Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the State has significantly improved its agriculture growth rate over the past nine years as he credited sustained policy efforts and better resource utilisation.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the sixth Uttar Pradesh Agricultural Science Congress-2026 in Lucknow, Adityanath said the State’s agriculture growth rate has increased from around eight per cent to 18 per cent during this period (in the past nine years).
Highlighting the State’s importance in India’s agrarian economy, he said Uttar Pradesh accounts for 16-17 per cent of the country’s population and possesses about 11 per cent of its cultivable land, contributing nearly 21 per cent to the nation’s total foodgrain production. The State has some of the most fertile land and robust water resources, which, if utilised effectively, can yield significant results, he said. Attacking previous Governments in the State, he said, “Before 2017, the agriculture sector had become a symbol of disorder, unorganised systems, and deep mistrust among farmers. Effective procurement at Minimum Support Price could not be ensured, procurement centres were weak, and middlemen dominated. Farmers faced difficulty in getting fair prices for their produce. Sugarcane farmers had to wait for years for payments, which pushed them into debt.”