Rejuvenating Indian Agriculture: Lessons from Around the

World

Kiran Kumari (PGPABM-2008-10)

Email Id:kiranmanage08@gmail.com

National Institute of Agricultural Extension and Management

(MANAGE), Hyderabad
 ABSTRACT

India is a country of abundant resources as fertile land, favorable agro-ecological zones for the
cultivation of variety of crops and huge educated and enthusiastic human wealth along with
emerging technologies. It has set examples across the world for its various initiatives across the
world and is also learning from the outside world for the optimum utilization of all the resources
available. Be it the vast success of Bt cotton in India or emergence of micro-irrigation system in
states like Gujarat, India has never remained behind in adaptation of new technologies for
benefitting its farming sector. Tough some of the developments in other countries as China can
be replicated back in our condition, but some need to be analyzed further for their feasibility and
adaptation in the country. Required amount of development in R&D is another major requisite
for adoption of these modifications. If all these are implemented with due concern and insight,
time is not very far, when the backbone of Indian economy, that is, the Indian agriculture will
take the economy to new heights of growth and development.
With about 70 percent of rural household and 8 percent of urban household depending on
agriculture for employment and livelihood, agriculture remains a prominent sector of the
Indian economy. Over a period of time Indian agriculture has seen a continuous upward
developments in the form of many revolutions as Green revolution in 1960’s and 1970’s, the
‘white’ revolution in milk and the ‘yellow’ revolution in oilseeds in 1980’s.As a result, the
country has not only reached a stage of self-sufficiency but has also become the largest
producers(as in milk,100mt) and exporter of some of the commodities(as basmati
rice(PUSA1121),Sugar,tea,spices, oilcakes(meals),coffee,marine products, etc.)
But, then, as all of us are aware that though these revolutions resulted in unprecedented
growth, these also left us to ponder upon some new unanswered questions. Take the case of
Green revolution, though no doubt it culminated into increase in the production of wheat and
rice manifold, but simultaneously it also posed the problems as long-term soil degradation.
Years of using high-yield seeds that require heavy irrigation and chemical fertilizers have
taken their toll on much of India's farmland and so far, 6 percent of agricultural land has been
rendered useless.
In fact, though yields increased steadily for 15 years after the Green Revolution, but have
now slowed or reversed which means food security could again become a problem as the
population continues to grow rapidly. White revolution has resulted in India being the largest
producer of milk, but still the per capita availability (252 g/day) is much below the world
average. Similarly, oilseed production has become stagnant over the years (233 lakh tones in
2003-04 to 246.5 lakh tones in 2008-09.
As a result, Indian agriculture today faces challenges on many fronts and inspite of last 15
year of reform period, agricultural sector has remain one of the excluded sectors which has
shown low growth (Growth rate decreased from average growth rate of 4.9% during 2005-06
to 2007-08 to 1.6% in 2008-09) and development. Looking at the growth rate of yields for
total food grains, it has decreased from 0.95% during 1995-96 to 2000-01 to 0.52% during
2001-02 to 2005-06.
(Source: Economic outlook for 2006-07, A report prepared by the Economic Advisory
Council to the Prime Minister).
Regional disparity in output is the other major issue to brood over. Certain regions as Punjab,
Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu have benefitted more due
to green revolution and other technological development than States like Bihar, Orissa,
Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Though with due course of time some of the states as
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra have gained prominence in
production of major crops as oilseeds. On the supply side, the yield of most crops has not
improved significantly and in some cases fluctuated downwards. The scope for increase in
the net sown area is limited and farm size has been shrinking. In the case of certain crops like
sugarcane, extreme variability in the acreage and production over the years has been a matter
of concern. On the other hand, in the case of pulses, production has just not kept pace with
the requirement leading to a rise in prices.
In case of input utilization, at the national level the consumption of fertilizers in terms of
nutrients increased by more than 330 times from 65,600 tonnes in 1951-52 to 2, 15, 61,000
tonnes in 2006-07. Although food grain production is a function of fertilizer consumption, in
the recent years most states are experiencing rise in fertilizer consumption with slower pace
of crop productivity. Multi-nutrient deficiency has been found in case of boron, zinc, sulphur
etc. besides nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK). The Steering Committee of the Planning
Commission has observed that “because nitrogenous fertilizers are subsidised more than
potassic and phosphatic fertilizers, the subsidy tends to benefit the crops and regions which
require higher use of nitrogenous fertilizers as compared to crops and regions which require
higher application of P and K.” There is also an adverse effect of excessive use of urea on
soil fertility. Although consumption of fertilizers per hectare was higher in India compared to
the US and China, the yields in rice and wheat production were higher in the case of the
latter.

The most important of all is the issue of sustainability of agriculture with due emphasis on
environmental concerns. Soil erosion, water logging, reduction in groundwater table and the
decline in the surface irrigation are the problems faced by agriculture. The consequences of
climate change on Indian agriculture also need to be factored in the strategy for the
development of this sector.
India has been endowed with continuous economic as well technological reforms since
independence and this process of positive development still continues. Cost-effective new
technologies and machinery have resulted in increased productivity of many crops. With the
coming up of GM crops mainly Bt cotton, the production of cotton has increased from 88
lakh bale to 569.11 lakh bales in 2008-09(Source:www.indiastat.com) an increase of around
500%.Now,this technology is being extended to vegetable crop as brinjal. Similarly hybrid
rice production has become the new buzzword with agro-industries. Economic reforms and
government policies have also supported the farmers of the country. Not only this, more
emphasis on future trading in commodities and improvement in climate forecasting methods
show the signs of the bright future for agriculture.
There is also the emergence of production of more commercial diversified products as
ethanol from sugarcane and biodiesel from jatropa cultivation. Many new production
practices as SRI cultivation in rice which can increase production and decrease cost (as in
this seed requirement is only 2 kg/acre compared to 20 kg/acre in the convention method of
production and the yield is 7.3 t/ha compared to 2 t/ha by the conventional methods) has been
started to be used in India. Not only this, new initiatives like corporate farming, contract
farming and high value commodities production by organic farming have also given a boost
to agriculture sector in India.

Another major development is the emergence of Food parks. The ministry of food processing
industries has come out with the ambitious programme called “Vision Document 2015” that
seeks to raise India’s food processing of perishable items from 6% at present to 20% in the
next eight years Each food park will have a cold storage facility, apart from facilities for
sorting, grading, food processing, packaging and quality control, and research and
development laboratories, among other things.

To promote agricultural export from the country the government has also come out with the
concept of Agricultural Economic Zone (AEZ) in 2001 starting with 20 AEZ in the starting
year itself. But, yet, there is various policy issues related with it which need to be considered.
In addition to all these initiatives, there are also many government policy measures in various
forms as agricultural credit, development projects and projects under food security mission
which is helping the sector to grow.
There are certain measures taken by government in the 2008-09 Budget which aim to boost
the agriculture sector as the target flow for agriculture credit for the year 2009-10 is set at
Rs. 3,25,000 crore. This was Rs. 2,87,000 crore in 2008-09. Under interest subvention
scheme for short-term crop loans to farmers for loans upto Rs.3 lakh per farmer, the interest
rate has been fixed at 7 per cent per annum. However, additional subvention of 1 per cent on
the part of the Government would bring down the net interest rate for these farmers to 6 per
cent per annum. Under the Agricultural Debt Waiver and the Debt Relief Scheme, the last
date to repay back 75% of the outstanding loans by farmers owning more than two hectares
of land has been extended from 30 June to 31 December, 2009 due to late arrival of the
monsoon. For checking the debt crisis in Maharashtra, there are plans to prepare a special
task force, where farmers have borrowed from private moneylenders. The allocation for
Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana has also been increased by 30% over Budget Estimates of
2008-09.
But several of these are failing due to problem of financial inclusion, that is, non-availability
of credit to the poor and marginal farmers. There is also lack of proper market accessibility
and thus even in case of bumper produce, the farmers are not able to get the proper price due
to absence of proper market.
Another major area of concern is the agricultural trade. To boost the agricultural trade,
government has come out with different trade policies as Exim policies to streamline trade
procedures, liberalise import regime and to put a thrust on export orientation. Then, there was
Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009 which aimed to double India’s share in global merchandise
trade by 2009
In Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09, there is special package for agriculture and duty free
imports of capital goods which will lower production cost and hence improve profitability.
Exports of medicinal plants & herbal products has also been facilitated .Removal of export
cess has been proposed to abolish cess to export of all agriculture and plantation commodities
levied under various commodities. Export promotion capital good scheme (EPCG) has been
extended to agri-products to promote export. Export Promotion Schemes as “Target Plus
scheme” will further boost exports from the successful exporters. “Vishesh Krishi Upaj
Yojana” to boost horticulture exports. There is also increased emphasis on the use of high-
productivity seeds and thus the distribution of certified/ quality seeds for cereals, pulses and
oilseeds has increased by nearly three folds from 35.35 lakh quintals, 3.29 lakh quintals and
9.66 lakh quintals during 1991-92 to 109.87 lakh quintals, 9.63 lakh quintals and 27.00 lakh
quintals during 2006-07, respectively. Quality accounts for 25-30 per cent of yield increase.

MSP(Minimum Support Price) is another way by which the government is trying to safe the
interest of farmers to ultimately result in higher production of desired crops. In case of wheat
and rice, more that 70 % increase in MSP of wheat and 64 % increase in case of common
grade paddy since 2003-04 till 2008-09 has resulted in steep increase in production of these
grains. A recent example of government price support is the new policy of “Fair and
remunerative price” (FRP) in sugarcane so that the farmers can get 50 % more over and
above the cost of cultivation.

Though, many of these government policies and reforms have resulted in unprecedented
growth for the agriculture sector, but still a vast area of development lies ahead. There are
many economies in the world which by having optimum utilization of their resources and
with the help of adequate technological and and policy support are reaping the benefits of
agricultural development for the overall economic development of their country.

If we see landholding patterns of Indian farmers, about 80% are marginal and small with a
land holding size of less than 2 hectares. At present these farmers mainly grow food grain
which is not remunerative. They do not go to mandi for the selling of their produce. They
sell it to the middlemen and hence fetch lesser price. This again de-motivates them to go for
new ventures. Through a survey it was found that 40% of the farmers will leave their
occupation if they are provided with another opportunity. So it is quite evident that at present
these farmers are not happy with their occupation. If the same situation continues then further
migration will take place which will increase the pressure on cities and towns and it would be
very difficult for the government to do justice to these people. Now a big question arises – Is
this the future of 56 million farmers?
The contribution of agriculture in the total GDP has continuously declined from more than
55% in 1950 to just 17.5 in 2008. Off-course, it is not due to decline in agriculture but more
because of tremendous growth of industries.
During the regime of Ms. Indira Gandhi emphasis were given on industrialization.
Government was in a notion of “trickle down” approach. But major emphasis was on non
agriculture industries. At that time Tata, Birla and ITC had a good clout over government and
agriculture industries where restricted to cottage and village industries.
Now due to advancement in technology America, Brazil and many other countries are
diverting their agriculture produce in the making of ethanol thus causing an imbalance
between food availability and security. There is huge difference between these two terms-
food availability is calculated as below-
Food availability= Total food produce- Wastage -export +import
But food security takes into consideration of price, distribution system of the agriculture
produce so that food reaches to a poor person. As the competition is intensifying between
bio-diesel and hunger, price of the food products are dramatically increasing.
But the small farmers are moving into contract farming with corporate. This trend is
increasing in India and both farmers and corporate are benefited. PepsiCo India is in contract
farming with potato growers in Jharkhand, Bihar, west Bengal, and Punjab. PepsiCo has been
successfully emulating the model in food grains (Basmati rice), spices (chilies) and oilseeds
(groundnut) as well, apart from other vegetable crops like potato. Most of the contract
farming is successful with small farmers. Both are benefiting from this. And now farmers are
going for experimentation on their fields. Many companies are now focusing on agri-sectors.
With the growth of modern retails the profit of farmers are increasing and this is going to
help in the long run for the betterment of these farmers and agriculture sector as a whole.
With an increase in the income the demand for basic amenities will increase, their demand
for MNC products are already increasing. So companies will find new market for the selling
their products. Also farmers would be able to educate their children. The decrease in income
gap will lead to equitable distribution of resources. For example farmers in Gajapati districts
who are basically tribal but due to the cultivation of Cashew and market linkage they are able
to raise their economic standard as compared to farmers in Bolangir per say. But still there is
a scope of improvement by providing better price. But we can see a multiplier effect of every
one rupee increase in income. This multiplier effect on a theoretical basis can be 10 times i.e.
if a farmer has earned Rs1, then that money will get recycled 10 time so total amount of that
one rupee extra earned would be Rs 10. Just imagine what changes can be brought through
that one rupee. (Source: A Report on WTO Agreement, Uruguay round, 1986)

In India also, there are various other fronts on which not only development but also new
ways innovative thinking is required. One such factor is the biotechnological development
regarding crop production as use of GM (Genetically modified) crops and vegetables. In this
area which are lagging much behind with the production of only one Bt cotton and still
arguing the production of GM food as Brinjal than other countries as China, where the
government is in the process of developing the largest plant biotechnology capacity outside
of North America. The level of growth in China in this field is so high that in 1997, with the
establishment of National Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Biosafety Committee,
immediately the committee approved 46 cases for field trials, environmental release, and
even commercialization, which covered 12 GM crops. Among them three cases of cotton,
tomato, and petunia were approved for commercialisation in certain locations. In China, now,
more than 2,100 researchers are now working on plant biotechnology alone. If biotechnology
from the animal sector is included, the number of agricultural biotechnology researchers may
reach 3,000, and may be one of the largest biotechnology research efforts in the world. As
per economic point of view, it should be notes that, along with such great emphasis on
research, the government is also forcing on the commercialisation of these genetically
improved crops. By 2002, 18 transgenic cotton varieties generated by Chinese institutions
and five varieties from Monsanto with resistance to bollworm have been approved for
commercialisation in China. Several GM varieties of tomato, sweet pepper, chilli pepper, and
petunia have also been approved for commercialisation since 1997.

(References-Biotechnology Research Institute. (2000). Research achievements of

biotechnology (working paper). Beijing: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

The advancement of China's agriculture sector is also based on good agricultural policy after
a proven process of formulation and implementation steering. It is a specific model that
combines small farms with rapidly increasing productivity and production for commercial
and especially exports. On the other hand, the implementation of a subsidy for agricultural
inputs and equipments obtained significant success in terms of increased production. The
reinforcement of security of land tenure has motivated the producers to adhere to and
ownership of agricultural development policy in the perspective offered by access to land for
long-term (30 years).
One key facilitator of greater specialization has been market liberalization, a process which
began in earnest after 1985. Today China’s agricultural market is dominated by private
traders who operate without any government interference.
Besides the dire need to develop in the production of crops using improved biotechnological
methods, another area of exploration is the Organic Food. Looking at the world scenario, we
see that the countries like United States of America, Canada, are having rapidly growing
Organic Food markets reporting around 20% annual growth. In addition to that, European
Union rate of growth on Organic Food market is averaging 7.8% per year. Other than that
Japan, New Zealand, Australia are having relatively small markets for organic Foods but still
blooming. Despite the fact that India has the largest area which has not been exposed to
chemical pesticide any time in the history and is one of the most suitable country for organic
farming, the area under organic farming is only around 3 million hectare (according to
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)) compared to total area of around
28 million hectare in the world. But, unlike US, switching the farmers from the conventional
mode of cultivation to organic farming is an arduous task. This is because of many socio-
economic factors as the lack of awareness of the farmers about the technical and economic
benefits of organic farming, the inability of the farmers to pay high fee required to gain
official certificate and lack of market access for organic produce.
Now talking about other major issues in which India needs to ponder upon is the export
promotion. Presently, export credit insurance forms just 2% of the total agri-export from the
country, in China, the central government support for export credit insurance is 20% and in
US it varies from 50% to 80%.
Removing the roadblocks in technology transfer in agriculture is the other major issue for
Indian agriculture. Advanced science and technology in China has enhanced agricultural
production in such areas as cultivation of plant cells and tissues, anther culture, haploid
breeding and the research on its application, bilinear hybrid rice, hybrid beans and corn, and
multi-crop planting. Agricultural scientific research has been encouraged by state programs
geared to rural economic development, such as the Spark Program, the Promotion Plan of
Important Achievements, the Bumper Harvest Plan, and the Prairie Fire Program.

Technological improvement also entails initiatives like Micro Irrigation system (MIS) which
can increase the productivity manifold. Use of MIS in Israel, US and Australia has increased
the production of crops from 30% to 200%. Application of this system in India in sugarcane
can result in water utilization efficiency to 90-95% as compared to 50-60% in flooding
method. The case drip irrigation system in Israel is a paradigm example of optimum
utilization of technology. In Israel, drip irrigation can supply from one litre to 20 litres per
hour with a peak water utilization rate of 95%, which is suitable for intensive cultivation.

To meet the high water consumption in green houses, the systems designed for use in
greenhouses use low-flow emitters that deliver 200cc per hour. The unique feature of this is
the uniform spread of moisture throughout the media, which also reduces the amount of
drain-off water. Irrigation drippers have been developed for use with effluents. These
drippers allow controlled water distribution and are clog-resistant. Filter traps installed inside
the irrigation lines consist of a serrated plastic unit that sets up a whirling flow in the water
passing through it, sweeping away any dirt and particles. This prevents blockages in the
narrow water outlets of the drippers. Not only this, all the methods of irrigation are computer
operated which allows real-time operation, the performance of a series of operations,
monitoring continued operation for many hours a day, precision, reliability and savings in
manpower. When the system registers a deviation in the regular quantities of water or
fertilizer, it shuts down automatically. Computerization also allows the operator to pre-
program irrigation intervals. Systems including sensors also help to determine desired
irrigation intervals.

In India, with around 60% of rainfed agriculture, water conservation is a major area of
concern. As according to various research studies, it has been found that by using micro-
irrigation, water can be saved up to about 40–80% and the yield increase can be up to 100%
for different crops. The incremental benefit-drip cost ratio (BI/CD) worked out for various
crops ranges from 1.35 to 13.35 excluding water saving and 2.78 to 32.32 including water
saving. MIS (Micro-irrigation system has been adopted in 40,000 ha of land in India. In fact,
micro-irrigation is being used mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra now and there is urgent
need to educate the farmers about the technical and economic benefits of this system.

Food processing is another area of improvement where the technical improvement is needed
as it forms only 9% of the total manufacturing sector and this also only 25% is organised.
(Source: FAIDA, Ministry of Food Processing Industries)

Similarly, emphasis needs to be put on post harvest management of food grains as well as
fruits and vegetables. India can learn from the many projects being operated by FAO in
different countries like Prevention of Food Losses Programme (PFL) in Africa which
includes nearly one hundred projects towards testing improved technologies in various post-
harvest operations and introducing these improved technologies at farm and community
levels were developed in Africa and the PFL Programme in Latin-American countries in
order to improve post-harvest systems, particularly in rural areas.

Conclusion:

Thus, a right amount of conglomeration of all these factors is required to make India shine on
the horizon of agricultural development. All these can lead the country to reap the benefits of
vast amount of resources available to make unprecedented profits and will also help in
increasing the purchasing power as well living standard of all the people of the country
especially the Indian farmers by converting the nature of farming from subsistence to
commercial. The foreign exchange earned by the export of many of the raw commodities as
well processed foods will help in boosting the overall economic growth of the country
making India a country of enriched and flourishing farmers.
References:
• Biotechnology Research Institute. (2000). Research achievements of biotechnology
(working paper). Beijing: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
• Union Budget, 2009-10
• Economic outlook for 2006-07, A report prepared by the Economic Advisory Council
to the Prime Minister
• A Report on WTO Agreement, Uruguay round,1986
• FAIDA, Ministry of Food Processing Industries
• Food and Agriculture Organization
• Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India
• Publication on www.iwmi.cgiar.org

• http://www.apeda.com/aezcdrom/about-evolution.html

• http://www.foodindia.org/agri.asp

• www.indiastat.com for all crop production related data