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Macro Level Interventions For RURAL PROSPERITY (Part -1). Mukesh Vats. TOPIC COVERED. Overview of Agriculture Sector. Data related to Agriculture in India Turning points in Indian Agriculture Present Concerns. OVERVIEW.
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Macro Level Interventions For RURAL PROSPERITY (Part -1) Mukesh Vats
TOPIC COVERED • Overview of Agriculture Sector. • Data related to Agriculture in India • Turning points in Indian Agriculture • Present Concerns
OVERVIEW • Agriculture is main source of income/ employment generation in rural areas. • There is no alternative to the food, and nutrition security. • Remunerative and high productive agriculture can alone bring rural prosperity in India.
Contd….. • India can not afford to import food grains for the population of 110 crores. • Our food security is linked to the political freedom. • We have to convert the huge population from weakness to strength. • Agriculture supports our three basic needs of food, shelter and clothing.
Contd… • It has created a huge domestic market and insulated us from global recession to some extent. • There is huge potential for increasing total yield and income from agricultural operations. • The sector can save and earn huge amount of foreign currency. • 4% growth of the sector is essential for overall 8% growth of GDP.
INDIAN AGRICULTURE – SOME FACTS • Gross geographical area 328.73 mha • Forests 69.00 mha • Non agriculture 22.9 mha • Barron land 17.5 mha • Pasture land 10.8 mha • Miscl. use 3.4 mha • Productive waste land 13.12 mha • Total cropped 192.8 mha • Area sown more than once 50.9 mha • Gross irrigated area 82.63 mha
Contd…. • 46,000 species of plants are found in India • 86,000 species of animals are there. • About 2/3 population is still living in rural / semi urban areas. • Agriculture is providing livelihood to approx. 65% population. • Food grain production is stagnating at around 210 million tons , we will require approx. 270 million tons of food grains by 2020.
Contd… • We have highest irrigated area in the world. • Highest milk production and cattle population also. • Still agricultural imports are increasing at fast rate of 25% per year. • Land under degradation threat 50% of the total area • 60% area is rain fall dependent. • Share of agriculture declined to 18% in GDP.
Present concerns • After green revolution and other interventions like increasing credit to double or triple level, the production is stagnating, growth is declining and imports are increasing. • The population is increasing at same rate, climate changes and global warming is coming as potential threat to food security. • The main areas of concerns will be discussed one by one.
Turning Points in Indian Agriculture • Green Revolution • Mainly focused on three crops i.e. wheat, paddy and maize. • Inputs used : H Y V of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides. • Coverage : already irrigated areas in some parts of India. • Goal achieved was - increased yield due to fertilizers, short straw and early maturity. • The farm income in covered areas was doubled, non farm activities increased and food security achieved .
Contd…. • High production saved forest land being diverted to agriculture. • Technology was introduced to farmers - first time. • Activities allied to agriculture were introduced such as poultry, dairy and fisheries. • However, the farmers were not trained to understand the ill effects of over use of the new ingredients to farming. • This resulted in new set of problems in long term.
Contd… • Excess fertilizers polluted water, pesticides poisoned the farmers and labour, friendly pests and wild animals were killed. • Poor irrigation practices resulted in fall of water table, salt formation in soils and loss of bio-diversity. • Soil fertility deteriorated in • long run. Details will be • discussed separately.
White revolution • NDDB pioneered it with the help of EEC, World Bank and GOI. • Main thrust was to establish cooperatives for collection and processing of milk. • Infrastructure like veterinary health centers, feed production plants and artificial insemination services were promoted. • Women were encouraged to take part in the process of production and marketing.
Contd… • Cross breeding of the animal was promoted. • Increased milk production, supplementry income and fair prices to consumers and producers were main targets. • It resulted in increasing production from 30 million tons in 1980 to 90 million tons in 2005 • Middlemen were eliminated from the marketing. • Import of the milk products was stopped. • However, the revolution failed to address certain issues
Contd… • No substitute nutrition to rural people specially children was planned as the entire produce was marketed to big cities. • Rampant misuse of HARMONES for milk production resulting in poor animal health. • Vanishing of indigenous breeds of cattle.
Yellow revolution • Started in 1986 in the form of a mission. • Resulted in increased production of oil seeds from 11 million tons to 25 million tons in 1996-97. • Productivity increased to 931 kg/ha. • Strategy was to provide improved seeds, expand cultivated areas and extend price support. • Soybean, sunflower, groundnut and mustard crops were focused for increasing production.
Low - Productivity • Though the total production has increased, the productivity of our farms is much lower than the developed nations. • The main reasons are wrong agronomic practices, poor and untreated seeds and poor heath of the soil. • The out break of disease, mono cultures and low farm mechanization are other reasons. • Dependence on monsoon in large parts of the country is also contributing to the problem.
Falling water levels • Surface irrigation is limited to some parts of the country. • Ground water boom with pump irrigation brought revolution in primarily State controlled subjects. • Over exploitation of ground water resulted in drastic fall in water levels all over the nation. • Quality of ground water is also causing concern. • Situation has reached to alarming levels in Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, AP, TN and Maharastra.
water table • Remote • Sensing • data
Small Holdings • The average size of the land holdings is decreasing day by day. • The small holdings are not productive due to high fixed cost. • The fragmentations are also resulting in loss of land by making dividers. • The co-operative or joint farming is not popular in India. • Often resulting in social tensions.
Weeds, Pests and Diseases • High growth of weeds is converting fertile land to waste lands in some parts of the country. • Cropping with few varieties of grains, intensive cultivation and water logging are favorable for pest growth and spread of disease. • Over use of pesticides and insecticides is killing useful insects and poisoning the food, ground water and farmers. • The produce with high content of pesticide residue has been rejected by importers.
Storage loss • Storage, transportation and distribution losses are high as compared to world average. • The vegetables and fruits worth hundreds of crores are lost due to poor storage facilities. • Grains are rotting in overflowing godowns and thousands of tons of grains become unfit for human consumption due to poor storage conditions. • Approx. 10% grains procured from farmers by government agencies are lost due to poor storage, transport, moisture, rats and other problems.
Land Degradation • Land is primary resource for agriculture. • About 50% of the cultivable land is prone to degradation due to natural and man made phenomenon. • The man made problems include over irrigation, chemical fertilizers, loss of vegetation, water logging, pollution and rapid changes in land use patterns etc. • The natural agents are wind and water .
Poor Infrastructure • Infrastructure is primary requirement for development and growth of the sector. • Earlier there was no well planned approach for providing rural infrastructure. • Entire north-east and eastern parts of India are backward due to lack of proper infrastructure despite rich in natural resources. • The roads, telecommunication, power, water, markets, input supply, processing facilities etc. are parts of infrastructure. • The poor infrastructure keeps the entrepreneurs away from rural areas.
Farm Mechanization • The farm mechanization was introduced in India in form of Tractors. • The high powered tractors are not economical for small and medium land holdings. • The farm mechanization was concentrated in small part of the country. • High investment in high power tractors is making farmers poor and reducing viability of the investment, resulting in wasting energy. • Low powered farm equipments are still not popular.
