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In keeping with the rest of the country, yields have increased in Bundelkhand over the past few decades, mainly due to increased area under irrigation and comparatively higher use of fertilisers.

However, Bundelkhand remains a low agriculture productivity zone compared to other parts of UP and MP. Yield of wheat, pulses and rice in UP Bundelkhand is around 70%, 60% and 50% of the yield in Western UP respectively; only yield of groundnut is higher, as shown in the table below.

Table 1: Yield of select crops in UP Bundelkhand and Western UP (1999-2000)

Source: Uttar Pradesh Development Report ,Vol II (p 32, 35),  2007, Planning Commission, Government of India

Yields of cereals in Datia, Chhatarpur and Tikamgarh are above the MP average, but these districts do not rank among the top 10 districts of the state on this score. Likewise, yields of pulses are higher than the state average in Datia and Tikamgarh and yields of oilseeds are higher in Tikamgarh, but these districts do not rank among the top 10 districts of MP on these scores, according to figures given in the MP Human Development Report 2002.

Table 2: Yield of main crops in MP Bundelkhand (1998-99) in kg/hectare

Source: MP Human Development Report 2002

There are considerable inter-district variations in yields. According to farmers’ estimates, yield of wheat in Jhansi district is around 25% more than yield in Banda-Chitrakoot and yield of tur in Jalaun is said to be 33% higher than yield in Jhansi. In MP Bundelkhand, cereals yield in Panna is less than half the yield in Datia; yield of pulses in Sagar is around half that in Datia, and yield of oilseeds in Chhatarpur is less than half that in Tikamgarh (see Table 2 above).

On aggregated yield of all foodgrains and oilseeds, Panna ranks among the bottom five districts of the state according to figures given in the MP Human Development Report 2002.

The following tables show average yield of major crops in districts they are mainly grown, compared to highest yield in the state, and average yield in the country.

Table 3: Average yields of major crops (2003-04) in kg/hectare

Table 4: Average yields of other pulses in (2003-04) in kg/hectare

Source: Districtwise crop production statistics (district figures) and Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2006 (India figures), Crop Production Statistics Information System, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI.

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