MP's stellar show in farm sector becomes a burden

Without strong storage facilities, bumper harvest has resulted in price crash

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s stellar achievements in agriculture — successive years of double-digit growth since 2011-12 — have turned sour. The same farmers whom the state feted not so long back are now questioning the state’s policies and their impact on the ground. The escalating protests resulted in police firing on farmers on Tuesday, killing five.

G S Kaushal, former director, agriculture, Madhya Pradesh government, said the current agitation of the farmers in the state had been largely fuelled by two reasons: Years of bumper harvest of onions, potatoes and tomatoes resulting in an unprecedented price crash; secondly,