Agriculture typology

Introduction

• India is pre-eminently an agricultural country. Agriculture has been practiced in India since time immemorial and it plays a vital role in the economy of India
  • The share of agriculture in GDP is 9 per cent in 2020-21
  • Also, Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58%of India’s population
• India is a unique country from agricultural point of view
  • Its expanse of plains, rich soil, high percentage of cultivable land, wide climatic variety with adequate aggregate rainfall combined with sufficient temperature, ample sunshine and long growing season, provide solid base to agriculture

Salient Features of Indian Agriculture

Indian agriculture has its own peculiarities, the features of which are as follows:

• Subsistence Agriculture
  • In India, farmer own a small piece of land, grow crops with help of their family members and consume almost the entire farm produce, with little surplus to sell in the market
  • Of the total holdings in India, 85% are in marginal and small farm categories of less than 2ha
  • This type of agriculture has been practiced in India for several hundred years, despite large changes after Independence
• Pressure of population on Agriculture
  • The increasing population in India, exerts heavy pressure on agriculture
  • According to the estimates for 2019-20, Total food grain production in the country was 291.95 million tonnes; but as per the estimates of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), demand for food grain would increase to 345 million tonnes by 2030.
  • With the present levels of productivity, in order to cater to the future demand, we need an additional 12-15 million hectares of land
  • Also, it is estimated that over half of the population would live in urban areas by 2025. This requires more diversion of agricultural land, thereby increasing pressure on the sector
• Importance to animals
  • Animal force still play a significant role in agricultural operations such as ploughing, irrigation, threshing and transportation
  • Complete mechanization of Indian agriculture is still a distant dream and hence animals will continue to dominate the agricultural scene in India for several years to come
• Monsoon dependent
  • Despite expansion of irrigation facilities since Independence, less than one-third of the total cropped area is under perennial irrigation and the rest two-third of the cropped area has to bear the brunt of monsoon vagaries
• Crop variety
  • India is a vast country with varied relief, climate and soil conditions. Hence, the large variety of crops in India
  • Both tropical and temperate crop variety are grown in India
• Predominance of food crops
  • More than two-third of the total cropped area is devoted to the cultivation of food crops
  • Rice, wheat, Maize, Jowar, Bajra, Ragi are the main foodcrops grown in India
  • The food demand from large population, is the primary reason for food crop predominance in India
• Seasonal pattern
  • India has three major cropping seasons

• • • Kharif – starts with onset of monsoon and continues till beginning of winter. Major crops of this season are rice, maize, jowar, bajra, cotton, groundnut
    • Rabi – starts with beginning of winter and continues till end of winter or beginning of summer. Major crops are wheat, barley, jowar, gram and oil seeds
    • Zaid – summer cropping season in which crops like rice, maize, groundnut, vegetable and fruits are grown

• Mixed Cropping
  • It is one of the chief characteristics of Indian agriculture, where four to five crops are grown simultaneously in the same field
  • The popular crops are millets, maize and pulses in Kharif season and wheat, gram and barley in Rabi season
  • This is done to ensure good productivity and considering the monsoon vagaries

• • • Ex: if rainfall is good, rice will yield better; else other varies that require less water such as maize, millets and pulses will yield better

• Labor Intensive
  • Most of agricultural operations such as ploughing, levelling, sowing etc, are done by farmers and their animals
  • Although mechanization is prevalent in North Western regions of India, it has been the privilege of large farmers only. However, this trend is picking up considering the feasibility

Problems of Indian Agriculture and their Solutions

While a few problems are natural, others are manmade. Some of the major problems and their possible solutions are as follows:

• Small and Fragmented Land-holdings
  • The arable plot size is decreasing with each successive generation, mainly due to inheritance laws
  • After 75 years of independence, we are now left with 0.2 hectares of land per person in a rural household
  • Since the first agriculture census 45 years ago, the number of farms has doubled from 70 million in 1970 to 145 million in 2015 and counting
  • This implies a greater number of people in an ever-shrinking land holding, leading to increased population pressure, and rampant underemployment.

Solution

• • The land should be consolidated, which means reallocation of holdings which are fragmented, the creation of farms which comprise only one or few parcels in place of multitude of patches, formerly in possession of each peasant

• Use of Fertilisers
  • Fertilizer use saw an increase in India with the spread of Green Revolution, and balanced fertiliser use requires three major plant nutrients, namely, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, to be used in the ratio of 4:2:1, and any deviation in fertiliser use from this norm would constrain growth in crop productivity
  • However in 2012–13, the ratio of NPK use in India reached 8.2:3.2:1, which is more imbalanced compared to the early 1970s when the ratio was 6:1.9:1
  • The prime reason for such nutrient imbalance in the countryis heavy subsidies on Urea

Solution

• • The Government should shift its focus from urea alone to producing and promoting a balanced spectrum of NPK fertilisers, as well as micro-nutrients such as sulphur, zinc, boron, iron, manganese and copper which are dwindling in the Indian soil
    • Together, the government must introduce measures to decontrol the urea sector
  • Simultaneously, efforts must be made to promote the use of organic manure, bio-fertilisers and city compost

• Irrigation
  • Although India is the second largest irrigated country of the world after China, only one-third of the total cropped area is under Irrigation
  • The expansion and improvement of irrigation facilities occupy a central place in India’s strategy for raising agricultural productivity
  • Water resources are also limited and water for irrigation must contend with increasing industrial and urban needs.
  • Also, there is pressure on water resources due to Climate Change and Monsoon vagaries

Solution

• • Ways to radically enhance the productivity of irrigation (“more crop per drop”) need to be found. Piped conveyance, better on-farm management of water, and use of more efficient delivery mechanisms such as drip irrigation are among the actions that could be taken
  • Other key priorities include:
    • modernizing Irrigation and Drainage Departments to integrate the participation of farmers and other agencies in managing irrigation water
    • rationalizing public expenditures, with priority to completing schemes with the highest returns; and
    • allocating sufficient resources for operations and maintenance for the sustainability of investments

• Lack of Mechanisation
  • Except the rich farmers having large land holdings, most of agricultural operations in India are carried on by humans using conventional tools

• • • This is the case specially with small and marginal farmers; which has been the reason for low yield per capita labour force

Solution

• Hence, the need to mechanise agricultural operations, by providing implements/machinery on time, for increasing production
• In this perspective, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched a Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) in 2014-15 with the objectives of increasing the reach of farm mechanization to small and marginal farmers and to the regions & difficult area where farm power availability is low

• Agricultural Marketing
  • This continues to be in Bad shape in India. In absence of marketing facilities, farmers depend on local traders and middlemen for disposal of their farm produce; where the farmers are often forced to sell their produce at distress level prices
  • Lack of information to farmers, Debt obligation, multiplicity of charges are other related issues

Solution

• Measures taken in this perspective include:
  • Currently, the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts facilitates different states permit the first sale of crops after harvesting by farmers to take place only in regulated market yards or Mandis.
  • National Agriculture Market gives an e-marketing platform at the national level and support creation of infrastructure to enable e-marketing. This new market process is revolutionizing agriculture markets by guaranteeing better price discovery
  • Pradhan Manthri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) – The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to farmers for their produce

• Inadequate storage and transportation facilities
  • This issues doesn’t ensure timely delivery of farmers’ produce to the market

Solution

• Gramin Bhandaran Yojana is a capital investment subsidy scheme for the construction or renovation of rural warehouses or godowns for storing farm produce. The scheme is aimed at assisting farmers in increasing their holding capacity

• Inadequacy of Capital
  • Working capital is necessary for a farmers to have timely inputs in an agricultural cycle
  • The prevalence of Farmer Suicides in India, are an indication for the need to further extend credit coverage in India

Solution

• The most notable scheme launched by the NABARD is the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), for the purpose.