Even as Uttar Pradesh is pitching agriculture as a vital cog to propel its $trillion economy goal, the state farm economy is estimated to jump 21 percent to Rs 7.24 trillion in the current financial year 2024-25.
In the previous fiscal year 2023-24, the agricultural and allied sectors contributed Rs 5.98 lakh crore to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of UP.
The government is taking a multitude of steps to unlock the agri sector potential across the value chain from sowing, production, harvest, food processing, agro clusters, rural tourism etc to boost farm income.
“The agricultural sector is set to play a pivotal role in realising UP’s ambitious goal of becoming India’s first $trillion economy,” an official said, adding the government is working on a 360 degree farm-to-fork roadmap to drive agricultural growth.
A key initiative includes the UP AGREES (Agriculture Growth and Rural Enterprise Ecosystem Strengthening) project.
It is supported by the World Bank, focusing on Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions. The six-year scheme, with a budget of Rs 4,000 crore, aims to increase productivity in these regions by 30 percent.
Moreover, the government is prioritising the ‘Seed Park’ Scheme, the One Block One Crop (OBOC) initiative for horticulture, restructuring of milk cooperatives etc.
“We are working to strengthen the agri sector by providing unwavering support to farmers, right from making seeds available to them to marketing their produce,” he added.
UP tops the India chart with the largest cultivable land area of 16.6 million hectares. The agri sector sustains the primary livelihood of 30 million households in UP, which ranks first in food grain and milk production; second and third in the output of fruits and flowers respectively.
The Yogi Adityanath government is integrating expressways, highways, dry ports, inland waterways and airports to provide faster and seamless transportation for farm produce, both locally and internationally.
Further, UP has collaborated with private majors such as Google to provide timely weather and crop related information to farmers to augment their income.
Recently, AgCare Technologies launched an agro marketplace ‘Golden Farms’ to provide technology-backed farm centric information to small and medium farmers in UP and other states.
Meanwhile, UP is promoting ‘The Million Farmers School’ at the district level to engage with farmers before sowing in the cyclical rabi and kharif crop seasons.
With nine agro-climatic zones and abundant water, UP is deemed naturally suited for diverse crops, horticulture, and vegetable farming.