be  termed  as  adequate  forest  cover.  Pastures and grazing land is 6.50 percent, two points above the state level. In Sagar, the grazing and  pastures comprise 8.35 percent. The net sown area is less than half the total area at 47.64 percent and  in  Damoh  is  better  than  the  state  average  at  42.74  percent.  This  is  a  clear  deviation  from  the  other  zones where  the  net  sown  area is  much larger and the  returns smaller. The double cropping  area  is  16.19 percent and is on the lower side.  Irrigation – Open wells comprise 36.59 percent of the total irrigation potential in the zone against the  popular perception that tanks are the major source of irrigation in the area. In Sagar, which is called  the tank district, irrigation from open wells is 49.43 percent, while tank irrigation is only 1.08 percent.  The old Chandel tanks are gone but the effect of percolation has resulted in increased water level in  the wells.  Tube wells are second as the source of irrigation (in Damoh it is the primary source at 25.72 percent  against 23.77 percent for open wells, with 21.28 percent share. Canals are the third important source  at  5.69  percent,  Damoh  has  9.35  percent  of  irrigation  from  canals  and  Sagar  has  2.04  percent

irrigation from canals. Tanks in the state comprise 2.35 percent of irrigation, but the zone is below 1  percent at 0.75 percent.   Livestock development – Total cattle population is 5.91 lakh in Damoh and 8.80 lakh in Sagar, made  up of mostly indigenous breeds. Bovine register 1.3 lakh and 2.42 lakh respectively. There are 1.3 lakh  goats  combined.  Milk  production  during  2009  was  112  tonnes  and  195  tonnes  respectively.  Sagar  leads  in  egg  and  meat  production  with  123.4  lakh  and  5 000  tonnes  respectively,  compared  to  only  36.8 lakh tonne and 1 000 tonne for Damoh.   Soil and rainfall – The zone has an average of 43 rainy days with an average rainfall of 988.4, which is  quite good. The soil has good copper and iron content but has low to moderate zinc content.  The  area  is  marked  by  large  malgujari  tanks  that  are  either  taken  over  by  the  government  departments, or still owned by private parties. Most villages have at least one tank and some of the  villages have more than one tank. The tanks are used for two purposes: for irrigation and fishing. In the  last few years, there have been conflicts between the fishing community and the agrarian community  over the access, control and management of the tanks.   There  is  moderate  poverty  but  about  20  percent  of  the  household  is  landless  and  50  percent  are  subsistence farmers. Only 30 percent of the total sown area is under cash crops.   Water availability is moderate. The malgujari tanks are either not maintained or are silted, or the area  under the water body is shrinking. The ownership‐control‐management of the water tanks is a critical  issue. In the ensuing conflict, the water bodies are not being conserved and developed.  The use of technology has been almost non‐existent. In the absence of knowledge transfer the need for  a water governance mechanism is acutely felt. In the first exercise, groundwater recharge was the top  priority  identified  followed  by  rehabilitation  of  tanks  and  micro‐irrigation  for  horticulture.  In  the  subsequent exercise, access to water and irrigation structures have been added to the list of priorities.  Taking into account the above background the most important issues to be addressed are:   i) Establishment of an efficient mechanism for the governance and management of the existing water  tanks. The state has taken over ownership of some tanks but many are still owned by private owners.  Policy  level  changes  need  to  be  in  place  to  ensure  that  water  bodies  are  a  state  resource  and  that  community  or  institutional  governance  mechanisms  are  established.  In  the  absence  of  such  an  intervention  there are conflicts  between the  agrarian and fishing communities, and the result  is  that  the water bodies are slowly deteriorating. There is much scope for the efficient use of the water bodies  to alleviate poverty with proper policy changes.  (ii) Creation of new water bodies: there is a reduction in the number of water bodies but the cropping  area is increasing. This is because attention has not been given to the creation of water bodies in the  area. The area has a rich tradition of water bodies, and their use is traditional.   (iii) Establishment of knowledge management (agriculture extension services, community traditions of  knowledge  transfer,  adaptations  to  new  technologies,  alignment  with  new  concepts  of  water  as  commodity and sale value, etc.).

THE BAGHEL‐KHAND REGION  When  Huen  Sang,  the  Chinese  Budhist  scholar,  visited  India  in  the  sixth  century  he  found  that  this  region adjoining the western part of Allahabad was a large, thickly forested region and there were few  settlements. Major settlements began to be established after the sixth century.

Baghelkhand region is proud of its: white tigers. The first‐ever white tiger, called Mohun, was spotted  in this region; the largest National Wildlife Park in India, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which is over  2 000 km2 starts in this region, in Kushmi block of Sidhi district. There is also the Bandhavgarh Tiger  Reserve in the region; and the region retains the status of being the energy capital of India. Singrauli  has six huge power generation units, which together generates about 60 percent of the total energy  needs  of  the  capital.  There  are  also  cement  factories,  and  two  universities  Rewa  and  Chitrakoot  University. The literal meaning of Baghelkhand is – the Land of Tigers. Even the rulers of Baghelkhand  adopted  the  surname  of  Baghels  or  tigers  for  themselves.  Baghelkhand  region  did  not  have  any  significant human settlements until the seventh century. Huensang a Buddhist scholar who travelled  from  China  to  India  during  the  Raja  Harsha  Vardhan’s  rule  of  North  India,  in  the  seventh  century  referred extensively to the region in his travel memoirs.  The halwahi system is prevalent in this region. There are many farmers with between 50 ha to 300 ha  each.  The  legacy  of  giving  residential  houses  to  labourers  within  the  precincts  of  lands,  by  the  large  landlords, makes it the potent halwahi system. In other words, the labourers find it difficult to severe  their relations with their host landlords and still survive.    The status of groundwater in the Baghelkhand region is shown in Table 5.  Table 5 – Groundwater in Baghelkhand region  S. No.

District

Status of Groundwater

Rewa

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

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

Umaria

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

Sidhi

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

Shahdol

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‐Human Development Report Archive

EASTERN BAGHELKHAND ZONE  Zone 13: Eastern Baghelkhand zone ‐ Forest, game reserve and energy  production  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – The  region  comprises  three  districts  Anuppur,  Shahdol  and  Sidhi.  The  average family size is just above 5 at 5.12, but there are variations within the zone: Shahdol has 4.89  were as Anuppur (5.00) and Sidhi (5.48) above five. All three districts have less than the state average  family size.

This is also a tribal dominated zone with a cumulative percentage of 35.37; Shahdol has the highest ST  population  at  44.48  percent  while  Anuppur  has  31.73  and  Sidhi  has  29.89.  All  three  are  above  the  state average for the ST population.  The SC population is less than the state average at 9.60 percent and all the three are in the band of  7.36 to 11.85 percent.   Together, SC and ST form 45 percent of the total population, which exceeds 50 percent in Shahdol at  51.84 percent. The other two districts have more than 40 percent of the total population.   Development – About  39.59  percent  of  the  population  works  and  is  less  than  the  state  average  by  three  points.  Cultivators  make  up  30.77  percent  of  the  population,  which  is  low  in  Anuppur  (21.83)  and high in Sidhi (39.31). Landlessness follows a similar pattern with an average of 13.28 percent, low  in Anupur (10.38) and high in Sidhi.   The HDI is almost uniform at 0.47 and could be termed satisfactory. The gender development index is  higher at 0.57. About 35 percent of inhabitants live below the poverty line, which is uniform across the  districts.    Literacy – Is a shade below 50 percent. Cumulatively literacy in the zone is 48.06 percent. There are no  large variations in this zone. Anuppur has 53.94 percent literacy followed by Shahdol with 48.73 and  Sidhi 41.50. Female literacy is 19 points lower than for male literacy and is somewhat lower than the  state average.   Gender –  The  sex  ratio  is  uniform  in  all  three  districts.  Cumulatively  this  is  944.14  and  is  26  points  higher than the state average. The sex ratio in the SC category (as for other tribal dominated zones) is  950 and better than the general population. This is against the state trends where the SC sex ratio is  the lowest. In this zone the sex ratio is uniform for all three districts and is 45 points higher than the  state average.   All three districts are above the general sex ratio, which is a healthy sign. In the ST category, the sex  ratio is 979, which is marginally higher than the state average because of Sidhi where the ST sex ratio  is equal to the SC sex ratio at 950. In the other two districts, the sex ratio for ST is 995 for Anuppur and  993 for Shahdol. Early marriages are 67 percent, which is similar to other high early marriage districts  despite the very high tribal population. There is a need for gender equity.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – The kharif area in this zone is high at 75.43 percent, which is higher  than the state average by 20 percentage points. In Shahdol the kharif area is about 84 percent and in  Auppur it is 77.34 percent. Sidhi has a comparatively lower kharif area at 64.76 but is still quite high. In  rabi the average area under cultivation is far less and 20 points lower than the state average.   Pulses – The  area  under  pulses  in  kharif  is  very  low  but  still  higher  than  the  state  average  of  8.49 percent. At 11.90 it seems impressive but this is because of Sidhi, which has 20.28 percent of its  kharif area under pulses, while Anuppur (5.94) and Shahdol (9.46) have less area under pulses.  In  rabi  the  area  under  pulses  is  20  percent  points  lower  than  the  state  average.  Again,  Sidhi  has  a  considerable  area  (27.19)  in  rabi  for  pulses  while  Anuppur  has  27.66  percent  of  the  area  for  pulses.  Shahdol has a lower area dedicated for pulses in rabi.   The return in kharif is higher than the state average at 0.47 percent. Anuppur returns are 0.36 percent  and Shahdol 0.54. The returns on pulses in rabi show a downward trend at 0.16 (the state average is  0.33). The returns are as low as 0.07 for Shahdol and 0.12 for Anupur, while Sidhi is a satisfactory 0.24.

Cereals – More  than  two‐thirds  of  the  area  is  under  cereals  in  kharif  79.60  percent,  with  almost  60  percent in rabi.   Cereals  share  are  in  a  narrow  band  of  71  to  84  percent  in  kharif  and  50  to  68  percent  in  rabi.  The  production share of cereals is quite good and indicates better results at 0.84 percent against the state  returns  of  0.50  in  kharif.  The  top  two  producers  are  Anuppur  and  Shahdol  with  identical  returns  of  0.91 are exemplary. Only in Sidhi the returns are close to the state level but still higher by 18 points.   In rabi the returns are lower and are almost half the state average. Ranging from 0.19 in Shahdol to  0.24 in Anuppur and there are somewhat better returns of 0.47 in Sidhi. The low return from rabi for  both the pulses over kharif is a phenomenon in this region.   Looking  at  both  the  pulses  and  cereals  returns  in  both  the  seasons,  it  seems  that  the  kharif  has  an  advantage over the rabi crops. This could be attributed to uncertain irrigation along with inadequacies  in soil and crop management.  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,  which could be below the state average but is not bad compared to some of the tribal districts.   The grazing and pasture is uniform across the three districts and is a bare minimum of 1.21 percent.  The net sown area is 35 percent and could be termed good. The double‐cropped area is much less at  8.81 (as low as 5.15 in Shahdol) and there is scope for improvement.   Irrigation – Open wells are the main source of irrigation in this zone and at 33.51 percent represent  one‐third of the total irrigation potential. Two districts have about 41 percent of open well irrigation  and Shahdol has 18 percent from this source.   Canals  are  the  second  major  source  of  irrigation,  which  is  uniform  across  the  three  districts  and  is  cumulatively  21.58  percent.  Tube  wells  are  the  third  most  important  source  of  irrigation  with  12.79 percent,  and  increasing.  In  Sidhi  there  is  19.49  percent  irrigation  from  tube  wells,  which  is  1  point  off  the  share  from  canals,  in  Shahdol  this  is  12.38  percent  and  in  Anuppur  it  is  stable  at  6.51  percent.  Tanks form 4.23 percent of the share, which is because of Shahdol, which has 8.46 percent and is one  of the best in the state. At 3.43, Anuppur is not too bad for tank irrigation.   Soil and rainfall – Rainfall is average at 890 mm and it is quite good in Shahdol at 986 mm and low in  Sidhi at 814 mm. There are 46.66 days of rain and the relief spread is good, especially in Shahdol with  51 rainy days and 48 in Sidhi.   This is an extension of the zone number 11 and 12 but with minor changes. Poverty levels are very high  but there is a lower level of landlessness. The area under cash crops is negligible and almost 80 percent  of  farming  is  subsistence.  Water  availability  is  moderate  to  high  but  access  is  low.  Technological  adaptability is very low along with extension services.  There is an absence of infrastructure in the area: institutional as well as access to roads and electricity.  The  high  level  of  marginal  farming  needs  to  be  consolidated  with  water  user  groups  and  knowledge  transfer.  The  use  of  fertilizers  is  too  low  and  productivity  is  affected.  Need  for  an  institutional  mechanism for farming inputs is a priority.

WESTERN BAGHELKHAND ZONE  Zone 12: Western Baghelkhand zone ‐ Forest, game reserve and energy  production  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – The  districts  of  Rewa,  Satna,  Umariya  and  Panna  comprise  the  Baghelkhand  region.  The  land  of  tigers  is  now  famous  for  its  white  tigers.  The  average  family  size  is  just above 5 at 5.25 and two of the districts Panna and Rewal have family sizes of 5.14 and 5.04, which  is less than the state average of 5.52 and can be considered good.        The SC population of the zone is 14.66 percent, but is unevenly distributed in the four districts. While  Panna has a high of 20 followed by Satna with 16.27 and Rewa by 15.57 (all above the state average of  15.19),  Umraiya  has  just  6.81  percent  of  the  SC  population.  The  ST  population  in  the  zone  is  21.66,  which is more than the state average. The ST population is unevenly distributed with Umariya having  around 44 percent of the ST population and Panna (15.39), Satna (14.34) and Rewa have 12.87.   Together ST and SC population exceeds 50 percent in Umariya while in Panna is more than one‐third  (35.39),  Satna  (30.61)  and  Rewa  (28.44).  Cumulatively,  for  the  zone,  the  SC  and  ST  population  comprises 36.32 percent of the total population and is a major block in socio‐political developments.   Development – 42.34 percent of the total population works, less than the state average. This ratio is  almost uniform across all the districts in a band of 39.85 and 43.73 percent.  Cultivators  represent  31.53  percent,  against  the  state  average  of  34.33,  and  in  the  band  of  27.53  (Rewa) and 37.69 (Panna). There are 17.11 percent landless labourers with Rewa having 20.70 and the  Umariya with 14.38 percent. The average for the zone is greater than for the state.   Urbanization is not pronounced in the zone and Panna has 12.66 percent urban population and Rewa  has 20.70 percent. The HDI is 0.44, which is a shade below the average and is uniform across all the  four districts. The gender development index is better placed at 0.55.  Poverty or economic conditions are uniformly spread across all four districts. About 28.85 percent of  populations/households  live  below  the  poverty  line  with  Umariya  at  33.4  followed  by  Rewa  at  29.4,  Satna at 28.8 and the least is Panna at 23.8. With more than 36 percent of the vulnerable population  and about 21.66 percent of the ST population, these figures for those living below the poverty line are  encouraging.  Literacy – Is a shade below 50 percent. Cumulatively literacy in the zone is 49.98 percent. There are no  great variations in this zone. In Satna there is 52.66 percent literacy followed by Rewa with 50.24 and  Panna (49.11) and Umariya (47.93).   The trend at the state level is maintained and female literacy is 22 points lower than for male literacy.  The  trend  lines  are  similar  across  the  four  districts  with  Satna  topping  female  literacy  with  41.58 percent followed by Rewa with 38.62 and Panna with 38 and Umariya with 36 percent female  literacy.  Gender – The  zone  is  better  placed  than  some  of  its  northern  counterparts  in  the  sex  ratio.  Cumulatively the sex ratio is 928 and is 10 points higher than the state average. It would have been  much higher but Panna (901) has bought down the ratio to its present level. The sex ratio is quite good  in Umariya (946) and Rewa (941), while Satna has fairly satisfactory ratio of 925. The high sex ratio in

Urmariya may be attributed to 44 percent of the ST population and, in this category; Umariya has 972  sex ratio, less than 2 points off the state ST ratio.   The cumulative SC sex ratio is above the state average and looks good at 930.23. But there are wild  swings and concern in Panna (895) and better performance from Umraiya (950), Rewa (939) and Satna  (937). Umariya has consistently better sex ratios in this category, which may be affected by the tribal  culture  influencing  the  sex  ratio  among  the  most  vulnerable  communities  (because  of  unsocial  elements and groups).   The cumulative ST sex ratio is healthy at 946.90. The influence of other factors can be discerned in the  sex ratio of the three districts having less than a 950 sex ratio in the ST category. Even then the sex  ratio is far better than some of the northern counterparts. Umariya has a better SC sex ratio with just  6.81 percent  of  the  population.  This  could  be  attributed  to  the  presence  of  the  tribal  population,  which is almost half of the total population in the district.   About 60 percent of girls are married before the legal age. The trend suggests that this is universal for  Madhya Pradesh, and despite a high ST and SC population, the percentage has not increased.  Gender discrimination is less severe in this zone and there are some positive trends that can be noted  in gender equity.    AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping  area  and  production –  About  45.92  percent  of  the  area  is  under  kharif  cultivation  and  is  10 points  lower  than  the  state  average  of  55.85.  The  kharif  cultivation  area  is  unevenly  distributed  with Umariya (66.30) at one end and Panna (31.26 and less than half of Umariya) at the other and in  between Rewa (46.05) and Satna (40.08) have an average kharif area.   The trend is reversed in rabi with Panna (68.74) at the top end and Umariya (33.70) at the lower end.  In  between  Rewa  (53.95)  and  Satna  (59.92)  have  substantial  gains  over  the  kharif  area  and  at  54.08 percent cumulatively the zone is ahead of the state rabi average by 10 points.   Pulses – The area under pulses in kharif is 13.95 and is about 5 points higher than the state average.  There  is  variance  in  the  kharif  pulses  cultivation  area  with  Satna  having  the  maximum  area  of  20.01 percent  under  pulses.  Satna  has  40.08  percent  of  the  kharif  area  and  out  of  this  about  half  is  under pulses. By contrast, Umariya has 66.30 percent of the kharif area and just 8.75 percent of this is  for pulses. Panna has 63.09 percent of its area under pulses in rabi, while Rewa has just 33.60 of its  53.95 percent rabi area under pulses.   Panna  (63  of  68  percent  and  14.19  of  31.26  percent)  has  one  of  the  highest  areas  under  pulses,  followed by Satna (45.45 of 59.92 and 20.01 of 40.40).   From an average 13.95 percent of kharif area, the share of pulses production is 3.23 or 0.23 percent  returns against the state average of 0.25 percent. Umariya has a very low area under pulses but has  one of the better returns of 0.46 percent in kharif, while Panna, which has a very high area in kharif  has a very low return of 0.14 percent.   With  44.32  percent  of  the  kharif  area,  the  return  is  21.28  percent  share  of  total  production.  This  is  better (0.48) than the state average of 0.33 percent. The return from rabi in Umariya contrasts that for  kharif returns and is very low at 0.23 percent. The adaptability of pulses in rabi in Umariya needs to be  further  investigated.  The  rest  of  the  district  have  better  rabi  returns  ranging  from  Panna  with  0.64,  which  has  very  low  kharif  returns  at  0.14,  to  Satna  with  0.42,  which  has  lower  returns  in  both  the  seasons with 0.18 percent in kharif.

Cereals – The  area  under  cereals  in  kharif  is  more  than  pulses  and  at  69.80  percent  is  more  than  double the state average. Umariya has a high of 85 percent of its area in kharif dedicated to cereals,  followed by Panna with 74.19 percent and Rewa with 72.32 percent. Only Satna has 46.71 (below fifty)  percent of the kharif area under cereals, which is more than the state average of 32.67 percent.   In rabi the area under cereals is less than the kharif area but is almost on a par with the state average.  There are two groups here: at one end is Rewa with 60.11 percent and Satna with 51.79 percent of the  rabi  cereal  area.  The  other  group  is  Umariya  (31.60)  and  Panna  (34.69  percent)  rabi  area  under  cereals.   The  return  from  cereals  in  kharif  is  almost  equal  to  the  state  returns  but  districts  have  their  own  variations. Panna has a return ratio of 0.26 percent, which is the lowest and Umariya has a return of  0.74, which is the highest. Incidentally, Umariya has better returns for both pulses and cereals in kharif  and Panna has poor returns for these two crops in kharif.   The  return  from  rabi  follows  similar  trends  for  pulses.  At  0.76  percent,  the  cumulative  returns  are  better by 8 points over the state average but Panna (0.98) and Satna (0.92) have pulled the average  up, while Umariya (a strange case of rabi lower outputs) with 0.48 and Rewa (0.64) have pulled the  average down.  A general inference could be drawn from this situation, Umariya’s better results for kharif rather than  for rabi needs to be studied to discover the factors contributing to this high return for kharif and low  return for rabi.   Land‐use pattern – Cumulative forest cover is one of the best in the state at 34.06 and some of the  districts  have  far  better  forest  cover.  Umariya  for  example  has  exemplary  forest  cover  of  52.56 percent  (this  may  solve  some  of  the  mystery  surrounding  the  high  returns  in  kharif);  Panna  (42.64) also has good forest cover. A good forest cover along with high tribal percentage is the factor  contributing  to  the  better  results  in  Umariya  during  the  kharif  season,  but  has  not  helped  Panna  district. In addition, Satna 27.43 and Rewa 13.62 percent forest cover is not too bad.   Grazing and pastureland cover only 2.88 percent and is as low as 1.18 percent in Panna and 2.74 in  Satna. Rewa (4.27) and Umariya (3.36) are relatively better off but the state average is 4.38 and the  zone does not have good grazing and pasture reserve.  The net sown area is 39.66 percent and is better than some of the other districts in other zones. There  are  variations  with  Rewa  having  56.02  percent  of  the  net  sown  area  followed  by  Satna  (45.97).  Umariya (23.37) and Panna (33.3) have decent percentages of sown area.   Double cropping is low, and lower than Panna (4.96) and Umariya (7.11), satisfactory in Rewa (20.08)  and Satna (15.48). There is scope for double cropping in Panna and Umariya.   Irrigation – Tube wells are the major source of irrigation at 26.03 (on par with state average). But it is  as high as 45.20 percent in Satna and 33.91 percent in Rewa, which should place these two in a critical  stage. The second source is open wells at 25.19 (well below the state average of 39.55) and there is  uniformity  across  all  the  districts.  The  third  source  is  canal  irrigation  at  11.93  and,  except  in  Satna  (4.96), the rest of the districts have from 11.59 (Panna) to 16.12 (Rewa) but is below the state average  of 18.12 percent. Tanks make up 4.61 percent (state average 2.35) and are as high as 7.08 in Panna, to  5.30 in Umariya, and 3.43 in Satna and 2.67 in Rewa. Tanks seem to be the second source of irrigation  after open wells that are preferred in the tribal and forest‐covered districts of Panna and Umariya.

Soil  and  rainfall – Rainfall  is  good  at  999.92 mm  and  43  rainy  days.  It  is  better  in  Panna  at  1 196  followed by Umariya 984 and Satna (965). It is 852 in Rewa, which is the odd district out of this good  relief zone.   The Land of Tigers, which is the literal meaning of Baghel‐khand, did not have any human settlement  until the seventh century AD. Later the rulers of the region adopted the title of Baghel. The region is  proud  of  its  white  tigers,  the  largest  National  Wild  life  Park  of  India,  and  it  is  the  energy  capital  of  India.  The  region  has  a  strong  industrial  base,  especially  cement  and  two  well‐known  universities:  Rewa and Chitrakoot.  The halwahi system is prevalent in this region as many farmers having holdings of between 100 and  300 ha. The legacy of landowners providing residential space to farm labourers means that there is a  greater possibility of the halwahi system being practiced in this region.  The  skewed  land  use  along  with  lower  area  for  cultivation  means  there  are  a  higher  proportion  of  marginal and small‐scale farmers.  The  uneven  topography,  poor  soil  quality  and  low  irrigation  levels,  despite  the  reasonably  good  groundwater, makes small farmers lives difficult.  The people more as a tradition rather then an enterprise practice animal husbandry.

The Mahakaushal region  Mahakaushal region had 17 districts in Central Province and Berar, until 1947. Of these, eight districts  are now in MP. Four districts have gone to Chhattisgarh state, three districts to Maharashtra and three  to Andhra Pradesh. These districts were once called Gondwana region. These eight districts are now  eleven districts. The area left in MP is now called central Gondwana region.   Mahakaushal  region  is  famous  for  the  highest  peak  in  the  Satpura  hills  and  the  town  of  Pachmadhi  that surrounding it, which is the only hill‐station in Madhya Pradesh. The region is also famous for its  three  major  rivers  the  Narmada,  Tapti,  which  are  west  flowing  rivers  to  the  Arabian  Sea  and  Wainganga of Balaghat, Wardha river of Chhindwara merge with Indravati river that flows from Bastar  district in Chhattisgarh state and then to Godavari. Narmada river is considered to be a holy river, as is  the  Ganges  by  the  Hindu  residents  of  Madhya  Pradesh.  The  Kanha  Tiger  Reserve  is  famous  for  the  large number of tigers and bisons, and the legendary elephant.  In addition, there are the districts of Chhindwara and Betul, which have half a dozen coalmines and  one  thermal  power  unit  is  located  at  Sarni,  in  Betul  district.  (Then  there  is  the  densest  forest  in  the  state and in this region. The forest of the Bori range, forests of Pachmadhi Bio‐Reserve and the Pench  forests are very thick. This region has a large tribal population, 43 percent of the total population is  comprised of Gonds, Baigas, Bharias and Korkus, the four major tribes of the Mahakaushal region.   The region has five medium and major dams built on the Narmada and other rivers flowing through it.  Jabalpur  is  the  largest  town  in  this  region.  This  region  is  rich  in  natural  resources  and  rainwater,  although there is a lack of enterprise and technology.   The  Mahakaushal  region,  which  mostly  lies  in  the  Maikal  and  Satpura  hills  region  south  of  Narbada  river,  starts  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  state  adjoining  the  Chhattisgarh  state  and  moves  down  stream of Narmada up to Hoshangabad. Linguistically and culturally the region is of Mandla, Dindori,  Balaghat, Betul, Chhindwara, Hoshangabad, Jabalpur, Seoni and Umaria districts in the state.    The Maikal hills region – This is a rice belt comprising mainly the districts of Mandla and Dindori, and  partly the areas of Jabalpur and Seoni. Baiga and Gond are the main tribes.

Narmada Valley region – Comprises the fertile plains of Hoshangabad, Harda, Narsinghpur, Jabalpur,  Katni.  Satpura Hills region – The Satpura hills are known for the hill queen Pachmarhi and the Tamia forest  area  Bharia  is  one  of  the  tribes  of  Chhindwara  and  Korku  in  Betul  areas  in  addition  to  the  majority  Gond tribe.  Chhattisgarh  Plains – is  the  rice  belt  of  Balaghat,  known  for  more  than  one  hundred  local  paddy  varieties.   The topography of the region is a key parameter.   Socio‐economic distribution – Underdeveloped tribes, Korku, Gond.  Cropping pattern – Wheat, rice, pulses, soya bean, vegetable, horticulture.  Mining – Katni, Jabalpur, Betul, Chindwara mine granite, marble, coal.  Rainfall – Mandla, Betul, Balaghat (high but erratic rains).  Market  (Mandi) – The  large  markets  are  Jabalpur,  Hoshangabad,  Itarsi,  Betul,  Chindwara,  Seoni,  Mandla, Balaghat, Katni, Harda, Narsinghpur, medium‐size markets are in Dindori, Pandurna, Multai,  Kareli and the small market is in Nainpur.  Fisheries are in Jabalpur, Mandla, which is part of Balaghat.  Agriculture – Vegetables  are  cultivated  in  Chindwara  and  Jabalpur.  There  are  sugar  mills  in  Narsinghpur, Betul and Mandla. Livestock is raised in Jabalpur and Narsinghpur. Sericulture is carried  out  in  Mandla.  (NTFP)  timber  Forest  Products  in  Harda,  Chindwara,  Mandla.  Dindori,  Seoni  and  Balaghat. Bed ornaments are made in Mandla, jute in Dindori.   Table 6 shows groundwater status in the Mahakaushal region.   Table 6 – Groundwater status in Mahakaushal region  S. No.

District

Status of Groundwater

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Katni

All blocks fall in the white zone.

Mandla

All blocks fall in the white zone..

Dindori

All blocks fall in the white zone..

Seoni

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

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..

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‐Human Development Report Archive

THE SATPURA HILLS MAHAKAUSHAL ZONE  Zone 15: Satpura Hills Mahakaushal Zone – Tribal forest gatherers and dry land  farmers  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – Betul  and  Chhindwara  tribal  districts  comprise  this  zone.  The  average  family  size  is  around  5.41  and  is  below  the  state  average.  It  is  higher  in  Betul  at  5.60  and  lower  in  Chhindwara at 5.21.  At  11.08  the  SC  population  is  less  than  the  state  average  and  is  similar  in  both  districts.  The  ST  population is more than one‐third at 37.05. In both districts, the ST population is more than one‐third  39.41 in Betul and 34.68 in Chhindwara.   Both  Betul  and  Chhindwara  are  among  the  districts  with  a  majority  of  ST  population.  With  the  SC  population, the total block forms almost half the total population.   Development – A total of 43.15 percent of the total population work, which varies from 44.15 (Betul)  to 42.15 (Chhindwara). These figures are on par with the state average in one district and marginally  above in the another. Female participation is more than one‐third and is above the state average.   There  are  just  33.33  percent  of  total  cultivators,  which  is  a  little  below  the  state  average.  Both  the  districts  have  similar  figures.  There  are  16.35  percent  landless  labourers  and  the  two  districts  are  above the state average of 14.53.   About 21.52 percent of the population lives in urban areas. The figure is higher for Chhindwara 24.46,  almost one‐quarter of the total population and lower for Betul (18.57). Urbanization is on the upswing  in the non‐tribal areas of both the districts.   The zone’s HDI is 0.48 and is neither good nor bad comparatively. The gender development ratio is on  par with the best in the state at 0.6 and is uniform for both the states.   The  poverty  rate  is  very  high  and,  at  48.40  percent  and  every  other  person  is  poor.  This  is  a  very  critical condition, especially in Betul where 65.6 percent of the population lives under the poverty line.  In Chhindwara every third person is poor, poverty in the zone is critical.    There are fewer early marriages as compared to other northern counterparts. At 29.50 percent there  are  early  marriages  but  this  is  low  compared  to  the  highs  of  above  60  percent  in  some  of  districts.  Gender discrimination could be termed not so severe.

Literacy – At 55.20 percent, literacy is on the high side. Both districts have almost similar percentages  for  literacy  55.21  (Betul)  and  55.19  (Chhindwara).  The  female  literacy  rate  is  at  45.99,  which  is  comparatively good and is uniform for both the districts.  Gender – The zone has one of the best sex ratios in the state at 958.62. The sex ration is even better in  Betul (965.2) and in Chhindwara it is 952.1. The sex ratio is lower than the general population and is  942  is  37  points  above  the  state  average.  The  ST  sex  ratio  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  state  and  in  the  country, at 991.54 and is 15 points above the state average. In Betul it is 994 and in Chhindwara it is  989 and can be termed better in relation to the other districts.   With  a  favourable  female  literacy  rate  of  45  percent  and  a  low  rate  of  early  marriages,  gender  discrimination is not severe; on the contrary, gender equity is one of the best in the state.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – 77.84 percent of the area is in kharif while 22 percent is in rabi. The  kharif area is very high at 80.69  percent in Chhindwara and 75.00 in Betul. The zone has one of the  largest areas under kharif and a poor share under rabi.   Pulses – Kharif  area  under  pulses  is  on  par  with  the  state  average  of  8.26  percent.  Betul  has  8.76 percent  while  Chhindwara  has  7.76  percent  of  kharif  pulses  cultivation.  The  figure  for  rabi  at  34.07 percent is more than kharif, and is less than the state average by 9 points.   The  return  of  pulses  in  kharif  is  double  than  the  state  returns  and  is  comparatively  better  in  Chhindwara  (0.61)  than  in  Betul  (0.41).  In  rabi  the  return  is  less  than  half  the  state  average  (0.33).  Both districts have 0.12 and 0.13 percent return for Betul and Chhindwara respectively.   Cereals – The area under cereals in kharif is about 37.02 percent and is 5 percentage points above the  state average of 32.67. Cereals cultivation is a narrow band of 35.82 (Betul) and 38.22 (Chhindwara).  The percentage of area for rabi under cereals is 60.10 percent of the total area under cultivation and is  15  points  above  the  state  average.  It  is  as  high  as  62.95  percent  in  Betul  while  in  Chhindwara  it  is  57.25 percent.   The return on kharif cereals is far better than the state average of 0.50 percent. At 0.84, Chhindwara  has  comparatively better  returns  than  Betul  (0.76).  Returns  for  rabi  decrease  by  half  at  0.32  against  the state returns of 0.68. Both districts show similarities for returns in rabi for cereals.   Land‐use  pattern – At  39.91  percent,  the  forest  cover  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  state.  Both  districts  have similar forest cover, with Chhindwara (40.46) marginally ahead of Betul (39.36) and well above  the state average of 28.28 percent. There are fewer pastures and grazing land than the state average  at 3.55. This is comparatively better in Chhindwara (4.39) than Betul (2.71)   The net sown area is 40.51 percent and less than the state average by 7 points. It is on the low side for  the state. The double cropping area is just 13.48 and is below the state average by 5 points.   Irrigation – Open wells make up 64.58 percent of total irrigation, one of the highest rates in the state,  being 25 points above the state average. Both these districts have open wells for their major source of  irrigation  at  65.50  (Betul)  and  63.67  (Chhindwara).  Tube  wells  come  a  distant  second  at  15.78  cumulatively but is third for Betul (10.87). In Chhindwar (20.71) tube wells are on the rise and could  move the district into the semi‐critical zone.   At 10.66 percent, canal irrigation is the third major source cumulatively but for Betul (12.50) it is the  second major  source  for irrigation.  The share for tanks is 1.25  percent and is almost non‐existent in  Betul (0.10) and on par with the state average in Chhindwara (2.41).

Soil and rainfall – Betul (925.8) has better rainfall than Chhindwara (667.8). The number of rainy days  in Betul is 46 and in Chhindwara are 41. Copper and iron content is adequate to high while the zinc  content is adequate to marginal.   Chhindwara  and  Betul  districts  are  predominant  for  their  agro‐ecological  diversity  and  ecotourism  potential.  They  are  close  to  the  large  metropolis  of  Nagpur.  The  area  is  tribal  dominated  with  Korku  and  Gond  tribes.  These  are  forest  gatherers  and  dry  land  farmers.  The  major  crops  are  millet  and  wheat.  There  are  two  communities  in  the  area,  the  tribal  poppulations  live  in  forest  villages  and  the  other mainstream communities live in the revenue villages and in the towns. There is high degree of  exploitation of the tribal as well as other communities, but more so of the tribal communities. Limited  cultivable land non‐traditional forest products are the result of the undulating topography, which has  constrained progress.   Known for the dense forests, high returns are promised under diversified farming practices. The zone  could  develop  into  a  ‘business  hub’  for  fruit  processing  particularly  oranges  and  grafted  mangoes,  aromatics, scented rice and fish. Chhindwara in particular, with its strong political patronage, can lead  towards  multi‐sectoral  activities  with  intensive  cultivation  and  processing  of  cash  crops,  fruits,  vegetables and NTFPs.   There is about 30 percent landlessness and marginal farmers are another 40 percent. About 40 percent  of the area is under cash crops, mainly soya bean. Water use has been moderate and technology low.  The  priority  areas  for  interventions  are:  water  harvesting  and  water  management;  Institutional  Infrastructure for micro‐credit and mandis; knowledge transfer/extension services.

MAHAKAUSHAL MAIKAL HILL ZONE  Zone 16: Mahakaushal Maikal Hill Zone – Forest, water rich, subsistence  (millet) tribal zone  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic composition – the region is part of Mahakaushal region and is also known as Maikal Hill  Zone. Mandla, Dindori, Seoni and Balaghat districts are gathered under this region. The average family  size is below 5 at 4.80, which is lower than the five and six in other zones. Except for Seoni, which has  a marginal high of 5.03 average family size, the rest of the districts have family sizes of between 4.63  to 4.83.   This is a tribal dominated zone with 45.07 of ST population, except for Balaghat, which has close to the  state average ST population of 21.80 percent, the rest of the districts have very high percentage of ST  population. More than half the population is tribal in Dindori (64.48) and Mandla (57.23), while Seoni  has  36.78  percent  ST  population.  The  cumulative  SC  percentage  is  below  ten  at  7.13  percent  10.34  percent in Seoni, followed by 7.75 in Balaghat and a low of 4.62 in Mandla and 5.83 in Dindori.   Together,  SC  and  ST  populations  exceed  50  percent  cumulatively.  It  is  70  percent  in  Dindori,  62 percent in Mandla, 47 percent in Seoni and 32 percent in Balaghat. With such a high combined ST  and SC combined, the family size of less than 5 is encouraging.   Development – Exactly 50 percent of the population work, which is very high compared to the state  average of 42.42. As much as 56.98 percent of the total population in Dindori work. This indicates that  children and the elderly, and differently abled people, are working. The percentage is above 50 in the

other  two  districts  and  just  below  50  in  the  third,  indicating  that  most  children  and  the  elderly  are  working in the zone.   Cultivators amount to 38.34 percent, against the state average of 34.33, with only 29.61 in Balaghat  and 54.51 percent in Dindori. Landless labourers amount to 18.25 percent and are almost uniformly  spread across all the districts, the figure is above the state average of 14.53.   Urbanization  is  very  low  at  9.67  percent,  except  for  Dindori  (4.64),  which  is  the  lowest,  the  other  districts have almost uniform percentages for the urban population.   The HDI is 0.48, in a narrow band of 0.45 and 0.52, which indicates uniform development with very  few marginalized groups within the districts. The gender development ratio is a healthy 0.64 percent,  which is almost uniform in all the districts.   As 47.38 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, this is one of the most economically  backward zones in the state. At the upper end of the spectrum is Dindori and Mandla with identical  53.7 percent of the population living below the poverty line, in Balaghat 45.3 percnet and Seoni at the  lower end with 36.8 percent of the population are living below the poverty line.   Literacy – Literacy is a shade above 50 percent, cumulatively the zonal is 51.93 percent. There are no  wide  variations  in  this  zone.  Balaghat  has  a  58.12  percent  literacy  rate  followed  by  Seoni  54.54,  Mandla  (49.99)  and  Dindori  (45.07)  below  50.  The  trend  at  the  state  level  is  maintained  and  female  literacy  is  22  points  lower  than  for  the  male  literacy.  At  40.85  percent,  female  literacy  requires  improvements.   Gender – This  tribal  dominated  zone  is  a  better  example  of  gender  equity  than  some  of  the  more  urbanized  counterparts.  In  the  general  category,  the  sex  ratio  is  almost  1 000  and  at  997.68  is  80 points above the state average. All the districts’ performance on this scale is notable, with Balaghat  at 1 022.2 followed by Mandla (996.3), Dindori (990.7) and Seoni (981.5).   Perhaps this is the only district in the whole of MP to have an SC sex ratio that is above the general sex  ratio. At 1 038 it is one of the best not only in the zone and the state, but, perhaps, in the country. The  cumulative sex ratio for SC is 972.16 and is 67 points above the state average. Apart from Balaghat,  the sex ratio for the SC population in the rest of the districts is not bad, but there is a difference of  more  than  94  points  between  the  highest  and  the  lowest  (Dindori/944)  and  the  other  two  are  just  above the 950 mark. This is phenomenal and needs to be understood and studied.   The  cumulative  sex  ratio  in  the  ST  category  is  extraordinary,  and  at  1 026.37  is  50  points  above  the  state average. Again, Balaghat leads with 1 050 followed by Mandla (1 028), Seoni (1 016) and Dindori  (1 011). All the districts in this zone have sex ratio in ST category that is above 1 000.   Early  marriages  are  37.25  percent,  as  compared  with  their  counterparts  in  the  more  urbanized  and  better‐developed districts, which is 25 to 30 points lower than them. This is also a good indicator and  is uniform in all the districts.   Gender equity is most visible in all aspects in the tribal dominated zone, which is one of the best zones  in all Madhya Pradesh.    AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – About 66.89 percent of the area is under kharif cultivation and is 11  points  higher  than  the  state  average  of  55.85.  The  kharif  cultivation  area  is  uniformly  above  60  percent, but is higher in Balghat (78.38) followed by Mandla (67.72). Both Dindori (61.25) and Seoni  (60.24) have more than the state average area for kharif season.

There is a downward trend for rabi in this region and Balaghat has the least area in rabi. Incidentally,  Balaghar has one of the better irrigation facilities in the state at about 40 percent of the total area but  its low figure for rabi does not correspond to the irrigation poterntial.   In  other  districts,  the  rabi  area  is  in  the  30s  with  Seoni  at  39.76  (the  highest)  followed  by  Dindori  (38.75) and Mandla at 32.28 percent. The late relief and moisture retention could be factors causing  rabi  to  be  so  high  in  DIndori  and  Mandla,  which  has  less  than  10  percent  of  the  total  area  under  irrigation and Dindori has the lowest irrigation from any source.   Pulses – The area under pulses in kharif is 4.11 and is half the state average and is uniform across all  the  districts.  The  pulses  in  rabi  increases  to  39.04  percent,  almost  on  par  with  the  state  average,  except  for  Dindori  (33.68),  which  has  marginally  low  rabi  in  the  zone,  the  rest  of  the  districts  have  uniform coverage.   Though there is less area under pulses in kharif (half the state average), the share in total production  is  almost  equal  to  the  state  average  of  2.18  (from  8.49).  The  return  from  kharif  (pulses)  is  0.52  percent, which is more than double the state average. There is uniformity throughout all the districts  (between  0.44,  0.45  and  0.54  percent)  except  for  Mandla,  which  has  a  high  return  of  0.70  (against  0.25 at the state level).   The area under pulses in rabi increases many fold, but the return is low. As against the state average  of 0.33 for rabi, the average for the zone is 0.19, which swings from a low of 0.12 in Balaghat to 0.27 in  Seoni.   It  seems  that  pulses  production  is  more  suited  to  kharif  in  the  tribal  and  forest  covered  hills  of  this  region.  Cereals – The  area  under  cereals  in  kharif  is  more  than  two‐thirds  at  78.03  percent.  Two  districts:  Balaghat  (94.93)  and  Mandla  (90.34)  have  more  than  90  percent  of  the  area  in  kharif  dedicated  to  cereals. This is staggering, and is only low in Seoni with 52.79 percent, which is also 20 points higher  than the state average.   The cereals area in rabi is low and except for Seoni, which has almost idenitical (54.33) area coverage  in  kharif  and  rabi,  the  rest  of  the  districts  have  from  23.99  (Balaghat),  to  32.03  (Mandla)  and  38.49  (Dindori) area, which is lower than the state average by eight points.   The  kharif  returns  for  cereals  are  better  than  the  state  average  in  all  the  districts  with  Balaghat  topping the returns with 0.88 percent followed by Dindori (0.75), Mandla (0.66) and Seoni (0.63). The  rabi  returns  though  are  very  poor  and  are  0.38  about  30  points  lower  than  the  state  average.  In  Balaghat the returns are less at 0.13, a huge 55 points lower than the state average.   From  both  the  pulses  and  cereals  returns  in  both  the  seasons,  it  seems  that  the  kharif  has  an  advantage  over  the  rabi  crops,  which  could  be  attributed  to  the  uncertainity  of  the  irrigation  along  with inadequacies in soil and crop management.  Land‐use pattern – The cumulative forest cover could be termed the best in the state 40.15 percent  against state average of 28.28. It is very high in Mandla (61.44) followed by Balaghat (54.62) and Seoni  (37.49). The only black spot is Dindori, which has just 7.06 percent of the forest cover and is home to  one of the primitive tribes in the state.   There  is  only  2.79  percent  pastures  and  grazing,  which  is  lower  than  the  state  average  of  4.38  and  could be termed inadequate. This shows that the communities may consider animal husbandry to be a  low priority. The net sown area is 37.74 percent, which is relatively low compared to the state average  of  47.91  percent.  But  it  is  as  high  as  56.74  percent  in  Dindori,  which  is  quite  high,  considering  the

percentage of the tribal population. It is on the grey side of the land‐use pattern, which explains the  low forest cover in the district at 7.06 percent.   The double‐cropped area is below the state average of 17.49 percent at 11.95, this is low in Balaghat  (7.37) and Mandla (6.7) and above ten in Dindori (19.81) and Seoni (13.94).  Irrigation – 63 percent of total irrigation is by canal with all districts averaging above 50 percent. The  highest  is  in  Mandla  at  77.34  followed  by  Dindori  (66.47),  Balaghat  (60.79)  and  Seoni  (50.70).  The  share of canal in total irrigation is very high in this zone amost 45 points higher than the state average.  This  indicates  that  irrigation  itself  is  a  new  concept  in  the  tribal  land  and  could  be  gauged  from  the  second major source, i.e. open wells at just 16 percent. The contribution of open wells to irrigation in  the tribal districts of Balaghat (13.79), Dindori (9.57) and Mandla (13.77) indicate that irrigation was  less of a priority for the tribal districts. For example, Dindori has just 3 percent of its net sown area  under irrigation, Out of this, 66 percent is from canals and just 9.57 percent from open wells. Tanks  and  tube  wells  are  zero.  It  does  suggest  that  before  the  advent  of  canal  irrigation,  the  communities  had not tried irrigation. The communities are open to change but need catalyst agents.   Tanks  are  the  third  major  source  for  irrigation,  but  the  cumulative  figures  in  the  zone  could  be  misleading. Though the zone has 7 percent irrigation from tanks, this is zero and 0.21 in Dindori and  Mandla  respectively,  and  is  as  high  as  21.12  percent  in  Balaghat  and  6.97  in  Seoni.  The  influence  of  Chhattisgarh can be easily seen in Balaghat as well as development of tanks in Seoni.   Soil and rainfall – Rainfall is good at 1 110.15 mm and 54 rainy days. It is uniformly good in Balaghat  (1 027), Dindori (1 292) and Mandla (1 235) and, below 900 in Seoni (884).   This is predominantly a tribal zone with the main tribes being Gonds and Baigas. The area has one of  the lowest  levels of  irrigation in the state. About 3 percent of the area is  under irrigation (in Dindori  with the exception of Balaghat). The landlessness are about 10 percent of the population, and the rest  of the holdings are subsistence farmers. The cash crop is rice, mostly concentrated in Balaghat district.  The major crops are minor millets (kodo, kutki, etc.). Water use has been minimum and the extension  services non‐existent.   Mandla  and  Dindori  are  resource‐rich  districts  of  poor  inhabitants  have  the  glory  of  the  past  Gond  Kingdom, exceptionally rich biodiversity and primitive tribes have vast scope for ecotourism.  Balaghat has exceptionally rich biodiversity, with forest cover spread over half of the district. There is a  large,  untapped  irrigation  potential,  which  has  not  seen  much  progress  because  of  limitation  of  cultivable lands and undulating topography. Balaghat is known for producing famous varieties of rice  cultivated both using traditional as well as modern techniques.  These districts need to depart from the traditional development approach, from subsistence farming to  a  more  diversified  approach  that  integrates  fishery,  poultry,  sericulture,  horticulture.  In  addition,  brands of traditional organic minor millets, pulses, oil seeds could be promoted as well as scented rice  based on a public private community partnership   Seoni is a district that is drained by the Wainganga and Pench watersheds. It is famous for the Mogli of  the  past  and  today  the  Pench  National  Park  has  the  advantage  of  being  located  on  the  National  Corridor  (Golden  Quadrangle).  The  district  could  develop  into  a  market  hub  for  farm  fresh  products  (fish, egg, vegetables, fruits) and organic farm produce by establishing inter‐state linkages.   The  priority  areas  could  be:  institutional  framework  for  knowledge  transfer,  extension  services  and  micro‐credit;  creation  of  water  bodies  with  community  water  management  and  water  users

association  capacity  building;  aquaculture  as  an  alternative  source  of  occupation;  strong  marketing  support for diversified farming activities.

CENTRAL NARBADA SUB ZONE  Zone 14: Central Narbada Sub Zone ‐ Irrigated Intensive agriculture production  (horticulture)  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – The  district  of  Hoshangabad,  now  Harda  and  Hoshangabad,  form  this  subzone.  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,  while  Hoshangabad at 5.41 is a bit lower.   The  districts  are  in  the  Narmada  basin  and  have  15.91  percent  SC  population.  Both  districts  have  almost uniform SC composition at 16.06 (Harda) and 15.75 (Hoshangabad). The ST population is also  on par with the state average of 20.88 percent. There is 11 points difference between the two districts  with  Harda  at  26.63  and  Hoshangabad  at  15.13  percent.  Cumulatively,  SC  and  ST  population  form  about  36  percent  of  the  population,  which  is  about  42  percent  in  Harda  and  30  percent  in  Hoshangbad.   Development – About 40.32 percent of the population is engaged in work. This is less than the state  average.  Female  participation  is  very  low  at  28.48  (lower  than  the  state  average  of  32.67).  Female  participation is quite good at 36.43 in Harda and very low in Hoshangabad (20.53).   There  are  just  28.02  percent  cultivators,  which  is  quite  low  (but  a  good  indicator  that  population  is  engaged in other employment than cultivation). It is about 30.85 in Harda and 25.20 in Hoshangabad.  The landless labourers are 20.89 percent and higher than the state average of 14.53.  Urbanization is quite visible in these two districts but more so in Hoshangabad with 30.95 percent of  the  population  being  urban.  At  26.14,  cumulatively,  the  urban  population  is  quite  large  without  any  major cities (with small towns) in the districts.   The HDI is one of the best in the state at 0.55 and is same for both the districts. At 0.57, the gender  development index is also satisfactory.   Almost 40 percent of the population is living below the poverty line. This could be attributed more to  urbanization  than  other  factors.  Both  districts  have  about  39  percent  of  the  population  living  below  the poverty line.   Child  marriages  are  considerably  lower  than  other  high  incidence  districts.  At  48.30  percent,  this  indicates that almost half of girls are lured away from schooling and married before attaining the legal  age of 18.   Literacy – Both districts have fairly high literacy at 56.48 cumulatively, which may be termed as one of  the best in the state. Hoshangabad has a slightly edge over Harda and is marginally, four points, over  its neighbour at 58.64 percent.   Female literacy is 19 points lower than for male literacy but at 46.20 is better than the state average.  In  Hoshangabad  there  is  48.29  female  literacy  while  Harda  has  44.11  percent  literacy  rates.  Here

female  literacy  is  19  points  lower  than  for  the  male  literacy  and  is  somewhat  lower  than  the  state  average.   Gender – The sex ratio is (907.64) below the state average of 918. At 919, Harda is barely above the  average.  In  Hoshangabad  the  sex  ratio  of  896.3  is  critical,  indicating  the  dominance  of  traditional  upper caste dominance.   The sex ratio in the SC category is still low at 899.12 (below the state average of 905). Both districts  have lower sex ratio in the SC category and in Harda it is lower than the general population sex ratio  while in Hoshangabad it is equal to the general population sex ratio.   The  20  plus  ST  sex  ratio  is  marginally  above  the  average  along  with  the  SC  sex  ratio  at  937,  but  is  almost 40 points below the state average of 976.   With half the girls married before the legal age, this agriculturally and economically developed zone  presents an example of retro trends in gender equity.   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – At 50.33 percent, the zone has half the area in kharif and the other  half in rabi. This indicates good irrigation facilities in the zone. Hoshangabad is marginally better off for  irrigation with 54 percent of the rabi area, while Harda has just 45.38 percent of the rabi area, which  is, nevertheless, better than the state average.   In rabi the average area under cultivation is far less and is 20 points lower than the state average.   Pulses – Of the 50 percent of kharif area only 2.57 is dedicated to pulses with as little as 0.93 percent  in Harda and 4.22 in Hoshangabad, which is well below the state average of 8.49 percent. With about  the same area under rabi, the pulses share is just 22.20, with Hoshangabad having 24.85 percent and  Harda having 19.54 percent of the area dedicated to pulses.   The  return  for  kharif  is  on  par  with  the  state  average  for  pulses  and  at  0.28  percent  it  is  marginally  ahead of the state average. For rabi the share of production for pulses and returns is 8 points above  the state average with better returns in Harda (0.44) than in Hoshangabad (0.40).  Cereals – The area under cereal in kharif is very low in Harda at 1.51 percent. Cumulatively the area  percentage is 6.26  percent, with a marginal increase in Hoshangabad at 11.02. As 50 percent  of the  kahrif area and just 9 percent combined of pulses and cereals, there is a possible need for mapping  because cash crops other than pulses and cereals could be the major crops.   In rabi the cereals dedicated area is quite large at 77.02, with another 23 percent for pulses, the rabi  season is exclusively a combination of cereals (major stakeholder) and pulses (minority stakeholder).  Harda has 80.25 percent area under cereals, while Hoshangabad has 73.79 percent under cereals for  rabi.   The returns are less for kharif at 0.34 (state returns at 0.50); Hoshangabad at 0.33 is lower in Harda  (0.41)  though  marginally.  In  rabi  the  returns  increase  by  9  points  over  the  state  average  and  is  0.77  percent. Hoshangabad is marginally better placed for results at 0.86 over Harda at 0.70.   In  kharif,  the  total  area  is  dedicated  to  other  crops  rather  than  cereals  and  pulses.  Vegetables  and  soybean could be two crops that are cultivated in kharif as cash crops. In rabi, the shift is to a total  combination of cereals and pulses (99 percent combined) with less than 1 percent for other crops.

Land‐use  pattern – Cumulative  forest  cover  is  on  par  with  the  state  average  and  is  28.01  percent.  Hoshangabad has better forest cover 31.7, while Harda has relatively low forest cover at 24.33 percent  of the total area. This is one of the better zones for forest cover.   Pastures are relatively low at 3.6 (state average, 4.38). Harda has 3.06, while Hoshangabad has 4.15  and pastures are on the low side.   The net sown area is more than the state average, and is 48.75 cumulativley. Hoshangabad has 54.63  percent sown area, while Harda has 42.88 percent. The net sown area is relatively high, signifying low  returns for yield.   Irrigation – Both  districts  have  very  high  irrigation,  as  more  than  40  percent  of  the  area  is  under  irrigation, and canals are the major source of irrigation at 56.03 percent. Both district have their fair  share of canal irrigation: Harda (57.09) marginally ahead of Hoshangabad (54.98). These two districts  have one of the best canal irrigation systems in the whole state. The state average for canal irrigation  is 18.12.  Open wells are the second major source of irrigation at 22.25. Both districts are identical for their use  of open wells as for canals and Harda (23.64) is marginally ahead of Hoshangabad (20.86). The third  source  of  irrigation  is  tube  wells  and  at  13.27  is  lower  than  the  state  average  of  25.51  percent.  Hoshangabad is ahead with 18.65 percent of irrigation from tubewells, while Harda has 7.90 percent  from tube wells.  The need for tube wells is very low but the increase in use of tube wells is growing in  Hoshangabad.  Tanks  are  almost  non‐existent  in  both  districts.  Cumulatvely,  this  source  is  having  0.22  percent  of  share; Hoshangabad has 0.34 percent while Harda is having 0.11 percent from tanks.   Soil  and  rainfall – With  936  mm  rainfall,  the  zone  has  good  relief.  There  is  variation    though  with  Harda having good relief at 1 045 mm, while Hoshangabad is 826 mm. There are between 44 and 41  rainy days. Copper fertility is good, while zinc supplements are adequate. Iron is low in both districts.   This  is  a  champion  district  for  agriculture  production  in  the  Mahakaushal  region.  The  region  should  make  a  mark  in  the  national  agriculture  scenario  through  selective  crop  development  along  with  intensive  promotion  of  micro  and  minor  irrigation  for  the  development  of  horticulture  (fruits  and  vegetables), poultry, fishery and sericulture based farming systems using a market‐led approach. The  area is a rich agriculture zone for wheat and pigeon pea. The zone has one of the best mandis in the  state,  and  produce  is  marketed  outside  the  state.  Most  large  firms  (Fast  Moving  Consumer  Goods  ‐ FMCG) have warehouses near the mandis.   In the Narmada river basin, which is one of the highest irrigation zones in the stat, irrigation is from  canal  and  canal‐based  groundwater  recharge.  There  are  about  10  percent  landless  in  the  area  and  about 40 percent aref subsistence farmers. Subsistence farmers are better off in this region because of  the availability of and access to canal irrigation.   The priority focus in the area could be institution building: creation of water user associations/building  the  capacities  of  the  water  user  associations,  knowledge  transfer  (extension  services)  through  institutional set up and technological adaptations for efficient use of water.   The  second  priority  is  for  technology  inputs,  policy  and  mechanism  appropriateness  and  community  knowledge transfer for waterlogging and drainage issues.   The third priority is the area of scarcity amidst plenty. There are pockets of affluence (water availability  and  use)  and  pockets  of  dryland  farming.  These  blocks  are  connected  to  tribal  dominated  areas  and

negligence. There is a need for an integrated intervention in these pockets of negligence focusing on  resource building, institutional infrastructure for micro‐credit and knowledge management.

UPPER NARBADA SUB ZONE  Zone 17: Upper Narbada Sub Zone – Mixed commercial tribal farmers,  industrial activities  GENERAL INDICATORS  Demographic  composition – Jabalpur,  Katni  and  Narsingpur  cover  the  region  of  the  Upper  Narbada  catchment.  The  average  family  size  is  just  above  5  at  5.04  and,  with  minor  variations,  is  almost  uniform for the three districts. Katni has the lowest at 4.92, Jabalpur 4.98 and Narsignpur marginally  higher at 5.23. All districts have less than the state average family size.   The zone has relatively low SC population and at 13.45, it is marginally lower than the state average of  15.19.  Katni  has  the  lowest  with  11.48  followed  by  Jabalpur  at  12.73  while  Narsingpur  has  16.14 percent of the SC population. The ST population share is more than the SC share but at 17.08 it  is  still  lower  than  the  state  average  by  three  points.  Katni  has  the  highest  ST  population  of  23.07 percent followed by 15.01 percent for Jabalpur and 13.17 percent for Narsignpur.   Together, SC and ST form more than 30 percent cumulatively for all the districts.   Development – At 40.33, the percentage of population engaged in work is less than the state average.  Jabalpur has the lowest working population at 37.17 percent and, understandably as it has one of the  state’s largest urban city centres in Jabalpur. With 57.51 percent of the urban population, Jabalpur’s  working  population  is  quite  naturally  placed  at  37.17  percent,  as  there  would  a  higher  number  of  children in school than working.   At  40.33  the  percentage  of  population  working  is  not  proportional  to  the  urban  population  and  is  barely below the state average. Jabalpur is better placed at 37.17, with one of the best percentages of  workers  to  the  total  population.  Female  participation  ratio  is  27.70,  which  is  indicative  of  gender  discrimination.  At  12.67,  Jabalpur  has  one  of  the  lowest  numbers  of  cultivators  per  hundred  people  and  cumulatively,  the  percentage  of  cultivators  is  22.15.  This  is  lower  by  12  percent  than  the  state  average.  The  percentage  of  agricultural  landless  labourers  is  very  low  in  Jabalpur  and  Katni  (almost  identical at 13), while in Narsingpur is almost double the state average of 14.53. In Jabalpur and Katni,  it  is  understood  that  there  are  fewer  agriculture  labourers  with  urbanization  and  industrialization  being better in these two districts, while Narsinghpur is totally an agriculture‐based economy.   The  percentage  of  urban  population  is  almost  one‐third  of  the  total  population  but  it  is  as  low  as  15.99 percent in Narsingpur and slightly better at 21.15 in Katni, while in Jabalpur more than half the  population is urban (57.51). The zone’s HDI is 0.55 and is quite good in Narsinghpur at 0.60. The GDI is  0.61 and is one of the best in the state.   The  poverty  rate,  however,  is  not  as  good  and  not  in  sync  with  the  development  indices.  At  35.73,  almost  one‐third  of  the  population  lives  below  the  poverty  line.  In  Jabalpur  and  Katni,  the  below  poverty line (BPL) percentage is much higher at 42.2 percent each while in Narsinghpur it is relatively  better at 22.8. Urbanization and industrialization has contributed to the increased number of people  living below poverty line.

Early marriages are common across all the districts as for the state, 43.97 percent of girls are married  before the legal age of 18.   Literacy – The  rate  is  quite  good,  above  the  state  average  by  8  percentage  points.  At  65.24,  Narsinghpur has one of the best literacy rates in the state, while Jabalpur is not far behind at 64.90.  The literacy rate in Katni is on par with the state average.   The female literacy follows the same patterns as elsewhere. At 57.42 and 56.37 percent respectively  for  Narsinghpur  and  Jabalpur,  female  literacy  is  comparatively  quite  good.  At  39.54,  Katni  is  a  dark  spot for female literacy but follows the overall pattern.   Gender – The sex ratio is a shade better than the state average of 918 and at 919.30 cannot be termed  good.  In  fact  two  of  the  districts  Jabalpur  and  Narsinghpur  have  908  and  909,  while  Katni  has  a  relatively better sex ratio at 940. The pattern is followed in the SC category with an overall better ratio  of 927. Narsinghpur sex ratio is poor (908 and less than general population); it is good for Katni (954  better than the general population and a reverse in the general trend) and, at 921, Jabalpur cannot be  termed as good or bad but, relative to the general population there is an increase of 13 points above,  which  is  again  a  sign  of  reversal  of  the  general  trend  found  elsewhere.  The  ST  sex  ratio  is  relatively  better placed at 964.88 but is lower than the state average of 976. Katni has a fairly good ST sex ratio  at 981 and the Jabalpur with 958 and Narsinghpur with 955, have almost similar ST sex ratios.  With half of girls married below the legal age in all the districts there is generally a very low sex ratio,  as  well  as  SC  category  in  two  of  the  districts,  it  can  be  assumed  that  gender  discrimination  is  more  pronounced in Jabalpur and Narsighpur and is less severe in Katni (or could be better).   AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS  Cropping area and production – The kharif season cultivation is 40.98 and the rabi is 59.02 percent.  There are variations in the cultivation patterns and at 51.11 percent, Katni has half the cultivation in  Kharif while, the other two have just one‐third of their areas under kharif cultivation.   Pulses – The area under pulses in kharif is higher than the state average (8.49). It is as high as 28.75 in  Jabalpur and 26.95 in Narsinghpur, while it is very low (6.13) in Katni. In rabi the area under pulses is  more than the state average by 12 points (almost the same as kharif). Pulses cover 65.23 percent of  the rabi area in Narsinghpur and 59.78 percent in Jabalpur. At 41.28 a considerable area is cultivated  in  Katni  in  rabi  for  pulses.  On  the  whole,  both  rabi  and  kharif  together,  pulses  comprise  more  than  one‐third of the area, which this is quite high.   The average return on pulses in kharif is on par with the state average except for Jabalpur (0.20) it is  not bad in other two districts. In rabi, the returns are slightly better than the state average, except for  Jabalpur, where it more than double from kharif, rabi pulses returns are average or below average.   Cereals – The area under cereals in kharif is very high in Katni (91.16) and is very low in Narsinghpur  (10.79), while in Jabalpur it is 62.75; cumulatively it is 54.93 percent, more than the state average of  32.67. The trend reverses in rabi and only 52 percent of the area in rabi is under cereals in Katni, in  Jabalpur it is just 36.96, and in Narsinghpur it is 25.95.   Cumulatively,  only  Katni  has  about  70  percent  of  the  area  under  cereals  while  Jabalpur  has  48  and  Narsinghpur has 18 percent. This indicates that the zone (or some part of it) is more inclined to pulses  than cereals.   In kharif the return is a shade below the state average cumulatively, and is good for Katni at 0.54 but  poor  in  Jabalpur  (0.27)  and  Narsinghpur  (0.23).  In  rabi,  though  the  return  on  cereals  has  jumped  by

double to 0.91 (37 points higher than the state average) and in Jabalpur it is 1.15 and Narsinghpur it is  1.16, two of the highest returns in the state. At 0.62, Katni is on par with the state average.  As  the  returns  from  cereals  in  rabi  is  quite  good,  it  is  not  known  why  pulses  occupy  the  major  crop  position in the two districts of Jabalpur and Narsinghpur in rabi.   Land‐use  pattern – At  19.9  percent,  the  forest  cover  is  average  and  below  the  state  average.  It  is  almost  on  par  with  the  state  average  in  Narsinghpur  (26.58)  while  it  is  low  in  Jabalpur  (13.63)  and  Katni  (19.49).  Grazingland  and  pastures  are  on  the  low  side.  At  1.29  in  Katni,  it  is  one  of  the  lowest  percentages,  while  in  Jabalpur  (5.08)  and  Narsinghpur  (4.62)  it  is  on  par  with  the  state  average,  but  cannot be termed good.   The net sown area is very high at 59.82 percent, 12 points above the state average and indicates linear  cultivation pattern and occupations. At 67.14, Jabalpur has one of the highest net sown areas, while  the other two are not far behind at 59.13 (Narsinghpur) and 53.21 (Katni). The double cropping area in  Jabalpur is very high at 51.79 percent, while it is very low in Katni (10.35) and Narsinghpur (16.49).   Irrigation – Although a major dam lies on the river Narmada in this zone, canal irrigation is a low 8.20  (against 18.12 at state level) and is as low as 0.63 percnet in Narsinghpur, near the state average in  Jabalpur  (7.24)  and  double  the  state  average  in  Katni  (16.76).  The  major  source  of  irrigation  is  from  open  wells  at  38.73  cumulatively,  but  occupies  primary  position  in  Narsinghpur  (52.88)  and  Katni  (37.90), while in Jabalpur (25.43) it is second behind tube wells (55.09). At 33.63 percent tube wells  are  the  second  major  irrigation  source,  but  occupies  first  position  in  Jabalpur  (55.09),  second  in  Narsinghpur  (42.53)  and  third  in  Katni  (3.28),  after  open  wells  and  canal  irrigation.  Tank  irrigation  is  0.42, below the state average. It is almost nil in Narsinghpur (0.00) and Jabalpur (0.08).   Soil  and  rainfall – Rainfall  is  quite  good  at  1 204.6  with  46  rainy  days.  All  three  district  have  above  1 000 mm of rainfall with Narsinghpur at 1 400 and Jabalpur at 1 200 mm and Katni at 1 000 plus mm.  Copper and iron content is very high and zinc very low.   This is a mixed population zone with tribal, mainstream communities and industrial activities. The area  has two main major crops rice and wheat with minor millets. The area is rich in soil and productivity  along the Narmada basin. Landholdings are somewhat large with only 20 percent subsistence farmers  and about the same share of landless labourers.   Jabalpur,  the  gateway  to  and  the  epi‐centre  of  Mahakaushal  region’s  backward  districts  is  well  connected  by  rail,  road  and  air  to  the  larger  Indian  urban  markets,  whereas,  Katni  district  is  a  conglomeration of three cultural zones in the state: Mahakaushal, Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. It is  rich in mineral resources. As a result of its strategic location it has emerged as a main rail junction of  Central  India  serving  the  backward  rural  hinterland  of  the  vast  region.  It  has  great  development  potential as the centre of niche for ‘eco‐agro produce’ (ecologically sustainable farming produce) and a  hub for fruits and vegetables, with its strong links to the hinterlands of Kymore, Maikal and Mahadeo  Hills region. Jabalpur, in comparison, can emerge as a champion of processing, packaging and trading  of farm fresh produce for the whole region of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand.  Narsinghpur district, situated north of Narbada, is known for the holy kachhars of Narbada river, offers  a  salutary  environment  to  its  people  for  experimentation  and  innovation.  In  the  past  it  inspired  the  internationally  renowned  sagas  (Acharya  Rajnish,  Maharishi  Mahesh  and  the  Shankracharya  Savrupanand.  Recently,  the  National  Innovation  Foundation  recognized  four  innovators  from  this  district. The district also offers traditional wisdom of its progressive farmers to innovate in agriculture.  It can be a model of micro‐ irrigation, and seed production and certification in the Central India Region.

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

ANNEX 1 – NIVELIHOOD ZONES ATTRIBUTE TABLE – GENERAL CHACTERISTICS    Livelihood  zones

Poverty  level

Farmers typology  Landless

Subsistence

Commercial  (cash crops)

Priorities for livelihoods

Water  availability/access

Technology

Management

1st

2nd

3rd

Vulnerability  to droughts

Low

10%

80%

High

Moderate

High

Watershed  management

Gw  recharge

Market  access

High

30%

70%

High

Moderate

Low

Watershed  management

Ag. Input

Micro  credit inst

High

Moderate

10%

30%

60%

Low

High

Water  management

Market  regu

Proces

High

Moderate

10%

30%

60%

High

Low

Watershed  management

Gw  recharge

High

Moderate

20%

30%

60%

Moderate

Low

Water  management

Fert‐ chemi  avail

Infrast  roads

Moderate

Low

40%

20%

40%

Moderate

High

Water  conseration

Gw  recharge

Regulations

High

30%

50%

20%

High

Low

Irrigat  management

Land  rclam

Low

High

20%

60%

20%

Low

Irrigat  management

Watersh  manag

High

Low

20%

30%

50%

Moderate

Low

Irrigat  management

Ag  extension

Ag inputs

Low

Moderate

20%

50%

30%

Moderate

Low

Access to water

Irr struct

High

30%

60%

10%

Low

Watershed/tanks  renovation

Water  distr

Processing  (oil seeds).  Pulses

High

30%

60%

10%

Low

Conservation of  water bodies

Ag ext

Ag inputs

High

Moderate

10%

80%

10%

Moderate‐High

Low

Water manag

Ag ext

Ag inputs

Moderate

10%

50%

40%

Moderate‐High

Low

High

Irrigation  management

Ag ext

Ag inputs

Moderate

High

30%

40%

30%

Moderate

Low

Water  management

Micro  credit

Ext services

Moderate

High

20%

70%

10%

High

Low

Wat  management

Ext serv

Ag inputs

Moderate

20%

60%

Moderate‐High

High

Wat  management

Ag ext

Moderate

ANNEX 2 – EIVELIHOOD ZONES ATTRIBUTE TABLE – BUTEPRIORITY SOLUTIONS  AWM solutions  Livelihood zones

1st priority

2nd priority

3rd priority

4th priority

5th priority

Groundwater recharge

Micro‐irrigation  (horticulture)

Water harvesting

Watershed management

Agro‐pastoralism

Groundwater recharge

On‐farm water  management

Capacity building  (wuas)

Groundwater recharge

On‐farm water  management

Capacity building  (wuas)

Water  harvesting

Water harvesting

Groundwater recharge

Capacity building  (wuas)

On‐farm water  management

Groundwater recharge

Micro‐irrigation  (horticulture)

On‐farm water  management

On‐farm and community water  managemnt

Water governance  (conflicts)

Congentive use of  water

Water harvesting

Watershed management

Water for livestock

On‐farm and community water  managemnt

Water governance  (conflicts)

Congentive use of  water

Energy saving

Water for livestock

Groundwater recharge

Rehabilitation of tanks

Micro‐irrigation  (horticulture)

Watershed management

Rehabilitation of tanks

Acquaculture

Watershed management

Water for livestock

Micro‐irrigation  (horticulture)

Groundwater recharge

Water harvesting

Micro‐irrigation  (horticulture)

Water for  livestock

On‐farm water management  (drainage)

Congentive use

Capacity building  (wuas)

Water harvesting

Micro‐irrigation  (horticulture)

Water harvesting

Acquaculture

Water diversion

Relay cropping

Micro‐irrigation (horticulture)

Acquaculture + rice

Drainage