Presentation on Review of Kharif and Preparedness for Rabi 2008/09 Dr. N.B. Singh

1. Presentation on Review of Kharif and Preparedness for Rabi 2008/09 Dr. N.B. Singh Agriculture Commissioner Department of Agriculture & Cooperation Ministry of Agriculture Government of India National Conference Rabi 2008-09 Sept 24-25, 2008

2. Rainfall situation in the Current Season

3. Weather charts as on 17.09.2008

4. Status of Rainfall Kharif 2008 • Monsoon started well in time, reached earlier in North West particularly Rajasthan. • There was good and well distributed rains except in Maharashtra , North interior Karnataka, Gujarat, Rayalseema, which had deficient / scanty rains. • Since 4th week of July , there has been good rains even in the affected states / regions. • The overall status is about -2% of long range average rainfall in the country. • NE and Western M.P. are the only two regions where the rainfall is a little less than normal

5. cumulative rainfall in drought affected areas during Kharif 2008 (1.6.2008 to 17.9.2008)

6. Progress of Sowing of Kharif 2008-09 ( As on 19.9.2008) Area in lakh ha

7. Season-wise Production Trends of Foodgrains (million tonnes) Kharif Area – 1988-90 - 81.4 m ha 2007-08 - 73.58 m ha Rabi area - 1989-90 - 45.6 m ha 2007-08 - 50.86 m ha Kharif Productivity – 1989-90 – 1.2 t/ha 2007-08 - 1.64 t/ha Rabi Productivity - 1989-90 – 1.54 t/ha 2007-08 – 2.15 t / ha

8. Prospects of Rabi 2008-09 With Reference to Food Security Mission

9. National Food Security Mission • Launched in Rabi 2007 / 08 • Target : 20 million tons of additional food grains, 10 of rice, 8 of wheat and 2 of Pulses in the next 4 years • An outlay of Rs. 4883 crores provided over a period of five years, 2007-08 to 2010-11 • 312 districts to be covered in 17 States that are having very high yield gaps • 20 m ha of Rice, 13 m ha of Wheat and 4 mha of Pulses are to be covered during XI Plan.

10. NFSM : Objectives of The Mission • Increase production of rice, wheat and pulses through area expansion and productivity enhancement ; • Restoring soil fertility and productivity at individual farm level; • Enhancing farm level economy (i.e. farm profits) to restore confidence of farmers of targeted districts • Paradigm shift to focus States / Districts with higher yield potential and large yield gaps

11. Rabi Crops : Wheat Productivity trends in major wheat growing States

12. Wheat : State-wise production from 2001-02 and 2007-08

13. Causes for Low Productivity of Wheat • Delayed sowing specially in rice-wheat and in cotton-wheat system • Low Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) • Low and imbalanced use of fertilizers / nutrients • Soil degradation and loss of fertility leading to deceleration of factor productivity • Abrupt temperature rise during grain formation period.

14. Imbalanced use of Plant Nutrients Contd. …..

15. Imbalanced use of Plant Nutrients Contd…

16. Strategy for Enhancing Production of Wheat • Bridging the yield gap between the potential and the present level of productivity through • Acceleration of seed production • Integrated Nutrient Management and Integrated Pest Management • Promotion of improved production technologies like timely planting of wheat and promotion of new improved variety of Pulses • Supply of input and ensuring their timely availability • Farmers Training and Visits

17. Technology For Adoption Wheat →Timely planting - State Campaign → Planting through zero till seed drill / normal seed drill → Seed treatment before sowing → Balanced use of fertilizer → Efficient use of irrigation water through sprinklers and light irrigation → Frequent irrigation in case of abrupt rise in temperatures → Replacement of most popular wheat variety PBW 343 with DBW 17, HD 2687, PBW -550 (Punjab) and other improved varieties

18. Yield penalty for Delayed sowing of wheat *Based on multilocation long term (10 Years) trials of ICAR (DWR Bul. 2004)

19. Economics of Sulphur fertilizer application *= Data presented in the TSI/FAI/IFA Symposium on ‘Sulphur in Balanced Fertilization held during February 13-14, 1997 at New Delhi

20. Important Rabi / Summer Pulse Crops are : • Gram : M.P., Maharashtra, Rajasthan, A.P., U.P. Karnataka • Lentil : U.P., M.P., Bihar, West Bengal • Peas : U.P., M.P., Bihar • Green Gram: Orissa, U.P., Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, A.P • Blackgram : A.P., Orissa, Tamil Nadu

21. Available Technology for increasing production of Rabi Pulses • Timely sowing: Zero till Seeding • Quality Seed : 15 to 20% more yield • Application of Sulphur : 20-25 kg /ha 20 to 25 % yield increase • Light Irrigation : 25 to 50% yield increase • Seed priming : Better emergence and crop growth • Intercropping : With sugarcane/mustard/wheat

22. Options • Intercropping under rainfed and irrigated conditions • Utilization of rice fallows • Pulses in Intensive Cropping systems under irrigated conditions • Substitution of low value crops

23. Rice Fallows in India

24. Area under Rice Fallows

25. Soaking seeds in water for 6-8 hrs (Seed priming) Planting 6-8 days before harvest of rice Enhanced seed rate Seed treatment with fungicide and Rhizobium Effective weed management Foliar spray of 2% urea at pre-flowering and podding Crop Management Technologies for Rice Fallows

26. National Food Security Mission Operational Issues

27. Quality Seed Hybrid Rice • Appropriate public bred hybrids for different States are not available • Availability of seed of available hybrids is inadequate to meet the demand • Seed production programme is inadequate to meet the demand Wheat • Inadequate availability of 10 years old varieties • Higher dependence on PBW 343 Pulses • Inadequate availability of seeds of 10 years old varieties • Varietal mismatch to be removed

28. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) • Balanced use of plant nutrients brings about synergy and improves factor productivity • Availability of Micronutrients, lime and gypsum is observed to be constraint in some States • Priority areas for implementation is not well defined due to lack of spatial data • No system of organized supply of micro nutrients in some States.

29. Farmers’ Field School • The appropriate course curriculum for FFS for targeted crops and technologies to be developed by each State • The trainers/facilitators are limited • Distribution of sessions for preparatory, input application and pest management and post harvest operations • The SAUs, KVKs, ICAR institutes involvement is limited

30. Awareness among farmers • Display boards depicting details of components and rate of assistance available under National Food Security Mission at each block office • Organization of block-level Kisan Goshthis / Kisan Melas for the distribution of inputs and creating awareness • Road side panels and hoardings of National Food Security Mission • Publicity through print media in local languages • Organization of puppet shows in local markets • Wall writing - slogans

31. Other operational issues • Preparation of District Plans for NFSM • Baseline survey in identified districts • Advance planning for seed production for 2009-10 • Releasing of funds to district-level agencies in time • Releasing of funds for publicity to district-level agencies to organize local level publicity campaigns • Preparation of projects under local initiatives by the districts

32. Prospects for Rabi 2008-09 • Delayed withdrawal of monsoon has improved the soil moisture through out the country ; the Rabi crop coverage is expected to increase • In rainfed regions pulses and oilseed area can be increased substantially • There is likely to be more demand for input i.e. Seed and fertilizer for which preparedness is required • In certain regions i.e heavy soils excess moisture may delay Rabi sowing and may cause seedling mortality • Need preparedness for early sowing of Rabi crops in central and western India • Seed treatment under high moisture is essential to protect seedlings in early stage

33. Preparedness For Rabi : 2008 • Wheat minikits are ready for dispatch. States need to indicate designated places for delivery • Availability of quality seed to be ensured by State in identified districts • Availability of micro nutrients like zinc, boron etc. to be ensured for all deficient districts • A massive campaign to be planned for timely sowing and seed treatment through print media / radio / T.V.

34. Target for Rabi Crop area in 2008-09 considering shortfall in Kharif Area (lakh hectare) *About 2 m ha more area in the Rabi 2008-09 than in 2007 -08

35. Target for Additional Area Under Pulses During Rabi 2008-09 (Area lakh ha)

36. NFSM Monitoring Issues • The Project Management Teams (PMT) in many districts are not constituted / functional • The monitoring of the demonstrations and other interventions are inadequate • The SAUs/ICAR institutes need to be involved in monitoring • The district level PMTs are not provided with the transports and other moving facilities for proper monitoring • The State Mission Directors are not dedicated to NFSM alone which affecting proper execution and monitoring • The data of adoption/spread of new varieties as a follow up of seed minikit is not available due to inadequate monitoring and record .

37. THANK YOU

38. Impact of NFSM on Input Use • Use of better varieties seeds in wheat and pulses has substantially increased in the NFSM-Districts. • Increase in wheat seed distribution from 43% in Rajasthan to as high 10 times in Bihar. • In pulses improved seed consumption increased by 29% in Rajasthan to more than 400% in Chhattisgarh. • The wheat production in the NFSM districts increased by 0.9 million tones. Thus the contribution of NFSM districts of identified states in the increased production over 2006-07 is about 35%. • Significant gain in yield in the States of Punjab (6.9%), Bihar (6.6%), Maharashtra (14.7%), MP (4%) and Rajasthan (2.6%).

39. Production of Foodgrains and Commercial Crops During 2005-2007 (Million tones) (million bales of 170 kg each)

40. Impact of NFSM on Wheat in Punjab Area lakh ha; Production lakh tones; Yield t/ha

41. District Level Action Plans * The annual action plan to be prepared by District Food Security Mission Executive Committee (DFSMEC) headed by Collector * A baseline survey to be conducted by District agency to record current levels of production. * The annual action plan for the district to be based on potential and available technology. * State level action plan to be prepared based on district level action plan. * DFSMEC to identify new initiative other than approved interventions as per needs and requirement of agroclimatic conditions * For selection of beneficiaries Panchayat Raj institutions to be associated at village level

42. Region wise Recommended varieties of Wheat *Durum Contd…

43. Contd…. *Durum

44. Improved Varieties of Pulse Crops for Rice Fallows Mungbean

45. Urdbean

46. Chickpea