The potential of Indian Agriculture

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Does India need to import food stock?​

The story of the drought in the country is going on and the government has said India will need to import some food stock. So, exactly how much are we importing and what are we looking to import? More importantly, do we need it?

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Hope in times of drought​

Jharkhand was one of the first states to declare a drought across all its districts. Here's a story of a humble Jharkhand villager who didn't wait for government help but created a canal over a decade ago that now benefits seven villages.

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Life's cheap in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat​

UPLA-BILIA VILLAGE (Dungarpur): It was on the night of August 17 that Punjilal Ahuri received the body of his 16-year-old daughter, Haju Ben. She had apparently died of snake bite while working in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat. That was the first time Punjilal got to know where his missing daughter had been. She had gone shopping one day to Wardha market in Dungarpur, and never returned. Apparently, there she had met a middleman, Amramam, who took her — along with others — to work in Gujarat’s Bt cotton fields. "Wardha police station received the body and they handed it over to us saying Haju had died of snake bite while working in the cotton fields," says Punjilal. But he is still not convinced that it was snake bite.

He has his reasons. Punjilal has heard horror stories of rape and sexual abuse of minors. Besides, there have been far too many deaths. Last year, 12 children died, and this year, in less than one month, five have died. There are large Bt cotton farms in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. And when cross-pollination work begins in the end of July, a large number of children from Rajasthan’s Udaipur and Dungarpur are taken there, often by coercion or deception, as the local people allege. Almost 90% of those working there are from Rajasthan.

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India's big agriculture challenge​

There is a pressing need for developing high-calibre talent focused on 'Food & Agriculture' technology and management, says Arvind Singhal. Agriculture may contribute only 17 per cent or so (and declining in percentage terms) to India's GDP but the challenges it faces and therefore the challenge it poses for India's future is as humongous as the challenge of physical and social infrastructure. In fact, there is a risk of getting sidetracked from the many dimensions of this challenge if the impact is seen only from the perspective of India's 55 per cent rural population, of which over 65 per cent are directly employed in farming.

Indeed, if India's politicians, planners and non-agriculturists do not take a more informed, more futuristic, and a more holistic view of this sector, we run the risk of facing mass socio-economic disruptions on the same scale as the drought-blighted years of the previous centuries. Unlike anytime in the past, India's agriculture challenge has to be understood concurrently in many dimensions. The most critical of these dimensions has to be in the context of India's population and its continued growth. In 1947, India's population was about 345 million. In the last 20 years alone, we have added another 350 million to this, and at the current net growth rate, we would see an addition of yet another 350 million in the next 20, bringing us to almost 1.5 billion Indians by 2030 or so.

Beyond these raw numbers, a further analysis of this demographic profile is such that the calorific needs of the population will increase at the fastest ever pace in India's history as the median age moves up from 25 years to 35. Beyond just the basic needs for energy, rising incomes and changing eating habits will dramatically alter what India consumes. Beyond the coarse cereals, India will want more protein, more edible oil, and more sugars in different forms including pulses, meat, dairy, vegetables and fruit. Of particular "concern" will be the impact of rising consumption of meat that will require unprecedented quantities of production and diversion of grain for animal feed purposes (some meats apparently require as much as 10 kg of grains for animal feed for each kilogram of output).

A rising population itself has many other dimensions. The most important one is the pressure it is already putting on land. The 350 million that India added in the last 20 years, and the 350 million or more it will add in the next 20, will need housing, public utilities, roads, parks, schools & colleges, hospitals, sports arenas, airports, railway stations, office and retail spaces, crematoriums and cemeteries, manufactured products, and other infrastructure that will all demand huge tracts of land. Most of the human habitation, for obvious reasons, has traditionally been in those areas that are most fertile and hence conflicts will increase exponentially as the pressure on land increases.

A third dimension is the pressure on water resources. Beyond the need for large quantum of water for agriculture, a 1.5 billion-inhabitant society will have unprecedented requirement for water for its very basic needs, and then for the needs relating to infrastructure, be it civic amenities and utilities or manufacturing. To manage this challenge, its gravity must be fully understood. Hence, either the government directly or a think tank like ICRIER should be engaged to study this agriculture challenge holistically and then action has to be recommended and urgent steps taken thereafter. At the same time, the government has to be very careful in promoting agri-products exports since the need for foreign exchange should not come in conflict with domestic needs.

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Farm sector growth down to 2.4% in Q1​

New Delhi: Agriculture growth slowed down to 2.4 per cent in the April-June quarter this year from 3 per cent in the same quarter last year. "The first quarter (agriculture growth) doesn't mean much. Basically it is based on (the output of) the rabi (which concluded in June). But the farm GDP growth may be revised upwards for the last fiscal from 1.6 per cent to about 2 per cent," Planning Commission Member Abhijit Sen told PTI. Agriculture contributes 18 per cent to the GDP and though the sector recorded 3 per cent growth in the first quarter last year, the overall growth for the year was a modest 1.6 per cent.

First quarter performance, which is based on the output of winter-sown crops, saw cotton production slump by 10.5 per cent and sugarcane by 22.1 per cent, according to the data compiled by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). However, rice output increased by 3.8 per cent, wheat by 2.6 per cent, coarse cereals 25.6 per cent, oilseeds 13.6 per cent and pulses 18.2 per cent, the data showed. Asked if drought in about half the country will affect agriculture growth, Sen said, "Of course, it will. And the impact will be reflected in Q2 and Q3."

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Farmers tweak sowing pattern after good rain in August​

GULBARGA: Bountiful rain in mid-August has brought smiles back to farmers in Gulbarga district. Agricultural operations, which had come to a halt because of lack of rain in June and July, have picked up. The district, which experienced a prolonged dry spell from June to mid-August, received heavy rain after August 20. Till August 31, the district received 190.21 mm of rainfall as against an average rainfall of 164.6 mm. This has enabled farmers to go in for early rabi sowing, and in a few taluks, they are sowing red gram crop, even though the optimal time for its sowing is over. Agriculture Department officials told The Hindu here on Tuesday that the high prices of red gram in the wholesale market were driving farmers to sow the crop even after the sowing season has ended.

Farmers generally complete sowing red gram before the end of August or at the most by the first week of September to avoid pest attacks during the flowering of the crop in October-November. Harvest usually takes place in January or February. Sowing of the crop now will result in delayed flowering at the peak of winter, a time which is usually conducive for pest attacks. An official from the Agriculture Department said that farmers are prepared to take the risk and would control the menace by using pesticides. Farmer Shambulinga Patil, who owns about five acres of land in Honna Kiranagi in Gulbarga taluk, said, “I know this is not the season for sowing red gram. I know the yield will be low, but I can still earn some profit if the present rates continue in the market.”

Similar sentiments were heard from others, including Siddaram Reddy in Malkhed village who has taken up sowing of red gram in his 15-acre rain-fed land following good rain in August. “Red gram, which is drought-resistant, is the best crop for the weather conditions in Gulbarga district, and without this crop we will not survive,” he said. Till the end of July this year, farmers had completed sowing red gram in more than 2.22 lakh hectares of land, and owing to the good rain in August and revival of sowing in a few pockets of the district, the sowing of red gram is expected to be completed in at least 2.6 lakh hectares this year.

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How India's demand for sugar is hitting Brazil

 

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India’s average farm productivity lowest in the world: U.R. Rao

Special Correspondent

The Hindu
Space scientist U.R. Rao on Thursday called upon agricultural universities to set up remote sensing departments on their campuses for the development of the agriculture sector as well as villages through application of remote sensing technology in farming.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day national symposium on “Transforming Indian villages into knowledge hub” organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and the Indian Agricultural Universities’ Association (IAUA) here, Prof. Rao expressed concern that several agricultural universities did not have remote sensing departments. “If you do not have remote sensing departments, which is vital for agriculture, how can you call yourselves agricultural universities?” he wondered.

He narrated an incident in which a U.S. farmer had told him that he was making use of the remote sensing technology developed by the Bangalore-based ISRO, even as there was not much awareness regarding the applications of this technology in farming in India itself.

The former ISRO Chairman said rural economy will improve only when villages are developed as knowledge hubs. To achieve this, there was a dire need to help farmers adopt modern technologies in addition to becoming entrepreneurs.

He suggested that people in rural areas should be given training in vocational trades so that they could support themselves during off-season, when there is not much agricultural activity. For that to happen, the country should reverse its inverted pyramid structure of technical education wherein the number of engineering colleges were in multiples of lower level technical institutions such as polytechnic colleges and ITIs, he said. It is better to ensure that the number of ITIs and polytechnic colleges is more than engineering colleges so that there is enough availability of those specialised in different technical trades, he observed.

Pointing out that the country’s food production had remained stagnant for a long time, he said there was a dire need to increase the productivity as the country’s food requirement was increasing sharply in tune with the population growth. The country’s average farm productivity which stood around two tonnes per hectare was the lowest in the world as the global average was about 2.6 tonnes.

His other suggestions included setting up agro processing units in villages to make value addition to crops, providing market information to farmers and encouraging contract farming.

IAUA president Anwar Alam and executive secretary R P. Singh, UAS-B Vice-chancellor P.G. Chengappa and Dean K. Narayana Gowda spoke.

 

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System of rice intensification technique boosts paddy yield​

CHENNAI: The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has helped farmers in Tiruchi district to cope with an unreliable monsoon and shortage of farm labour, according to the district administration. Speaking to The Hindu, District Collector T. Soundiah said the production cost of paddy under the new cultivation technique is in the range of Rs.2,000-3,000 a hectare, whereas it is close to Rs.10,000 under traditional cultivation methods. Where traditional methods of paddy cultivation yielded about two tonnes of paddy a hectare, under SRI farmers are able to get up to 6.7 tonnes a hectare. The use of SRI is spreading in Tiruchi: the technique is being successfully implemented here on 20,000 ha out of a total of 70,000 ha under cultivation, according to data provided by the district administration.

“For many farmers, this has meant an additional income of Rs.25,000-30,000 per acre,” according to S. Sivaraj, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Central Government Schemes. The SRI helps economise on resources use while maximising the yield. “It requires a high level of farmland manure and a minimum quantity of seeds,” Mr. Sivaraj said. Only 2 kg of seeds were required per acre. The minimum age of seedlings would be eight to 12 days. “Other important factors include wider spacing between seedlings and the use of the Cono-Weeder four times during the crop cycle,” Mr. Sivaraj said. Most important, SRI requires minimal use of water, according to Mr. Soundiah. “The aim is to maintain the soil by wetting, not by flooding the fields as traditional cultivation methods suggest,” he said. The district administration is implementing subsidy schemes for harvester and weeder machines to further boost productivity.

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India may lose south-west monsoon in another 150 years: Study - dnaindia.com

New Delhi: India may lose one of its crucial lifelines -- the south west monsoon, which brings rains across the country during the summers, in the next 150 years, warns a new study by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

The phenomenon is the result of global warming which has led to increase in the rate of temperature rise over Arabian Sea, researchers say.

This rise is reducing temperature difference between land and sea, known as Temperature Gradient (TG), responsible for attracting rain causing winds from Arabian Sea towards Indian mainland.

"For climatology, 30 years variations are considered. The decreasing trend (of TG) is highly significant and in another 150 years or so, it may tend to zero," lead author SM Bawiskar, a scientist at the Pune-based institute, said.

Once the gradient becomes zero, Bawiskar warns, the monsoon winds will be replaced by dry easterly winds thus disturbing the flow of south-west monsoon.

He found that average temperature over Arabian Sea was 18.77 degrees Celsius during 1948-77 but it has increased by 0.87 degrees to touch 19.64 degrees during 1979-2008.
The results published in the Journal of Earth System Science show that rate of temperature increase over sea is higher than land which has narrowed the Gradient by 1.11 degrees during the said period.

The below normal rains during the current season are also an indication of the changes taking place in the temperature over the Arabian sea.

The Indian Meteorology Department has shown a 23% reduced rain activity during the present season, which may be an indication of this phenomenon.

"With decreasing TG, monsoon current over Arabian sea would become weak. This will lead to reduced rainfall activity over Indian Peninsula. The break like circulation will prevail for a longer period of time, which we are already experiencing during this monsoon," Bawiskar said.

Global warming, which is increasing the average temperature across the planet, is also behind the increasing temperature over the Arabian sea, the study says.

During monsoon, Arabian sea and Indian peninsula are under the grip of westerlies (winds coming from west) in the lower troposphere.

These winds are mainly responsible for bringing rains over the Indian land mass and are established during the monsoon due to the Temperature Gradient.

 

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Some Kharif saved, enough water for Rabi​

Everyone had given up on the monsoon this year as a bad monsoon. But now, after almost three weeks of normal rain in the country, it may only be a late monsoon. NDTV met some farmers in Uttar Pradesh two months ago, when drought stared them in the face. When we met them again this week, they had a happier tale to tell. The farmers are thanking God for the last three weeks of heavy showers. Two months ago, farmer Krishen Ashray was working at a construction site. His crops were dead, he was on the brink of starvation and was working as a daily-wage labourer.

Today, he and his wife are back on their small field, working, smiling. The rains have brought him back to farming. ''The rainfall has increased the water level in the canal. We can draw water with the pump. Even if it doesn't rain in the next two weeks, we can easily irrigate our fields, '' Ashray says. The farmers have not only been able to save a sizeable chunk of their Kharif crop, but there is enough moisture both in the ground and the air for them to be able to plant their Rabi crop in the coming few months.

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Why groundwater is drying up in north India​

P Rajendran reports from New York on a new American study that reveals how India's groundwater resources have depleted alarmingly. Imagine water contained in a pure cube of ice 109 kilometres high. That is the amount of stored groundwater India has used up in six years in the states of Punjab , Haryana and Rajasthan. That water has not been replaced.

"That's more than twice the volume of the biggest reservoir in India (the upper Wainganga) and three times the size of Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the United States," says Jay Famiglietti, a researcher at the University of California-Irvine. In a paper published in Nature magazine, Famiglietti and Isabella Velicogna, two professors at the University of California-Irvine, and Matt Rodell, a former doctoral student of Professor Famiglietti, pointed out that this huge amount of water does not include the water found on the surface.

While there is a sharp drop in north-western India, there is an increase in groundwater in south India, although experts pointed out that this is not as significant as it appears. "When you think about groundwater depletion, it's like a bank account; you've got inflows, you've got withdrawals, and you've got deposits. When the deposits are greater than the withdrawals, the balance goes up," says Professor Famiglietti. There was no sharp drop in rainfall between 2002 and 2008, the period over which the study was conducted, and so the drop in groundwater levels was most likely caused by irrigation, he says.

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India's agri output to dip by up to 9 pc in next 30 years: WB​

New Delhi: Agriculture output in India is likely to dip by up to 9 per cent in the next 30 years due to change in climatic conditions, a World Bank report says. "Extrapolating from past year-to-year variations in climate and agricultural outcomes, yields of major crops in India are projected to decline by 4.5-9 per cent within the next three decades, even allowing for short-term adaptations," according to World Bank's World Development Report 2010. The report highlighted that geography as well as high level of poverty and population density make countries in the South-Asia region particularly vulnerable to climate change.

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Monsanto exploring Indian partnership, investment prospects​

In a wide-ranging discussion with a group of Indian journalists, the official said Bt. corn (genetically modified maize) was being tested in India for the second season. Currently, bio-safety tests are going on, he said. Usually it takes between five and seven years for obtaining final approval for commercial release of the technology after research trials. So, it may be reasonable to expect to see Bt. corn in the Indian market in four to five years.

Suggesting that drought-tolerant trait could be a major advantage under conditions of moisture-stress, the official observed that unlike global warming, water is a local issue. “Northern India has water-stress. So, we need technology (seeds) that will use less water for agriculture”, he said. Queried about apprehensions over loss of bio-diversity, the official explained that the technology uses a wide range of germ-plasm (cotton, for example) which protects bio-diversity. “When you bring in bio-tech, you don’t sacrifice biodiversity.”

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Sugar shortage to continue till 2011​

Mumbai, Oct. 2: Sugar exporters around the world and speculators in the futures market closely watching developments in India have more than one reason to smile. While they are sanguine the world’s largest consumer will be forced to import not less than five million tonnes of the sweetener in 2009-10, they are becoming increasingly hopeful that their streak of good fortune will continue well into the 2010-11 season also.

For the speculators on the international bourses, the sugar price performance has been exemplary over the last six months, thanks to India and its utterly reactive manner of facing developments in the marketplace. While short-term measures to tide over tough times are necessary, to mistake symptoms for the disease would be naïve. Repeated use of short-term fix is unlikely to make for healthy development of the sugar sector.

With no significant rebound in sugar production envisaged for 2009-10 and nationwide inventory set to decline to alarmingly low levels by the year-end, there is little possibility of global and domestic prices correcting down in a hurry.

As far as 2009-10 is concerned, the numbers are already in place. Acreage is clear; size of cane crop has crystallised; and sugar production can be tentatively estimated (at about 16 million tonnes). Given that consumption is likely to remain stagnant at about 23 mt, the shortfall can only be made through stock drawdowns and imports.

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Rains drown farmers’ hopes in AP, Karnataka​

Hyderabad/Bangalore, Oct. 3: Heavy rains that claimed over 240 lives in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka this week have badly hurt the prospects of kharif crops. Maize, soyabean, paddy, cotton and pulses among other crops have been impacted by the unprecedented downpour. More damage to kharif oilseeds such as soyabean and groundnut besides paddy is feared in parts of Maharashtra such as Ratnagiri and Kolhapur. In Andhra Pradesh, crops on one lakh hectares have been inundated in 11 districts. Over half of this is in Kurnool district.

In Karnataka, standing paddy crop in the irrigated tracts of Raichur and Bellary districts has been affected, while pulses such as red gram (tur) in major growing areas of Gulbarga have been hit. Other pulses such as green gram (moong) and black gram (urad) have been affected too. Besides cotton, cereals such as maize and jowar have been affected in Haveri, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Bidar in Karnataka. Horticulture crops such as chilli and onion have also been damaged, sources said.

The rains have also left sugarcane growers worried in Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Bidar districts. “The recently-planted cane could be affected more compared to the standing crop,” said sources at the Southern India Sugar Mills Association. The rains could also delay crushing that is set to begin anytime now, they said. Karnataka’s northern districts account for two-thirds of the 54 sugar mills in the State. The rains will impact harvest and transportation of the cane besides recovery, they said.

Karnataka Government officials said an assessment of the damage to the crops would be made next week. Officials in Andhra Pradesh, where there was 30 per cent deficit rainfall until last week, fear the damage could be more as rains continued to lash several parts of the State. While maize on 20,000 hectares has been damaged, soyabean on 4,200 hectares and paddy on 3,000 hectares and cotton on 2,000 hectares have been affected. Excessive rains could further damage the prospects of paddy in Andhra Pradesh, where the crop’s coverage has dropped to 16.68 lakh hectares against the average 22.57 lh. “If the flood waters do not recede quickly, the extent of damage could be more (in Andhra Pradesh),” said an official.

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On the brink of starvation​

Sharad Joshi

The worst experience a leader of a farmers’ agitation can go through is to visit the bereaved of those killed in police firing. In my 30 years of association with the farmers’ movement, I have been through many such heart-rending encounters. On at least 35 occasions, I was required to visit the bereaved of those killed in police firing, who demanded nothing more than fair prices for their agricultural produce. The martyred farmers had left their families earli er in the day, with no inkling that they were not to meet their near and dear ones ever again.

However, my experience on October 4 in a village called Bothbodan in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra shook me as never before. In an impromptu meeting of villagers, there were 15 widows whose farmer husbands had committed suicides over the last four years.

Farmers’ suicides are nothing new to the cotton-producing areas of Vidarbha. Some 8,000 farmers had taken the ultimate step during the last five years. Even so, 17 suicides in a single village is something that needs to be told to a world that is becoming increasingly apathetic to the lot of the farmers.

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Indian cotton exports set to rebound​

World cotton market fundamentals are turning in India's favour. Given bright crop scenario, India's cotton export prospects too are beginning to brighten. Growers are likely to benefit from the evolving market conditions.

Consider this. For 2009-10, world consumption is projected at 23.6 million tonnes (23.1 mt previous year) while production is estimated lower at 23.1 mt (23.4 mt). Ending stocks are projected to deplete to 11.8 mt (12.3 mt). World exports are poised to bounce back modestly to 6.9 mt (6.6 mt).

According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), while consumption is expected to recover slightly because of recovery in global economic growth, output is projected to decrease, especially in China, world's largest cotton producer, consumer and importer.

China's imports are projected to rise by eight per cent to 1.6 mt in 2009-10. Imports into Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are also expected to increase. Simply put, export window for Indian cotton has widened. ICAC has projected Indias cotton exports could rebound to 1.4 mt in 2009-10 season.

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Heady scent of success​

He believes in saying it with flowers — personally as well as professionally. Vikaas Gutgutia’s Rs 100-crore Ferns N Petals (FNP) group, which is soon to be a case study at the Indian School of Business, started as a small air-conditioned outfit in Delhi in 1994 only because he did not like the flowers that were delivered to his girlfriend against his order.

He knew he could do better. He started sourcing flowers directly from the growers in order that they stayed fresh longer, he trained manpower in quality control and the nuances of shop management.

He also found that to grow the business, franchising was the best option and took to it in 1999. The franchising model worked well and within three years, the Ferns N Petals chain grew and moved to other cities as well.

Today, 15 years later, the company is the only branded florist retail chain in the country with around 100 outlets in 35 cities, a large number under the franchising model. In addition, FNP has 156 vendor partners overseas for global deliveries. The FNP Web site, where flowers, cakes and chocolates among other gifts can be ordered, makes for almost 10-12 per cent of his business.

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AP paddy output likely to be down 30 lakh tonnes​

Hyderabad, Oct. 8 First the unprecedented drought and then the devastating deluge have completely belied the kharif hopes of Andhra Pradesh farmers. With floods ravaging 2.85 lakh hectares in 12 districts, the State fears a fall in paddy production of 30 lakh tonnes. From the anticipated 85 lakh tonnes, it has now revised downward the paddy production to 55 lakh tonnes. The total loss for agricultural sector due to the floods is estimated at Rs 1,250 crore as just the floods of last week caused agricultural crop loss nine lakh ha and horticultural crop loss on five lakh hectares.

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