Katniकटनी

What the plan promotes

• ▸Crop production credit is 743.52 cr (25.54% of the plan) across a 4.61 lakh-ha gross cropped area at 183% cropping intensity — paddy and wheat lead, with gram, maize, urad, arhar, mustard and tomato also grown; only 77.18% of net sown area is irrigated (1.94 lakh ha), leaving room for irrigation finance.
• ▸MSME is the biggest single sector at 1,364.32 cr (46.87%), heavily weighted to the service sector (916.00 cr term + 183.20 cr working capital) plus manufacturing (220.92 cr term + 44.20 cr WC) — Katni is a mineral and industrial hub (limestone, cement, refractories, bauxite) on the Jabalpur corridor.
• ▸Plantation & horticulture including sericulture (silk) carries the largest farm investment line at 66.70 cr; the PLP runs the district as one where pulses, oilseeds and horticulture output has grown.
• ▸Dairy term loans of 61.89 cr — the plan wants panchayat-level milk collection centres set up (with the bank, animal husbandry department and the Sanchi/Jabalpur milk union) in pockets the union does not yet reach; the district has 97,825 buffaloes and only 4 milk collection centres.
• ▸Farm mechanisation (34.14 cr) and water resources/irrigation (20.58 cr) are sizeable investment-credit lines, supported by pushing better farm equipment, high-density cropping and improved irrigation.
• ▸Food and agro-processing potential of 43.46 cr within ancillary activities, plus 53 existing processing units — the plan flags small food-processing units (under the agriculture & horticulture department's scheme) to help farmers get a fair price for pulses, oilseeds and horticulture produce.

Gaps the plan names

• ▸Inadequate food-processing capacity and farm-extension support mean farmers cannot get a fair price for the district's growing pulse, oilseed and horticulture output; the plan wants small food-processing units and more agriculture-mitra extension workers.
• ▸Large pockets have no Sanchi (Jabalpur) milk-union reach, so dairy off-take is limited — the PLP asks for panchayat-level milk collection centres set up with the bank, animal-husbandry department and the milk union.
• ▸Soil-testing labs are needed in every block, alongside a stronger extension network and technology demonstration in farmers' fields to popularise better equipment, machinery and high-density cropping.
• ▸Animal-health care, more milk routes, and poultry/fish hatcheries plus fish markets are needed to lift livestock and fisheries credit off-take.
• ▸Shortage of cold storage and storage infrastructure — the plan wants cold storage set up through private investment that banks should actively co-finance.