Green Revolution 2.0

A string of previously laggard states are poised to overtake Punjab and Haryana, India’s traditional grain bowl, as the new powerhouses of food production, driven largely by — surprise — state support.
While privatisation is often thought desirable for key sectors of the economy, second-generation “green revolutions” across several states demonstrate that government initiatives can still turn things around.
India had raised the annual funding for a "green revolution in eastern India" from Rs.400 crore to Rs.1,000 crore for 2012-13. The results are showing.
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar have posted over 10 million tonnes of food output for the first time, with Madhya Pradesh picking a top central award recently.
Each of these states were awarded Rs.2 crore for highest overall foodgrain output, while they were also given Rs.1 crore in the individual crop category.
With the gradual weakening of the 60s green revolution, which had transformed India into a nation that could feed itself, planners knew it was time to turn the foot-dragging eastern part into the next food bowl.
Rising consumption and flattening yields in the country's breadbasket (Punjab and Haryana) has necessitated a renewed “green revolution”, especially in newer states. Northeast, with its fertile soil and abundant rainfall, could be the country's next agricultural powerhouse, trends show.
Nagaland and Manipur achieved farm output of nearly 1 million tonne this year.
Under individual crop category for rice, Bihar outperformed even big states. In wheat, pulses and coarse cereals, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have nearly matched Haryana’s production.
Roughly two years of work has paid off for Bihar, which has doubled its rice output from 3 million tonnes to about 6 million tonnes, while Jharkhand has trebled production from 1.1 million tonnes to 3.3 million tonnes.
Overall, the eastern states have produced 7 million more tonnes of rice, an official said.

MP snubs Gujarat on lion translocation

Countering Gujarat’s opposition to lion translocation project, the Madhya Pradesh government told the Supreme Court that a second habitat for Asiatic lions in Kuno — cleared by National Board of Wildlife — was mandatory to avoid Tanzania’s disastrous experience in Serengeti where an epidemic almost wiped out the entire lion population.
Madhya Pradesh met with disdain Gujarat’s apprehension about safety of lions. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government did not deny the past lapses allowing poachers to wipe out the entire tiger population in Panna, but said the new model of wildlife protection had got it laurels from many quarters and other states were emulating it.
“Although the state has been criticized severely for the extinction of tiger from the Panna National Park, the state has been, in the last few years, able to translocate and reintroduce the tiger in the park and currently, can boast of a population of 14 tigers,” the state’s counsel said, adding, “The state’s efforts have been duly recognized by the Tiger Authority of India, which assessed MP’s performance as outstanding.”
MP said Asiatic lions “must be relocated and reintroduced in an area which would be suitable alternative habitat for its survival in the event of outbreak of any epidemic”. On the suitability of Kuno Palpur Sanctuary, MP said it was the historical range of Asiatic lions, though the modern habitat was limited to Gir.