Agriculture

Agriculture sector plays a strategic role in the process of economic development of the Indian economy. Agriculture is the foundation upon which the entire superstructure of the country is built. Indian Agriculture may be considered the backbone of the Indian economy. Most of the people of India lived with the agriculture sector. To Indian people agriculture is not mere an occupation rather than it is their life style. As a result of these agriculture has crucial importance in our economy.

 

Importance of Agriculture in Indian Economy:

1. Contribution to national economy or GDP: Agriculture is the single most sector which contributes much to the national income at the time of independence. It contributes 56.5 % in 1950-51. As per the Economic Survey the sector share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 18.8 in 2022-22. Even though the contribution from agriculture sector declined still it has a dominant role in India’s economy. The share of agriculture in national income is often taken as an indicator of economic
2. Agriculture provides raw materials: Agriculture development is necessary for improving the supply of raw materials for agro based industries. The shortages of agriculture sugar, goods have its own impact upon the industrial production and consequent increase in the general price level. It will impede the growth of the economy.
3. Agriculture provide employment: Agriculture is the single largest private sector occupation. At the time of independence about 80 % of the people lived with agricultural sector while according to the 2020-21 estimates it is the principal source of livelihood for more than 50% of the population of this country. The employment potentiality of the sector is very high. As a result of all these the burden of unemployment gets reduced in India.
4. Importance in International trade: Indian agriculture is very vibrant in terms her international competitiveness. At the time of independence about 70 % of the export earning comes from agriculture sector.
5. Creation of Infrastructure: The development of agriculture requires roads, market yards, storage facilities, transportation, railways, irrigation facilities, and many other facilities. They are the infrastructure facilities helped to the development of the country.
6. Importance in Industrial development: Agriculture development is also essential to the development of industries in the country. Both are complementary to each other in the development process. Various important industries in India find their raw material from agriculture sector; cotton, jute and plantation industries (viz., tea, coffee, and rubber), textile industries, sugar, vanaspati, etc are directly dependent on agriculture.
7. Necessary for the food stuffs: In order to feed the large population of our country the development of agriculture is essential. The growth in population demands more and more food stuffs. It can provide only by development of agriculture.
8. For growth with stability: Economic development without agriculture development will create some bottle necks and inflationary pressures. Low rate of agricultural development resulted in shortage of food and essential raw materials leading to inflation.
9. Growth in agriculture and allied sectors remains an important objective and a ‘necessary condition’ for inclusive growth. However, it is a matter of concern that agricultural growth is still, to a certain extent, characterized by fluctuations due to the vagaries of nature, though there has not been actual decline in terms of output since 2002-03.

Types of Farming

Some of the major types of farming are discussed below:

 

Subsistence farming: Majority of farmers in India practises subsistence farming. This means farming for own consumption. In other words, the entire production is largely consumed by the farmers and their family and they do not have any surplus to sell in the market. In this type of farming, landholdings are small and fragmented.

 

Cultivation techniques are primitive and simple. In other words there is a total absence of modern equipment’s like tractors and farm inputs like chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. In this farming, farmers mostly cultivate cereals along with oil seeds, pulses, vegetables and sugarcane.

 

Commercial farming: is just the opposite to subsistence farming. In this case, most of the produce is sold in the market for earning money. In this system, farmers use inputs like irrigation, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides and High Yielding Varieties of seeds etc.

 

Some of the major commercial crops grown in different parts of India are cotton, jute, sugarcane, groundnut etc. Rice farming in Haryana, is mainly for commercial purpose as people of this area are predominantly wheat eaters. However in East and North-Eastern states of India, rice cultivation would be largely of subsistence type.

 

Intensive and Extensive Farming: The basic difference between these two types of farming is the amount of production per unit of land. In comparison with temperate areas of USA, Canada, and former USSR, India does not practise extensive cultivation.

 

When we use large patch of land for cultivation then we call it extensive farming. Here, total production may be high due to larger area but per unit are production is low. Intensive Farming records high production per unit of land. Best example of intensive cultivation is in Japan where availability of land for cultivation is very limited. Similar kind of situation can be observed in the state of Kerala in India.

 

Plantation Farming: It is an estate where a single cash crop is grown for sale. This type of agriculture involves growing and processing of a single cash crop purely meant for sale. Tea, coffee, rubber, banana and spices are all examples of plantation crops. Most of these crops were introduced in India by the Britishers in the 19th Century.

 

Contract Farming: It is viewed as an important tool to increase private corporate involvement in agro-processing. In this system, companies engaged in processing/ marketing of agriculture products enter into contract with the farmers. They provide the farmers necessary facilities and buy back the products with a rate specified in advance. Pepsi and McDonalds have started contact cultivation of citrus fruits and lettuce respectively. ITC provide farmers with fast growing cloned varieties of tree that mature in just four years and buy the out-put. Such type of farming is said to be getting popular among farmers especially in Punjab. However, some scholars fear that shift of lands from food crops under this contract farming on a scale is likely to result in food insecurity, especially for lower income groups.

 

Organic Farming: This farming avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulator and livestock feed additives. This types of farming rely on crop rotation, crop residues, animal manure, off-farm organic wastes and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity. A few farmers from Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Pondicherry and Punjab are adopting this types of agriculture.

 

Salient Features of Indian Agriculture

1. Subsistence Agriculture: As mentioned earlier, most parts of India have subsistence agriculture. This type of agriculture has been practised in India for several hundreds of years and still prevails in a larger part of India in spite of the large scale change in agricultural practices after independence.
2. Pressure of population on Agriculture: Despite increase in urbanization and industrialization, about 70% of population is still directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.
3. Mechanization of farming: Green Revolution took place in India in the late sixties and early seventies. After more than forty years of Green Revolution and revolution in agricultural machinery and equipment, complete mechanization is still a distant dream
4. Dependence upon monsoon: Since independence, there has been a rapid expansion of irrigation infrastructure. Despite the large scale expansion, only about one third of total cropped area is irrigated today. As a consequence, two third of cropped areas is still dependent upon monsoon. As you know, monsoon in India is uncertain and unreliable. This has become even more unreliable due to change in climate.
5. Variety of crops: Can you guess why India has a variety of crops? As mentioned in the beginning of the lesson, India has diversity of topography, climate and soil. Since India has both tropical and temperate climate, crops of both the climate are found in India. There are very few countries in the world that have variety comparable to that of India.
6. Predominance of food crops: Since Indian agriculture has to feed a large population, production of food crops is the first priority of the farmers almost everywhere in the country. However, in recent years, there has been a decline in the share of land used for food crops due to various other commercially most advantageous uses of these land.
7. Seasonal patterns: India has three distinct agricultural/cropping seasons. You might have heard about kharif, rabi and zaid. In India there are specific crops grown in these three seasons. For example rice is a kharif crop whereas wheat is a rabi

 

Major Crops in India:

Types of Crops	Meaning	Major Crops
Food Crops	Crops that are used for human consumption	Rice, Wheat, Maize, Millets, Pulses and Oil seeds
Commercial Crops	Crops which are grown for sale either in raw form or in semi-processed form	Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane, Tobacco and Oilseeds
Plantation Crops	Crops which are grown on Plantations covering large estates	Tea, Coffee, Coconut and Rubber
Horticulture	Sections of agriculture in which Fruits and Vegetables are grown	Fruits and Vegetables

 

Problems of Indian Agriculture

• Lack of proper land reform measures.
• Lack of credit facilities.
• Lack of proper storage facilities.
• Lack of chemical fertilizers.
• Lack of proper agriculture research.
• Lack of proper vision from the part the government.
• Small and uneconomic holdings.
• Prevalence of natural calamities.
• Inadequate irrigation facilities.
• Defective marketing facilities.
• Out model technologies.
• Absence of double cropping and crop rotation.
• High pressure on land.
• Soil erosion.
• Pests and plant diseases.
• Challenges from the international market.
• Slow growth of agriculture sector.
• Fall in total area of food grains production.
• Fall in per capita availability of food grains production
• Very high dependency on monsoons.

 

Some past Development Programmes in Agriculture

New Agriculture Strategy (NAS): New Agriculture Strategy (NAS) is a programme based on the concept of application of science and technology to farming for increasing yield per hector. It is the New Agriculture Strategy which contributes to the Green Revolution in the Indian agriculture.

The NAS worked through IADP, IAAP and HYVP

 

Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP): Intensive Agricultural District Programme was introduced as a pilot project in 1960-61.

This programme meant to use various agricultural resources simultaneously in selected regions. The objective of this programme was to increase the production of food grains and to prepare the basis for the rapid economic development of the country. Under this programme farmers were given inputs like irrigation facilities, seeds, fertilisers, implements etc. There were 7 selected districts under this programme. As a result of implementing this there should be a rapid rise in the agricultural production. After the initial success this programme expanded to 13 more districts also.

 

Intensive Agricultural Area Programme (IAAP): Intensive Agricultural Area Programme was a modified version of the IADP introduced in 1964-65. This programme was for the intensive development of major crops such as wheat, paddy, millets, cotton, sugar cane, potato, pulses etc and staff employed was on a reduced scale.

 

High Yielding Varieties Programme (HYVP): High Yielding Varieties Programme was launched in 1966 with an objective to attain self-sufficiency in food by 1970-71. Both the programmes IADP and IAAP gave importance to the intensive agricultural development. These programmes worked for only some selected crops.

 

The High Yielding Variety Programme envisaged the introduction of

• High-yielding varieties of seeds
• Increased use of fertilizers
• Increased irrigation.

These three are collectively as the Green Revolution.

Green Revolution: Green revolution means the tremendous hike in the agricultural production and productivity during the mid of 1960’s. The Green Revolution is happened due to the simultaneous use of package of inputs which is otherwise referred as New Agriculture Strategy comprises IADP, IAAP and HYVP. Some critics call this as the wheat revolution because due to Green revolution wheat production increased tremendously compared to all other crops. The born place of Indian Green revolution is Punjab and Dr: M.S. Swaminathan was considered as the father of Indian Green revolution.

Components of Green Revolution

There are various factors which contribute to the happening of Green revolution in Indian agriculture in the Fourth Five Year Plan. It includes the following components.

1. Package of inputs: The green revolution is happened due to the application of the package or the combination of improved practices. The new agriculture strategy aims at making them adopt simultaneously all the elements needed for increasing production. It includes
2. HYV seeds: The most important feature of the new agriculture strategy which contribute to the green revolution was the use of HYV seeds in areas where good rainfall and irrigation facilities. HYV seeds of wheat, paddy, bajra, maize etc. were introduced since 1965-66.For wheat new Mexican dwarf varieties like Lerma Roja, 64 A, Sonara, Kalyan, and PV-18 and for bajra HB-10, For maize – Vijay etc were introduced. In the case of paddy adopt TN-1, IR 8, Tinen-3 etc.
3. Use of chemical fertilisers: The use of chemical fertilisers is one of the key elements of the strategy for accelerating the growth of agricultural output. The use of nitrogenous, phosphoric and potassic fertilisers have been increased by importing fertilisers.
4. Plant protection: another important measure used under the new agriculture strategy is plant protection by using many pesticides and insecticides.
5. Farm mechanisation: A significant aspect of green revolution is the use of modern machinery like tractors, harvesters, pump sets, tube wells etc. They are used on a large scale.
6. Extension of irrigation: Water is the basic input in agriculture. New seeds and fertilisers can produce desired results only if adequate water is made available. HYV programmes were started in those areas where sufficient water supply. Many minor irrigation facilities have started under this programme.
7. Multiple cropping: The NAS is concerned with not only higher yields, but with great intensity of cropping, which aimed at intensive cultivation of land by raising three or more crops in the same plots of land in a year. New crop rotations have made possible by the development of new short duration varieties of paddy, Jowar, maize and bajra suited to different agro-climatic conditions. Among other crops included in the rotation are barley, ragi, oil seeds, potato and vegetables. As a result of this there was not only tremendous increase in production but the fertility of the land was also maintained.
8. Improved credit-facilities: Credit has played an important role in popularising the use of HYV programme among the farmers. Short term and medium term loans were given to farmers through Primary Co-operative Societies, Land Development Banks, Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and Farmers’ Service Co-operative etc. They have helped the farmers in buying the seeds, fertilizers, implements, machines and other inputs.
9. Processing, storage and marketing facilities: These facilities are also speedily extended and improved so that the increased agriculture production is put into profitable use.
10. Dry land development: To promote agricultural development in dry land areas, cultivation of drought resistant and short duration varieties of seeds based on latest dry farming technology was encouraged.
11. Price incentives: Another contributing factor to the green revolution has been the policy of support price of food grains. In 1965 Agricultural Price Commission and Food Corporation of India were set up for the purpose ensuring price stability and fare price. All these boosted agriculture.
12. Farmer’s training and education: A pilot scheme for Farmer’s training and education was started in 1966-67 in 5 selected districts. In subsequent years it was extended to other districts. This programme emphasis the literacy of the farmers and they were given agricultural information through audio-visual media and formation of the formation of farmer’s discussion group.
13. Agricultural research and technology: NAS give emphasis agricultural technology as a major input of agricultural production and to development of agricultural research. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and agricultural universities in different states has been undertaking the task of research in agricultural products.

 

Impact of Green Revolution

No doubt that New Agricultural Strategy brings lot of changes in Indian agriculture. It has far reaching impact upon the agriculture and the economy as well. After 1966 there is substantial increase in food grains production especially wheat, but it is clear that the New Agricultural Strategy led to an increase in inter regional and interpersonal inequalities. Thus The Green Revolution had both positive and negative impacts.

 

Positive Impacts of Green Revolution:

• Hike in agricultural production and productivity
• Increase in food production
• Boost the production of cereals
• Fall in poverty
• More employment is created
• Use of modern technology
• Use of chemical fertilisers
• More irrigation facilities developed
• More research work is taking place
• More saving and investment are created
• More infrastructures is created
• More land is added to agriculture
• Better distribution of land

 

Negative Impact of Green Revolution:

• Increase in both inter-regional and intra-regional inequalities
• Environmental degradation took place
• Reduction in employment elasticity
• Increase in personal inequality
• Traditional knowledge was lost
• Neglects the production of coarse cereals and pulses
• Ground water level down
• Health problems due to excess of mosquitoes in waterlogged area around lands
• Irrigation of fields without proper drainage led to salinization and alkalization of soils.

 

White Revolution: It stands for remarkable increase in milk production and establishment of a national milk grid, removing regional and seasonal imbalances. Among the technological inputs are (i) crossbreeding of indigenous cows with high milk yielding European breed; (ii) pasteurization of milk for keeping it for a longer duration; (iii) collection of quality milk from members in rural areas; and (iv) refrigerated transport system which helps sending milk to far off metropolitan centres both by road and rail.

 

Food Crops

Rice: Rice is the most important food crop of India. It is predominantly a Kharif or summer crop. It covers about one third of total cultivated area of the country and provides food to more than half of the Indian population. Maximum population of India is of rice consumers.

 

Geographical conditions:

Temperature: Rice requires hot and humid conditions. The temperature should be fairly high i.e. 24°C mean monthly temperature with average temperature of 22°C to 32°C.

Rainfall: Rainfall ranging between 150-300 cm is suitable for its growth in areas of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh where rainfall is less than 100 cm, rice is cultivated with the help of irrigation.

Soil: Rice is grown in varied soil conditions but deep clayey and loamy soil provides the ideal conditions. Rice is primarily grown in plain areas. It is also grown below sea level at Kuttinad (Kerala), hill terraces of north eastern part of India and valleys of Kashmir.

Distribution: Rice is grown in almost all the states of India. The main rice producing states are Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhatisgarh, Punjab, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,Assam and Maharashtra. It is also grown in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujrat and Kashmir Valley.

 

Wheat: Wheat is the second most important food crop of India next to rice. It is a Rabi or winter crop. It is sown in the beginning of winter and harvested in the beginning of summer. This is the staple food of millions of people particularly in the northern and north-western regions of India.

Geographical conditions:

Temperature: It is primarily a crop of mid-latitude grassland. It requires cool climate. The ideal temperature is between 10°C to 15°C at the time of sowing and 21°C to 26°C at the time of ripening and harvesting.

Rainfall: Wheat thrives well in areas receiving annual rainfall of about 75cm. Annual rainfall of about 100cm is the upper limit for wheat cultivation. Like rice, wheat can also be grown by irrigation
method in areas where rainfall is less than 75cm. But on the other hand, frost at the time of flowering and hailstorm at the time of ripening can cause heavy damage to the wheat crop.

Soil: Although wheat can be grown in a variety of soils but well drained fertile loamy and clayey loamy soil is best suited for wheat cultivation. Plain areas are very well suited for wheat production.

Distribution: The main regions of wheat production in India are U.P., Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Maharashtra, U.P., Punjab and Haryana together produce more than 66% of the total wheat of the country.

 

Commercial Crops

Sugarcane: It is a Kharif crop. It is the main source of sugar, gur and khandsari. It also provides raw material for the manufacturing of alcohol. Bagasse, the crushed cane residue, has also multiple uses. It is used for manufacturing of paper. It is also an efficient substitute
for petroleum products and a host of other chemical products. A part of it is also used as fodder.

 

Geographical conditions:

Temperature: It requires hot and humid climate with an average temperature of 21°C to 27°C.

Rainfall: 75-150 cm rainfall is favourable for sugarcane cultivation. Irrigation is required in those areas where rainfall is less than the prescribed limit.

Soil: It can grow in a variety of soils. In fact sugarcane can tolerate any kind of soil that can retain moisture. But deep rich loamy soil is ideal for its growth. The soil should be rich in nitrogen, calcium and phosphorous but neither it should be too acidic nor alkaline. Sugarcane cultivation requires heavy manures and fertilizers because it exhausts the fertility of soils quickly and extensively.

 

Distribution: India has the largest area under sugarcane cultivation in the world and the second largest producer next to Brazil. As far as distribution of sugarcane cultivation in India is concerned, there are three distinct geographical regions in the country.

 

These regions are:

The Satluj-Ganga plain from Punjab to Bihar containing 51% of the total area and 60% of the country’s total production.

 

The black soil belt from Maharashtra toTamil Nadu along the eastern slopes of the western Gahats, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Krishna river valley.

 

Cotton: Cotton is the most important fibre crop not only of India but also of the entire world. It not only provides a raw material for cotton textile industry but also its seed is used in Vanaspati oil industry. The cotton seed is also used as part of fodder for milch cattle for better milk production. Cotton is basically a kharif crop and grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas.

 

 

Geographical conditions:

Temperature: Cotton is the crop of tropical and sub-tropical areas and requires uniformly high temperature varying between 21°C and 30°C.

Rainfall: It grows mostly in the areas having at least 210 frost free days in a year. It requires modest amount of rainfall of 50 to 100cm. However, cotton is successfully grown with the help of irrigation in the areas where rainfall is less than 50 cm. High amount of rainfall in the beginning and sunny and dry weather at the time of ripening are very useful for a good crop.

Soil: Cotton cultivation is very closely related to Black soils of Deccan and Malwa plateau. However, it also grows well in alluvial soils of the Satluj-Ganga plain and red and laterite soils of the peninsular region.

Distribution: India has the largest area under cultivation and third largest producer of cotton next only to China and the USA. Within the country two third of total area and production is shared by four states. The main states for cotton production are Panjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

 

Plantation Crops

Tea: India is famous for its tea gardens. You must have heard about tea gardens of Assam and Darjeeling in West Bengal. It is being said that tea plantation in India was started by the Britishers in 1923 when wild tea plants were discovered by them in the hilly and forest areas of Assam. Tea is made from tender sprouts of tea plants by drying them. At present, India is the leading tea producing country in the world. China and Sri Lanka are respectively second and third largest producers of tea.

 

Geographical conditions:

Temperature: It requires hot and wet climate. The ideal temperature for the growth of tea bushes and leaf varies between 20°C to 30°C. If temperature either rises above 35°C or goes below 10°C, it would be harmful for the growth of tea bushes and leaves.

Rainfall: Tea requires a good amount of rainfall ranging between 150-300 cm and the annual rainfall should be well distributed throughout the year. Long dry spell is harmful for tea.

Soil: Tea bush grows well in well drained, deep, friable loamy soil. However, virgin forest soils rich in humus and iron content are considered to be the best soils for the tea plantation. Tea is a shade loving plant and grows better when planted along with shady trees.

Distribution: Assam is the leading producer that accounts for more than 50% of tea production of India. Tea producing areas of Assam are the hill slopes bordering the Brahmaputra and Surma valleys. West Bengal is the second largest producer of tea where tea is mostly grown in the districts of Darjeeling, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Bihar districts. Tamil Nadu is the third largest producer where tea growing areas are mostly restricted to Nilgiri hills.

 

Coffee: It is the indigenous crop of Ethiopia (Abysinia Plateau). From Ethiopia, it was taken to Yemen in 11th Century. From Arabia, the seeds were brought by Baba Budan in 17th Century and were raised in Baba Budan hills of Karnataka. But it was British planters who took keen interest and large coffee estates were established in the hills of Western Ghats.

 

Geographical conditions:

Temperature: It requires hot and humid climate with temperature varying between 15°C and 28°C. It is generally grown under shady trees. Therefore, strong sun shine, high temperature above 30°C, frost and snowfall are harmful for coffee cultivation. Dry weather is necessary at the time of ripening of berries.

Rainfall: Rainfall between 150 to 250 cm is favourable for coffee cultivation.

Soil: Well drained, rich friable loamy soil containing good deal of humus and minerals like iron and calcium are ideal for coffee cultivation. The soil must be properly manured to retain and replenish fertility and to increase productivity.

Distribution: Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the main states of coffee production in India.

 

Major Challenges faced by Indian Agriculture

Stagnation in Production of Major Crops: Production of some of the major staple food crops like rice and wheat has been stagnating for quite some time. This is a situation which is worrying our agricultural scientists, planners and policy makers. If this trend continues, there would be a huge gap between the demand of ever growing population and the production.

 

High cost of Farm Inputs: Over the years rates of farm inputs have increased manifold. Farm inputs include fertilizer, insecticide, pesticides, HYV seeds, farm labour cost etc. Such an increase puts low and medium land holding farmers at a disadvantage.

 

Soil Exhaustion: Soil exhaustion means loss of nutrients in the soil from farming the same crop over and over again. This usually happens in the rain forest. On one hand green revolution has played a positive role in reducing hunger from India. On the other hand it has also led to negative consequences. One of which is Soil exhaustion.

 

Depletion of Fresh Ground Water: The second major negative consequence of green revolution is depletion of fresh ground water. You would remember that areas where green revolution was successful, it was due to the use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation. Most of the irrigation in dry areas of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh was carried out by excessive use of ground water. Today fresh ground water situation in these states is alarming.

 

Adverse impact of Global Climatic Change: Among various challenges, global climatic change is the recent one. It has been predicted that its impact on agriculture would be immense. Since, 70% of Indian population is engaged in agricultural activities, you can imagine the consequences. It is predicted that due to climate change, temperature would increase from 2°C to 3°C, there would be increase in sea level, more intense cyclones, unpredictable rainfall etc. These changes would adversely affect the production of rice and wheat. Specifically, rise in temperature in winter would affect production of wheat in north India.

 

Providing Food Security: Before the introduction of green revolution in India, we were not self-sufficient in terms of our food grain production. Due to partition of India in 1947 the network of canal irrigation system, cotton belt and wheat bowl meant to West Pakistan which is now Pakistan. Similarly the jute belt and rice bowl was awarded to East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh. With the introduction of green revolution, production of food grains increased substantially and India became self-sufficient. However, during the last one decade the total production has become stagnant. On the other hand we have added another 16 to 18 million population over this period. Although India has become self-sufficient in good it is yet to ensure food security which is dependent upon accessibility, affordability as well nutritional value of the food available. One of the biggest challenges facing India is Providing Food Security to its population.

 

Farmers Suicide: Every suicide has a multiple of causes. But when you have nearly 200,000 of them, it makes sense to seek broad common factors within that group. The suicides appear concentrated in regions of high commercialization of agriculture and very high peasant debt. Cash crop farmers seemed far more vulnerable to suicide than those growing food crops. Yet the basic underlying causes of the crisis remained untouched. Commercialization of the countryside along with massive decline in investment in agriculture was the beginning of the decline. Withdrawal of bank credit at a time of soaring input prices and the crash in farm incomes compounded the problems. Shifting of millions from food crop to cash crop cultivation had its own risks. Privatization of many resources has also compounded the problems.

 

Globalisation: Globalization has caused misery and despair among millions of Indian farmers, driving large numbers of them to suicide. Since agriculture continues to be a tradable sector, this economic liberalization and reform policy has far reaching effects on

• agricultural exports and imports,
• investment in new technologies and on rural infrastructure
• patterns of agricultural growth,
• agriculture income and employment,
• agricultural prices and
• food security.

 

Impact of Globalization on Agriculture: The experts are divided on the impacts of globalization on agriculture. They say that India will get benefited through improved prospects for agricultural export as a result of increase in the world prices of agricultural commodities with reduction in heavy farm subsidies provided in the developed countries and breaking of barriers to trade. The prices of agricultural products in India are not likely to increase as all major programmes such as subsidies on P.D.S. (Public Distribution System) and on agriculture are exempted from the control of W. T. O. Agreement on agriculture. It is mainly because of the fact that subsidy given on agriculture in India is below the limit of 10 percent of value of agricultural products. Furthermore, India has the skills and the low cost labours which make it one of the lowest-cost producer of agricultural products in the world. Hence, there will be a large market worldwide for these products. Moreover, it is also said that an improvement in terms of trade in favour of agriculture will promote faster agricultural growth in India.

 

• However, these claims are questionable on the following grounds:
• Due to globalization, the Indian farmers might have to face much unstable prices of agricultural products as world prices for these products fluctuate largely on year-to-year basis.
• The impact of trade liberalizations on the prices of agricultural products at international level and domestic level depends on what policies other countries follow. For example, developed countries are not willing to reduce subsidies on their agricultural products, to keep these still cheaper to benefit their farmers.
• Due to liberalization, MNC’s engaged in agro-business would operate freely in India. For their strong financial background, they could produce hybrid varieties of seeds and the specialised agro-chemicals, using advance biotechnology. These hybrid seeds cannot be regrown or reproduced by the farmers as they are genetically modified to terminate after first use. Therefore, these seeds will have to be purchased every year from the MNCs for the monopoly they have over it under IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) regime.
• There would be uneven distribution of income across social classes and geographical region due to effect of globalization on agricultural practices and trade. Rich regions or social groups will be richer in the country.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)

It is an important feature of the WTO agreements among the member countries related to intellectual property rights (IPRs). It covers copyright, trademarks, geographical indications including appellations of origin, industrial, patents on production of new varieties of plants and seeds, etc.

 

Under this agreement on the above subject all member countries have to (i) provide minimum standards of protection (ii) facilitate domestic producers and remedies for the information of IPRs and (iii) settle dispute between the WTO members. The traditional knowledge of farmers and indigenous people in respect of uses of different variety of plants are being used by MNCs for their business profits patenting them under IPRs. The famous examples are patent of neem and turmeric product by American MNCs.

 

Animal Husbandry

The branch of science, which deals with the study of various breeds of domesticated animals and their management for obtaining better products and services from them is termed animal husbandry (the term husbandry comes from ‘husband’ which means one who takes care).

 

Milk giving (milch) animals: Cows, buffaloes and goats who give us milk.

Meat and egg giving animals: Pigs, cattle, goat, sheep, fowls and ducks which are the main source of meat. From hens and ducks we get eggs.

Working (draught) animals: Bullocks, buffaloes, camels and horses are draught animals used for doing work in the field and for transportation of goods and human beings. Mules are also used especially by the army to take things from one place to another in the hilly areas.

 

India is leading producer of milk in the world. It is due to initiative taken by government through ‘Operation Flood’. Under this program good breeds of cows and buffaloes, which yield more milk, have been introduced. Co-operative societies in this field were encouraged. The modern dairy farms produced milk powder, butter, and cheese; condense milk, cream, and ghee along with milk. The largest number of livestock is found in Uttar Pradesh followed by the states of Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. These four states account for 44% of total livestock of India. The density of animals in India is the highest in the world.

 

Some of the practical dairy farming challenges in India are:

Small dairy farms: Or it might not be suitable to call them as dairy farms. Majority of dairy animals are kept by small farmers and the number can vary from 1 to 5 animals per farm.

Feeding of animals: The dairy farming in India is a supplementary business to agriculture. Means the dairy animals are raised on the residue (leftover) of agriculture mainly. Very few farmers have separate fodder cultivation fields. Other constraints in feeding are:

• No awareness about balanced feeding of cattle, i.e. knowledge of how much of what should be fed to animals.
• Water only given in limited amount/ times.
• Supplements feeding is very minimal or absent.

 

Health issues: In animal health there are following challenges like:

• Availability of qualified veterinarians in rural areas.
• Frequent disease incidence like FMD which has negative impact on dairy production. It also affects many animals in village.
• Absence of preventive health care measures like vaccination and de-worming.

 

Management of animals: In management there are challenges like:

• Hygienic animal shed.
• Teat washing and dip before milking.
• Dis-infestation of animal shed regularly.

 

Farm economics: Dairy farmers are not aware of proper record keeping and dairy farm economics. This has a negative impact on the income of the farmers and his spending on dairy farm.

 

Fishing

Fishing has been an important occupation of the people in the coastal areas. However, in spite of having a long coastline and broad continental shelf, India’s fishing industry is still largely in a developing stage. Modernization on limited scale has started recently.

 

Fisheries are of two types (i) the inland and (ii) the open sea. The inland fishing is done in rivers, tanks, ponds and canals. The major rivers like Brahmaputra, Ganga, Satluj, Narmada, Mahanadi and Godavari; and numerous tanks and ponds are tapped for fishing. Inland fish production is accounted for two fifths or 40 percent of total fish production in India during 1995-96. Open sea fishing or marine fishing, done in sea water, is caught in shallow water in our country. More than two-thirds of marine fish is landed on western coast of India. While remaining one third on the eastern coast . India caught 5.6 lakhs tonnes of fish during 2000-01.

 

Though, India has huge potential for fishing but the actual catch is very small. The main factors responsible for poor performance in fishing are traditional methods, wooden loge made boats, driven by human energy, and poor socio-economic conditions of the fishermen.

 

In order to increase fish production and trade, the Government has taken a number of steps including

(i) Financial assistance to fishermen

(ii) Introduction of large vessels,

(iii) Better harbours and breathing facilities

(iv) Provision of refrigerated wagons and road transport facility

(v) Introduction of accident insurance scheme and

(vi) Marketing of fish on co-operative basis.

 

The rapid increase in the production of fish in the country is called Blue Revolution. This is synonymous with shrimp farming or Aquaplosion.

 

The main critical gaps / challenges for fisheries development in India include the following:

• Lack of a reliable database relating to aquatic and fisheries resources.
• Limited number of species grown / cultured, mainly due to weak linkages between research and development and fish farmers community.
• Weak multi-disciplinary approach in fisheries and aquaculture.
• Inadequate attention to the environmental, economical, social and gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture.
• Weak marketing and extension network
• Decline in fish catch and depletion of natural resources due to over exploitation of coastal fisheries.
• Water pollution; unscientific management of aquaculture and contamination of indigenous germplasm resources.
• Poor yield optimization, problems in harvest and post-harvest operations, landing and berthing facilities for fishing vessels and issues in welfare of fishermen.

 

 

Food Security in India

What is food security?

Food is as essential for living as air is for breathing. But food security means something more than getting two square meals. Food security has following dimensions

1. availability of food means food production within the country, food imports and the previous year’s stock stored in government granaries.
2. accessibility means food is within reach of every person.
3. affordability implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet one’s dietary needs.
4. Thus, food security is ensured in a country only if,

(1) Enough food is available for all the persons

(2) All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and

(3) There is no barrier on access to food.

 

Why food security? The poorest section of the society might be food insecure most of the times while persons above the poverty line might also be food insecure when the country faces a national disaster/calamity like earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami, widespread failure of crops causing famine, etc. Since the advent of the Green revolution in the early-’70s, the country has avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions. India has become self-sufficient in food grains during the last thirty years because of a variety of crops grown all over the country. The availability of food grains (even in adverse weather conditions or otherwise) at the country level has further been ensured with a carefully designed food security system by the government.

This system has two components:

(a) Buffer stock and

(b) Public distribution system.

 

What is Buffer stock? Buffer Stock is the stock of food grains, namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheat and rice from the farmers in states where there is surplus production. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. This price is called Minimum Support Price. The MSP is declared by the government every year before the sowing season to provide incentives to the farmers for raising the production of these crops. The purchased food grains are stored in granaries. Do you know why this buffer stock is created by the government? This is done to distribute food grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price also known as Issue Price. This also helps resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during the periods of calamity.

 

What is the Public Distribution System? The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. This is called the public distribution system (PDS). Ration shops are now present in most localities, villages, towns and cities. There are about 5.5 lakh ration shops all over the country. Ration shops also known as Fair Price Shops keep stock of food grains, sugar, kerosene oil for cooking. These items are sold to people at a price lower than the market price. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of these items (e.g. 35 kg of grains, 5 litres of kerosene, 5 kgs of sugar etc.) every month from the nearby ration shop.

 

There are three kinds of ration cards:

(a) Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor;

(b) BPL cards for those below poverty line; and

(c) APL cards for all others.

 

The introduction of Rationing in India dates back to the 1940s against the backdrop of the Bengal famine. The rationing system was revived in the wake of an acute food shortage during the 1960s, prior to the Green Revolution. In the wake of the high incidence of poverty levels, as reported by the NSSO in the mid-1970s, three important food intervention programmes were introduced: Public Distribution System (PDS) for food grains (in existence earlier but strengthened thereafter); Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) (introduced in 1975 on an experimental basis) and Food-for -Work (FFW) (introduced in 1977–78). Over the years, several new programmes have been launched and some have been restructured with the growing experience of administering the programmes. At present, there are several Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAPs), mostly in rural areas, which have an explicit food component also. While some of the programmes such as PDS, mid-day meals etc. are exclusively food security programmes, most of the PAPs also enhance food security. Employment programmes greatly contribute to food security by increasing the income of the poor.

 

The National Food Security Act, 2013: This Act provides for food and nutritional security life at affordable prices and enables people to live a life with dignity. Under this act 75% of rural population and 50% of urban population have been categorised as eligible households for food security.

Following are the essential elements of public distribution system in India.

• Subsidy: Government gives subsidies on the commodities sold through public distribution system. Therefore, the prices of the commodities sold under this system are relatively lower.
• Fixed quantity (Rationing): Government fixes the quantity (quota) per head per unit of time on the basis of minimum requirement of a person. Every household is issued a ration card mentioning the number of persons in the family. Every household can buy the fixed quantity of the commodity according to the number of persons inthe family from the fair price shops.
• Fair price shops (FPS): Government sells these commodities through fair price shops popularly known as ration shops. These shops are opened in all parts of the country. The government supplies these commodities to the owner of these shops according to the number of ration cards registered with each shop. The owner of these shops are paid a commission on their total sales.

 

Current Status of Public Distribution System: Public Distribution System (PDS) is the most important step taken by the Government of India (GoI) towards ensuring food security. In the beginning the coverage of PDS was universal with no discrimination between the poor and non-poor. Over the years, the policy related to PDS has been revised to make it more efficient and targeted. In 1992, Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was introduced in 1,700 blocks in the country. The target was to provide the benefits of PDS to remote and backward areas. From June 1997, in a renewed attempt, Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced to adopt the principle of targeting the ‘poor in all areas’. It was for the first time that a differential price policy was adopted for poor and non-poor. Further, in 2000, two special schemes were launched viz., Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and the Annapurna Scheme (APS) with special target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent senior citizens’, respectively. The functioning of these two schemes was linked with the existing network of the PDS.

 

The PDS has proved to be the most effective instrument of government policy over the years in stabilising prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices. It has been instrumental in averting widespread hunger and famine by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit ones. In addition, the prices have been under revision in favour of poor households in general. The system, including the minimum support price and procurement has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions. However, the Public Distribution System has faced severe criticism on several grounds. Instances of hunger are prevalent despite overflowing granaries. FCI go-downs are overflowing with grains, with some rotting away and some being eaten by rats.

 

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): AAY was launched in December 2000. Under the scheme one crore of the poorest among the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution system were identified. Poor families were identified by the respective state rural development departments through a Below Poverty Line (BPL) survey. Twenty five kilograms of food grains were made available to each eligible family at a highly subsidised+ rate of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice. This quantity has been enhanced from 25 to 35 kgs with effect from April 2002. The scheme has been further expanded twice by additional 50 lakh BPL families in June 2003 and in August 2004. With this increase, 2 crore families have been covered under the AAY.

 

Annapurna Scheme: The Annapurna Scheme has been launched with effect from 1st April, 2000. It aims at providing food security to meet the requirement of those senior citizens who, though eligible, have remained uncovered under the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS). The Scheme is targeted to cover, 20% (13.762 Lakh) of persons eligible to receive pension under NOAPS. The beneficiaries are given 10 Kg. of food grains per month free of cost, Subsidy is a payment that a government makes to a producer to supplement the market price of a commodity. Subsidies can keep consumer prices low while maintaining a higher income for domestic producers.

In 2014, the stock of wheat and rice with FCI was 65.3 million tonnes which was much more than the minimum buffer norms. However, these remained consistently higher than the buffer norms. The situation improved with the distribution of food grains under different schemes launched by the government. There is a general consensus that high level of buffer stocks of food grains is very undesirable and can be wasteful. The storage of massive food stocks has been responsible for high carrying costs, in addition to wastage and deterioration in grain quality. Freezing of MSP for a few years should be considered seriously. The increased food grains procurement at enhanced MSP is the result of the pressure exerted by leading food grain producing states, such as Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.

 

Moreover, as the procurement is concentrated in a few prosperous regions (Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and to a lesser extent in West Bengal) and mainly of two crops— wheat and rice—increase in MSP has induced farmers, particularly in surplus states, to divert land from production of coarse grains, which is the staple food of the poor, to the production of rice and wheat. The intensive utilisation of water in the cultivation of rice has also led to environmental degradation and fall in the water level, threatening the sustainability of the agricultural development in these states.

 

The rising Minimum Support Prices (MSP) have raised the maintenance cost of procuring food grains by the government. Rising transportation and storage costs of the FCI are other contributing factors in this increase.

 

PDS dealers are sometimes found resorting to malpractices like diverting the grains to open market to get better margin, selling poor quality grains at ration shops, irregular opening of the shops, etc. It is common to find that ration shops regularly have unsold stocks of poor quality grains left. This has proved to be a big problem. When ration shops are unable to sell, a massive stock of food grains piles up with the FCI. In recent years, there is another factor that has led to the decline of the PDS. Earlier every family, poor and non-poor had a ration card with a fixed quota of items such as rice, wheat, sugar etc. These were sold at the same low price to every family. The three types of cards and the range of prices that you see today did not exist. A large number of families could buy food grains from the ration shops subject to a fixed quota. These included low income families whose incomes were marginally higher than the below poverty line families. Now, with TPDS of three different prices, any family above the poverty line gets very little discount at the ration shop. The price for APL family is almost as high as open market price, so there is little incentive for them to buy these items from the ration shop.

 

Minimum Support Price:

Minimum Support Price is the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers, whatever may be the price for the crops. Minimum Support Price is an important part of India’s agricultural price policy. The MSP helps to incentivize the framers and thus ensures adequate food grains production in the country. I gives sufficient remuneration to the farmers, provides food grains supply to buffer stocks and supports the food security programme through PDS and other programmes.

 

Procurement Price: Sometimes, the government procures at a higher price than the MSP. Here, the price will be referred as procurement price. The procurement price will be announced soon after the harvest. Normally, the procurement price will be higher than the MSP, but lower than the market price. The price at which the procured and buffer stock food grains are provided through the PDS is called as issue price.

 

When the MSP is announced?

The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Support prices generally affect farmers’ decisions indirectly, regarding land allocation to crops, quantity of the crops to be produced etc. It is in this angle that the MSP becomes a big incentive for the farmers to produce more quantity.

 

What are the Objectives of MSP?

Government’s agricultural policy has three important components- the MSP, Buffer Stocks and issue of food grains through the PDS. The interconnectivity between the three is very clear. MSP helps to procure adequate food grains through FCI, state agencies and cooperatives. The PDS network through the policy of issue price delivers it to the weaker sections. MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the farmers against excessive fall in price during bumper production years. The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government.

 

The objective of the MSP is thus to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for by encouraging higher investment and production. It also aims to bring a balanced realization of sufficient food production and consumption needs at the same ensuring adequate and affordable food grains to all the people.

 

 

 

Aims of the MSP:

• Assure remunerative and relatively stable price environment for the farmers by inducing them to increase production and thereby augment the availability of food grains.
• Improve economic access of food to people.
• Evolve a production pattern which is in line with overall needs of the economy.

 

Who declares and who prepares it?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Government of India, determines the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of various agricultural commodities in India based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP).

 

How many commodities are covered under the MSP?

At present, the MSP covers 24 crops that includes seven cereals (paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi); five pulses (gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad and lentil); eight oilseeds (groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soyabean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed); copra, raw cotton, raw jute and virginia flu cured (VFC) tobacco. Procurement of agricultural crops is made by the FCI, state agencies and cooperatives. A counterpart of the MSP is the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), under which the state government procures perishable commodities like vegetable items.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Irrigation

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. In crop production it is mainly used to replace missing rainfall in periods of drought, but also to protect plants against frost. Irrigation has two primary objectives:

• To supply essential moisture for plant growth, which includes transport of essential nutrients.
• To leach or dilute salts in soil.

Besides this irrigation provides number of side benefits, such as cooling the soil and atmosphere to create more favourable environment for crop growth, Irrigation supplements the supply of water received from precipitation and other types of atmospheric water, flood waters and ground water.

 

The need of irrigation in India:

• About 45 % of agricultural production is still dependant on uncertain rains,
• The country would need to produce 277 million tons (against the production of about 200 million tonnes for 1998-99) of food to meet the per capita requirement of 225 kg per year for an estimated popula­tion of 1231 million in the year 2030,
• About 50% of the country’s population is employed in agricultural production, and
• The export of agricultural products earns a major part of foreign exchange.

Usefulness and importance of irrigation can be appreciated by the fact that without irrigation it would have been impossible for India to have become self-sufficient in food with its huge population. Primary source of prosperity in Punjab is irrigation.

 

 

Sources of Irrigation:

Depending on the availability of surface or ground water, type of relief, soils and the moisture requirement of crops, various types of irrigation are practiced in India, more important among these are canals, wells and tanks.

 

Wells: Wells provide the most widely distributed source of irrigation in India. Wells make use of the underground water. Well irrigation, therefore, is possible even in low rainfall areas provided sufficient quantity of ground water is available. Well irrigation is also within the reach of small farmers. It accounts for about 40 per cent of the total irrigated area in the country.

 

Canals: Canals are the other important source of irrigation. India has one of the world’s largest canal system Stretching over more than one lakh km and serving: more then.20 million hectares.

 

Canals are of two types:

Inundation canals: Canals taken out from rivers without any regulating system are called inundation canals.

Perennial canals: Perennial canals too are taken off from perennial rivers or reservoirs with a wet system to regulate the flow of water, which is maintained throughout the year.

 

Tanks: Tank irrigation is the most feasible and widely practiced method of irrigation in States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, etc. Tank irrigation involves a high rate of evaporation and occupation of fertile land particularly as the depth of most of the tanks to shallow and the water spreads over a large area.

 

 

Development of Irrigation

After independence in 1947, an era of planned development in irrigation started with the first five-year Plan in 1951. Giant projects like the Bhakra-Nangal, Hirakud, Damodar valley, Nagarjunasagar, Rajasthan canal, etc., were taken up. As a result, the irrigated area increased from 22.6 Mha in 1951 to 87.8 Mha in 1995. The total ultimate irrigation potential is estimated at 115.54 Mha of which 58.47 Mha would be from major and medium irrigation schemes, and the remaining from minor irrigation schemes. Post-Independence, the first major development programme launched in India was Community Development Programme in 1952.

 

Community Development Programme: 1952

The objectives of the command area development programme are as follows:

• Increasing the area of irrigated land by proper land development and water management.
• Optimising yields by adopting the best cropping pattern consistent with the availability of water, soil and other local conditions.
• Bringing water to the farmer’s fields rather than only to the outlets and, thus, assuring equitable distribution of water and adequate supply to tail-enders.
• Avoiding wastage and misuse of water.
• Optimising the use of scarce land and water resources, including ground water where available, in conjunction with necessary inputs and infrastructure.

 

Methods of Irrigation:

Irrigation water can be supplied to the land to be irrigated using one of the following methods:

 

Surface Irrigation Methods: It is the oldest and most common method of irrigation. It, however, does not result in high levels of perfor­mance. In all the surface methods of irrigation, water is either ponded on the soil or allowed to flow continuously over the soil surface for the duration of irrigation. Following are the types:

 

Uncontrolled Flooding: In the uncontrolled flooding method of irrigation, water is applied to a field for irrigation without any land preparation and without any levees to guide or restrict the flow of water on the field. Water is simply admitted at one end of the field, thus, letting it flood the entire field without any control. This method generally results in excess irrigation at the inlet region of the field and insufficient irrigation at the outlet region. This method has the advantage of low expenses on land preparation. Its main disadvantage is greater loss of water due to deep percolation and surface runoff. This method is, therefore, suitable when water is available in large quantities, the land surface is irregular, and the crop being grown is unaffected because of excess water.

 

Border Strip Method: It is a controlled surface irrigation method in which the farm is divided into a number of strips which are separated from each other by low levees (or ‘borders’ or ‘dikes’). These strips can be 3-20 m wide and 100-400 m long depending upon the unevenness of the land and the size of the supply channel. However, narrow strips would require too many levees which would occupy lot of cultivable land. The length of the strip depends primarily on the infiltration rate of the soil and the slope of the land and is generally 60 to 120 m for more permeable sandy and sandy-loam soil and 150 to 300 m for less permeable clay loam and clay soils. The strips do not have cross slopes but slope along the length depending upon the type of the soil. The strips should have much flatter longitudinal slope for less permeable clay and clay-loam soils, and flatter slope for more permeable sand and sandy-loam soils. Water from the supply channel is diverted to each of these strips along which it flows slowly towards the downstream end and, thus, irrigates the land.

 

Check Method: In this method, the land to be irrigated is divided into a number of almost levelled plots (kiaries) surrounded by levees. Water is admitted from the farmer’s field channels to these plots turn by turn so that the plots are flooded without overtopping the levees. Size of individual plots may vary from as small as one metre square (suitable for growing vegetables) to as large as one hectare or even more. This method is suitable for wide range of soils ranging from very permeable to much less permeable soils. The farmer has good control over the distribution of water in different parts of his farm. The water application efficiency is higher for this method. However, this method requires constant attendance for admitting and closing the supplies to the levelled plots. Also, there is some loss of cultivable area which is occupied by the levees. Sometimes, levees are made sufficiently wide to grow ‘row’ crops and, thus, compensate to some extent the loss of cultivable area on account of levees.

 

Basin Method: It is similar to the check method and is suitable for orchards which are irrigated by constructing a separate basin, usually circular in shape, for every tree. Basins of larger size can also be made in order to accommodate more than one tree. The basins are fed by field channels which receive water from the supply channel.

 

Furrow Method: Furrows are small field channels having uniform slope and are used to irrigate crops planted in rows. Water infiltrates through the wetted perimeter of the furrows and, thus, raises the moisture content of the root-zone soil of the plants which are planted in rows. The lengths of furrows may vary from 10 m to as much as 500 m, although, 100 to 200 m long furrows are more commonly used to avoid excessive percolation losses and soil erosion in the upstream reach of the furrows.

 

Subsurface Irrigation: In subsurface irrigation (or simply sub-irrigation), the water is supplied to soils directly under their surface. Moisture reaches the plant roots through capillary action. In this method, water is supplied to a network of ditches which are about 0.6 to 0.9 m deep and 0.3 m wide and with vertical sides. These ditches are spaced 45 to 90 m apart. Sometimes, a distribution system of porous pipes is laid in the soil well below the ground surface. Soils which permit free lateral movement of water, rapid capillary movement in the root zone soil and very slow downward movement of water in the subsoil, are very suitable for sub-irrigation by porous pipes. The cost of sub-irrigation is very high, but the water consumption is as low as one-third of the surface irrigation methods. The crop yield also improves. Application efficiencies generally vary between 30 to 80%. An impervious soil layer at about 2 m below the upper permeable soil layer would be favourable to sub-irrigation methods, if water is scarce.

 

Sprinkler Irrigation: In this method, water is sprayed into the atmospheric air over the soil surface to be irrigated and allowed to fall on the soil surface at a rate less than the infiltration rate of the soil. Sprinkler irrigation provides controlled uniform application of water for frequent and light irrigation on shallow soils, sloping and undulating lands without having to develop them by land grading or levelling operation. Rotating sprinkler-head systems are commonly used for sprinkler irriga­tion. Each rotating sprinkler-head applies water to a specified area size of which is governed by the nozzle size and the water pressure. Alternatively, perforated pipe can be used to deliver water through very small holes which are drilled at close intervals along a segment of the circumference of a pipe.

 

The following conditions are favourable for sprinkler irrigation system:

• Soils with very high infiltration rate
• Shallow soils, the topography of which prevents desired levelling at reasonable costs
• Undulating land and land with steep slopes where surface irrigation may result in excessive erosion
• Water is very scarce
• Ground water is the source of irrigation water.

 

The advantages of sprinkler irrigation:

• Saving of water and soil (due to no or negligible erosion of soil).
• Saving in cost of land preparation.
• Better control of soil moisture.
• Frequent and light irrigation results in better crop yields.
• Easy and uniform application of water, fertilizers and pesticides.

 

The disadvantages:

• Higher initial investment.
• Higher power requirement.
• Unsuitable for soils having low infiltration rate.
• Poor application efficiency under high windy conditions and high temperature.
• Unsuitable for canal irrigation in which water is distributed by rota­tional supply system.

Because of its advantages, sprinkler irrigation is replacing the surface irrigation methods. In India, the gross area under spunkier irrigation has increased from 3 lakh hectares in 1985 to 5.80 lakh hectares in 1989, and is expected to further increase to about 20 lakh hectares by the turn of the 20th century.

 

Trickle (or Drip) Irrigation: In the drip irrigation system, water is applied slowly and frequently to keep the soil moisture in the root-zone soil of the plant within the desired range. The water for irrigation is conveyed from the source to the plant root zone through a system comprising main line (37.5 to 70 mm diameter pipe), sub-mains (25 to 37.5 mm diameter pipe), laterals (6 to 8 mm diameter pipe), valves (to control the flow), drippers or emitters (to supply water at a desired rate of about 1 to 10 litres per hour to the plants), pressure gauges, water meters, filters (to remove all debris, sand and clay to reduce clogging of the emitters), pumps, fertiliser tanks, vacuum breakers and pressure regulators.

 

Advantages:

• It saves water and improves water penetration.
• It reduces weed growth.
• Limited soil wetting permits uninterrupted agricultural operations.
• Lower operating pressures and lower flow rates require lesser energy for pumping.
• It enhances plant growth and improves crop yield.
• It does not require land preparation.
• It does not cause soil erosion.
• It improves fertiliser application efficiency.

 

Disadvantages:

• It requires high skill in its design, installation and maintenance.
• Initial investment cost is rather high.
• The system is sensitive to clogging because of small openings used in the system.

Because of the obvious advantages of water saving and increased crop yield associated with drip irrigation, India has embarked on a massive programme for popularizing this method.

 

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

The major objective of PMKSY is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water, enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop), enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices by exploring the feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water for peri-urban agriculture and attract greater private investment in precision irrigation system.

 

PMKSY has been conceived amalgamating ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC). The scheme will be implemented by Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development.

• Ministry of Rural Development is to mainly undertake rain water conservation, construction of farm pond, water harvesting structures, small check dams and contour bunding etc.
• MoWR, RD &GR, is to undertake various measures for creation of assured irrigation source, construction of diversion canals, field channels, water diversion/lift irrigation, including development of water distribution systems.
• Ministry of Agriculture will promote efficient water conveyance and precision water application devices like drips, sprinklers, pivots, rain-guns in the farm “(Jal Sinchan)”, construction of micro-irrigation structures to supplement source creation activities, extension activities for promotion of scientific moisture conservation and agronomic measures.

 

Implementation Structure:

Programme architecture of PMKSY will be to adopt a ‘decentralized State level planning and projectised execution’ structure that will allow States to draw up their own irrigation development plans based on District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and State Irrigation Plan (SIP). It will be operative as convergence platform for all water sector activities including drinking water & sanitation, MGNREGA, application of science & technology etc. through comprehensive plan. State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) chaired by the Chief Secretary of the State will be vested with the authority to oversee its implementation and sanction projects.

 

The programme will be supervised and monitored by an Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) will be constituted under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister with Union Ministers from concerned Ministries. A National Executive Committee (NEC) will be constituted under the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee programme implementation, allocation of resources, inter-ministerial coordination, monitoring & performance assessment, addressing administrative issues etc.

 

Components and responsible Ministries/ Departments

AIBP by MoWR,RD &GR: To focus on faster completion of ongoing Major and Medium Irrigation including National Projects.

 

PMKSY (Har Khet ko Pani) by MoWR,RD &GR: Creation of new water sources through Minor Irrigation (both surface and ground water).

• Repair, restoration and renovation of water bodies; strengthening carrying capacity of traditional water sources, construction rain water harvesting structures (Jal Sanchay);
• Command area development, strengthening and creation of distribution network from source to the farm;
• Improvement in water management and distribution system for water bodies to take advantage of the available source which is not tapped to its fullest capacity (deriving benefits from low hanging fruits). At least 10% of the command area to be covered under micro/precision irrigation.

 

PMKSY (Watershed) by Dept. of Land Resources, MoRD: Water harvesting structures such as check dams, nala bund, farm ponds, tanks etc.

• Capacity building, entry point activities, ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development, livelihood activities for the asset-less persons and production system & micro enterprises for small and marginal farmers etc.
• Effective rainfall management like field bunding, contour bunding/trenching, staggered trenching, land levelling, mulching etc.

 

PMKSY(Per drop more crop) by Dept. of Agriculture & Cooperation, MoA: Programme management, preparation of State/District Irrigation Plan, approval of annual action plan, Monitoring etc.

• Promoting efficient water conveyance and precision water application devices like drips, sprinklers, pivots, rain-guns in the farm (Jal Sinchan);
• Capacity building, training for encouraging potential use water source through technological, agronomic and management practices including community irrigation.

 

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY):

The highlights of this scheme are as under:

• There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
• There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
• Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
• The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.

The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme. It incorporates the best features of all previous schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings/weaknesses have been removed.

 

Features	NAIS [1999]	MNAIS [2010]	PM Crop Insurance Scheme
Premium rate	Low	High	Lower than even NAIS (Govt to contribute 5 times that of farmer)
One Season – One Premium	Yes	No	Yes
Insurance Amount cover	Full	Capped	Full
On Account Payment	No	Yes	Yes
Localised Risk coverage	No	Hail storm Land slide	Hail storm Land slide Inundation
Post-Harvest Losses coverage	No	Coastal areas – for cyclonic rain	All India – for cyclonic + unseasonal rain
Prevented Sowing coverage	No	Yes	Yes
Use of Technology (for quicker settlement of claims)	No	Intended	Mandatory
Awareness	No	No	Yes (target to double coverage to 50%)