Page 1496 - index

MADHYA PRADESH

MADHYA PRADESH

Geographic position and climate
The state of Madhya Pradesh lies between 21°01’ to 26°62’ N latitude and 74°20’ to 80°81’
E longitude. After Rajasthan, it is second largest state having total geographical area of 30.76
m ha. However, only 49% of the total geographical area (15 m ha) is under agriculture.
Around 28% of land is under forest cover. The state is divided into 11 agro-climatic zones
based on geography, soil types, rainfall, prevailing vegetation and crops and cropping
systems. The climate of the state is mainly humid semi-arid to hot semi-arid in eastern part
and semi-arid to hot semi-arid in western part. Average rainfall of the state is 800 to 1600
mm, majority of which received from south-west monsoon during the month of June to
September. The state experiences average maximum temperature (38 to 44 °C) during April
and May and an average minimum temperature (7 to 13 °C) during the month of December
and January.

Soils
Soils of the state are divided into four categories based soil types, colour, composition and
depth. Out of which medium and deep black soils (52.9%) are predominate followed by
mixed red and black soil (26.4%), alluvial soil (10.9%) and shallow and medium black soil
(9.8%). Medium and deep black soils are found in central and western part of the state. It
contains about 40-60% clay in which all major clay minerals are found. The black colour of
the soil is because of titaniferous magnetite. Mixed red and black soils covers around 8.11 m
ha land and mostly found in Mandala, Dindori, Balaghat, Satna, Rewa, Sidhi, Panna,
Chhatarpur, Guna and Tikamgarh district. Alluvial soil covers around 3.35 m ha and found in
Gwalior, Morena, Sheopur and Bhind districts. Shallow and medium black soil is found in
Betul, Chhindwara, Burhanpur, Harda, Narasimhapur, Khandwa, Hoshangabad and Seoni
district with an area of 3.06 m ha. It contains about 15-30% clay. It is also found in southern
part of the states especially in Sagar, Damoh and Khandwa districts. The status of available
nitrogen is low in soils of 38 districts and medium in soils of 19 districts. Available
phosphorus status is low in 19 districts and medium in 32 districts whereas available
potassium is adequate in 44 districts and medium in 7 districts. Positive responses of cereals
and oil seed crops to nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc and sulphur have been recorded. The soils of
the state are acidic to alkaline in nature and the value of soil pH ranges from 4.8 to 9.2 with
average value of 7.3.

Crops and cropping systems
Prominent crops of the state are wheat, sorghum, maize, rice, soybean, rapeseed and mustard
and pulse crops like gram, lentil, mungbean and pigeonpea. Predominate vegetable crops are
green pea, cauliflower, okra, tomato, potato and onion alongwith chilli, garlic, coriander and
turmeric. Horticultural crops, like mango, guava, orange, banana and papaya are also grown
in the state. Cash crops like cotton and sugarcane are also grown in the state. Madhya Pradesh