Silver Jubilee – Agricultural Progress of Dhamtari District: A Golden Saga of 25 Years of Achievements

Agricultural Progress of Dhamtari District: A Golden Saga of 25 Years of Achievements

Bhopal, Sept 2025 : Between the year 2000 and 2025, Dhamtari district has recorded remarkable progress in the field of agriculture. Farmers of the district, moving beyond traditional farming methods, adopted modern techniques, made optimum use of irrigation facilities, and benefitted from government schemes. As a result, both production and cultivated area have seen significant change. This transformation stands as living testimony to the district’s agricultural potential and the hard work of its farmers.

Looking first at grain and cereal crops: the area under kharif crops stood at 1,37,575 hectares in 2000 and remained almost stable at 1,35,886 hectares in 2025, indicating that paddy has continued to dominate as the main kharif crop of the district. In contrast, the rabi crop area rose from 40,930 hectares to 60,620 hectares, marking an increase of 48.11%. This rise reflects the growing popularity of rabi crops and the effective use of modern irrigation systems by farmers.

The district also made notable strides in pulses and oilseeds. The area under kharif pulses grew from 498 hectares to 693 hectares. Rabi pulses, however, witnessed unprecedented growth of 205.49%, expanding from 10,570 hectares to 32,290 hectares. Similarly, while kharif oilseeds saw a decline of 10.52%, rabi oilseeds grew dramatically by 498.04%, pushing the district further toward self-reliance.

Expansion of irrigation has been the strongest foundation of Dhamtari’s agricultural success. In 2000, the irrigated area for kharif was 87,390 hectares, which increased to 1,20,026 hectares, a growth of 37.35%. Rabi irrigation recorded an even more impressive jump, from 32,500 hectares to 74,490 hectares, showing a historic increase of 129.20%. This expansion has led to both higher productivity and stability in rabi farming.

The district also strengthened its seed and fertilizer supply systems. In 2025, seed distribution was recorded at 60,895 quintals, and fertilizer distribution at 26,950 tons. Under the seed production programme, 650 hectares were included in kharif and 268 hectares in rabi. Crop insurance covered 10,864.4 hectares in kharif and 5,445 hectares in rabi, ensuring risk management support for farmers.

Organic farming, too, showed encouraging progress. Compared to 2000, the area under organic cultivation increased from 1,180 hectares to 1,680 hectares in kharif, and from 100 hectares to 250 hectares in rabi. This reflects growing farmer interest in sustainable and eco-friendly farming.

For farmers’ income growth, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana benefitted 1,02,036 cultivators in the district directly. Procurement at minimum support price (MSP) has also been encouraging. While the MSP of paddy was ₹540 per quintal in 2000, it rose to ₹3,100 per quintal in 2025 – a 474% increase. For the first time, gram procurement was also carried out in the district: 20,646.5 quintals of gram were purchased from 2,212 farmers, with a payment of ₹1,166.52 lakh made.

Over the past 25 years, Dhamtari district’s agricultural system has achieved remarkable milestones. The growth in rabi crops, pulses, oilseeds, irrigation expansion, organic farming, and MSP procurement has not only enhanced farmers’ incomes but also pushed the agricultural sector towards self-reliance. With the completion of crop coverage for Kharif 2025, a new and stronger chapter in the district’s agricultural success story will unfold.