How India can be Modernize Agriculture & Improve Productivity

India's greatest agriculture scientists and father of India's Green Revolution, Dr. M S Swaminathan has warned that the country could face crisis of agricultural productivity if farming is neglected and use of obsolete technology. The future belongs to nations with grains and not guns says Dr. Swaminathan.

Adoption of suitable modernize agriculture and improve productivity is complementary to each-others with respect to increasing agricultural products consumption and for sustainable agriculture.

Issues of Modernization and Agricultural Productivity :

* India has about 45% of its total area under cultivation (one of the highest in the world). But India's per hectare yield compares quite poorly with many countries of the world. E.g. In case of rice, India's average yield today is 2.9 tons per hectare while China's average rice yield, at 6.3 tons per hectare, more than double that of India.

* Improper use of fertilizers has led to soil degradation, alkalinity and salinity.

* Over dependence on Monsoon : issue of twin menace - drought and flood.

* Increasing land fragmentation. In 1970-71, the average land holdings was 2.28 hectares while in 1980-81, it was reduced to 1.82 hectares and 1.50 hectares in 1995-96.

* Declining land to man ratio and size of land holdings.

* Large number of middle man (weak linkage of backwards and forwards with farmers).

* Lack of information diffusion to farmers (lack of information from lab to field).

* Lack of credit facilities.

* Inadequate irrigation - only 33% of agriculture land has irrigation facility.

* Use of obsolete technology.

* Prevailing 'Jhoom' cultivation (shifting agriculture).

* Wide nutrient gap between nutrient demand and supply.

* Inaccessible crop insurance due to unawareness about insurance scheme.

* Lack of use of the micro-irrigation techniques.

* Decline in the Public investment in agriculture sector.

Important Government Schemes and Programmes in Agriculture :

* Soil Health Card (SHC) - launched in 2015, it provides information to farmers on nutrients of the soil.

* Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) - Under this scheme, provide incentives for Khari crops, Rabi & oilseed crops and annual commercial crops.

* Paramparagat Krishi Vikash Yojana (PKVY) - to promote Organic Farming in the country.

* e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) - It is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create unified national market for agricultural commodities.

* Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) : launched on 1st July, 2015 with the aim of 'Har Khet Ko Paani'. Popularization of micro irrigation to ensure 'Per drop-more crop'.

* Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) - mobilisation of resources.

* Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP) - To increase agricultural productivity of rainfed areas in a sustainable manner by adopting appropriate farming system based approaches.

* National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) - increase agricultural productivity through the focus on integrated farming, soil health, and water conservation in rainfed areas.

* Livestock insurance Scheme - quality improvement of livestock and their products.

* Scheme on Fisheries Training and Extension 

* AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan : COVID-19 Package for Agriculture and Allied Sector - To strengthen Agriculture Infrastructure Logistics, capacity building, governance and administrative reforms for agriculture, fisheries and food processing sectors. Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced a Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crore - equivalent to 10% of India's GDP on 12th May 2020. It is Self-reliant India Movement.

Modernization of Indian Agriculture Initiative of Government of India:

The Government has taken various steps to modernizing agriculture for sustainable growth in agriculture sector. Some of the interventions in this direction are:

• Creation of a network of 722 KrishiVigyanKendras (KVKs) for dissemination of knowledge and information about modern technology etc.
• Initiatives under Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) Scheme like Extension Reforms, Mass Media Support to Agricultural Extension, Kisan Call Centres, Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres, Exhibitions/ Fairs etc.
• Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM).
• Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi.
• National Agriculture e-Market platform (e-NAM) has been established
• Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme.
• Per Drop More Crop (PDMC)
• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture.
• Promotion of 10,000 FPOs.

Strategies for Modernize & raise Agricultural Productivity :

* Increase productivity through attention to seeds, soil have, pest management, crop life saving irrigation and post harvest technology.

* Supplemental irrigation based on rain water harvesting will help to increase yield.

* Horticulture is the key component to double the agriculture growth from less than 2% in 10th Five Year Plan to more than 4% in 11th FYP.

* Implementation of zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) to increase productivity and reduce input costs.

* Use of Organic Fertilizers/biopesticides to improve soil fertility and increase productivity.

* Promote the establishment of 50,000 village based farm schools throughout the country with Public-Private Partnership.

* All agro-industries, KVKs, agricultural colleges and research institutes to set up village based farm schools on lands leased from farmers.

* Establish central and satellite farm production training institutes in each state to train and certify farm school instructors. To be developed farm schools instructors and for farmers training.

* Agriculture sector needs priority and continuous increase in investment.

* The second green revolution would emerge from improvement in rainfed agriculture technology aimed at developing systems with low water requiring crops and breaking the crop-yield barriers.

* Promotion of Sustainable Self-Help Groups to adopt agri-business such as dairy farming, mushroon production, fish production, bee keeping and food processing.

* Computerized expert systems should be developed for crop selection, soil nutrition, disease and pest identification and management.

* Encourage agri-business by networking farmers.

* Krishi Vighyan Kendra (KVK) - It would prepare strategies for agricultural input and technology.

* Community Radio, Call Centres, and Mass media need to be harnessed for wider dissemination of best practices.

* Village Knowledge Centres, and online databases in local languages should be established.

* Farmers Field School (in Panchayat) should be linked to agriculture universities.

* The agriculture marketing department must take measures to provide adequate non-exploitative arrangements in market yards.

* Measures for governance and administrative reforms for agriculture sector.

* Amendment to essential commodities act to enable better price realisation for farmers.

India's agricultural productivity enhance through farmers to engage with processors, aggregators, large retailers, exporters etc. Risk mitigation for farmers, suitable modernization, assured returns and quality standardization shall form integral part of the framework.

References

E-book

Yojana