Krishi Jagran AgricultureWorld December 2016

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Volume 2 Issue 12 December 2016 ` 70

Prospectus & Problems of

Organic Agriculture in India

Organic Farming Myths & Realities

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AGRICULTURE

the trustworthy friend of farmers WORLD December 2016

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Volume 2 Issue 12 December 2016 ` 70 Editor-in-Chief

MC Dominic Directors

Shiny Emanuel MG Vasan Sr. Executive Editors

Dr. KT Chandy RK Teotia Ajith Kumar V R Technical Editor

Dr. B C Biswas Assistant Editor

Ruby Jain

Social Media Head

Aniket Sinha

Sr. Correspondents

Imran Khan Sameer Tiwari Correspondents

Vipin Mishra

V.P. Int. Business

D.D. Nair Gavrilova Maria Marketing Head

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Sr. Executive Marketing

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Marketing response@krishijagran.com Printed and Published by: M. C. Dominic 60/9, 3rd Floor, Yusuf Sarai Market, Near Green Park Metro Station, New Delhi 110016.

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Head Pre-Press

Yogesh Kumar

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Office Assistant

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IFFCO

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New Crop Insurance Scheme

the trustworthy friend of farmers Revolutionizing compensation of

CROP LOSS

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Prospectus & Problems of

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE in India

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Organic Farming

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Recycling of Domestic

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Inventions of

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Groundnut in India Problems and strategies for

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7TH GAME

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Doubling the

MYTHS & REALITIES

WASTE WATER

for Agriculture in India

AGRICULTURE Equipments

YIELD ENHANCEMENT Changer Awards

‘REAL’ INCOME of farmers in India by 2022

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FFCO is the largest cooperative of the World. It is celebrating its Golden Jubilee Year. On this occasion, Krishi Jagran Team interviewed Mr. Rakesh Kapur, JMD, IFFCO and MD IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd.He briefed about IFFCO and IKSL activities in India for the betterment of farmers.

The need for crop insurance has to be seen in the light of improved security for farmers and an overall boost to the agricultural sectors in particular, the rural economy at large and growth of the country in general. Dr J.P. Sharma and his team in their article “New Crop Insurance Scheme- Revolutionizing compensation of crop loss” has wisely given details about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna.

Dissemination of good agronomic practices for bridging the yield gap and, policy support for export promotion of groundnut are some strategies have been envisioned to achieve overcome the slag in production. Dr. Radhakrishnan, T and Dr.AL Rathnakumar in their article “Groundnut in India: Problems and strategies for yield enhancement” described the state-wise problems and strategies to enhance the yield of Groundnut.

At present domestic wastewater is a major pollutant in all the cities; it is allowed to get spread all over the area creating a breeding place for the mosquitoes and other diseases causing microbes. The excess of the same is let into the nearby rivers often untreated causing much pollution to the river systems. Dr K.T.Chandy in his article “ Recycling of Domestic Waste Water for Agriculture in India” has wisely analyzed the need to recycle the domestic waste water.

Organic agriculture contributes to preserve environment, protect crop species and prevent productive land from degradation and ground & surface water from contamination. Dr.Patel in the article “Prospectus & Problems of Organic Agriculture in India” has discussed about the organic farming. Dr. Biswas has also told about the Myths and Realities of organic Farming.

MC Dominic Editor-in-Chief

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the trustworthy friend of farmers Ruby Jain, Assistant Editor, Imran Khan, Senior Journalist Krishi Jagran

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FFCO is observing this year its Golden Jubilee of its inception with a nationwide organization of a series of awareness building programs for the farmers at district level in every states. We feel a sense of pride and fulfillment at the completion of fifty years of successful journey of IFFCO and will continue with our endeavour to make famers more and more aware of various

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aspects of their life. IFFCO is in ‘Progress With Farmers at every Step”. These were the words of Mr. Rakesh Kapur, JMD, IFFCO & MD, IFFCO Kisan with whom Krishi Jagran had an exclusive interview recently.

Gifted with sparkling eyes and witty words he is a very dynamic person beyond any one’s words on his personality. By virtue of his wisdom, www.krishijagran.com

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Famers’ Friend “IFFCO Kisan Mobile Application”

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amers can get the prices of their agriculture produce sitting at their houses through mobile phone and can sell their crop on rise in prices.

To make the farmers aware of market rates IFFCO has upgraded its app (mobile application) which provides them information regarding employment opportunities, weather reports, news related to agriculture and rural importance.

working capacity and experience he has been leading the organization for past 15 years into excellence. He shared his experience with us and discussed the activities of IFFCO. Excerpts of the interview are here under: “Every farmer wants progress in his life; so it is essential to guide farmers and lead them in the path of progress. IFFCO has created a niche in this area of collaborative cooperation and stood with them at every step in their path of progress”, Mr. Kapur summarized his leadership activities in IFFCO. and he continued further.

He further highlighted that IFFCO is celebrating the golden jubilee of its inception this year and that on this auspicious occasion, the employees of the regional offices of IFFCO in collaboration with the farmers are conducting awareness programs in every state, through which farmers are updated of the facilities and support provided to them by the organization so that famers can take the advantage of them. “It is going to be a Mega Event in the JubileeYear.” Mr. Kapur highlighted.

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“In view of that Dr. U. S. Awasthi, MD, IFFCO, is meeting the members of the society and farmers in person and assessing the farmers’ development programs”, he further observed.

He also recalled about his journey with IFFCO and said, “It’s a matter of great pride for me to have had an experience of serving IFFCO for 15 years. During this time I got many opportunities to learn a lot; I saw a sea of change during the course of this journey which was an essential process along with the time. It was an enriching experience to meet the farmers and to learn from them and moreover to work with them.”

Mr. Kapur highlighted the role of IFFCO in the progress of the farmers. “Rural people still lack access to knowledge and information, particularly the remote areas not accessible with facilities of computer and internet. In figures, only 40 percent of the farmers are able to access information. IFFCO in its endeavor to make more and more farmers accessible to the information pertaining to agriculture took an initiative to launch the operations of “ IFFCO KISAN” in 2007 with an objective to reach and empower the ruwww.krishijagran.com

Farmers can get good customer and better prices after furnishing the details of their crop to be sold in new bazaar section on this app, said Mr. Malhotra, CEO, IFFCO Kisan.

Farmers can receive the update information not only related to agriculture but also horticulture, animal husbandry and government projects.

The farmers holding green sim can call on helpline no. 534351 to get the information pertaining to agriculture.

Famers should activate their mobile data first to download this application, then, go to playstore and type IFFCO Kisan and search. After appearing IFFCO Kisan they should download it and open the app and fill their mobile no and choose the state and select their district, hence, app gets ready to use.

IFFCO Kisan team updates this from time to time, hence, farmers should also update it after receiving the option for update.

ral population via mobile technology.

When asked about the steps taken to connect the farmers with the process of digitalization, he discussed in detail, “As the Central Government has aimed to make farmers income double by the year 2022, we have launched IFFCO Kisan mobile app so that farmers should be updated with the latest information and new technologies. Beside this, we have worked on the schemes like loan facility, Soil Health Scheme and to join the farmers in mandis and help to create Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) to make them aware for getting reasonable prices for their produce and also making efforts to join the buyers and sellers through the app. These schemes are increasingly getting success. We have also tied up with NCDEX and DD Kisan so that farmers could get their benefits directly”, Kapur assessed his work succinctly.

Mr. Kapur further elaborated, “Farmers are still carrying a 50 kilogram bag of fertilizers on their back; but there is some change now as they have option to buy small packets which are available in the market. Fertilizers are also availwww.krishijagran.com

Sandeep Malhotra, CEO, IFFCO Kisan

able in liquid form in small containers, however, these are a little costlier; but famers are using them and they are getting good results by 2530 percent in the growth and yield of the crop.

Presently there is no subsidy on these packets.

IFFCO has set a plant at Kandla to make the liquid fertilizers and to fill in small containers. It should be noted that liquid fertilizers are used more on vegetables, fruits and other horticulture crops. We are getting many inquiries about the liquid fertilizers from the farmers”.

He further informed us, “Farmers are still using urea profusely because the government provides subsidy on it, obviously, if government reduces subsidy, farmers will buy less urea and suggestions for raising prices of urea including an awareness campaign in this regard have been sent to the agriculture ministry. IFFCO also conducts awareness programs for the farmers and suggest them to use urea in proper quantity”.

Responding to our query on micro-nutrients, he informed us that IFFCO is working on nutrients like boron, zinc, zincated NPK, Boronated NPK, December 2016

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Sulpher Bentonite and Zinc Sulphate. They are also preparing weedicides from the residual chemicals as a result of its own profound research. They have signed contracts with Mitsubishi, a renowned Japanese company and have already produced more than 30 products of weedicides and pesticides. They are also working on seeds, especially for providing best kinds of seeds of wheat, guar, paddy to the farmers. Their subsidiary organization IFFDC is also working for developing hybrid vegetables which will be available soon.

On asking the need of any government owned company for expanding the growth of agriculture in the country, he said that so many companies are already there in this field; besides, the department of Agriculture and Extension that keeps the farmers informed of the agricultural projects and schemes.

He further informed us that private companies are also involved in agricultural expansion through their awareness and educative programmes and IFFCO plays major roles in this area, therefore, they don’t feel need of any other company for agriculture expansion.

Finally, giving a message to the farmers, he said, “Along with several challenges, there are better opportunities for the farmers in the field of agriculture but they have to adopt modern techniques of farming so they should be aware of those techniques and take the advantage of them. IFFCO is with farmers at every step and trying to resolve their problems” Regarding need for digitalization for providing latest Information he informed us, “IFFCO Kisan came into being to facilitate the farmers in remote areas with the latest information pertaining to agricultural development. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited provides ‘green sim’ to the farmers to get the vital information on the topics like market rates, animal husbandry, fruits, insecticides, prevention of diseases or pest attacks etc. through voice messages.”

IFFCO Kisan journey started in 2007 and IFFCO Kisan App was launched later on September 8, 2015 with an objective to connect farmers with technology and provide them with the latest information as smart phone are AGRICULTURE

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Navin Choudhary, DGM, IFFCO Kisan available these days in every house. Around two lakh farmers have downloaded this app so far. As far as voice message is concerned, nearly 38 lakh farmers are taking advantage of this facility. Around 18 lakh farmers daily listen voice messages; a farmer receives three messages daily on different topics. On the other side, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited has been selected by the Ministry of Agriculture to manage the Kisan Call Centres (KCC) that provides information to the farmers through experts.

The farmers can receive the information by calling toll free no. 18001801551. Besides, IFFCO Kisan is also providing information through social media and 20,000 users have liked its face book page and more than 4,00,000 viewers are there at the Youtube. www.krishijagran.com

Famers To Take Benefit Of Loans On Old Tractors

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FFCO MD Dr. U. S. Awasthi had a dream to empower and strengthen more and more farmers. To make his dream comes true, IFFCO Kisan has launched a new pilot project under the leadership of Mr. Rakesh Kapur and Mr. Sandeep Malhotra to benefit the farmers and the credit goes to Navin Choudhary, DGM, IFFCO Kisan for its execution and success.

IFFCO has signed a contract with TVSC for this project under which farmers are being provided with facility of loan on their old tractors. The famers having old tractors can take the advantage of loan facility for various uses. Above 50,000 IFFCO Societies and strong distribution network of IFFCO Kisan will work to create awareness on this scheme among the people.

Also, the farmers can receive information regarding this by calling toll free no. 18001028503 or helpline no. 534351. Currently, this scheme is operative in five states like: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

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Famers can also apply through mobile application with loan module in which the name, telephone number and amount of loan are asked.

We received very good responses from the farmers in the beginning stage itself and it is nice for us that we have received better responses from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Most of the farmers are joining with this scheme through our app, customer base and different exhibitions. Merely in two to three months, more than 1800 farmers have expressed their interest to take the advantage of this scheme and above 225 farmers have been given four crore rupees of loan so far.

IFFCO Kisan is working in the direction of facilitating more and more farmers under this pilot project and after the success of this project, the plan is to bring its own NBFC is under way.

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New Crop Insurance Scheme-

Revolutionizing compensation of

crop loss

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Pinaki Roy Jr Research Fellow R. Roy Burman Principal Scientist Sudipta Paul Scientist J.P. Sharma Joint Director (Extension) ICAR-New Delhi

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gricultural production and farm incomes in India are frequently affected by natural disasters such as droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, landslides and earthquakes.

All these events severely affect farmers through loss in production and farm income and are beyond the control of farmers. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is one of the most recent scheme launched by the present government for the farmer’s welfare in January, 2016 to manage such type of risks and represent government is seriously concerned for alleviating the problems of our farming communities in India and wants to provide every help to them always, who are the back bone of Indian Economy. The new crop insurance scheme replace all the previously established crop insurance scheme remarked by affordable premium and full insurance cover. With this initiative, it

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is imperative to create effective awareness programme by the service providers as well as it is expected that farmers will develop the habit of insuring their crops. The need for crop insurance has to be seen in the light of improved security for farmers and an overall boost to the agricultural sectors in particular, the rural economy at large and growth of the country in general.

Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on rainfall, farm production being largely determined by the vagaries of climate. By and large, monsoon in majority of the parts in our country stays for a season of about two and half months, but any aberration from the normal pattern of distribution may cause natural disasters like scarcity condition or drought, flood, cyclone etc. The natural calamities can slow the pace and pro-

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cess of development by reducing the food supdividual farmers. As variations in weather are plies and raw materials in the short run. Nearly more or less a regular phenomenon, crop yields two thirds of the cropped acreage in India is are not stable; as a result the sword of uncervulnerable to drought in different degrees (Sintainty of agricultural produce prices always gh, 2010). On an average 12 million hectares hangs on the farmers’ neck. Crop insurance is of crop area is affected annually by these caone such alternative to manage the risk of yield lamities severely impacting the yields and total loss and a mechanism to reduce the impact of agricultural production in several ways (Anonyincome loss on the farm family. It is a means mous, 2015). The loss of crop yield affects the of protecting farmers against the variations in farmers in different ways, making it difficult for yield resulting from uncertainty of practicalthem to repay the outstanding loans. ly all natural factors beyond Although conversion of loans or their control such as rainfall their rescheduling helps the (drought or excess rainfall), farmers for eligibility for fresh flood, hails, other weather loans from formal sources, it variables, like temperature, Successive failure may not solve their liquidity sunlight, wind etc. Crop insurproblems completely. In some ance is a financial mechanism of crops results in cases the farmers are comto minimize the impact of loss indebtedness of pelled to divest and dispose in farm income by factoring farmers with its off some assets created over in a large number of unceradverse impact past years. Sometimes, they tainties which affect the crop have to resort to costly boryields. As such it is a risk manon farming and rowing from informal sources. agement alternative where farm economy and Successive failure of crops reproduction risk is transferred consequently the sults in indebtedness of farmto another party at a cost ers with its adverse impact on called premium. overall economy in farming and farm economy general Public sector crop and consequently the overall insurance in India economy in general. The capacity of agriculture to hedge In 1972-73, the General Insuritself from the vagaries of naance Department of Life Insurance Corporation ture is considered crucial for development and of India introduced a Crop Insurance Scheme growth of the sector. on H-4 cotton. Later in 1972, general insurance business was nationalized by an Act of ParliaAgricultural production is an outcome of bioment, and the General Insurance Corporation logical activities which are highly sensitive to of India (GIC) was set up. The new corporation changes in important weather variables such as took over the experimental scheme in respect temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind etc. For of H-4 cotton in Gujarat. The Scheme was instance, low soil moisture due to poor prebased on “Individual Approach”. Subsequently cipitation in the pre-sowing period adversely the scheme included groundnut, wheat, poaffects seed germination resulting in reduced tato and gram and was implemented in the plant population. The poor precipitation during states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, growth period results in stunted plant growth.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal.

Heavy rainfall during early growth period causThe scheme continued till 1978-79. However, es submersion of plants. Similarly hailstorm, it covered only 3110 farmers for a premium of wind and cyclone damage the standing crops by Rs.4.54 lakhs against claims of Rs.37.88 lakhs lodging and uprooting especially the perennials indicating its non-viability and non-popularity. (trees and shrubs). High humidity may cause outbreak of pests and diseases. All these result In the background and experience of the aforein partial loss in yield and sometimes complete said experimental schemes for crop Insurance, crop failure and hence reduced income to farma Crop Insurance Scheme was introduced by ers. In other words, deviations in the weather GIC in 1979 based on “Area approach” and convariables from the normal adversely affect the tinued till 1984-85 and was was implemented crop yield, farm production and income of inAGRICULTURE

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at 13 states. The scheme covered cereals, millets, oilseeds, cotton, potato and gram and was available to loanee farmers only and on voluntary basis. The risk was shared between General Insurance Corporation of India and State Governments in the ratio of 2:1. The maximum sum insured was 100 per cent of the crop loan, which was later increased to 150 per cent. A 50 per cent subsidy was provided for insurance charges payable by small and marginal farmers by the State Government and the Government of India on 50:50 basis. During this period it covered 6.27 lakh farmers for total premium

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of Rs.196.95 lakhs against claims of Rs.157.05 lakhs.

On the basis of experience gained from implementation of PCIS a Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (CCIS) was introduced with effect from 1st April 1985 by the Government of India with the active participation of State Governments. The Scheme was linked to short term crop credit and implemented on homogeneous area basis. A major drawback of the scheme could be seen from the fact that out of all the all-India claims of Rs 1,623 crores, the

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state of Gujarat alone received Rs. 792 crores for one single crop - groundnut. The scheme was scrapped in 1997.

production or excess unseasonal rainfall that has destroyed crops. This has in turn led to financial distress of farmers who have not been able to service their debt leading to a build-up of NPAs thus pressuring the banking system. The second is that the government has been working towards spreading financial literacy by providing Use of access to the common man to insurance products in both simple and smart the life and health segments technology through thus bringing about some dephones and remote gree of financial inclusion.

An experimental crop insurance scheme was introduced in 1997-98, covering non-loanee small and marginal farmers growing specified crops in selected districts. The premium was subsidized, the total premium collected was about Rs. 3 crores and the claims amounted to Rs. 40 sensing to quick crores. The Government discontinued the scheme during Starting a new crop insurestimation and 1997-98 itself and introduced ance scheme can be viewed early settlement of in 1999-2000, a new scheme as an extension of the same claims is an imporentitled “National Agricultural ideology. It must, however, tant characteristic Insurance Scheme” (NAIS) or be remembered that crop “Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojana” insurance has always been feature of the new (RKBY). NAIS envisaged coverthere and what one is viewscheme age of all food crops (cereals ing today is a modification and pulses), oilseeds, horticulof the same to ensure that tural and commercial crops. It it becomes more affordable covers all farmers, both loato the farmers. The Comprenees and non-loanees, under hensive Crop Insurance Scheme the scheme. The premium rates varied from superseded by the National Agricultural Insur1.5 percent to 3.5 percent of the sum assured ance Scheme (NAIS) has been in existence for for food crops. In the case of horticultural and a long time. The new scheme works towards commercial crops, actuarial rates were charged.

Small and marginal farmers were entitled to a subsidy of 50 percent of the premium chargedthe subsidy being shared equally between the Government of India and the States.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana The subsidy envisaged under the Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojana was to be phased out over a period of 5 years, but due to some faulty issues like area approach, lofty goal of financial viability mandatory for loanee farmers, adverse selection in the case of non-loanee farmers, arbitrary premium including its inequality in covering risk level, it could hardly cater to the exact need of the farmers . Therefore, to serve the specific needs of the farmers as mentioned above, the new crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched on 13 the January, 2016. It must be viewed from two angles; the first is that there has been considerable volatility in farm output due to the vagaries of nature which has often resulted in lower AGRICULTURE

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making it more attractive for the farmers. The new scheme removes the previous capping on premium so that farmers get fully insured and takes into account multiple localized risks and post-harvest losses to ensure that no farmer is alone at the times of distress. Use of simple and smart technology through phones and remote sensing to quick estimation and early settlement of claims is an important characteristic feature of the new scheme. Another important point to note here is that the farmers’ contribution to premium reduced significantly in the new scheme. The farmers have now to pay just 2% of the premium for kharif crop and 1.5% for rabi while the same for horticulture will be fixed at 5%. The balance premium is to be paid by the government – both state and central.

Comparative analysis of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Other Crop Insurance Schemes •

It is open to all farmers but not mandatory to anyone.

•

It is optional for loanee as well as non-loanee farmers.

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It has so far lowest premium.

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•

The existing premium rates vary in between 2.5% and 3.5% respectively for kharif crops and 1.5% for rabi crops respectively—but the coverage was capped, meaning farmers could, at best, recover a fraction of their farming losses. The farmers‘ premium has been kept at a maximum of 2 per cent for food grains and up to 5 per cent for annual commercial horticulture crops.

For rabi crops, it is 1.5%. The balance premium will be paid by the government to furnish full insured amount to the farmers.

Since there is no upper cap on government given subsidy, even if the balance premium is about 90 percent, the government will bear it.

•

This scheme provides full coverage of insurance. While NAIS had full coverage, it was capped in the modified-NAIS scheme.

It also covers the localized risks such as hailstorm, landslide, inundation etc.

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Earlier schemes did not cover inundation.

It provides postharvest coverage. The NAIS did not cover while the modified NAIS covered only coastal regions

Specific advantages to different stakeholders

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The large number of farmer suicides in India over crop failure has been the most disturbing, distressing and disheartening trend to emerge from the rural hinterland in the last few years. In a country of our size where farmers toil hard to feed a population of 1.25 billion, it is rather ironical that their deaths were reduced to mere statistics and numbers. This scheme not only took a concrete step to alleviate rural distress that has the potential to transform the village-based economy, it also ensured that farming remains a remunerative and rewarding occupation for millions of farmers in the country.

nce scheme Advantage for the government

As insurance is more of a market-oriented measure to cover volumetric risk, farmers have to be educated about the scheme in terms of how it will help them.

Advantages for farmers The advantage of this scheme for the farmers besides the low premium is that the compensation would be complete with no reductions/ haircuts. Hence it should be a more alluring scheme for the farmers. Such a move is pragmatic for all the parties concerned. The farmers will be incentivised to go in for insurance and lower uncertainty as the premium will be low and compensation complete.

The government will benefit because even in the past the onus of debt servicing in the limiting case meant waivers which in turn strained the budget. The same amount will now be part of the budget to the extent of the premium paid, while the government would be out of the loss compensation process which was the case earlier. In fact, this is theoretically a more prudent alternative where farmers are made more conscious of the risk which is then spread across various entities.

Advantages for financial institutions Financial institutions in general and the banks in particular would be happier in the sense that now their loans are serviced and would have an incentive to lend more to this segment beyond the priority sector compulsion. In the past, this particular segment of loans became sticky for them as invariably there are famers

Advantage for insurance companies The insurance companies would of course have a mixed emotion. While their overall level of business would increase substantially as more farmers join the scheme, the payouts could pressure their own profitability. But then this is the risk which goes with all insurance products.

As all regions will not be afflicted with adverse weather conditions, it may be assumed that the risk is well spread out. Besides, the insurance companies can always take reinsurance to further diversify the risk across market participants. By harnessing technology, the water movements will be tracked so that assessment becomes easy too for the insurance companies.

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in some geography whose crops get affected leading to possible delinquency.

Role of agricultural extension functionaries in realizing overall success As insurance is more of a market-oriented measure to cover volumetric risk, farmers have to be educated about the scheme in terms of how it will help them. There has to be widescale outreach programmes carried out to drive home the advantage of the scheme. The smaller farmers have to be targeted because of they are particularly the vulnerable class.

So, its necessary to distinguish between large and small farmer as that does raise the issue of identification.

For the success of such a scheme the main challenge will be for extension professionals.

Agricultural extension and advisory services play an important role in transfer of knowledge from the laboratory to the field and in developing agricultural human resources who are supposed to play the most vital role in overall success of the scheme. The extension service delivery mechanism as functional across the states, provides inputs at every stage of the farming process and acts as the support system in the entire adoption process. . It is an ongoing process, which maintains a close working relationship with the farmers. So it will be respon-

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sibility of the extension personnel to spread awareness such that the farmers are made cognizant of the new insurance scheme along with its added advantages in a simplistic manner.

The scheme has to work in the sense that the process has to be seamless so that all the claims are settled seamlessly. Further, given the volumes that may be involved, insurance companies have to be geared up to handle such transactions. It is also felt important to have access to weather data in various regions that is not captured by the IMD. Efforts by extension personnel to create such weather stations like those by NCMSL (National Collateral Management Services Limited) have to increase as all decisions on premium as well as pay-outs would be contingent on these data. Lastly, crop loan practices are generally weak which has to change as often banks do not insist on this when giving a loan. It is to be a tedious job for the extension profession to have witnessed significant changes in the way in which agriculture is transacted in the last decade or so. The two main risks which farmers confront are price and volumetric.

The former is addressed to an extent by the MSP and while the electronic spot and future markets have come up quite well, they have not been able to as yet penetrate existing practices with farmers who are not fully aware of them.

Hence while electronic spot markets have worked in states like Karnataka, the futures market is still a distance away. We need to pick up learnings from experience when trying out this insurance scheme and create the infrastructure to ensure that a larger population of the farming community is covered. Banks today do insist on farmers taking some insurance and would probably once again have to play a critical role in spreading the good word given that they are the first point of contact with the farmers. The new payments banks and small banks would also enable this process to proliferate. So it is necessary if we want success in the scheme and want the agriculture economy to boost, the extension services have to be robust so as to reach the farmers in every nook and corner of the states. It is imperative to bring to them efficient, quality and timely services and best practices through an integrated effort of all the agencies involved in extension services in the nation.

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Dr Amrit Patel

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rior to the invention and use of chemicals in various forms in agriculture, farmers were pursuing organic system of crop production without disturbing or destroying ecological balance which ensured environmental sustainability for the current and future generations. Organic agriculture contributes to preserve environment, protect crop species , prevent productive land from degradation , ground and surface water from contamination. Scientific crop-production and management system that enhances biodiversity,biological cycles and biological activity of the soil. The essence of organic agriculture lies in feeding the soil with organic manure to maintain optimum soil health with its vibrancy and

resilience, thereby improving the capability of soil to supply most of the essential plant nutrients to the crops for their better growth and development. Organically managed soils release less carbon dioxide per hectare per year than that under the conventionally managed soils.

Prospects of Organic farming India has ample scope to promote organic agriculture in each State, more importantly in the North Eastern and hilly States and tribal pockets where the land is almost virgin and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is meagre.

The green revolution which emphasized use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in particular

Prospectus & Problems of

Organic Agriculture in India

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accompanied by irrigation facilities could not find place in these States as a result the crop production system remained of low input-low risk-low yield technology based. Almost all farming households maintain live-stocks that produce fairly good amount of organic manures. This source of organic manure can be efficiently used for raising field crops. The North Eastern region is also one of the mega biodiversity receiving very heavy rainfall(2000mmto11000mmper annum) which helps produce profuse biomass including weeds, shrubs and herbs. Some of these species have enormous potential that could be harnessed for organic agriculture. .

Government’s Policy and Support India, acknowledging the importance of organic agriculture, initiated many programs to promote organic agriculture.In 2000, to seize the export potential, Ministry of Commerce

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launched the “National Program on Organic Production” defining National Standards for Organic Production and prescribing the procedure for accreditation and certification. India has 30 accredited certification agencies to facilitate the growers to get their products certified. During the 10thPlan [2002-07] Ministry of Agriculture launched a National Project on Promotion of Organic Farming (NPOF) and established organic and biological input and vermi-compost production units. Besides, facilities were created to help growers adopt technology for organic agriculture and certification under various on-going schemes viz. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. NPOF has been a continuing project in the 12th Plan (2012-17) and is being implemented by National Center of Organic Farming at Ghaziabad and its regional centers at Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Panchkula, Imphal, Jabalpur and Nagpur.

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Ministry of Agriculture has launched a farmer-group centric low cost certification scheme (Participatory Guarantee Scheme) to help farmers participate in certification process and make the certification affordable for domestic markets.The ICAR has launched Network Project on Organic Farming to intensify research to meet location-specific needs of prospective farmers.

Package of practices on organic agriculture for important crops have already been developed.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland & Mizoram have drafted policies to promote organic agriculture in respective State.

Financial assistance and technical support is provided to farmers for implementing various AGRICULTURE

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components of Integrated Nutrient Management and Organic Farming. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana is launched under the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture to promote organic farming through provision of financial assistance under cluster approach. Already 7141 clusters in 28 States and Union Territories have been formed.Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region is launched. It aims at developing certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and support the development of entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds certification to the creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing, marketing, brand building and support agency Financial assistance is provided under Capital www.krishijagran.com

Currently India has about 777,518 hectares (0.4% of total agricultural land) under organic agriculture, 6,50,000 organic producers, 699 processors and 669 exporters.

Current trends in organic cultivation India has been one among 172 promising countries practicing organic agriculture.Sikkim is an organic state with 75,000 hectares of land under organic cultivation based on an initiative that started in 2003.Kerala has more than 100,000 farmers practicing organic farming and 10 cooperatives promoting the sector. Meghalaya aims to convert 200,000 hectares under organic farming by 2020.

Investment Subsidy Scheme for agro-waste compost, bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides production units, development and implementation of quality control system, human resource development, etc.Financial and organizational support is provided for efficient management of organic input resources,to develop technology, intensify research and explore new domestic and international markets .National and Regional culture collection banks are maintained for procurement, development and supply of bio-fertilizers and waste-decomposer organisms to production units and efficacy evaluation of bio-fertilizer strains and mother cultures .The Union Government has provided Rs.one billion for organic market development and Rs.three billion for the participatory guarantee system.

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Currently India has about 777,518 hectares (0.4% of total agricultural land) under organic agriculture, 6,50,000 organic producers, 699 processors and 669 exporters. The number of organic food categories has grown to more than 200 which, inter alia, include tea, spices, cereals, fruits, vegetables, milk, and honey. The country’s organic domestic and export market in 2014-15 grew by 40% and 30% respectively. The total area under certified organic agriculture in India in 2014 was 4.72 million hectares (MHA).India ranks 10th among the top ten countries in terms of cultivable land under organic certification The certified area included0.72 MHA (15.83%) cultivable area and rest 3.99 MHA(84.71%) was forest and wild area for collection of minor forest products . Among all the states, Madhya Pradesh has covered largest area under organic certification followed by Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

India produced around 1.24millionmetrictons (MT) of certified organic products which included all varieties of food products, sugarcane, cotton, oil seeds, basmati rice, pulses, spices, tea, fruits, dry fruits, vegetables, coffee and their value added products. India exported December 2016

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Consumers find it difficult to assess the quality ,authenticity and reliability of claims and certifications of both imported and domestic products. Companies engaged in the organic food business can consider this issue while creating awareness among consumers.

135productsduring 2013-14 with the total volume of 194,088MT& realized around US $403 million. Soybean (70%)had the highest share among the products exported followed by cereals &millets, non-basmati rice (6%), processed food products (5%), basmati rice (4%), sugar (3%), tea (2%), pulses and lentils (1%), dry fruits (1%), spices (1%) and others. Organic products are exported to US, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asian countries, Middle East, South Africa etc.

According to ICCOA, domestic market is growing at an annual growth rate of 15%-25%.

Issues related to organic farming and its possible remedies Organic agriculture is currently faced with many problems that to be overcome to make it prosper. Due to small volumes, the costs of organic food products are relatively high. The cost of cultivation increases as it takes more time and energy to produce one unit of organic product than that raised under chemical-intensive farming .Farmers are apprehensive about adopting organic farming due to the high production cost and the three-year transition period when farmers have to wait before getting their farms certified. Specialized training costs, higher processing and inventory holding costs, increased AGRICULTURE

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costs for packaging, logistics and distribution add to the price of organic products. Adequate investments in R and D and companies achieving operations excellence will lower the cost of organic food products.

Consumers find it difficult to assess the quality ,authenticity and reliability of claims and certifications of both imported and domestic products. Companies engaged in the organic food business can consider this issue while creating awareness among consumers. Counterfeit organic products make their easy entry in the growing markets which adversely impact on the consumers’ trust and the industry. Government and the industry can frame stringent laws and rules and enforce them strictly to prevent entry of counterfeit products in the market.

Farmers in India have been using inputs manufactured from energy-intensive processes and www.krishijagran.com

implementation. Massive awareness among prospective farmers through electronic and print media, field demonstrations with practical training , exposure visits, experience sharing and feedback are essential for adopting existing available technology Government can promote value chain system linking production of certified organic products at farmer’s level to domestic and international markets in Public-Private-Partnership mode need to be conceptualized and streamlined.

Regulatory and development authority needs to be established which can, among others, initiate policies, enforce and ensure compliance of international standards of quality for inputs, products and services.The independent certification authority without compromising on quality of products can simplify the existing procedure to facilitate farmers’ access to lucrative national and international markets

in some cases, from imported sources which is economically burdensome for the country. Investment in R and D to develop technology and to make use of all available bio-wastes including earthworms can significantly reduce the financial burden when measured in terms of human health and nation’s environment.

Focused attention is the need of the hour Focused attention is necessary to take full advantage of Government’s initiatives and to exploit the potential for organic agriculture. Its important to identify factors responsible for farmers’ low response to expand organic agriculture even when Government has taken several initiatives including financial assistance and redesigned policies and programs to suit the needs of farmers and put in place robust management information system to monitor the www.krishijagran.com

Government can establish quality control laboratory in each agro-ecological region to analyse bio-fertilizers and organic fertilizers as per the requirement of Fertilizer Control Order (FCO, 1985).Reviewing existing standards and testing protocols and updating them in view of the recent advances in research and technology can also be done. All State Agricultural Universities can be strengthened financially and organizationally to enable them to intensify research and develop appropriate State-specific technology and ensure acceptance by farmers through extension education efforts. In order to sustain consumers’ trust, maintaining an accurate audit stream and preventing cross-contamination with conventional goods is a must.

States can go the “Sikkim” way Farmers in India can adopt the principles and practices prescribed by the National Program for Organic Production if the determined political will and administrative skill are demonstrated to seek farmers’ participation and make concerned authorities committed as is done by the Chief Minister of Sikkim. Sikkim State has shown the way which other States can follow.

Each State can identify and capitalize favourable factors responsible for organic agriculture and initiate policy to create enabling environment to harness the potential of organic agriculture.

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Organic Farming

Myths & Realities Bimal C Biswas

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nfortunately, there is no universally accepted definition of organic farming. In organic farming (OF), use of synthetically produced chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides are avoided. These synthetically produced products are treated as inorganic substances. But, water is inorganic and without water no farming including OF is possible. Therefore, organic farming is a myth.

So called organic farming may be called as natural farming where artificially produced inputs are not used. But urea( Co(NH)2 ) is a synthetically produced organic product which is the most important fertilizer. But it is not used in organic farming. Natural farming in India is about 10,000 years old. It produced about AGRICULTURE

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50metric ton (MT) food grains in 1950-51. Because of the tragic Bengal Famine during 194243, government of India was compelled to launch a campaign popularly known as “Grow More Food Campaign� wherein fertilizer use was one of the key inputs. With the coordinated and concerted efforts of all concerned, India has now became self sufficient in food production through the efficient use of High Yielding Variety(HYV) seeds, irrigation water, fertilizers, plant protection materials, knowledge and skills of hard working farmers.

Organic farming experts do not differentiate between fertilizer and pesticides. According to them both are chemicals and their use is very www.krishijagran.com

India has now became self sufficient in food production through the efficient use of High Yielding Variety(HYV) seeds, irrigation water, fertilizers, plant protection materials, knowledge and skills of hard working farmers.

• Organically produced products are of better quality is also a myth. Product quality is judged on the basis of the nutrient content like protein , minerals etc. But as the organic source is unable to provide balanced amount of plant nutrients, it can not produce better quality products.

• Organically produced products are tasty and healthy is another concept. Common sense says that tasty foods are not healthy at all.

Salty pickled foods are tasty but not healthy and taste differs from person to person.

• OF promoters say that organically produced foods are hygienically better. It is not true.

Organically produced products are pests and disease affected and presence of pests in them are very common.

• It is claimed that organic farming (OF) gives high yield. It may be so when OF is practised after a crop which was highly fertilized. In west Bengal,in potato more than recommended dose of fertiliser is used. After harvesting It ,farmers plant jute without fertilizer and will get normal yield . This is not OF but can be called harvesting of residual effects of fertilizer.

• In organic farming , Pests and diseases infestation is less is another claim. It is not true. In reality, pest and disease infestation is very high in OF.

harmful to plants, animals and human beings.

Myths of organic farming are many. Some of them are mentioned below.

• One of the myth is that in organic farming , inorganic materials are not used but in reality water which is inorganic is very much used.

Rock phosphates is inorganic but used in organic farming .

• Another myth is that the organic source of plant nutrient produces better quality crops.

Plants take nutrients only in inorganic forms.

For example nitrogen is taken as NO3. Plants are unable to differentiate whether plant nutrients are coming from organic source like farm yard manure(FYM) or synthetic source like urea.

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• Fertilizer is a poisonous chemical, OF supporters warn and argue that it should not be used in OF.The fact is that fertilizer is not a poisonous chemical but a plant food. Fertilizer played a key role in increasing food grains production in India and also in the other parts of the world. Urea , an organic compound which is a very important fertilizer.

Role of Plant nutrients in agriculture Ten thousand years of natural farming in India could produce only 50 MT of food grains in 1950-51. Before the mid1950s, occurrence of famine was a rule in Indian sub-continent rather than an exception. Bengal famine during 1942-43 which claimed 4-5 million lives is an example to cite. Human memory is short lived. In early to late 1960,India used to get wheat under Public Law (PL)480 agreement with US. With December 2016

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wheat, India got a “gift” ,an obnoxious weed called perthenium, popularly known as ‘congress grass’ which is now one of the most serious weed in India. Late 1960s, India witnessed famine like situation. Many people died of firing on agitating people who demanded supply of sufficient food grains. Late PM Indira Gandhi returned from USA with much disappointment because USA was dictating terms for the supply of food grains under PL480. Then she called a meeting of Vice Chancellors of all Agriculture Universities and important ICAR scientists to ask them to evolve means to produce enough food grains so that India never to beg for food grains. Our scientists rose to the occasion and India became self-sufficient in food grains in early 1970s.

Commendable progress has taken place in Indian agriculture . According to the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of United Nations, 50 percent of the increase of food grains production is credited to fertilizer use. Contrary to general believe, fertilizer use improved soil health by improving organic matter content of soil by higher production of biomass through better growth of root system and reduces the

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ic farming 4 impact of climate change by increasing vegetation. But there exist a section of human society who feels otherwise. They are unable to understand the importance of use of inputs like fertilizer in agriculture. Therefore they propagate organic farming. For the sake of argument if we imagine that fertilizer is completely withdrawn from agriculture, 50 percent of our population ( about 600million) would die because of starvation .

Fertilizer Use in India In India, total use (N+P+K) of fertilizer seems to be high( 28.5 MT ) but the fertilizer use per ha is even lower(140kg/ha) than many other Asian countries . In China, use of fertilizer and organic manure is very high. They use more than 10 times of organic manure per ha. Its crop productivity is also very high.(Table1 ). Nitrogen deficiency is almost universal in India. With the increase in crop intensity,slowly the deficiencies of other plant nutrients like P, K, S and Zn started coming on the surface. And it became essential to add these nutrients to obtain desired yield. Use of organic manures proved to be insufficient to yield desired results.

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6.0 4.8

44.4 28.5

Food Grains(Mt)

12.4 6.7

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36.0 17.0

Potash(Mt)

Phosphorus(Mt)

China India

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Country

Table 1 Fertiliser use and food grains production in China and India

544 310

Contrary to general belief , fertiliser consumption per ha is higher in small holdings. Organic farming needs larger area to produce organic manure. Therefore ,it is unsuitable for them.

Small and marginal farmers plan to increase their income by growing multiple crops. Crop diversification is a rule rather than an exception for them .

Integrated Plant Nutrient Supply(IPNS) Integrated Plant Nutrient supply system has to be adopted to tackle the soil health problems caused by nutrient mining. Crop removal of plant nutrients is very high. Long term fertil-

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iser trials conducted all over the world indicated that IPNS can sustain the crop productivity.

Long term fertiliser trial in India is more than 100 years old. One such long term manorial trial still exists in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. New set of long term fertilizer trials were designed by ICAR during late 1960s by incorporating multiple cropping systems with new crop varieties.

FAO did a lot of work in IPNS throughout the world. IFFCO—FAO project in India generated some useful data. International Plant Nutrition Institute( IPNI ) is also encouraging IPNS in India and other countries of the world. Integrated plant nutrients supply is practical and efficient possible means to manage crop nutrient.

Integrated Farming System-New Incarnation of Organic Farming Of late, the emphasis has again been shifted to organic farming which has necessarily to fulfil the following important conditions 1) no chemical use,2) sustainability of yield 3) should be identifiable with respect to a place and person. And the product thus produced has to be

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“For those of us on the food production front, let us remember that world peace will not and cannot be built on empty stomachs. Deny farmers access to modern factors of production such as improved varieties, fertilizers and crop production chemicals,then the world will be doomed, not from poisoning as some say, but from starvation and social chaos” certified by the authorised authority specified by the concerned consumers who are ready to pay very high price compared to the price prevailed in the market. It is imperative to make a mention here that certification cost is very high which is beyond the reach of common farming community and in India , it is voluntary for domestic market also

deprived of the high price because they are not in position of paying the high certification cost to get their produce certified to send far off places in India and abroad where they could fetch higher price. The government should, therefore, come forward to support these deserving farmers who have been practicing organic farming from time immemorial.

Natural Organic Farming

Organic Farming in limited areas

In reality, organic farming still exists in India in the remote regions of the Himalaya and other tribal areas where chemical fertiliser has yet to reach. The North Eastern states have about 2.5 MHA is under organic farming. The productivity of these areas are very low. The farmers who are engaged in real organic farming are

Organic farming with sustainable production can be done in very limited areas.Sustainability in productivity can be achieved for some time even in larger areas which have been under high fertilizer use for a long lime with proper management practices.Recent reports have noted that organic farming is more suited for vegetable and flower gardens where organic manure use have been traditionally very high.

But, for the HYV of cereals like wheat, rice etc, chemical fertilizers give better results as they are capable of meeting the increased needs of quick growing short duration varieties.

Fertilizers are not pesticides Chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides are no doubt poisonous and are used when the incidence of plant foes crosses a certain limit. Integrated plant protection measures are being propagated to reduce the use of poisonous chemicals. It is imperative to make a mention here that most important N fertilizer “Urea “is an organic product. Human body produces 16.5 grams urea per day.. It may be relevant to cite the statements of Norman E Borlaug and Bill Gates, the two world famous personality on fertilizers.

“For those of us on the food production front, let us remember that world peace will not and cannot be built on empty stomachs. Deny farmers access to modern factors of production such as improved varieties, fertilizers and crop www.krishijagran.com

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India should practice organic farming in limited convenient area to satisfy the domestic and export demand and also the traditional organic farming area in North East and other remote places need encouragement by the Government.

production chemicals,then the world will be doomed, not from poisoning as some say, but from starvation and social chaos” said Dr Borlaug. “ I am the world’s biggest fan of fertilizer. I am endlessly fascinated by the stuff. Its a magical material that can transform the lives of the poor by helping them grow bigger harvests and adapt to the impacts of climate change”, Gates said The skeleton of our body is made of tricalcium phosphate. This is pure inorganic substance and interestingly the main source of the feedstock of phosphate fertilizers. It may be noted that in the earlier days bone was the main feedstock to produce Single Superphosphate (SSP). SSP unit at Ranipet, near Chennai, had the experience to use bone meal as feedstock. For example the plant usable form of nitrogen, one of the most important elements in plant intake, is mainly nitrate which both organic manures and nitrogen fertilizers must supply. Interestingly plants are not in a position to differentiate between nitrate coming from organic manures and nitrogen fertilizers. This, therefore, indicates the source of nutrient is not as important as a balanced nutrient content.For instance the production of one tonne of grains of a particular crop requires nutrients (kg) in a balanced (N:P:K=25:10:27) proportion.

Organic Farming - a Private Movement People who are interested in purchasing organically produced products are instrumental in motivating farmers to go in for organic farming.

The movement is therefore, basically a private one. So far practically no government except one or two governments like Sikkim where no chemical is practically used has claimed to promote organic farming. At the same time, Government may not go against organic farming because it may help in earning foreign AGRICULTURE

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exchange. It is reported that several hundred farmers have already registered with Agriculture and Processed Food Product Export Development Authority and the number may increase in future.

An expert recently said, if tea is not produced

organically, buyers in the developed countries may not purchase it. Its interesting to note that fertilizer use in India started in tea cultivation and the results of the Toklas Tea Research Institute, Jorhat (Assam) and Tea Research Institute in Ooty in South indicate that integrated plant nutrient supply can maintain tea productivity with desired quality. Now if fertilizer use is withdrawn from tea cultivation, the tea production is expected to reduce drastically. As a result tea production would be so low to meet the domestic demand and the export would be stopped and our foreign exchange earning would be affected. If only organic manure which is rich in nitrogen is supplied , other nutrient like phosphorus and potash deficiency would crop up resulting further reduction in tea production.Higher and imbalanced use of plant nutrients through organic farming is also likely to make the tea leaves more succulent in which the insects would relish.

Research results indicate that use of potash which makes the tea plant stronger improves tea quality. Therefore , complete withdrawal of fertilizers from the tea cultivation is likely to result in lower productivity with inferior quality of tea which would affect the tea industry adversely. The same is true in all other crops.

Organic farming demands larger areas We use fertilizers for land saving and to increase food grains for human and animal consumption. And as the human body has no preference for organic food , we should sustain our fertiliser consumption to produce needed food grains. To replace fertiliser , we need more organic manures and for production needs huge land area which India does not have. Of course India should practice organic farming in limited convenient area to satisfy the domestic and export demand and also the traditional organic farming area in North East and other remote places need encouragement by the Government.

Recent Government (GOI) Initiatives Central Government plans to put India on Global Organic Map(GOM) with uniform norms. In a move that would boost export of agricultural products and processed food, India is framing an organic products policy with specific safety www.krishijagran.com

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standard , traceability norms, soil certification guidelines and best management practices(BMP).The Trade experts and government officials are studying the BMP in various countries namely US, Brazil, Netherlands and France. The Commerce Ministry is framing the policy in collaboration with the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.

The idea is to have one policy for the organic products sector so that the domestic consumers as well as foreign buyers gain confidence that the items that are being sold to them meet laid down standard.A policy is also important for farmers as it would let them know exactly what they are supposed to do when they are organically farming a certain product.While global organic food market is estimated to be about $ 72 billion annually, export from India accounts for $ 0.298billion. India exports most to USA, Europe, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and countries in south east Asia.

ic farming 4 farming system approach . Organic farming may be termed as natural farming and that cannot be considered as a universal remedy to food pollution. In a country of continental size like ours with a population of 1.25 billion has a very limited option. Production of enough food grains is the first priority. This is impossible through organic farming. India can only go in for organic farming in some specific crop in specific areas to satisfy the export demand to earn foreign exchange. We have areas in North East where organic farming is a rule rather than an exception. We have to encourage the farmers of those areas to continue the traditional way of farming. We have some remote areas in the Himalaya where chemical use is practically zero. Organic farming should find a place there also. Areas near port and air port should also be used for Organic Farming.

In India , organic products for export are certified by various agencies accredited by national programme for organic production under the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Agency(APFPEDA). For the organic product sold in the domestic markets, the certification process is largely voluntary but Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ( FSSAI ) and Agmark are taking some steps to regulate them. Certification of organic soil in India is difficult as there is no domestic certification agencies available to do so.

When India exports organic product to USA, or the EU, it has first to accept the standards specified by the buying countries. With the proper policy the process of cross checking the importer guide lines will become smoother. The same norm also will apply to items for export, import and for the domestic market. Traditionally of inputs especially in the case of processed food to determine if all ingredients in a certified organic products are also organic, is expected to improve once the policy is in place.Indian organic products include oil seeds, cereals , millets, pulses ,tea, fruit and spices.

Organic farming is a myth but the reality is to produce enough food to feed the ever increasing population of the country through integrated use of plant nutrients and integrated AGRICULTURE

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Table: 2 Some important statistics regarding Organic products India’s total production of certified organic products for 2015-16 Worth of global organic food market Worth of India’s export India’s Ranking

Domestic growth rate for organic product Total area under organic certification in India Main organic farming states Key market for India

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1.35 million tonnes $ 72 billion $ 298 million 15th is India’s rank in terms of area under organic agriculture 25—30 per cent 5.71 million ha MP, HP and Rajasthan EU,USA,, Canada, Switzerland, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, South east Asia, West Asia

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wate recycling

Recycling of Domestic Waste Water

for Agriculture in India Dr. K. T. Chandy

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he dispute and destruction over Cauvery water sharing for agriculture mainly between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have become a yearly phenomenon and the last one happened this year is still fresh in our mind. Such disputes are going on in several other parts of India and between India and other countries. From time in memorial farmers are accustomed to irrigate their crops by flooding as they do for rice and wheat or furrow irrigation as they do for some other crops. Introduction of sprinkler and drip irrigation with an average range of 60-80% efficiency compared to flood irrigation do save water in agriculture.

Still as the water sources are drying up slowly and steadily all over the world, use of domestic waste water especially in water stressed countries like Israel and other Middle Eastern countries is being promoted. According to the report 80% of the domestic wastewater in Israel is used for agriculture. That we in India have

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not yet thought of such a project is a national shame.

India has to feed about 16% of the world population while it has only 2.45% of land area and 4% of water resources of the world. The total utilizable water resource in the country has been estimated to be about 1123 Billion Cubic Meters per year of which about 80-85% is being diverted for irrigation. The Central Water Commission (CWC) of India estimated the projected water demand in India by various sectors up to 2050 as given in the table 1.

Table 1: Projected water demand in billion cubic meters (BCM) by different sectors (CWC, 2010) From table 1 we can see that nearly 85% of the utilizable water is being diverted for irrigation in agriculture. The total available storage capacity in 91 reservoirs in the country as estimated by www.krishijagran.com

Domestic

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Energy

688

56

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910

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CWC on 20th Oct 2016 is 117.729 BCM which is only 75% of the total storage capacity of all the reservoirs when 100% is estimated as the average availability of water in them during the last 10 year period. The total stored water in the reservoirs will become less and less as the years go by and the water need for agriculture will be marginalized in competition with the other sectors: domestic requirement will come first; the industry and water need for energy will overtake the agricultural need. About 60% of the agriculture in India depends on rain and people continue to think agriculture should be depending mostly on the rain. Irrigation was introduced in India by the British. Now the monsoons are failing frequently; the rivers and www.krishijagran.com

As per the estimation of Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) about 7080% of total water supplied for domestic use comes out as wastewater. The per capita wastewater generation by the class-I cities and 813 class-II towns, representing 72% of 1093 urban population in India, is estimated to be around 100 litres per 1447 capita per day (lpcd) while people in cities like Delhi use 220 lpcd.

As per estimation of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2000 the total wastewater generation from Class I cities (498 nos) and Class II (410 nos) towns in the country was around 35,558 and 2,696 million litres respectively per day (MLD) with a total of 38254 MLD. Total

Irrigation

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other water sources are drying up and agriculture will be facing acute shortage of water resulting in shortage food production. According to the Central Ground Water Board (2011) the annual groundwater recharge is about 433 BCM of which 212.5 BCM is used for irrigation and 18.1 BCM for domestic and industrial use. By 2025, demand for all the nonagricultural water usage may increase to 183 BCM. Thus the actual water availability for irrigation is expected to reduce by the same amount. With the present population growth-rate (1.9% per year), the population is expected to cross the 1.5 billion mark by 2050. Thus a quick assessment of the water resources show that agriculture will be hard pressed for irrigation water. With rapid expansion of cities and domestic water supply, quantity of gray/wastewater is increasing in the same proportion as more and more people begin to move to urban areas and to use supplied pipe water. One of the ways to counteract the scarcity of water for agriculture and animal husbandry would be to follow the example of Israel: that is the use of domestic waste water for agriculture.

The percentage of urban population in 1901 was 10.8%; but it rose to 17.3% in 1951 and then to 31.2% in 2010 indicating a faster rate of increase in the urban population as the years go by and according to present estimate (2016) urban population is a little above 35 per cent.

Simultaneously the urban domestic water use will be going on increasing. Therefore the overall analysis of water resources in India indicates December 2016

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wate recycling

that in the coming years, there will be a twin edged problem of dealing with REDUCED FRESH WATER AVAILABILITY and INCREASED WASTEWATER GENERATION due to increased population, urbanization and industrialization.

Sixteen years have already passed since the last estimation in 2000. For easy calculation let us assume that by 2016 the wastewater generation in the Class I and Class II cities is 40,000 ML per day instead of 38254 MLD per day in the year 2000. The total estimated output of domestic waste water per year would then be 14.6 trillion (14,600,000,000,000) litres per year or 14.6 billion (14,600,000,000) cubic metre (1000 litre makes up one cubic metre). This is a huge quantity of water resource which can be treated and used for agriculture. Even if 50% of this waste water is lost in the collection, treatment and distribution of it, still we will have 7.3 billion (7,300,000,000) cubic meter of treated wastewater. If we assume average minimum irrigation water requirement except paddy and sugarcane as 10 to 15 cm per hectare per crop season, one hectare will require 100 to 150 cubic meter of water per crop season.

That means we will be able to irrigate 48.6 to 73 million hectares of agricultural land per season at 90-100% irrigation efficiency or 24.3 to 36.2 million hectares at 50% irrigation efficiency.

According to World Bank India irrigates about 35% of its net agricultural land (145 million hectares); that means at present 49 million hectares are under irrigation with fresh water. If we can irrigate 24.3 to 36.2 million out of 49 million hectare of total irrigated land with wastewater, what a great an achievement it would be? If we can improve upon the efficiency in the use of wastewater, we can irrigate even up to 75 million hectares which is more than half of the net cultivated area in India. A simple calculation like this will show how much of the precious water is lost to agriculture at present by not using the domestic wastewater: Invisible Injustice.

There are a number of objections to the use of domestic wastewater for agriculture. Many people think that use of domestic wastewater is harmful to crops and the products are equally harmful to people. But those who have some basic scientific knowledge will whole heartedly welcome the use of domestic wastewater in agriculture. Basic scientific and technical knowlAGRICULTURE

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edge is lacking among the Indian population.

They are more prone to believe in myths, stories and superstitions that dictate the “do’s and don’ts” in their life. Agriculture is one of the areas where influence of superstitious beliefs is high.

Use of domestic waste water should be seen as part of the sanitation and waste management.

At present the emphasis is on the solid waste management. Equally important is the liquid waste management. Here we must make a distinction between domestic and industrial waste water. The industrial wastewater may contain substances harmful to crops, animals and humans. Such waste water needs special and costly treatment before it can be reused for agriculture. In this write up we are talking about domestic wastewater only.

Collection, treatment and distribution of domestic wastewater from the cities require a lot of investment and infrastructural set up. Such investments are nothing compared to the investments the country has already made in its railway net work, highways, air transport systems and the metro rails, shipyards etc. The cost of making a four lane highway in our country is as per estimations in 2013 was 8-9 crores; construction of one kilometer high speed railway line cost now 100 to 140 crores. Today everyone wants roads and railways irrespective of the cost involved. Similarly it is high time that we think of using domestic wastewater for agriculture without thinking about the cost.

There is a great difference between the investment in domestic wastewater and investment on highways or railways. Investment in the use of domestic wastewater is directly productive and will produce millions and millions of dollars/rupees worth grains, vegetables, fruits, oils seeds, cotton and other valuable products for survival and development of humans.

Every year more and more essential products are brought out from the land by the use of waste water; whereas in the case of the roads and railways they do not produce any products; they only facilitate transport. The revenue from them is only the tax collected for the good and passengers transported. Therefore use of domestic wastewater for agriculture should be given top priority among all the infrastructural development works of a country. www.krishijagran.com

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As already mentioned, about 85% of the available water in our country is used for agriculture.

The use of domestic wastewater for agriculture saves that much water for domestic, industrial, energy, construction and other purposes.

From the above calculations we have seen that 908 Indian cities and towns generate 14.6 billion cubic metre of wastewater. We also have seen that even operating at 50% efficiency this amount of domestic wastewater is sufficient to irrigate about 36.2 million hectares out of the 49 million hectares (World Bank).

The domestic wastewater contains a lot of organic plant nutrients. Hence its use in irrigation enriches the soil with organic matter and also increases the production and productivity of the soil and will cut down on the fertilizer use.

Soils in India are poor in organic matter and this deficiency can be reduced slowly by using the nutrient rich domestic wastewater.

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At present domestic wastewater is a major pollutant in all the cities; it is allowed to get spread all over the area creating a breeding place for the mosquitoes and other diseases causing microbes. The excess of the same is let into the nearby rivers often untreated causing much pollution to the river systems. If all the waste water is treated and reused for agriculture we can not only double the food production but also eradicate many of the water-born and mosquito-spread diseases for which millions and millions of rupees are spent and lakhs of lives lost every year in our country. It is an invisible injustice that we have not thought of recycling our domestic water.

Dr. K. T. Chandy, Retd Professor, Water Management Specialist, Authored 670 booklets on agri-topics, ktchandysj@gmail.com

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Abdulkhadersab Nadakattin

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Man of inventions

n 7th March,2015, Government of India honored Abdulkhadersab Nadakattin for his inventions in agriculture. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, President of India presented Lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the farming community.He started his inventions in 1980.The first product, automatic seed sewing machinewhich is considered to be a greatinvention in agriculture history came out in 1985.In 1994, it was automatic machine to separate tamarind seeds which is useful for small scale industries and farmers.

In 1995, he developed ploughing blade manufacturing machine, which is used forsharpening the tractor harrow blade . In 1998, an automatic sugarcane sowing driller equipment was designed on the demand of farmers of Maharashtra. In year 2000,diesel saving wheel tiller was invented which helps the farmers to reduce the consumption of diesel. In 2001, it was an Iron wheel with many special features.

Its button will not have wear & tear until 20 years,and saves valuable diesel and money which is spent for tyres.In 2003, 5 in 1 Tiller was invented. This acts as spray of medicines, sower of fertilizers and seeds, deeper digger and also helped to uproot grass when land is wet. All these inventions reduced the cost of cultivation.Presently,Khadersab is developing groundnut separator machine which is veryimportant for groundnut harvesting .

This God gift made him addict to inventions and made his life miserable. He spent all his time and effort to make his thoughts to reality and the family be in difficulty since the bread earner is always on his work shop and the results not made income to earn for the family.

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In addition,he sold part of his agriculture land for purchasing materials to complete his inventions.But the inventionsmade thousands of farmers’ life happy.

Dr. S.A Patil Vice chancellor of Agricultural University,Dharvard is the man who gave him new life. With his support,he started Vishwashanthi agriculture research centre,Annigeri.

This institutehelped to get him new identity.

Now his designed equipments are well known to the farmers of other states. Right now he has so many orders from different districts and different states which inspired him to create moreequipments. Considering his workstowards the benefits of farmers,NationalInnovation Foundation ,Government of India honored him in 2001.

(Vishwashanti Agriculture Research & Industrial Development Centre,Annigeri, Navalgund,Dharwad,Karnataka-582201.Website-www.nadkattin.com, contact-M- 9448786350 )

FEED BACK We invite your opinion on articles published in the magazine and your comments on the subject discussed . Please send the feed back to feedback@krishijagran.com or write to Feedback,Agriculture World, 60/9,3rd Floor,Yusuf Sarai Market,Near Green Park Metro Station,New Delhi 110016

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Groundnut in India

Problems and strategies for

yield enhancement Radhakrishnan

T and AL Rathnakumar

ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh 362016

In India, groundnut crop occupies 5.45 million ha and contributes about 7.2 million tonnes of nuts-in-shell with a productivity of about 1532 kg/ha. The crop is mainly grown in rainy season (kharif; June-September, kharif season accounts for about 84% area and production. The productivity is restrained by drought stress, use of low levels of inputs, high incidence of diseases and pests. Hence both biotic and abiotic factors limit groundnut production and productivity.

Integrated breeding for development of improved cultivars with high yield potential and resilient to climate change,development and refinement of location specific and cost effective crop management practice, improving Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) and ensuring availability of quality bio fertilizer and bio pesticide etc need urgent attention. Dissemination of good agronomic practices for bridging the yield gap and, policy support for export promotion of groundnut are some strategies have been envisioned to achieve overcome the slag in production.

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The productivity of rabi-summer groundnut is much higher (1877 kg/ ha) and stable than the kharif (1186 kg/ha) crop.

Because groundnut is grown mainly as a rainfed crop, there is a high level of fluctuation both in the area and production depending on the rainfall pattern. by few insect pests (Spodoptera, Helicoverpa, leaf miner, thrips, jassids). Thus both biotic and abiotic factors causes the reduction in groundnut production and productivity

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roundnut is mainly grown in rainy season (kharif; June-September, kharif season accounts for about 84% area and production). Groundnut is also grown in different cropping systems like sequential, multiple, and intercropping with an array of field (sorghum, maize, bajra, pigeon pea, green gram, black gram) and commercial/ plantation (cotton, sugarcane, coconut) crops.

The productivity of rabi-summer groundnut is much higher (1877 kg/ha) and stable than the kharif (1186 kg/ha) crop. Because groundnut is grown mainly as a rain-fed crop, there is a high level of fluctuation both in the area and production depending on the rainfall pattern. The productivity is restrained by drought stress, use of low levels of inputs by small holders and marginal farmers in dry land areas, high incidence of soil borne (collar rot, stem rot), foliar fungal (rust; Early Leaf Spot (ELS); Late Leaf Spot (LLS) and virus (Peanut Bud Necrosis (PBND); Peanut Stem Necrosis (PSND) diseases and attack www.krishijagran.com

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State-wise specific constraints

ancement

• Lack of early maturing Spanish cultivars (95100 days) for summer cultivation

• Delay in onset of monsoon, frequent occurrence of drought spells sometimes extending to a period of 20-40 days is a common feature.

Soil moisture stress during the pegging and pod formation stages is most critical since the yield losses are considerable. Drought tolerant, early maturing cultivars with high yield potential are needed particularly for the kharif season cultivation.

• Lack of fresh seed dormancy in Spanish cultivars which results in heavy yield losses due to sprouting in the field in kharif season caused by late rains in Oct- Nov or at harvest of summer crop in May-June

• Dominance of old cultivars such as TMV 2 and JL 24 and others in cultivation. The old cultivars are susceptible to prevailing diseases and insect pests. They must be replaced with new cultivars as early as possible.

2. Andhra Pradesh and Telengana

3. Karnataka

1. Gujarat • Lack of early maturing Virginia cultivars with tolerance to stem and collar rot

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• Lack of early maturing and drought tolerant cultivars suited to different agro-climatic regions including rice fallows and residual moisture conditions in river beds in the state • Lack of fresh-seed dormancy in Spanish cultivars • Insect pests such as Spodoptera during kharif season and leaf miner during rabi season • Diseases– late leaf spot, rust, stem rot and peanut bud necrosis (PBND) in both the seasons

4. Maharashtra • Lack of early maturing and drought and diseases tolerant cultivars • Lack of availability of quality seeds of improved cultivars • Diseases - Stem and collar rot, rust, and late leaf spot.

• Insect pest– Spodoptera in kharif and sucking pests (jassids and thrips) in summer season

5. Tamil Nadu • Drought in kharif season either immediately after sowing or at the pod formation stage • In situ germination in Spanish cultivars due

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In India, groundnut crop occupies 5.45 million ha in and contributes 7.2 million tonnes of nuts-in-shell with a productivity of about 1532 kg/ha. Groundnut accounts for about 26% of area and production of total oil seeds (DAC, 2014-15).

to north-east monsoon rains at the time of maturity • Spodoptera and leaf miner in kharif season • Rust, late leaf spot and in all the three seasons - kharif, rabi and summer • Absence of low-cost implements to reduce the cost of cultivation

6. Rajasthan • Non-availability of quality seeds of improved cultivars in time • Large –scale occurrence of white grubs and termites during kharif season • Incidence of collar and stem rot diseases

• Diseases - Stem and collar rot, rust, late leaf spot.

• Insect pest– Spodoptera in kharif and sucking pests (jassids and thrips) in summer season

8. NEH region • The high rainfall and heavy down pour during sowing time causes problem of land preparation. Improperly stored seed get rotten due to high moisture content and poor soil drainage.

7. Madhya Pradesh/Chhatisgarh

• Soil acidity, Al-toxicity and Al-induced deficiencies of Ca, P and Mg.

• Lack of early maturing and drought and diseases tolerant cultivars

• Micronutrient deficiencies particularly of B and Mo.

• Lack of availability of quality seeds of improved cultivars

• Low population of native Bradyrhizobium both in upland and rice fallow because of new introduction and change of soil microcli-

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mate from anaerobic to aerobic.

9. Punjab • High yielding Virginia Bunch varieties tolerant of drought in kharif and early maturing Spanish bunch varieties for spring season.

10. Uttar Pradesh • High yielding Virginia Bunch varieties tolerant of drought in kharif and early maturing Spanish bunch varieties for spring season.

• Non-availability of quality seeds of improved cultivars in time • Integrated management of white grub and termites

11. Odisha and West Bengal

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• Unavailability of good quality seeds of new improved varieties has been the major constraint.

• The farmers who grow rabi groundnut have no opportunity to produce seeds in kharif nor rabi produce could be carried over through the rainy season of the next rabi without seriously hampering the germination.

• Due to unavailability of entire seed during October, sowing is extended up to December and the crop is affected due to moisture stress at pod development stage • Lack of proper drying technique and storing seeds • Need for post-harvest processing and market intervention to take groundnut to logical extent The projected domestic demand of groundnut December 2016

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Groundnut crop is cultivated in more than 100 countries.

It is grown globally in an area of 24.0 million hectares with a total production of 37.0 million tonnes and a yield of 1,564 kg/ha of pod (FAO, 2011). Production is concentrated (90% of global area) in Asia and Africa. would be about 15 million tonnes by 2025 and 25 million tonnes by 2050. To meet out such a huge demand with the current level production of 7.2 million tonnes assuming the area under groundnut may not shrink any further and would stay around 6-7 million hectares and with the current national average productivity of 1400 kg/ha, the groundnut yields necessarily be doubled.

Accordingly, the following strategies have been envisioned to achieve the target mainly through productivity enhancement, bringing additional area in non-traditional areas like potato-fallows in western UP, West Bengal, Gujarat; rice-fallows of Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh; inter cropping in widely spaced annual crops like cotton, Pigeonpea, Soybean and plantation crops like Coconut and sugarcane 1. Integrated breeding for development of improved cultivars with high yield potential and resilient to climate change. Enhancing yield potential of groundnut from 1400 to 2700 • Directed breeding using tools like MAS to develop high yielding groundnut varieties with better confectionary / food qualities and tolerant to moisture, heat and photoperiod stresses • Development of climate resilient short duration, high yielding varieties for different growing conditions • Development of varieties with high oil with AGRICULTURE

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high O/L ratio 2. Development and refinement of location specific and cost effective crop management practice • Moisture conservation practices and products (e.g. hydrogels) for in situ conservation • Use of entophytic microorganisms to tide over extreme environmental conditions and reduce crop duration • Application of PGPR, Rhizobia, and PSM for yield enhancement • Development/refinement of broad bed-furrow planting methods and fertigation through drips using liquid fertilizer for red soil areas of A.P, TN, and medium black soils of Karnataka & www.krishijagran.com

• Efficient conversion of breeder to foundation and certified classes of groundnut seed 4. Dissemination of good agronomic practices for bridging the yield gap • Demonstrations of & improved varieties & Technologies on farmer’s fields.

5. Policy support for export promotion of groundnut • Groundnut earns Rs 5000 crore annually through export.

• Establishing cold-store houses for export-quality groundnut production in Gujarat, AP & TN and Promoting contract farming to minimize aflatoxin problem will boost the export promotion in groundnut

Conclusions Groundnut crop is cultivated in more than 100 countries. It is grown globally in an area of 24.0 million hectares with a total production of 37.0 million tonnes and a yield of 1,564 kg/ha of pod (FAO, 2011). Production is concentrated (90% of global area) in Asia and Africa.

Maharashtra • Intensifying conservation agriculture for higher yields • Correction of nutrient deficiency (Secondary and micro-nutrients) deficient soils 3. Improving Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) and ensuring availability of quality bio fertilizer and bio pesticide.

• Production and timely supply of sufficient quantity of quality seed of latest released varieties/ for improving seed replacement rate (SRR) • Ensuring availability of quality bio fertilizer and bio pesticide

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In India, groundnut crop occupies 5.45 million ha in and contributes 7.2 million tonnes of nuts-in-shell with a productivity of about 1532 kg/ha. Groundnut accounts for about 26% of area and production of total oil seeds (DAC, 2014-15). Production is mostly concentrated in six states, viz., Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra and Rajasthan accounting for about 90% of the total area.

The remaining areas are scattered in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha and West Bengal.

Despite considerable decrease in area from 8.71 million hectares (in 1989-90) and the production from 9.66 million tons (in 1988-89) to 7.01 million tons (in 2014-15), the productivity has been doubled (from 775 kg in 1950-51 to 1531 kg per ha in 2014-15). This may be attributed to the release of niche-specific improved varieties and matching agro-production and protection technologies through the ICAR-DGR, and NARS.

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Changer A

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7th Game Changer Awards he 7thGame Changers Awards, Organized

by The HR Club, Leadership Lounge & Ten India, will be presented on January 21, 2017 at Mumbai.

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and high yielding variety seeds. Padma Vibhushan M S Swaminathan is a Game Changer. He is one of the eminent jury member on the panel for selection of the winners of agri awards.

The Green Revolution in India enhanced the agricultural yield of the farms and boosted our self sufficiency in food grains. Green Revolution also introduced us to modern farming techniques

Is green revolution indeed good for Indian agriculture? There is one very vocal opponent of green revolution who believes that it has destroyed the nutrients in the soil, made farmers

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Agripreneur award, Best organization in Agri Input,Best organization in Agri Processing,Best Organization in Rural Lending,Game Changer Awards for Leadership,Game Changers in Human Capital Management,Game Changers in Educational Excellence heavily dependent on pesticides and made the villages dependent on cities. He is none other than Padma Shri Subhash Palekar who is also popularly referred as Krishi ka Rishi.

He has authored several books on Zero Budget Spiritual Farming and educates farmers about how everything a plant needs can be obtained from near the root zone of the plants. He believes that we should go back to natural farming and natural manures like cow dung.

e-space, which connects all the stakeholders in the agri value chain. Viz; Agri Input, Agro Processing, Rural Lending, Agriprenuer, Agri educational institutions and students.The co-organiser Leadership Lounge is a network of corporate leaders. Leadership Lounge is a forum for lead-

Two philosophies of agriculture totally in contrast with each other and yet very relevant.

Both the philosophies have devoted followers.

Listen to the jugalbandi between two living legends of agriculture at the 7th Game Changer Awards.

The award categories in agriculture include: Agripreneur award, Best organization in Agri Input,Best organization in Agri Processing,Best Organization in Rural Lending,Game Changer Awards for Leadership,Game Changers in Human Capital Management,Game Changers in Educational Excellence India’s leading FPOs and the most progressive farmers of India would also be awarded on Jan 21. The Cooperative sector has played, and continuous to play, an important role in agriculture especially dairy products and cooperative banks. The Chief Executive of National Co-operative Union of India N. Satyanaraya is also on the jury that will select the winners of agri awards. D K Chopra, Strategic Advisor to several agri companies in India and abroad is also a member of the jury.

The HR Club is India’s largest network of HR professionals with 40,000 members across the country and Think Agro is a holistic agri connect www.krishijagran.com

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ers who are responsible for leading a team, being a role model for their team members and shaping the future of the organization. We have over 73000 Managers, Vice Presidents, Presidents and Directors of different functions and sectors as members.

The Entrepreneurs Network (TEN India) is a network platform exclusively for entrepreneurs.

We have over 5000 entreprenuers from various industries.“The criterion for selecting the Game Changers is people who have risen above the constraints and challenges. With a strong never give up mindset, they created their own powerful circle of influence.” says Srinivashan, “they set new benchmarks and trends for others to follow and thus have inspired and, continue to inspire, thousands and lakhs of others to think

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differently and take the road less travelled.”

The Game Changers Award ceremony will be attended by an elite audience of 150 delegates comprising of CEOs, Business Heads, HR Heads and Deans, Directors and Placement Officers of leading institutions of India. Leading Agri Business Management institutions, institutions offering graduate and post graduate degrees in agriculture and students as well as institutions who are winners of the Agro Idol contest will be honoured at the Game Changer Award Ceremony.

The lead magazine partner of 7th Game Changer Awards is Krishi Jagran, India’s most loved and trusted agri magazine.

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Real I

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After battling to two consecutive drought years, thanks to monsoon god, this year is progressing well. The buzz around farmers, farmer’s welfare and doubling the income seems to be picking up and rightly so!

Doubling the “real’ income of farmers in India by 2022 AGRICULTURE

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Manoj Rawat

Head of Agriculture & Rural Banking, RBL Bank, Mumbai mkrawat@gmail.com

Announcement in Union Budget

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hile presenting Union Budget 2016–17, the Union Finance Minister of India mentioned that one of the objectives of the Government of India is to double the income of farmers by the year 2022.This announcement was quite timely and probably driven by the rising of agrarian distress and the two years of consecutive drought situation country has faced.

The intent seems right, given the current state of India’s agriculture and the plight of its farmers.

India is still an agrarian economy and a single bad monsoon takes toll on entire economy. Agriculture plays a vital role in India’s economy.

Over 60 per cent of the our population depends on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood in India. Agriculture along with horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry, contributes to more than 16% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of country. Having said this India still remains and agrarian economy and a single bad monsoon takes toll on entire economy and can completely derail the projected growth plan.

However the growth in the agriculture sector in 2015-16 continued to be lower than the average of the last decade. Data suggest growth in farm income after 2011–12 has plummeted to more than 1%, and has been reason for the sudden rise in agrarian distress in recent years.

The 12th Five-Year plan (2012-17) had targeted 4% growth rate, however the rate of growth of Agri GDP has been around 2% against the 4 %.

If by any measure agriculture has to grow at 4 % during the 12th Plan as projected, then Agriculture growth must accelerate to 8%, which means India is going to miss on 12 plan by quite a long distance.

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The Economic Survey 2016-17 revealed that average income of a farmer in Rs. 1,670 per month which can be doubled but does that mean that a farmer will getting remunerative price for farming.

Doubling the income of farmers by end of 13th Five year plan (2022) While in the 12th Five Year plan we have seen the real farm incomes have plummeted as compared to previous decade, it not wishful thinking that incomes of farmers can be doubled by adopting a multipronged approach with efficient implementation framework.

Doubling the real income of farmers by 2022, on sustainable basis by laying focus on following areas: •

Doubling (2X) the productivity, yield and efficiency in agriculture

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Increasing area under irrigation to 60% including doubling (2X) the micro-irrigation program

•

Double (2X) the flow of “investment credit” to Agriculture Sector under a value chain approach

•

Doubling (2X) the Agro processing and value addition services sector

•

Double (2X) the income by creating a framework for market driven remunerative farm gate price as also instituting suitable minimum support price mechanism to protect the interest of farmers.

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Double (2X) the investment in allied activities like livestock, poultry, beekeeping and fisheries Double (2X) the agriculture market efficiencies and curbing the number of existing intermediaries to half ( 1/2 X) by expediting Unified National Agriculture Market.

To enable this “Agriculture needs to be liberated from traditional policy framework for it growth and development. Effective implementation of policy initiatives will call for comprehensive reforms, will and strong public, private and people partnerships in the management of agriculture in India”. The existing Public and Private sector investments, Government schemes and subsidies, if dovetailed effectively and channelized efficiently can make this a reality.

What is real income of farmer which we wish

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come to double?

The Economic Survey 2016-17 revealed that average income of a farmer in Rs. 1,670 per month which can be doubled but does that mean that a farmer will getting remunerative price for farming. We need to understand in an agricultural household crop cultivation provides on an average provides 63% income and remaining comes from other sources. It is also important to recognize that sizeable proportion of small and marginal agriculture households who undertake cultivation, livestock activities and also have individual family members who are wage earners.

It is therefore important to realize that in addition to cultivation there are other income sources like allied agriculture, means of wage earning that can contribute to doubling of income of agricultural households.

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Agriculture Credit – Need to focus on creation of productive assets One important question is how one can double net investment in productive assets among the small and marginal agriculture household. It is important to note that agriculture credit flow during a period of 3 years from 2004-2007 and thereafter has shown significant growth. The projected institutional credit flow to agriculture sector for year 2016-17 is Rs 900,000 crore ($135 Billion).

come Hope by 2022 our farmers should not be looking up to skies for our “survival” and our economy for “revival” It’s not just matter of farmer’s income but a matter of survival and food security of the country.

We have no other choice but to gear up !

For a sustainable, inclusive and preferred future!

Agriculture Credit is the most critical non-land input for development of Agriculture. Credit Flow Policies to agriculture need to be more focused on capital investment in agriculture rather than just ensuring continuity of agriculture by crop loans. The multiple studies seem to suggest that the doubling of aggregate credit flows did not had any sizeable impact at the agriculture household level income as also in creating productive assets. It is important to recognize that the flow of credit for short term ( crop loan for continuing agriculture) and for long term ( for creating assets and capital formation) will hold key to help farmers especially small and marginal to create productive assets that generate sustainable income.

Given the series of initiatives and reforms doubling the real incomes of agricultural households is not a mere wishful thought. It is doable and has to be an area of top priority. Agriculture needs to be liberated from traditional policy framework for it growth and development. Effective implementation of policy initiatives will call for comprehensive reforms, will and strong public, private and people partnerships in the management of agriculture in India. A sound Agriculture & financial policy can bring lasting improvement in the country and can propel India to next Growth trajectory of 12%.

It is important to realize that India is poised to overtake China to become the world’s most populous nation by 2022, our farmers will have to gear up and toil harder to feed more than 1.40 billion mouths ( projected 2030), ploughing the same fragmented landholdings and depending on the water resources which are steadily depleting.

AGRICULTURE

WORLD

December 2016

www.krishijagran.com

www.krishijagran.com

December 2016

AGRICULTURE

WORLD

AGRICULTURE

WORLD

December 2016

www.krishijagran.com

www.krishijagran.com

December 2016

AGRICULTURE

WORLD

AGRICULTURE

WORLD

December 2016

www.krishijagran.com