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A De v e l op m e n t A n D e n v i ron m e n t m Ag A z i n e
GeoGraphy and you
G’ny SINCe 2001 Vol. 17, ISSue 102, 2017

Increased
demand for

THE
diverse food has
put agricultural
resources under
severe stress

AGRi-TECH
PERsPECTivEs
6 Changing Farmers’ Income and Agrarian Distress
26 Mutation Breeding for Crop Improvement
40 The GM Food Imbroglio
62 Forest Stewardship Council
68 Living Root Bridges
 October 5 - 6, 2017, India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India

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Vol. 17  Issue 102  May-June 2017

Farmers’ TransiTions 40 The GM Food Imbroglio india ouTdoors

6 Changing Farmers’ Income and K R Anilakumar, R K Sharma 68 Living Root Bridge
Agrarian Distress and A S Bawa Dipanjan Ghosh
Elumalai Kannan
46 Optical Sensing of Soil
14 Agri-Food System Transformation Nutrients for ‘Smart Farming’
and Farmers Subra Mukherjee and
N Chandrasekhara Rao Shakuntala Laskar

20 Perishable Agricultural 52 The Doomsday Vault–Conser-

Market Reforms: Policy vation for the World’s Crops In B r Ief
and Issues Staff Reporter 2 Letters
Sukhpal Singh 4 Editor’s Note
phoTo-essay 13 The Pro-GM view
Crop TeChnologies 56 Scarcity and displacement: 25 Term Power Questions
Water Woes Compel 33 Term Power Rating
26 Mutation Breeding for Crop 45 Changing Cold Chain
Improvement Vinod Babu
Technology
M C KHARKWAL 51 Women in Agriculture
ForesTry poliCy 67 Farmers’ Suicide
34 Genetically Modified Technology 62 Forest Stewardship Council 72 Book/Website
Dilnavaz Variava Naina Sharma

Expert Panel
Prithvish Nag B Meenakumari Ajit Tyagi B Sengupta
Vice Chancellor, Chairperson, Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Former Member Secretary,
MG Kashi Vidyapeeth, National Biodiversity Former DG, IMD, Central Pollution Control
Varanasi. Authority, Chennai. New Delhi. Board, New Delhi.
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Former Director, Professor, CSRD, Professor, CSRD, Director,
NCAOR, Goa. Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Economic Research,
University, New Delhi. University, New Delhi. Nielsen, New Delhi.

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eoGraphy and you 101 issue
march-april 2017 issue: The issue titled ‘Managing Water’ is the
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 Edi t or’s no t E

EDITORIAL

Strengthening Agri-Innovations
Food, central to our existence, has singularly The dependency
proved to be a mechanism for global governance. India continues on a preferred
to combat hunger and confront food crises in a backdrop of an
set of crops in
ever growing population. The country has engaged in a wide
range of historical debates from scientific, political-ideological,
India has reduced
to even ethical. Agriculture has been from ancient times the its agricultural
mainstay of the population, yet the country remains innovation resilience.
hungry. The agro-food-tech
has been largely supply driven
and thus remained unable to
capture the entire ambit of
agriculture. A preferred set of
crops has emerged that have
come to be understood to have
caused health and nutritional
imbalance among the people.
And now a relatively recent
growth trajectory is being drawn
to include genetically modified
crops in the food basket. This
issue of G’nY includes viewpoints
of experts who argue that various
successful methods exist,
opposed to genetic modification,
that offer fetching results quite
easily. The imbroglio of the
agro-food-tech debate may just
as well be avoided if certain scientific methods are adopted, say Fashioning a broom to
for example soil sensors among others, which help apprise the sweep up the harvest,
farmer about specific nutritional requirements of his land. Efficient West Champran, Bihar.
water usage, better soil health, low cost high-yielding inputs, well-
positioned cold chains, small and marginal farmer cooperatives,
and innovative farm to market interfaces would ensure a higher
output in a relatively short period.
Happy reading.

Sulagna Chattopadhyay

4 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 Fa r mer s’ T r a n s i T ion s

By Elumalai Kannan

CHANGING
FARMERS’ INCOME AND
AGRARIAN DISTRESS
A strong trend towards agricultural diversification from food to
commercial crops and from enterprise to allied activities is emerging.
This shift is driven by both, state policies and the domestic market
and has a bearing upon small and marginal landholders.
 Taking cue from many developed
and developing economies, India
PhoTo: Prasad

needs to move from a price-based

to an income-based support
system for farmers.
A
griculture continues to play an
important role in the overall growth
of the Indian economy despite a
structural shift towards the service
sector during recent decades.
Despite a decline in the share of agriculture in
national income from 55.1 per cent in 1950-51 to
13.9 per cent in 2013-14, agriculture still holds the
key to transformation of India’s rural economy.
But, there are many challenges too. The country
achieved self-sufficiency in food production at the
macro level, but still confronts massive challenges
of high prevalence of malnourished children and
high incidence of rural poverty.
The dependence of the rural workforce on
agriculture for employment has not declined in
proportion to its contribution to gross domestic
product (GDP). This has resulted in widening the
income disparity between the agricultural and
non-agricultural sectors (Chand, 2017). In this
context, achieving a higher growth in agriculture
assumes great importance—a matter of concern
for policy planners and research scholars in recent
times (Vaidyanathan 2010, Sen 2016). Sustained
agricultural growth, facilitated through constant
policy and institutional support, has the potential
to augment growth in the rural economy and asso-
ciated secondary activities such as food processing
and retail trading. However, agriculture-led rural
industrialisation has not received due attention
from policy makers in the country notwithstanding
the fact that maintaining the growth of agriculture
per se was lost sight of during the 1990s (Bhalla and
Singh 2009). After a splendid growth performance
during the 1980s, agriculture’s decline during the
1990s was attributed to the reduction in and/or
stagnation of public expenditure on agricultural
infrastructure, defunct extension services and
biased economic reforms (Mahendradev 2000;
Vyas 2001; Rao 2003).
Although there was a reported revival of agricul-
tural growth since the mid-2000s, improvement in
yield of major crops was not as remarkable as it was
in the 1980s. In fact, the agricultural sector showed
higher variability in production since 1990s.
Studies have also shown that crop diversification
and raising minimum support price of agricultural
produce have been the important drivers of output
growth in recent years (Birthal et al 2014; Chand et
al., 2015). However, these sources of growth alone
may not sustain the interest of the farmers in culti-
8 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
vation unless the support system moves towards
providing income security to them. With this
background, the present article discusses trends in
India’s agricultural growth, changes in real income
and issues related to agrarian distress.
Trends in agricultural growth
Annual growth rates revealed that agricul-
ture and allied activities registered more
volatile growth than overall GDP due to vagaries
of rainfall, fluctuations in temperature and other
natural conditions. Growth in agriculture and
allied activities declined continuously during
1993-94 to 2002-03; annual average growth rate
during this period was 2.9 per cent (Fig. 1). The
growth rate seems to have recovered thereafter
registering an impressive rate of 3.2 per cent
during 2003-04 to 2007-08. This was also the
period during which the overall GDP growth
was higher at 7.2 per cent. However, the growth
in agriculture as well as the overall economy has
plummeted since 2008-09, which coincided with
the global financial crisis and frequent occur-
rence of drought in different parts of the country.
The annual average growth in agriculture was
3.1 per cent and that of overall GDP was 7.1 per
cent during 2008-09 to 2014-15. Agriculture and
allied activities registered average growth rate of
3.0 per cent for the entire period from 1993-94 to
2014-15 whereas overall GDP recorded 6.4 per
cent during the same period. Thus although the
share of agriculture in overall GDP has declined
overtime, the magnitude of agricultural growth
continues to matter.
Within agriculture and allied activities, the crop
sector dominated the total value of output even
though its contribution has declined during the
recent times (Fig. 2). Within the crop sector, the
share of field crops was more or less constant, while
the share of horticulture has shown a declining
trend. The growth in output from livestock was
higher at 6.5 per cent than that of the crop sector.
The share of fishery in total value of output has
remained more or less constant overtime. However,
the contribution of forestry has increased from 3.9
per cent in 2002-03 to 9.7 per cent in 2007-08 and
then declined to 7.4 per cent in 2013-14. The annual
growth in output from forestry was as high as
12.4 per cent. The reasons for sudden spurt in the
contribution of forestry needs further exploration.
Nevertheless, it is useful to observe that there is a
 Fig. 1: Annual growth in agriculture and allied sector and overall gross domestic product
10.00

8.00

6.00
Per cent

4.00

2.00

0.00
1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15
-2.00

Agriculture and allied Overall GDP

Source: Computed from various issues: Central Statistical Office. Ministry of The share of agriculture in overall gross domestic product (GDP) has
Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, New Delhi. declined overtime. An average growth rate of 3 per cent was observed in
agriculture and allied activities during 1993-94 to 2014-15 whereas the
overall GDP was 6.4 per cent during the same period.

Fig. 2: Changes in composition of output from agriculture and allied activity at 2011-12 prices
14

12

2002-03 66.39 per cent 21.30 per cent 2002-03

4.70 per cent 2002-03

FORESTRY
2007-08 62.85 per cent 19.22 per cent 7-08
2007-08 4.39 per cent 2007-08
2013-14 62.03 per cent 18.74 per cent 2013-14 2013-14
10 4.45 per cent

8
Per cent growth rate

CROP SECTOR
Horticulture
6

FISHERY
4
Field crops
Horticulture 5.04
5 04
5 46
5.46

5 65
5.65

t y 12.39
12 39
Livestock 6.49
6 49

6 08
6.08
Fishery 5.45
5 45

2
LIVESTOCK
Sector

Fi ld Crops

Forestry

Overall
C
S

Field
Crop

F
C

GROWTH RATE
2000-01 to 2013-14

45.09 per cent 2002-03 25.04 per cent 2002-03 3.87 per cent 2002-03

43.63 per cent 2007-08 23.02 per cent 2007-08 9.74 per cent 2007-08
2013-14 7.44 per cent 2013-14
43.29 per cent 2013-14 26.08 per cent

Source: Computed from various issues: Central Statistical Office. Ministry of The growth in output from the crop sector declined between 2002-03
Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, New Delhi. and 2013-14 with annual growth rate of 5.46 per cent which was less than
the annual growth rate of 6.5 per cent of livestock. Annual growth rate in
output from forestry was high i. e .12.4 per cent despite decline in output
growth between 2007-08 and 2013-14.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 9

strong trend towards diversification of enterprises
from crop agriculture to allied activities.
Demographic pressure on the agricultural sector
has affected the distribution of agricultural land
holdings resulting in progressive marginalisation
of holdings in most parts of the country. As per the
Agricultural Census, the proportion of marginal
and small holdings has increased considerably
from 74.5 per cent in 1980-81 to 85 per cent in
2010-11 with an addition of about 51 million hold-
ings between these periods. The area cultivated by
these operational land holders has also increased
nearly by 20 per cent between the periods 1980-81
and 2010-11. The size of holdings affects the scale
of production, adoption of technology, marketable
surplus, credit and access to other support services.
Various studies have shown that farmers shift
their cropping pattern in response to changes in
consumption and dietary pattern. As the culti-
vated area has remained more or less constant
at 140 million ha in the last two decades, the
increased demand for diverse food has put agri-
cultural resources under severe stress. In fact,
intensification and substitution of food crops with
commercial crops have taken place in many parts
of the country. Area under foodgrains has declined
from 75.5 per cent during triennium ending (TE)
1970-71 to 62.5 per cent in TE 2013-14. This decline
in area under foodgrains can be attributed to fall in
area under coarse cereals such as jowar, bajra and
small millets. There is concomitant increase in area
under the cultivation of oilseeds, cotton, fruits and
vegetables. Although the shift in cropped area from
coarse cereals to these high value crops is likely to
increase farm output and income, it will expose the
Table 1: Composition of farmers household income (INR/
household) at 2011-12 prices
NSSO 59th Round
Components
(2002-03)
Cultivation 21830
Farming of Animals 2266
Non-Farm Business 5309
Wages & Salary 18753
Total Annual Income 48158
Source: NSSO (2005, 2014)
10 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
marginal and small landholders to serious weather-
borne risks in dry land regions.
Changes in agricultural income at
national level
The National Sample Survey Organisation
(NSSO) had conducted the Situation Assessment
Survey of Farmers/Agricultural Households
in 2003 and 2013. Among other information,
details about the value of output and input costs
for different economic activities help to estimate
the farm household income. The overall real
income of farmer households has increased
annually at 3.9 per cent between 2002-03 and
2012-13 (Table 1). Income from crop cultivation
constituted nearly 50 per cent, while wages and
salaries accounted for about one-third of total
income. Income from farming of animals was as
high as 15 per cent between these periods. These
estimates imply a rosy picture about the condition
of the peasantry suggesting that the wellbeing of
the cultivators has improved overtime. However,
analysis of the relationship between growth in
agricultural income and growth in consumer
price index shows that they are not at par with
each other; consumer price index is higher than
the agricultural income.
India’s National Accounts Statistics provides
agricultural GDP, which is estimated in terms
of gross value added by deducting value of inter-
mediate inputs consumption from the value of
output from the sector. This also includes gross
value added from the operation of government
irrigation system. The trend in annual growth in
gross value added and consumer price index for
NSSO 70th Round Annual growth
(2012-13) rate (per cent)
33383 4.3
9049 14.9
5610 0.6
22407 1.8
70449 3.9
agricultural labourers (CPIAL) is plotted in Figure
3. Gross value added (GVA) indicates agricultural
Rural workforce
income, while CPIAL shows the price that rural in agriculture
persons pay for purchase of consumer products. It
is evident that the percentage change in CPIAL was
has not
higher than agricultural income during most years declined in
under study. The years which marked with high
agricultural income over consumer price index,
proportion to its
were affected by drought and hence higher base contribution to
value has resulted in higher growth.
However, trend in movement of agricultural
gross domestic
income clearly indicates that the purchasing product.
power of farmers has remained low and has been
worsening during recent years. This is mainly due
to neo-liberal policies of the government, which
advocate phasing out of input subsidies and allow of production. Therefore, the worsening state of
the market forces to determine their prices. At income implies deterioration of welfare of farmers
the same time, they fail to increase productivity leading to agrarian distress.
through investment in research and rural infra- There is a strong trend towards diversification
structure. In fact, it is discomforting to note that within the crop sector from food to commercial
annual growth in public spending in agricultural crops and from cultivation of crops to allied
research and education slowed down from 6.0 per activities, entailing a shift from food grains to cash
cent in 1980s to 3.0 per cent since 1990s (Singh and crops. This process has been driven by both, state
Kumar 2012). This has already affected new tech- induced policies and developments in the domestic
nological advancements and forced the farmers to market, promoted by transnational corporations.
incur higher input costs to achieve the same level In both the cases, cultivators switch from produc-

Fig. 3: Annual growth in agricultural gross value added and consumer price index
for agricultural labourers
Percentage change in consumer price index for agricultural labourers
(CPIAL) was higher than the agricultural income for most of the years with
25.0 a few exceptions when agricultural income exceeded the consumer price
index, primarily due to droughts. The trend in movement of agricultural
20.0 income clearly indicates that the purchasing power of farmers remained
low and worsened during the recent years.

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0

-5.0

-10.0
2005-06
2000-01

2003-04
2004-05

2008-09
2002-03

2006-07
1999-00
1983-84
1984-85
1985-86

1989-90
1990-91
1988-89

1993-94

1995-96

1998-99

2001-02
1994-95
1982-83

1992-93
1986-87

1996-97

2007-08

2009-10
1991-92
1981-82

1987-88

1997-98

2010-11

2013-14
2012-13
2011-12

CPIAL Agri GVA

Source: Computed from various issues: Central Statistical Office. Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation, Government of India, New Delhi.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 11

tion for household consumption to production
for domestic and international markets, thus
exposing themselves to precarious market forces.
Market dependency for purchase of inputs and
sale of output in a way has initiated an agrarian
crisis in the country, reflected through weak-
ening purchasing capacity of farmers during the
recent decades.
endnote
Of late, there is increasing discussion among the
farmer groups, academia and policy makers to
provide income security rather than price secu-
rity to the farmers. In fact, many developed and
developing economies have progressively shifted
from the price-based support to income support
policy, which is considered to be more equitable
and perhaps easy to implement due to the large size
of landholdings in those countries. However, in the
context of India, the income support policy will
certainly benefit the marginalised sections of the
farming community as also the underdeveloped
regions and crops. But, this proposition is fraught
with many challenges and constraints in terms of
the preponderance of small and marginal holdings,
absence of a major breakthrough in technology,
inadequate investment in rural infrastructure,
inefficient marketing system and a defunct exten-
sion system. Despite these hurdles, a sustained
policy support is required to protect the interests
of the farmers and provide basic income support
to withstand against the vagaries of weather and
volatile market forces.
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Institutions. Oxford University Press, New
Delhi.
Vasavi, A. R., 2012. Shadow Space Suicides and
the Predicament of Rural India. Three Essays
Collective, New Delhi.
Vyas, V. S., 2001. Agriculture: Second Round of
Economic Reforms. Economic and Political
Weekly, 36(10), 829-831.
The Author is Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of
Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi. elumalaik@hotmail.com
 In br Ief : T he P ro - GM v Ie w

GM crops are reportedly

good for the environment
By Staff RepoRteR
In the wake of animated debate on genetically
modified (GM) crops, the safety of GM crops, and issues
related to their adoption have been the object of intense
research work. According to the Indian government, such
research is often ignored in public debate. To overcome
this, the government has created a publicly accessible
database to improve data visibility (bibliosafetv.icaeb.org).
Various parameters considered for assessing potential
impacts of the introduction of genetically engineered
crops relate to crop diversity, biodiversity of wild relatives,
non-target soil organisms and above-ground organisms,
weeds, land use and area-wide pest suppression.
The scientific community and society unanimously
consider preserving biodiversity a subject of priority.
According to the government inputs, the potential impact
of GM crops on biodiversity can be investigated at
different levels (crop, farm and landscape) and different
organisms or microorganisms (target and non-target) can
be considered. When the effect of GM crops on the target
species, weeds or pests is considered, a reduction of
biodiversity is expected and is necessary for the success
of the crop. However, it is the use of non-GM crops that
would lead to higher reductions in biodiversity as use of
chemicals to assist their disease free growth is often more
toxic and persistent in the environment. Reportedly in a longer be manageable. The policy makers cite that it is
systematic study of pre- and post adoption of Bt cotton important to have a management strategy so that the
in China, a marked increase in abundance of generalist genes and their products in GM crops continue to be
arthropod predators and a decreased abundance of aphid effective for as long as possible. They say that as part of
pests and reduced insecticide sprays were seen. Also a resistance management strategy, non-GM cotton lines
evidence showed that predators might provide additional could be grown alongside Bt transgenic crops in order
bio-control services spilling over from Bt cotton fields onto to dilute resistance in populations of H. armigera moths
neighbouring crops. which may survive the Bt toxin.
The government claims that the pest management According to the government, GM crops are favourable
traits that are embodied in currently commercialised to the environment, firstly because GM crops help farmers
GM crops have led to changes in the use of pesticides reduce pesticide applications. It has been reportedly
that may have impacts on biodiversity. If the planting of estimated that widespread use of GM crops has reduced
GM pest-resistant crop varieties eliminates the need for the amount of pesticides use by nearly 1.3 billion pounds,
broad-spectrum insecticidal control of primary pests, thus reducing the environmental footprint. Secondly,
naturally occurring control agents are more likely to biotech crops require less fuel and less tillage. GM crop-
suppress secondary pest populations, maintaining a related carbon dioxide emission savings were equal to the
diversity and abundance of prey for birds, rodents and removal of 12.4 million cars from the road for one year.
amphibians.
One of the major concerns for GM crops is that the Inputs from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
insects would develop tolerance to them and can no Change, Government of India, New Delhi.
 Fa r mer s’ T r a n s i T ion s

Outlining the need for

farm-to-food access,
consumers stop along
highways such as that
between Kalimpong
and Darjeeling, West
Bengal.
 By N ChaNdrasekhara rao

Agri-food
SyStem
trAnSformAtion
and farmers
Tracing changes with new start-ups in the production and retail
segments of the value chain, the article analyses diffusion
and impacts of organised retailing on farming community and
outlines policy implications.
PhOtO: PrasaD

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 15

D
ualism and inequality worsen due
to relative lack of technological
innovations and reduced welfare in
agriculture (Barrett et al., 2010). A
modernising value chain, viewed in
this theoretical perspective, is one of the develop-
ment agendas for overall growth of the economy
with no sectoral disparities in income.
Agri-food transformation has been going on
in the world in waves after early nineties, first in
Latin America, South East Asia, China and now
in India (Minten and Reardon, 2011). India is said
to be the last major frontier in this transformation
along with China and countries from less devel-
oped parts of Africa. While diet diversification and
globalisation of diets as a result of higher dispos-
able incomes is at the core of this transformation,
changing relative role of players and institutions
led to what are called demand driven value chains
in the world. Gone are the days when what is
produced is automatically consumed.
Now, retailers at the end of value chains pass on
signals from consumers to producers on what, how
and how much to produce. In other words, markets
have come to play a bigger role in farm decisions.
Consequently, new generation start-ups have been
emerging in the country since the last few years.
These are entirely different from earlier waves of
start-ups in the country as they are driven primarily
by the information and communication revolution,
globalisation and private initiative.
Broadly, these start-ups can be shown as
rendering either input or output services in
marketing and related jobs. BigHaat.com, Flybird,
AgroStar, Stellaps, Kedut, EcoZen, MITRA, EM3,
Skymet, YCook, IFFCOKisan, Aarav Unmanned
Systems and CropIn are some of the start-ups
involved in input services. There are several output
services such as Ninjacart, TheAgrihub, SVAgri,
Sabziwala, Flipkart and Big Basket. The input-
based start-ups disrupt the upstream value chain by
connecting farmers directly with input companies
for seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and machinery. In
contrast, some output-based start-ups connect
farmers with the buyer of their produce. In some
cases, such as Ninjacart and Big Basket, the
produce is brought directly from farmers in collec-
tion centres such as supermarkets. Besides these
start-ups, online retailing companies like Amazon
started buying directly from farmers replicating
the Amazon Fresh model for its grocery business
16 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
that started in 2016 in a tie-up with 12500 kirana
stores (Ganguly, 2016).
Organised distribution of food in India has
been practiced since 1950s through more than
600,000 fair price shops in the public sector. This
was followed by chains such as Mother Dairy in
cooperative sector in the eighties. Though some
initiatives by private players happened in the late
nineties, development of supermarkets in India is
a relatively new phenomenon with big players—
Reliance, Birla, Tata and others entering the market
in the early years of the new millennium. Moving
along the growth path, their progress has stagnated
by 2009 after the financial crisis. However, they
started to grow again, with some restructuring,
in the last few years and along with China and
Malaysia, India is back with top ranking in the
global retail development index of AT Kearney in
2016 (Global Retail Development Index, 2016).
There has been some consolidation going on
in the sector with Future Group merging with
Bharti Retail and acquiring many small chains like
EasyDay, Nilgiris, Heritage, Big Apple, Sangam
Direct and expanding their network of shops across
all states. Reliance, bolstered by its telecom foray, is
trying to expand its footprint in grocery retailing
through online entry. As of June 2015, there were
3499 modern retail stores, 413 convenience stores
and 112 cash and carry stores (USDA, 2015). The
contribution of these supermarkets (or organised
retailers) in food segment is estimated to be 3-5 per
cent of INR 360 billion food market.
It is likely to grow at a faster rate in view of
the underlying demand side factors, domestic
investment and FDI regulations. This can be an
underestimate as it does not include online retail.
For example, Big Basket did a business of INR
1800 crores in the year 2016-17. Online marketing
referred to as e-tailing is progressing at a very high
rate and estimated to be in the order of 20 billion
USD at present (Rao et al., 2017). The huge interest
by many of the retail behemoths like Wal-Mart,
CarreFour, Amazon and others stems from the fact
the already huge consumption is expected to reach
one trillion dollars by 2020.
In the wake of such developments, there have
been concerns about the sustainability of tradi-
tional retail with the entry of organised retailing
in the form of supermarkets and consequently
on the livelihoods of a large number of people
working in the sector apart from resource-poor
farmers. However, it has been argued that densely
populated countries like India will continue to have
both organised and traditional stores for a long
time although entry of organised retail is likely to
modernise the traditional sector too with increased
convenience (Kohli and Bhagwati, 2011).
Direct marketing between retailer and
farmer-producer has been a defining feature
of supermarkets although the standard defini-
tion never included online retailers. Now sale of
fruit and vegetables as well as all processed agri-
commodities is online. Big Basket, Grofers, and
Pepper Tap are cases in point; the latest to join the
race is Amazon. Some of these online stores are
starting collecting points in selected places and
most of the brick and mortar chains like Reliance
Fresh are starting online businesses. Therefore,
the situation can now be termed as fluid with
several new players emerging every day and old
players applying course corrections to move on
with the trend.
Empirical evidences available so far on the
impacts of value chains with regard to their influ-
ence on production decisions and consequent
impacts on the farming community bring out two
things. Higher net income and employment accrue
to farmers through direct selling to organised
retailers. On the downside is the higher probability
of exclusion of small farmers in the absence of insti-
tutional support.
policy implications
There have been concerns about small farmers’
exclusion in modern value chains. There is, there-
fore policy interest in measures that can help the
resource poor smallholder cultivators in taking
advantage of the opportunities of selling to these
modern value chains. Several studies conducted in
developing countries of Latin America, Asia and
Africa found conclusively that the major positive
factors in this regard can be availability of irriga-
tional facilities (Naveen et al., 2009), provision of
short term credit during the time of crop harvesting
to tide over delayed payments from the supermar-
kets (Rao and Qaim, 2011), transport options that
can compensate for infrastructure bottlenecks
and social networks in terms of membership in
cooperatives and other farmers’ organisations
(Fischer and Qaim, 2012, 2014). These findings are
pointers to the relevant policy measures that can be
contemplated to propel small farmers in moving up
along with China, parts of africa
and India are said to be the last
major frontiers in agri-food
transformation. Diversification
and an impact of globalisation
on diets as a result of higher
disposable incomes is at the
core of this transformation.
the value chain in countries like India.
Overall, the start-up activity in agriculture falls
short of the total activity and accounted for just
one per cent of total investment of 6 billion USD
in 2015 (Mitra, 2016). Further, late stage funds for
scaling up are virtually non-existent. This is not
coincidental since studies in other countries show
empirical evidence of market failures in entrepre-
neurial activity in agriculture and the need for
the state to intervene. Therefore, certain amount
of start-up funds may be earmarked for spurring
innovative movements in food and agriculture.
The government can encourage innovative insti-
tutions such as small producer companies (SPC)
to empower the smallholders and facilitate their
participation in the supermarket driven marketing
channel to increase the bargaining power of small
farmers’ vis-à-vis the large companies. Their
progress so far is not as impressive as expected
and very few of them could forge links with
supermarket procurement operations. Therefore,
special attention is called for in addressing issues of
access to working capital and credit by considering
proposals for putting these companies on equal
footing with other companies and according some
of the benefits of cooperatives e. g., tax incentives
for the initial set-up period and leveraging credit
from some of the government sources. The example
can be that of National Cooperative Development
Corporation.
Innovative interventions have to be planned by
understanding the dynamics of beneficial inclu-
sion in other developing countries. The successful
inclusion is facilitated by access to better education
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 17
the government can empower
small producers to facilitate their
participation in supermarkets so
that women selling local produce at
locations such as havlock Island,
andaman, can participate.
and higher asset position. Experience in Kenya
reveals that the government on its own or in
collaboration with private players and NGOs, can
facilitate participation of disadvantaged farmers
by making better provision of infrastructure and
transportation and credit facilities. The Chinese
government encouraged direct procurement by
providing investment support for construction of
distribution centres, cold storages and facilities for
testing products procured directly from the farmer
cooperatives. The central government needs to
mull over these issues.
18 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
The enormous size of the retailing giants vis-a-
vis the traditional retail and the small and medium
enterprises in the procurement of goods and serv-
ices can lead to unfair advantages to the retailing
giants both local and foreign. Therefore, Indian
competition laws have to be reviewed after care-
fully studying the experiences of other developed
and developing countries. For example, USA has a
Robinson-Patman Act since the 1930s to provide
a level playing field to the traditional retailers in
procurement. Zoning restrictions and other similar
suggestions may be considered depending on local
conditions, on a case-by-case basis.
Nevertheless, the most important intervention
from the government can be to strengthen and
help the traditional retailers in modernising and
systematising their businesses to provide better
services to the consumers and withstand competi-
tion from the organised retail. As the 68th round of
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data
reveal that the food retail and total retail employ 18
million and 32 million people respectively, the state
needs to act in assisting them in their transition by
providing incentives for modernisation, enabling
laws and training. This ongoing transformation of
the agri-food system in the country and its likely
impacts on sustainability of traditional retail and
smallholder agriculture calls for rigorous and
dispassionate research and analysis for effective
policy making.
endnote
The transformation of agricultural food system
in the country is progressing at a faster pace akin
to the process in most other developing countries
with changing roles of actors. While consumers
are likely to benefit from this, policy interventions
are needed to prop the farmer-growers to grab the
opportunities by making necessary improvements
in their infrastructure and skill sets.
references
Barrett, Christopher B., Michael R Carter and
C Peter Timmer. 2010. A Century- Long
Perspective on Agricultural Development.
American Journal of Agricultural Development,
92 (2): 447-468.
Fischer, Elisabeth and Matin Qaim. 2012. Linking
Smallholders to Markets: Determinants
and Impacts of Farmer Collective Action in
Kenya. World Development, 40 (6): 1255-1268.
Fischer, Elisabeth and Matin Qaim. 2014.
Smallholder Farmers and Collective
Action: What determines the Intensity
of Participation. Journal of Agricultural
Economics, 65 (3): 683-702.
Ganguly, Payal. 2016. Amazon expands network
to 12,500 local stores, retail outlets. The
Economic Times, September, 15. Available
at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
small-biz/startups/amazon-expands-
network-to-12500-local-stores-retail-outlets/
articleshow/54321877.cms.
Kearney A.T. 2016. Global Retail Expansion
at Crossroads. The 2016 Global Retail
Development IndexTM. Chicago, United States
of America.
Kohli, Rajeev and Jagdish Bhagwati. 2011.
Organised retailing in India: Issues and
Outlook. Columbia Programme on Indian
Economic Policies Working Paper No. 2011-
1, School of International and Public Affairs,
Columbia University.
Neven, D., Odera, M. M., Reardon, T., & Wang,
H. 2009. Kenyan supermarkets, emerging
middle-class horticultural farmers, and
employment impacts on the rural poor. World
Development, 37(11): 1802–1811.
NSSO. 2011-2012. Employment and
unemployment situation in India. Report no.
554(68/10/1)
Mitra, Sounak. 2016. Investments in agriculture,
food sectors hit five-year low. Live Mint,
October 25. Available at:http://www.livemint.
com/Companies/Or23bQbrR4tag4eIFJk8qM/
Investments-in-agriculture-food-sectors-hit-
fiveyear-low.html.
Rao, E.J.O., and Qaim, M. 2011. Supermarkets,
Farm Household Income, and Poverty:
Insights from Kenya. World Development , 39
(5): 784-796
Rao, N Chandrasekhara, Rajib Sutradhar
and Thomas Reardon. 2017. Disruptive
Innovations in Food Value Chains and
Small Farmers in India. Indian Journal of
Agricultural Economics, 72(1).
Reardon, T and B.Minten. 2011. The Quiet
Revolution in India’s Food Supply Chains.
IFPRI Discussion Paper 01115 International
Food Policy Research Institute, Washington
D.C. Available at: www.ifpri.org
Sayan. C and Priyanka Sahay. 2017. BigBasket,
Grofers target eateries to push their private
brands. Live mint. September 15.
USDA. 2015.GAIN Report: India Retail Foods
2015, GAIN Report No. IN5164, United
States Department of Agriculture- Foreign
Agricultural Service, New Delhi.
The Author is Professor, Institute of Economic Growth,
University of Delhi, North Campus, New Delhi.
raonch@gmail.com
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 19
 Fa r mer s’ T r a n s i T ion s

Much like the perishable

agricultural produce market in
Shillong, Meghalaya—direct
purchases leave farmers
institutionally unprotected.
 By Sukhpal Singh

Perishable
agricultural
Market reforMs:
Policy and issues
The Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) has
been criticised for its redundancies regarding buyers’
and sellers’ transactions. However, this is due to options
available now for direct sale and contract farming.
Photo: PraSad

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 21

E
ver since several measures to liberalise
agricultural markets and provide space
to the private corporate sector which
include direct purchase, contract
farming, private wholesale markets
and the e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)
have been initiated, the Agricultural Produce
Market Committee (APMC) Act has come under
scrutiny. It is argued that the root cause of all the ills
of the farm and the food market sectors, be it high
food inflation or poor farmer incomes or inferior
quality of produce, is the regulation of agricultural
markets through the APMC Act at the state level.
Many times, APMC markets are seen as monopo-
lies though they are only a platform to facilitate
buyers’ and sellers’ transactions with each other
in notified commodities or crops under certain
rules and regulations, specified under the Act. This
is because now other options to sell—direct sale
and contract farming—have become available to
farmers.
The Model APMC Act 2003 by the Union
Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer
Welfare (MoACFW), Government of India,
provides space for direct purchase from farmers,
contract farming and setting up of private whole-
sale markets so that farmers have choice of markets
to sell. Following this, the Union government has
brought around most states to amend their APMC
Acts. Today, it is possible to procure directly from
farmers through channels used by all modern food
supermarkets and the wholesale cash and carry
players—Indian or foreign. It is possible to under-
take contract farming which is also attempted by all
kinds of agencies/companies across crops, regions
and farmers. Unfortunately, Punjab which was the
pioneer in promoting contract farming for diversi-
fication of its farm sector in the early 1990s has not
yet amended its APMC Act due to certain political
and economic reasons. Instead, it has enacted
another legislation exclusively—The Punjab
Contract Farming Act, 2013, which provides for a
Contract Farming Commission as a legal authority.
The only non-starter has been the private wholesale
markets. Even after the existence of the APMC Act
for a decade, a few private wholesale markets have
been set up in southern India, while only licenses
have been issued in several other states.
More recently, the MoACFW has circulated
another draft Model APMC Act (Government of
India, 2016) among the states which do not contain
22 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
contract farming in their provisions. This is because
this year’s union budget included an announce-
ment that contract farming would be under a
separate legislation and not part of the APMC
Act. In this context, this article critically assesses
the issue of delisting of fruits and vegetables from
APMCs and the relevance of APMC market and
suggests desirable reforms in agricultural markets
from the perspectives of small producers.
delisting fruits and vegetables from
apMC act
It was suggested by the previous United Progres-
sive Alliance (UPA) government and the present
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) govern-
ment that perishables such as fruits and vegetables
should be taken out of the APMC list to avoid the
so-called excessive delays and costs of buying
and selling them. Also, buyers need not pay the
commission and other mandi fees and charges. A
few states such as Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mahar-
ashtra and Karnataka have already de-notified
fruits and vegetables from APMC regulation. At
this juncture, it is important to note that there
was no adequate logic for this, having almost no
impact on the farmers’ situation in the markets
although it was done in their name. It is a different
matter that the APMCs have lost some revenue;
buyers still buy from these APMC markets, but
without any regulation as now there need not be
any open auction or other norms related to market
conduct to be followed by any buyer.
The delisting or de-notification of perishable
produce from the purview of the Act is being
justified on the ground that freer trade should
take place. This freer trade, it is argued, will lead to
better efficiencies and reduced cost of marketing.
It would reportedly, lead to lower wastage, ensure
better quality of produce and thus lower consumer
prices. Some of the supporters even go to the extent
of arguing that citizens should be free to buy and
sell anything anywhere as they like (Patnaik, 2014).
There is no doubt that APMC markets are not
efficient in price discovery and there are many
rules of the APMC Act which are flouted daily in
these markets. Farmers suffer lower realised price
for their produce and sometimes even buyers end
up paying high costs for procurement. It is also
partly true that getting a license to operate in these
markets is not without paying bribes or lobbying.
Further, traders/commission agents in these
mandis interlocking with other markets such as as many other laws in rural India, but to dismiss it
input and labour with supply of easy credit is also as altogether useless and unnecessary and quote the
well known. In this context, it is important to ask case of Bihar, is missing the wood for the trees. In
how many private corporate players have stepped fact, how can we meaningfully argue that farmers,
in to offer or bring credit to farmers to free them of who are mostly small and marginal, do not need
the shackles of the traders in mandis. The answer is any protection in modern markets especially for
none. A few like Haryali Kissan Bazaar (HKB) who perishable produce—APMC or otherwise? Further,
tried it through the banks are no longer in business. if there are no APMCs to manage markets, where
More important is to ask: why was APMC Act will perishable produce of farmers go for disposal in
enacted? If it was to protect farmers from such the absence of private wholesale markets? Contract
traders and agents in these mandis, has that purpose farming and direct purchase can never cover all
been served? If not, is it good to just repeal the Act as farmers as they are driven by transaction costs. The
Bihar did in 2006? Or to amend the Act to make it APMC markets are parts of public infrastructure
deliver when it is needed much more? and they have a role to play. They are the markets of
Now there are not just traders who interface the last resort for many small farmers who do not
with farmers, but also private domestic and multi-
national companies. If traders are exploitative,
can farmers be left to the mercy of agri-business Fig. 2: Extent of post harvest losses in vegetables in India
companies who procure directly from farmers
or do contract farming with them? Would not a
multinational company working with 10,000 or
more farmers be more problematic in terms of
farmers’ interest and vulnerability than a local
APMC commission agent or trader or wholesaler
working with just 400-500 farmers each? Also
why are food supermarkets paying farmers for
their produce based on local APMC market prices
is a question nobody bothers to ask (Singh and
Singla, 2011).
Further, do farmers not need any protection now
from any buyer of their produce? It is true that the Post harvest losses in vegetables in India
present implementation of the APMC Act is as bad Minimum 7.32 per cent
Maximum 12.4 per cent Source: Jha et al, 2015

Table 1: Post Harvest Losses in Vegetables in

Fig. 1: Extent of post harvest losses in fruits in India Uttarakhand, 2008-09
Vegetable Post harvest loss Post harvest loss
(per cent of total) including at retail
level (per cent
of total)
Brinjal 11 17
Cabbage 5 9
Cauliflower 8 14
Capsicum 5 11
Onion 6 10
Potato 7 12
Tomato 15 23
Source: Sharma and Singh, 2011.

Post harvest losses in fruits in India Maximum post harvest losses in India during 2013-14 in fruits and
during 2013-14 vegetables were 15.88 and 12.4 per cent, respectively. In Uttarakhand
Minimum 6.7 per cent alone, during 2008-09, tomato harvest experienced a 20 per cent post
Maximum 15.88 per cent Source: Jha et al, 2015 harvest loss including losses incurred at retail level.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 23

Instead of delisting
perishable produce
from APMC Act,
firms can be
encouraged to
buy directly from
farmers.
serve large corporate buyers and supermarkets. The
proliferation of private roadside vegetable markets
in Bihar is the result of this de-notification and
abolition of the APMC Act altogether where, for
the first time, in independent India’s history, the
farmer is being charged 2 per cent commission by
the organisers of private mandis without the provi-
sion of any facility!
Instead of delisting perishable produce from
the APMC Act, it is better to use this provision to
create an incentive for firms to buy directly from
farmers or undertake contract farming with them.
Only those companies/buyers that procure directly
from farmers should be given fee exemption from
the APMC market and not all others who buy from
mandis and are like any other traders. This will
help create channels of choice for farmers in local
areas and promote competition among buyers—
not doing away with the APMC Act altogether.
It should be noted that the Committee of State
Ministers in charge of agricultural marketing to
promote reforms, recommended only waiver of
market fee on fruits and vegetables, not delisting
them (Government of India, 2013).
One of the arguments for dismantling the APMC
Act and regulation is that it will help reduce wast-
ages. Here, it is important to point out that the aspect
of wastages is exaggerated as absolute wastage is not
much and some wastage in perishable produce is
inevitable (Figures 1 and 2 and Table 1). It is value
loss across the chain as finally all qualities/grades of
produce sell in the market at some price. Therefore,
the de-notification measure is not going to help
achieve higher price for farmers or lower costs for
buyers and therefore, lower food inflation.
endnote
There is no doubt that the APMC markets need
24 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
to be reformed to make them farmer friendly,
competitive and efficient. That is what the amended
APMC Act aims at. This requires measures like
free licensing for better competition, e-payment of
market fee, open auction system, better facilities and
representation of producer companies in APMC
management and de-notification of commission
agents/arthiyas like in Madhya Pradesh. It is also
important to recognise that APMC markets serve
as competitors to contract farming and direct
purchase as these channel prices are benchmarked
to APMC prices (Singh and Singla, 2011).
Promotion of producer (co-operative) compa-
nies to organise/encourage market oriented
and business like co-operatives (new generation
co-operatives) which can deal with contracting or
direct buying agencies is another much needed step
as small producers need to be given a collective plat-
form for interfacing with the modern markets.
references
Government of India. 2003. Salient Features
of the Model Act on Agriculture Marketing,
MoACFW, New Delhi.
Government of India. 2013. Final Report of
Committee of State Ministers in charge of
Agricultural Marketing to Promote Reforms.
MoACFW, New Delhi.
Government of India. 2016. Preliminary Draft
Model The State/ UT Agricultural Produce
Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act
2016. MoACFW, New Delhi.
Jha, S. N., et al. 2015. Assessment of Quantitative
harvest and post-harvest losses of major crops
and commodities in India, AICRP on Post
harvest technology, CIPHET, Ludhiana.
Patnaik, I. 2014. Constricted by law, Indian
Express, Ahmedabad, January 2.
Sharma, G. and Singh, S. P., 2011. Economic
Analysis of Post-harvest Losses in Marketing
of Vegetables in Uttarakhand, Agricultural
Economics Research Review, 24: 309-315.
Singh, S. and Singla, N. 2011. Fresh Food Retail
Chains in India: Organisation and Impacts,
Allied, New Delhi.
The Author is Director General, Centre for Research in
Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh
and Professor, Centre for Management in Agriculture
(CMA), Indian Institute of Management (IIM),
Ahmedabad. sukhpal@iima.ac.in
Term Power Answers on PAge 33 ❯❯

Agri-Terms
Agriculture and allied sectors not only fulfill food and nutritional requirements of 1.3 billion
Indians, but also provide livelihood to around 50 per cent of its population. During 2013-14, 66.64
million tonnes of more food grains were produced in comparison to 2004-05. In the same year,
agriculture and allied sectors contributed 14 per cent to total gross domestic product (GDP) of
the country. If the agricultural sector interests you here are a few terms that will challenge your
knowledge. Turn to page 33 for answers and explanations.

1. Relay Cropping c. Physical inspection of rocks and plants for

a. Growing two or more crops in the same field at the
same time.
b. Growing one crop and then planting another crop in
the same field just before harvesting the first.
c. Growing two crops in the same field, one after the
other in the same year.
2. Precision Farming
a. A farming practice to precisely estimate the yield.
b. A farming practice used to increase productivity,
decrease production costs and minimise the environ-
mental impact of farming.
c. A farming practice that utilise the optimum water for
irrigation in a technology driven way, with sensors.
obtaining clue about ore deposits.
6. Gini Coefficient
a. An index used to measure inequality in incomes.
b. A mathematical tool to predict economic outcomes of
a country's funding in agro-reforms.
c. A tool to make a comparative analysis of income
growth and poverty.
7. Haulm
a. The stems and leaves of a crop left after harvest.
b. The ash left in the agriculture field after burning of crops.
c. Remains of weeds.

3. Hydroponics
a. The science used to grow plants without use of soil.
b. The technology used to grow plants without use of
water.
c. The science of growing plants under water.
8. Mutagenesis
a. It is the process of change in genetic information of
an organism by natural or artificial means.
b. Genetically modifying the organism by inducing
chemicals in a laboratory.
c. Direct manipulation of genes of an organism to
achieve desired traits.

4. Pharming
a. Mutagenesis of plants or animals to extract useful
drugs.
b. Genetically modifying the plant or animal gene
to extract useful drugs or make them disease
resistant.
c. The production of using pharmaceutical products
for crops to increase disease resistance.
9. Atomic Gardening
a. Exposing plants to a radiation source to produce
mutations
b. Experimentally growing plants on land affected by
radioactivity
c. The study of the effects of cosmic rays on plants.

5. Geobotanical prospecting 10. Artesian Aquifer

a. Method to search and identify ore deposits by a. an aquifer for maintaining equilibrium in the water cycle
chemical analysis of plants. b. an aquifer used for irrigation
b. Visual interpretation of plant covers to find ore c. an aquifer for extracting groundwater by reaching
deposits. hydrostatic equilibrium.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 25

 Crop T eCh nol og ie s

Globally, India is among the

countries most involved with
mutation breeding with 345 mutant
varieties developed so far.

26 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 By M C KHARKWAL

Mutation
Breeding for Crop
Improvement
Crop improvement programmes through induced mutations
were initiated nine decades ago. Nearly 3250 mutant varieties
belonging to about 175 plant species have been developed
and released. India has made a significant contribution in crop
improvement through mutation breeding.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 27

M
utation, a heritable change in
a genetic characteristic of an
organism, is a natural process
that creates new variants
(alleles) of genes. Mutation is the
primary source of all genetic variations existing
in any organism, including plants. Variation so
created by mutation provides the raw material for
natural selection and is a driving force in evolution.
Natural selection operates to bring about evolu-
tion of new races and species through the variability
created by natural mutations and amplified by
subsequent recombination of genes during sexual
reproduction. Besides natural mutations that occur
spontaneously due to various kinds of radiations
and cosmic rays received from the sun and also
emitted by several radioactive elements, mutation
can also be artificially induced by a number of
physical agents like gamma rays and X-rays and
several types of chemical agents belonging to few
specified groups known as chemical mutagens. The
standard technique of creating variability by means
of altering genes through induction of mutations by
physical or chemical mutagens and using the same
effectively through elaborate methods of selection
techniques in various generations for improvement
of a particular crop species for desired objectives is
called mutation breeding. This is frequently prac-
ticed by plant breeders all over the world for crop
improvement.
discovery of mutations
Mutation as a mechanism of creating variability
was first identified by Hugo de Vries in 1901 in
evening primrose, Oenothera lamarkiana, and he
considered it as heritable change by mechanisms
distinct from recombination and segregation.
Hugo, who is credited with the discovery of muta-
tion, described these events as suddenly arising
changes in organisms, which were inherited and
produced relatively large effects on the phenotype.
He coined the term ‘mutation’ and presented an
integrated concept concerning the occurrence of
sudden, shock-like changes of existing traits, which
lead to the origin of new species and variation. In
his experiments with evening primrose, Hugo
observed many aberrant types, which he called
‘mutants’. Hugo suggested that the new types of
radiations like X-rays and gamma rays, might be
greatly useful to induce mutations artificially. This
was first realised by H J Muller in 1927 through
28 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
X-rays experiments with the fruit fly, Drosophila
melanogaster, for producing genetic changes.
Induced mutations through radiation as a tool
for generating novel genetic variability in plants,
however, took off only after the discovery of the
mutagenic action of X-rays demonstrated in 1928
by L J Stadler in maize and barley. Through their
experiments with X-rays, Muller in fruit fly and
Stadler in maize and barley plants demonstrated
that with the help of these physical mutagenic
agents, it was possible to obtain mutation rates that
were much higher than spontaneous rates. Induced
mutations have a great advantage of high frequency
over the spontaneous mutations which are very
rare and random events. The two major discoveries
of induction of mutations made by Muller and
Stadler almost 90 years ago led to extensive work
on induced mutation and showed the practical
potential of radiation as a plant breeding tool
that resulted almost immediately in the practical
recovery of some economically useful mutants in
several crop plants. Tollenaar (1934) was the first
worker to isolate a light green ‘Chlorina’ mutant in
tobacco which was released for commercial cultiva-
tion in Indonesia (Kharkwal, 2012).
After X-rays mutagenesis was established in both
animals and plants, numerous new mutagens, both
physical like gamma rays, alpha and beta particles,
neutrons, protons, ultra-violet (UV) radiation and
chemicals like ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS),
ethylineimine (EI), N-nitroso-N-methyl urea
(NMU), sodium azide (SA) etc., were found to be
effective in generating genetic variability.
Auerbach (1941) was the first to report that
mustard gas had a mutagenic effect on the fruit
fly, which was similar to that of X-rays on plants.
Rapoport (1946) in Russia also discovered and
demonstrated mutagenic effects of mustard gas
and several other chemicals such as formalde-
hyde, diethylsulphate (dES), diazomethane, and
other compounds and established that alkylating
agents are the most important group of chemical
mutagens (Kharkwal, 2012). The mutagenic poten-
tial of these radiations and chemicals has since
been confirmed in many organisms—plants and
animals. The chemical mutagens were found to be
highly effective in inducing true gene mutations.
With the widespread establishment of Cobalt-60
irradiation facilities, gamma ray has become a
popular mutagen since the last six decades. During
the past three decades, ion beams—either through
implantation or irradiation—have become a new
type of physical mutagen. More recently, plant
materials have been sent out into aerospace to study
the intricacies of mutation induction in space. It has
been speculated that the special environment of
spaceflight such as cosmic radiation, microgravity,
weak geomagnetic field etc. are the potential agents
of mutation induction (Shu et al., 2012).
role of mutation breeding in crop
improvement
The usefulness of mutation breeding in crop
improvement was demonstrated first in Sweden
which embarked upon practical plant breeding of
agricultural plants by means of X-rays and ultra
violet induced mutations (Gustafsson, 1947).
Swedish plant breeders found many chlorophyll
mutations in barley by the use of X-rays. They
discovered some mutants characterised by dense
heads, late maturity and very stiff taller straw.
These mutants were found to yield higher and
produce more straw than the maternal variety. A
very large number of mutations of barley, especially
for characters like short stature, stiffness of straw
and dense ears was shown to respond in a variety
of ways in different genotypes. A variety of barley
called ‘Pallas’ developed from stiff strawed and
early mutants of the variety ‘Bonus’ was released for
commercial cultivation in Sweden. These mutants
represented the first actual accomplishments of the
production of superior varieties by the use of radia-
tion. Similar useful induced mutants included stem
rust resistance in wheat, oat and dwarf mutants
in rice. The development of dwarf wheat and rice
varieties that led to the green revolution are classic
examples of mutation breeding achieved through
successful exploitation of the mutant genes—Norin
in case of wheat and dee-gee-woo-gen in rice, which
affect a large constellation of characters responsible
for their superior agronomic responses.
Induced mutations occur more or less randomly
in the genome, even their target cannot be directed.
Accordingly, results were more often useful in
self-pollinating plant species. Success has also
been tremendous in ornamental plants and in
vegetatively propagated crops, which usually are
heterozygous. Today, mutation breeding for crop
improvement is not based only upon classical
physical mutagens like X- or gamma rays or clas-
sical chemical mutagens such as EMS or NMU,
but also upon variation that occurs during in-vitro
Yield, maturity,
quality and tolerance
to biotic and abiotic
stresses have been
improved in the
mutant varieties
developed
so far.
culture and has been termed ‘somaclonal variation’.
Use of haploids derived from anther culture has
found its best application in the ‘doubled-haploids-
technique’, which leads faster to homozygosity for
more effective selection (Shu et al., 2012).
The impact of induced mutation on crop
improvement is reflected in the 3248 mutant varie-
ties officially registered by Food and Agriculture
Organisation/International Atomic Energy Agency
carrying novel induced variation. Moreover, about
three-quarters of these are direct mutant varieties
derived from treatment with gamma rays, thus
highlighting the importance of peaceful usage
of radiations that belong to the group of physical
mutagens. All this translates into a tremendous
economic impact on world agriculture, poverty
alleviation, food security and food production that
is currently valued in billions of dollars and millions
of cultivated hectares (Kharkwal and Shu, 2009).
development of crop varieties through
mutation breeding
Ever since the epoch making discoveries made by
Muller and Stadler 90 years ago, a large amount
of genetic variability has been induced by various
mutagens, a majority (85 per cent) of them being
induced through radiations that have contributed
significantly to modern plant breeding. Among the
mutant varieties, the majority are food crops.
The cumulative number of officially released
mutant varieties belonging to 175 plant species
in six continents across the world indicates that
Asia tops the regional list with 1965 mutant varie-
ties closely followed by Europe (855) and North
America (200). With more than one hundred
mutant varieties each, China, Japan, India, Russia,
the Netherlands, Germany and USA are the
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 29
 Fig. 1: Number of mutant cultivars released in top 20 countries

51 55 63 76 139 171 176 216 345 481 810

Netherlands

Japan
Germany

Russia

India

China
Bangladesh

Vietnam

Pakistan

Bulgaria

USA
South Korea

Thailand
Belgium
Sweden
Canada

Poland
France

Italy

UK

40 40 39 35 34 31 26 22 21

Asia leads the world in developing mutant

plant varieties, with 1965 varieties. Three Asian
countries, including India, top the list globally.

Fig 2: Number of mutant cultivars released in top 20 crops a cross the world

25 30 37 46 57 76 171 281 286 304 820

Soyabean
Groundnut

Chrysanthemum
Common bean
Sesame

Cotton
Mungbean
Pea

Wheat

Barley

Rice
Pigeonpea
Rapeseed

Favabean
Chickpea

Urdbean
Cowpea
Tomato

Lentil
Oat

23 22 21 20 20 13 12 9 7

An overwhelming majority of
mutant varieties have been devel-
oped for rice, way above the 20 top
crops analysed, at 820 cultivars.

30 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

leading countries among approximately eighty
countries actively engaged in the development
and release of mutant varieties (Figs. 1 and 2).
During the last five decades, several countries
including China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Vietnam, Thailand, Italy, Sweden, USA, Canada
and Japan took up extensive crop improvement
programmes through the use of induced mutagen-
esis and mutation breeding and made spectacular
accomplishments in evolving several superior
mutant varieties in large number of important
agricultural crop species including cereals, pulses,
oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, fibres and ornamentals.
A wide range of characters including yield, matu-
rity, quality and tolerance to biotic and abiotic
stresses have been improved in the mutant varieties
developed so far (Kharkwal and Shu, 2009).
Although an exact estimate of the total area
covered by commercially released mutant culti-
vars in a large number of countries is not readily
available, they are being cultivated in millions
of hectares and have made a very significant
contribution worth billions of USD in global
agriculture leading to solving food and nutritional
security problems in many countries of the world
(Kharkwal and Shu, 2009).
The most important advantage of mutation
breeding is that unlike the genetically engineered
transgenic GM products, the end products/varie-
ties developed by mutation breeding do not carry
any alien genes. It has no negative environmental
impact as well. As such there are no issues detri-
mental to human health, biosafety and public
acceptance etc. Mutation breeding in fact has world
wide acceptance.
The indian contribution to mutation
breeding for crop improvement
As one of the top three countries closely following
China and Japan and contributing substantially
to the number of released mutant varieties in the
world, India occupies an important place among
the countries actively engaged in crop improvement
through induced mutation techniques. Mutation
breeding in India has yielded considerable divi-
dends both in enhancing our knowledge on various
mutagenesis processes relevant to crop improve-
ment and for developing more than 345 improved
mutant varieties belonging to 57 crop species. A
close examination of the type of mutagens used and
the number of mutant cultivars released in India
indicates that largest number of mutant varieties
(70 per cent) have been induced by physical muta-
gens, gamma rays being the most commonly used
and also found to be highly successful.
The most up-to-date list of 345 mutant varie-
ties belonging to 57 crop species released in India
unambiguously demonstrates the significance and
importance of use of mutation breeding in crop
improvement in India (Kharkwal and Shu, 2009).
The four high yielding chickpea mutant varieties,
Pusa-408, Pusa-413, Pusa-417 and Pusa-547 with
resistance to Ascochyta blight, Fusarium wilt and
other diseases and pests developed by the author at
the Division of Genetics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi and released by the
Government of India for commercial cultivation
are the first ever examples of direct use of induced
micro-mutants in a legume crop in the world.
Besides high yield performance under late sown
crop, the latest chickpea mutant variety Pusa-547,
released in 2006 for cultivation has attractive bold
seeds, thin testa and good cooking quality. A major
seed production programme of the high yielding
chickpea mutant variety Pusa-547 for rapid
production of Breeder Seed, Foundation Seed and
Certified Seed has been taken up by the State Farms
Corporation of India (SFCI) and also National Seed
Corporation (NSC) during the last eight years and
more than 30,000 quintals of high quality seeds of
the variety Pusa-547 has been produced and distrib-
uted to farmers. Similarly several mutant varieties
of groundnut—TAG-24 and TG-26, and urdbean
(blackgram) variety—TAU-1, released by Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai and cultivated
in millions of acres in Maharashtra, Gujarat and
several other states, have contributed tremendously
not only towards achieving the targets of the agri-
cultural production of the respective states, but also
to the Indian agricultural economy as a whole.
endnote
During the early part of the era of mutation
breeding largely through radiations, the tech-
nique was used as a tool for improvement of
traditional traits like yield, resistance to disease
and pest etc., in various agricultural crops. During
recent decades, tremendous progress has been
made in the research of plant molecular biology
and biotechnology, particularly plant genomics.
As a result we are witnessing new impulses in
plant mutation research for crop improvement,
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 31
L J Stadler’s experiments with X-rays in 1928 on maize and barley plants established radiation as a tool for producing mutations.
from fundamental studies of mutagenesis to
reverse genetics. Breeders are now aware of the
newer potentialities and far reaching implications
of induced mutation for crop improvement and
are able to use it with more sophistication and
efficiency than before.
Induced mutagenesis is gaining importance in
plant molecular biology as a tool to identify and
isolate genes and to study their structure and func-
tion. Mutation techniques for crop improvement
have also been integrated with other molecular
technologies such as molecular marker and high
throughput mutation screening techniques. Muta-
tion breeding for crop improvement is entering
into a new era: molecular mutation breeding (Shu
et al., 2012). Therefore, mutation breeding will
continue to play a significant role in crop improve-
ment and solving the issues related to world food
security in the coming years and decades.
references
Auerbach C. and Robson J.M. 1946. Chemical
production of mutations. Nature, 157: 302.
De Vries, H. 1901. Die Mutationstheorie.I. Leipzig:
Veit & Co. Leipzig, Germany. (English
translation, 1910. The Open Court, Chicago.)
Gustafsson, A. 1947. Mutations in agricultural
plants. Hereditas, 33: 1-100.
Kharkwal, M. C. and Q. Y. Shu. 2009. Role of
Induced Mutations in World Food Security.
pp. 33-38. In: Q.Y. Shu (ed.) Induced
Mutations in the Genomic Era. Food and
32 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
Agriculture Organisation of the United
Nations, Rome, Italy.
Kharkwal, M.C. 2012. A Brief History of
Plant Mutagenesis. In Plant Mutation
Breeding and Biotechnologies. Q. Y. Shu et
al., (eds.). FAO/IAEA, Vienna, Austria and
CAB International. Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations, Rome,
Italy, pp. 21-30.
Muller H.J. 1927. Artificial transmutation of gene.
Science, 66 : 84-87.
Q. Y. Shu, Forster, B.P. and Nakagawa, H.
(eds.). 2012. Plant Mutation Breeding and
Biotechnologies. FAO/IAEA, Vienna, Austria
and CAB International. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, Rome,
Italy, pp. 1-608.
Rapoport, I.A. 1946. Carbonyl compounds and
the chemical mechanism of mutation. C.R.
Doklady Acad. Sci. USSR. 54:65.
Stadler L.J. 1928. Genetic effect of X-rays in
maize. Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, USA, 14: 69-75.
Tollenaar, D. 1934. Untersuchungen ueber
mutation bei Tabak: I. Entstechungsweise und
Wesen Kuenstlich erzeugter Gene-Mutanten.
Genetica, 16:111-152.
The author is a Principal Scientist, formerly at ICAR-
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and
Former President, Indian Society of Genetics and Plant
Breeding, New Delhi. mckharkwal@gmail.com
Term Power raTing
Agri-Terms
Food processing techniques are contributing to a great extent to the agricultural sector by reducing wastage
of agricultural produce, enhancing shelf life of food products, promoting employment generation and
increasing farmers' income. The food processing sector grew at a rate of 7.1 per cent and constituted 10.1
per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in agricultural sector during 2014-15. For all those whose have
attempted the agri-quiz on page 25—check your scores here.

■ 1 to 5 Correct - Informed
■ 6 to 8 Correct - Knowledge bank
■ 9 to 10 Correct - Encyclopaedia

1. Relay Cropping morphological changes or plant associations typical of

Ans. b: Relay cropping is growing one crop and then
planting another in the same field after maturation or
before harvesting the first. Whereas growing two or
more crops in the same field at the same time is known
as inter cropping and growing two crops in the same
field, one after the other in the same year is called
sequential cropping.
certain types of geological environments or of ore deposits.
6. Gini Coefficient
Ans. a: The Gini coefficient is a statistical measure used
for assessing variations in a given set of values. It has
been primarily used by economists to analyse income
inequality.

2. Precision Farming
Ans. b: Precision farming aims at increasing produc-
tivity, decreasing production costs and minimising the
environmental impact of farming by utilising information
and technology based management system. The
information on soil and crop characteristics unique to
each part of the field is acquired by use of technology
including telecommunications, global positioning
systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS),
variable rate controllers, and infield and remote sensing
and used to increase the production.
3. Hydroponics
Ans. a: Hydroponics is the science of growing plants
without use of soil. Instead of using soil, plants are
grown in a sufficiently nutrient-rich water solution.
7. Haulm
Ans. a: Haulm is the stem or top of crop plants such as
peas or potatoes left after the crop has been gathered.
This world has originated from old English.
8. Mutagenesis
Ans. a: Mutagenesis is the process of change in genetic
information of an organism due to exposure to mutagens
leading to mutation. It may occur naturally or can be
done in laboratories. Whereas genetic modification is the
process to change the genetic makeup of cells in labora-
tories that includes transfer of genes within and across
species to produce organisms with desired traits.

4. Pharming
Ans. b: It is the process of genetically modifying
plants and animals so that they produce substances
which may be used as pharmaceuticals. It is also
known as molecular farming or biopharming.
9. Atomic Gardening
Ans. a: Atomic gardening is a form of mutation breeding
where plants are exposed to radioactive sources, typically
cobalt-60 in order to generate useful mutations.

10. Artesian Aquifer

Ans. c: An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer
5. Geobotanical prospecting containing groundwater under positive pressure. This
Ans. b: The term denotes a method which relies mainly causes the water level in a well to rise to a point where
on visual interpretation of the plant cover to detect hydrostatic equilibrium has been reached.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 33

 Crop T eCh nol og ie s

As it will not be possible to stop GM

contamination in open air trials,
contained growth parameters need to
be followed rigourously.
 By Dilnavaz variava

Genetically
Modified
Technology
EvEn if YOU ignOrE ‘gM’ it will nOt ignOrE YOU!
There are only two traits in 98 per cent of GM foods—production of
a pesticide in every cell of the plant or the ability to withstand weed
killing herbicides. GM food cannot be distinguished from non-GM
food, so you will eat it if India grows it.
Photo: PrAsAd
B
t cotton is the first genetically modified (GM) crop
in India by the insertion of one or more genes from a
Box 1:
common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
India’s central biotech regulator Genetic Engineering
Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has recently cleared GM The Claim: If India
mustard for commercial cultivation and recommended its approval does not opt for GM
to the Indian ministry of environment. Awaiting approval are rice, technology it will be ‘left
wheat, jowar, corn, groundnut, mustard, potato, tomato, cabbage, behind’ in agricultural
cauliflower, brinjal, okra, papaya, watermelon and sugarcane. growth.
An attempt to release Bt brinjal in India was dropped in 2010
after opposition by consumers, doctors, farmers, scientists and The Fact
others. The then minister for environment placed a moratorium Only six countries grow 90
on its release saying that “until we arrive at a political, scientific and per cent of the worlds GM
societal consensus, this moratorium will remain”. He was following crops (USA 40, Brazil 23,
the precautionary principle of the United Nations which says that Argentina 14, Canada 6,
Governments may stop a product if there is “suspected risk of harm to India 6, China 2 and other
the public or environment…” and in an absence of scientific consensus countries 9 per cent (Inter-
that it is not harmful. Was he being over cautious? No. There is no national Service for the
consensus among scientists about the safety of GM foods. Most coun- Acquisition of Agri-biotech
tries of the world therefore follow the precautionary principle and Applications, 2015). Less
refuse to grow GM crops. They find the benefits claimed for them are than 30 of the world’s
false or exaggerated, whereas there can be risks to consumer health, about 200 countries grow
natural biodiversity, agriculture, exports and the seed sovereignty of GM. Notably, 17 out of
the country which adopts it. Food and farming affect us all and it is the 20 most developed
very important to know how and why GM will influence these. countries do not grow
GM—including almost all
What is GM technology? countries in Europe plus
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes GM technology as Japan, Russia, Israel and
one in which the “DNA has been altered in a way that does not occur Singapore etc. China,
naturally. . .” Unlike normal crop breeding, which is within the same which grew GM crops six
species—rice with rice, GM may insert animal and bacterial genes years before us, is very
into food crops. For instance a fish gene was inserted in a tomato, but cautious. It now has only
but later the research was withdrawn on ethical grounds. A bacterial one third the GM crop
gene was to be inserted in Bt brinjal, as it has been in Bt cotton. GM areas that India has and
in medicine is taken by choice, after a lot of testing, medical super- has banned GM food for its
vising and can be dropped. But when GM seeds are planted nobody army. In 2015, the global
can control the spread of the GM trait to other related plants through
area under GM declined as
pollination and seed dispersal.
eight countries (including
Nature is complex and various species co-evolve over hundreds, or
USA, Canada, China)
even thousands of years. Any major intervention in this complex web
reduced its GM area, only
of life can lead to consequences which are not foreseeable. Thus a small
four countries increased
modification of a protein led to the unpredicted mad cow disease in
their area and 16 were
England. GM in crops is opposed on the grounds that it is unpredict-
stagnant (www.isaaa.org/
able, risky, uncontrollable and irreversible.
resources). So India will not
Even 20 years after their commercial release in 1996, there are only
be left behind if it does not
two traits in 98 per cent of GM crops. First is a pesticide producing
grow GM crops.
trait from the insertion of a toxin producing bacterium e. g. Bacillus
thuringiensis for Bt crops. The second is a herbicide tolerant trait

36 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 Claims and
Facts
The Claim: GM increases yields
and is essential for feeding India’s
growing population.
The Fact
Yield is the result of many factors
working together and there is no
‘gene’ that can be transferred to
increase yield. A study in 2008 titled
‘Failure to Yield’ by The Union of
Concerned Scientists, USA found
that “despite 20 years of research
and 13 years of commercialisation,
genetic engineering has failed to
significantly increase US crop yields”
(Gurian-Sherman, 2009). In 2014,
the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) report stated: “Genetically
engineered (GE) crops available
for commercial use do not increase
the yield potential of a variety
(Fernandez-Cornejo, Wechsler,
Livingstone and Mitchell, 2014).
What often happens is that the GM
companies buy up the best high
yielding seeds, insert a ‘gene’ so that
they can patent the seed and then
make sure that only the patented GM
seed is available to farmers who have
to buy it afresh every year.
Cotton yields in India went up by
69 per cent from 2000 to 2005 when
Bt cotton was less than 6 per cent of
all cotton grown. In the 10 years from
2005 to 2015 cotton yields went up
by an average of only 10 per cent,
even though Bt cotton was almost 95
per cent of all cotton grown (Cotton
Association of India, 2013). India still
ranks 31 out of 72 countries on yield
(www.indexmundi.com/agriculture)
and 23 of the countries ahead of us
do not grow GM cotton.
The Claim: GM decreases pesti-
cides and therefore benefits health
and environment.
The Fact
GM does not decrease, but may
increase pesticide use. The use of
pesticide on cotton was extremely
high due to the bollworm pest. After
Bt cotton the insecticide used on the
bollworm has decreased, but nature
works in ways which are unpredictable
and when one species is removed
others dominate. So a whole range
of sucking pests now attack Bt cotton
for which insecticides are increasingly
used and the total quantity of insecti-
cide use has not decreased.
The farmer was sold ‘better’ GM
seeds (Bollgard II instead of Bollgard
I), but the pink bollworm has devel-
oped ‘resistance’ due to constant
exposure to the Bt toxin in the cotton,
just as bacteria become resistant
through continuous exposure to the
same antibiotic. Moreover, the Bt
cotton itself produces a pesticide
in every cell, which we consume in
cotton seed cooking oil—as even
cattle do in their oilcake feed.
Similarly, constant exposure to
the specific herbicide used with the
HT crop, usually made by the same
company who supplies the HT seed,
has led to over 20 herbicide resistant
weeds—‘superweeds’ that cannot be
killed. This results in more herbicides
being used. Overall, in USA herbicide
use increased by 239 million kg in
16 years after GM (1996 to 2011),
whereas insecticide use decreased by
only 56 million kgs in the same period
(Benbrook, 2012).
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017
The Claim: GM is safe and has
no harmful effects on health or
environment
The Fact
The health impact of GM has to be
studied along with the chemicals such
as herbicides used with them. The
biotech industry says that nobody has
fallen sick from eating GM meals, but
doctors in USA reported that patients
recovered when taken off GM diets.
In 2015, the Federation of Health
Professionals of Argentina, consisting
of over 30,000 medical professionals,
publicly stated that there were unprec-
edented increases in birth defects
and cancer where HT soya was being
grown in Argentina (GMwatch, 2015).
Some scientific studies indicate
possible damage to kidney, liver and
reproductive systems, allergies,
autism, Alzheimer and obesity.
Other scientific studies refute this.
Since GM foods are not labelled, it
is difficult to establish causation, but
evidences suggest high correlations
between diseases, GM crops and the
glyphosate herbicide used with them
(gmofreewashington.com/).
Regulators clear GM crops for
release usually on the basis of 90 days
studies on rodents done by the GM
seed companies themselves. Since
90 days in a rodent’s life is less than 12
human years and therefore too short
to show cancer and organ damage,
there is a demand for independent
studies extending over the whole life
of the rodent, after a study found major
tumours manifesting after 180 days.
It took 50 years to link tobacco and
cancer. GM faces the same denial.
37

horseweed, one of 20 glyphosate resistant weeds in usA, grows taller than a man and is a nightmare for farmers
(HT crops) so that weed killing herbicides can be
sprayed to kill all plants other than the HT crop.
Both these traits may have short term benefits, but
in the long term both have hazardous consequences
for human health, agriculture and for the environ-
ment since the toxins enter soil, water and the food
chain of all species including humans.
The agri-biotech industry and the agricultural
scientists—many of whom benefit from funding by
industry, claim that India will be ‘left behind’ and
will not be able to feed its growing population if we
do not adopt GM crops. They claim that GM will
increase yields, reduce pesticides, increase farmer
incomes and do this safely. Let us look at all these
claims and the actual facts (Box 1).
should we have, or should we stop GM
Mustard in india?
Mustard, whose relatives are rapeseed and canola
—has leaves, seeds and oil which are important
38 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
Photo courtesy: dilnAvAz vAriAvA
foods and medicine in India. Now with GM
mustard near-approval, it may become the first GM
food crop in India. Some people are excited because
it is developed by an Indian scientist. Others point
out that this does not remove any of the GM risks.
GM mustard has a herbicide tolerant gene. The
giant GM seed companies, who eventually buy up
GM patents, are also leading pesticide companies
and benefit no matter who produces a herbicide
tolerant GM plant!
The claim that this GM mustard will give 20 -25
per cent higher yield can be refuted on the grounds
that the developer compared its yield with old, low
yielding varieties and not high yielding hybrids
already available in India. Globally, eight out of the
11 countries which have higher yields than India
grow non-GM rapeseed-mustard.
Mustard is also one of the major sources of food for
honey bees. There is great concern that GM mustard
could impact not only contamination of honey, but
would also harm the honeybees and other useful
pollinating insects. That is why over 50 farmer
unions and an association of 5 lakh beekeepers have
said they do not want GM mustard (gmwatch.org/
news/latest-news). Because it will not be possible
to contain GM contamination in open air trials,
such trials need to be stopped. Globally there are
400 recorded cases of contamination by GM (Janet
C., 2014), many during trials. Countries may reject
our produce if contaminated by GM. India became
the world’s leading exporter of organic cotton, but
exports fell after contamination by Bt cotton (www.
textile-future.com).
endnote
Let India follow the United Nations’ precautionary
principle, as most countries have done, and not
opt for a technology that is being discarded by the
developed world. It is better to keep the stable door
locked than to try to bolt it after the horses have
run free!
references
Benbrook C. 2012. Impacts of genetically
engineered crops on pesticide use in the US –
The first sixteen years. Environmental Sciences
Europe, 24 (1): 24.
Cotter J. and B. Price. 2014. Contamination from
GE crops does happen: nearly 400 incidents
since GE crops were introduced. Greenpeace
International. November 12.
Cotton Association of India. 2013. Cotton
statistics & news, No.39. Available at: https://
www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?commodi
ty=cotton&graph=yield.
Fernandez-Cornejo J., Wechsler S., Livingston
M., Mitchell L. 2014. Genetically engineered
crops in the United States. Washington, DC.
US Department of Agriculture. Available
at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/
err-economic-research-report/err162.aspx#.
U0P_ qMfc26x.
GMwatch. 2015. Argentina- 30,000 doctors
and health professionals demand ban on
glyphosate. April 16. Available at: http://
gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16087-
argentina-30-000-doctors-and-health-
professionals-demand-ban-on-glyphosate
Gurian-Sherman D. 2009. Failure to yield:
Evaluating the performance of genetically
engineered crops. Union of Concerned
Scientists. Cambridge. Available at: http://
www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_
and_agriculture/failure-to-yield.pdf.
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_
and_agriculture/failure-to-yield.pdf.
http://www. gmofreewashington.com/our-
experts/nancy-swanson/
http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/
pocketk/16/
https://www.textile-future.com/dynpg/print_text.
php?lang=en&aid=1476&showheader=N.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/
agri-business/beekeepers-oppose-plans-to-
introduce-gm-mustard/article9150593.ece
http://gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16087-
argentina-30-000-doctors-and-health-
professionals-demand-ban-on-glyphosate
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-
biotech Applications (ISAAA). 2015. Biotech
Crop Highlights. Available at: hhtp://isaaa.
org/resources/publications.
Nandi J. 2016. We don’t need GM mustard,
support us with better market price: Farmer
groups. Times of India, October 25. Available
at: http://gmwatch.org/news/latest-news.
Sirinathsinghji E. 2015. Endgame for Glyphosate?
The Global fallout of WHO’s ‘probable
carcinogen’ classification. Ecologist, June 12.
Swanson N. 2013. GMOs and Multiple
Chronic Diseases. Farm and ranch freedom
alliance. August 22. Available at: http://
farmandranchfreedom.org/gmo-multiple-
chronic-disease
USDA. 2011. Food Security Status of US
Households. USDA Economic Research
Service. Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/
topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-
in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx.
The Author is President, The Sahayak Trust, Institute for
Rural Education. dsvariava@gmail.com
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 39
 Crop T eCh nol og ie s

By K R AnilAKumAR, R K ShARmA and A S BAwA

The GM food
IMbroGlIo
Genetically modified crops have been under scrutiny for being
unhealthy, destroying the traditional cropping practices and yet they
seem to be providing answers to burgeoning food requirements. A
careful system of scientific monitoring has to be in place prior to the
induction of such endeavours in India.

Genetic modification: the science behind it
A gene is a code that governs our appearance
and characteristics. When a scientist genetically
modifies (GM) a plant, s/he inserts a foreign gene
in the plant’s own genes. What makes it possible to
transfer genes from one species to another is the fact
that all genes are created from the same material
DNA. Beneficial genes are transferred into plant
cells using a soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tume-
faciens, which can produce tumour-like growths
in plants and has the ability to alter plants’ DNA.
For example, when a gene from a bacterium that
is resistant to pesticide is inserted into a plant’s
gene, the plant will be able to withstand pesticides.
Genetic modification does not always involve
moving a gene from one organism to another.
Sometimes it means changing how a gene works by
‘switching it off’ to stop something from happening.
For example, the gene for softening a fruit could be
switched off so that although the fruit ripens in the
normal way, it will not soften as quickly. This can be
useful because it means that damage is minimised
during packing and transportation.
In traditional processing, characteristics can
only be exchanged between species which are the
same or very similar. By genetic modification,
however, it is now possible to add a fish gene to a
tomato. By this, researchers created a frost-resistant
tomato plant by adding an antifreeze gene from a
cold-water fish to tomato. However, the research
has not made substantive headway.
GM food experiments and trials in india
India produces Bt cotton, which contains a biolog-
ical pesticide that kills the common pest bollworm.
The approval for the use of Bt cotton has been there
from 2002 and since then it has helped make our
country the second largest cotton manufacturer in

40 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 With the ever-growing population,
GM crops might be necessary in the
future, although there is widespread
Photo: Prasad

speculation over their long-term health

effects especially for field crops such
as mustard.
the world. As a result GM seeds account for over 90 organisation vehemently opposes the production
per cent of cotton sown in India. However in 2015, and use of golden rice citing that such genetically
GM cotton plants in Punjab and Haryana suffered modified crops would further encourage the induc-
a whitefly attack resulting in massive losses (Fig tion of more such developments in the future. This
1). This episode has created a sense of negativity may cause the degradation of foods to the point
towards GM in India. It is generally believed that where everything that we eat will be artificial and
adopting GM technology would lead to higher genetically engineered. In the long run these types
crop productivity solving the food problem of a of non-natural foods might cause a variety of health
burgeoning India. Currently, a food supply deficit problems.
is pushing prices up and India has been forced to A new form of pigeon pea that is pest-resistant
import pulses to plug the gap between demand and was developed at the International Crops Research
supply. Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, predicting
In India, experiments have been carried out in that it can increase output by 30 per cent. Perhaps
GM crops, such as golden rice, which was originally the most promising GM crop, developed in Delhi
produced in 1982 as an initiative for the Rockefeller University, is the hybrid mustard that yields 25-30
Foundation. Beta-carotene gives golden rice its per cent more than the original seed. The GM
‘golden’ or ‘yellow’ colouring. White rice, on the mustard seed could be a huge money saver and
other hand, does not contain carotenoids, pro- could lower the country’s dependence on edible oil
vitamin A. Golden rice contains the β-carotene imports. It is worth mentioning here that in 2014-15
which either accumulates in our fatty tissues or is India imported 14.5 million tonnes of edible oil,
converted into vitamin A. In fact, young children worth over 10 billion USD.
are the most vulnerable to vitamin-related deficien- Though India has resisted GM food produc-
cies. It is approximated that 1 million children die tion till now, it is suspected that there have been
of a vitamin A deficiency each year. One of the main instances of GM food being imported into the
problems with the original form of golden rice was country—corn, baby food and breakfast cereal,
that it did not contain enough vitamin A to reduce which have been introduced without adherence to
the disease risks. Another problem could be low relevant labelling laws. While a Directorate General
absorption. This problem was rectified when the of Foreign Trade notification in 2013 addressed
new Golden Rice 2 was developed in 2005. In 2009, the issue of labelling by requiring those importing
it was found that golden rice was just as beneficial GM food to explicitly mention it in their labels,
and effective as supplementing with vitamin A in the case of home-manufactured products like
(Tang et al 2009). edible oils, there are chances of GM cottonseed
Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental oil being mixed with other edible oil without any

Fig. 1: Quantities of insecticides on cotton in India 2000 to 2013

14000
Bollworms
Other sucking pests
12000 11598
Quantities of insecticides in metric tonnes

10045
10000 9367

7885
8000 6863 7234
6726 6828
5914 5543
6000 5057
4623

4000

2000

0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Source: CAI, Cotton statistic news (No. 40) and CICR

42 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

labelling. Though no state government in India has for GM experiments could be due to available
permitted commercial cultivation of GM food till funding from the biotech companies as well as
now, field trials for 21 GM food crops, including support from the World Bank, Food and Agricul-
GM vegetables and cereals, have been approved ture Organisation and the Consultative Group on
by the government (Venkat, 2016). An agreement International Agricultural Research.
to develop Bt brinjal was signed in 2005 between
Mahyco-American agricultural biotech giant impact on environment and health—a
Monsanto’s Indian Bt cotton partner, and two major concern
Indian agricultural universities. However India’s There are too many unintended impacts on envi-
potential propelled Monsanto to also include GM ronment, health, markets and environment like
corn in their research. Other companies pursued harming non-target and/or beneficial species in the
rice, mustard, peanuts, potatoes and sorghum. case of crops with engineered insecticidal proper-
Following the study of bio-safety data and field trials ties as well as the development of new strains of
by two expert committees, Bt brinjal was cleared for resistant pests. In addition, there is a concern that
commercialisation by India’s top biotech regulator, pollen from GM herbicide-resistant crops could
the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee reach wild, weedy relatives of the crop and create so
(GEAC), in 2009. But nothing came of it, due to called superweeds.
moratoriums imposed by the then government. With regard to health, there is no evidence to
In addition to crops and vegetables as well suggest that GM foods are unsafe. At the same time
as oilseeds, experiments are also underway on there are no absolute guarantees either. Unintended
several species of fish. In fact, such is the despera- health impacts from genetically modified organ-
tion that scientists are trying to insert a Bt gene isms (GMO) include allergens, antibiotic resistance,
into any crop they can lay their hands on, not decreased nutrients, and toxins. The International
knowing whether it is desirable or not. This race Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified
glyphosate, a herbicide that goes with Monsanto’s
Roundup Ready product, as ‘probably carcinogenic’
Fig. 2: GM crops grown world wide
in 2015. However, food scientists did not agree with
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Czech Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, Philippine, Portugal, Romania,
the result. According to them, the herbicide ensures
Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, USA, Uruguay that only the weed dies and not the crop itself as the
GM food is modified to resist glyphosate.
Argentina, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Canada, In a review paper of GMO safety assessment
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, studies, Cuhra (2015) has shown that glyphosate-
Myanmar, Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa,
Sweden, USA tolerant GM food plants accumulate glyphosate
residues at unexpectedly high levels. Glyphosate is
a powerful synthetic antibiotic and blocks mineral
absorption. Glyphosate herbicides are endocrine
disrupters and mitochondrial toxins and have been
linked to birth defects.
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Mexico, Paraguay, South
Africa, USA, Uruguay

Worldwide, 28 countries are growing genetically modified (GM)

crops. GM corn is grown in 19 countries around the globe followed
Australia, by cotton and soya bean in 16 and eight countries respectively.
Canada, India has accepted cultivation of GM cotton only whereas USA has
Chile,USA accepted eight GM crops.
Canada, China,
USA USA

Bangladesh Australia China China China USA USA

Corn Cotton soybeAn CAnolA suGAr beet PAPAyA brInjAl CArrot PoPlAr sweet tomAto squAsh AlfA AlfA
PePPer
Source: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, 2014

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 43

Trend in other countries
The US cultivates eight crops using GM tech-
nology. Further to that US Regulators last year
blessed genetically engineered potatoes, apples
and a salmon that grows faster than conventional
versions and represented the first biotech animal
cleared for human consumption. A list of GM crops
allowed worldwide is provided in Figure 2.
There were complaints on pricing and yield
regarding Bt cotton resulting in closing down the
sales by Monsanto in Indonesia in 2003 (www.
lobbywatch.org). With highly critical reports
of regulatory mechanism coming in force from
independent institutions, the trend in USA was
also towards still more tougher regulations
compelling biotechnology companies to grow the
next generation of GM crops in isolation using
artificial lighting and air filtration in order to avoid
pollen movement and contamination. In America,
opponents launched state-by-state efforts to make
GMO-food labelling mandatory. Following the
USDA’s 2015 approval of genetically modified
apples and potatoes, companies including McDon-
ald’s Corp, and Wendy’s Co. said they did not plan
to use them. The European Union unveiled a new
opt-out programme in 2015. Ukraine and Russia
have also ruled out using GMO seeds. China,
which permits some biotech cotton, papaya, sweet
peppers and tomatoes, is not expected to approve
new GMO crops until the domestic seed industry
shows it can compete against western rivals. Nine-
teen EU countries have stated that they will not
allow their agricultural systems to be destroyed by
growing harmful GM crops. Thirty eight countries
worldwide have officially banned the cultivation of
GM crops and only 28 actually grow GM crops.
endnote
It is assumed that there will be 1.8 billion Indians
by 2050. It is suggested that GM crops could be the
only way to feed them all. Farm economists might
also join hands for using GM technologies in India.
The Indian environmentalists believe GM crops to
be toxic and hazardous to human health arguing
that the GM being a pretty recent technology, the
effects of consumption of the same over generations
are not predictable now. At the same time it should
be borne in mind that although the industry claims
that no humans have been hurt by consuming
GMOs, it is necessary to have scientific monitoring
of human health effects.
44 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
references
Cuhra M. 2015. Review of GMO safety
assessment studies: glyphosate residues in
Roundup Ready crops are an ignored issue.
Environmental Sciences Europe. Bridging
Science and Regulation at the Regional and
European Level, 27: 20-26.
deVries A. L. and Wohlschlag D. E. 1969. Freezing
resistance in some Antarctic fishes. Science,
163 (3871): 1073–1075.
deVries A. L., Komatsu S. K. and Feeney R. E.
1970. Chemical and physical properties of
freezing point-depressing glycoproteins
from Antarctic fishes. Journal of Biological
Chemistry, 245 (11): 2901–2908.
GM Crop Bans Confirmed in 19 EU Countries.
2015. Sustainable Pulse, October 4. Available
at: http://sustainablepulse.com/2015/10/04/
gm-crop-bans-confirmed-in-19-eu-
countries/#.WSs7ymiGPb0.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid
=3000.
ISAAA. 2017. GM Approval Database. Available
at: www.isaaa.org/gmapprovaldatabase/.
Quartz India. 2016. There will be 1.8 billion
Indians by 2050. GM crops are the only way
to feed them all. July 28. Available at: ideas.
india@qz.com.
Residues in Food. 2004. Evaluations Part II,
Toxicological, Joint FAO/WHO Meeting
on Pesticide Residues. Rome, Italy.
Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/
bitstream/10665/43624/1/9241665203_eng.pdf.
Séralini G. E , Clair E. , Mesnage R., Gress
S., Defarge N., Malatesta M., Hennequin D.
and Vendômois J. S. 2014. Republished study:
long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide
and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified
maize. Environmental Sciences Europe.
Bridging Science and Regulation at the
Regional and European Level, 26: 14-15.
Tang G., Qin J., Dolnikowski G. G., Russell R.
M. and Grusak M. A. 2009. Golden rice is
an effective source of vitamin A. American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89 (6): 1776–83.
Venkat V. 2016. All you need to know about the
GM food controversy. The Hindu, July 8.
The authors are Scientists and Former Director from
Defence Food Research Laboratory, DRDO, respectively.
anilakumarkr@gmail.com

Changing COLD Chain TEChnOLOgY
By Kiran Khandelwal
A cold chain for perishable foods is the uninter-
rupted handling of produce within a low temperature
environment which includes harvest, collection, packing,
processing, storage, transport and marketing until it
reaches the final consumers. According to the Central
Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology
(CIPHET), on an average 18 per cent of India’s fruits and
vegetables, valued at INR 133 billion is wasted annually
due to widespread fragmentation in the cold chain such
as lack of refrigerated transport, up-to-date cold storages,
insufficient grid power to run cold storage in the rural
areas, poor infrastructure and road connectivity.
Earlier, cold storages largely located in potato growing
areas such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal
were mainly designed for a single commodity. Most
of these used old technology in terms of construction,
thermal insulation and refrigeration systems with practi-
cally no automation. Nowadays, with the use of improved
technology, shelf life is being extended by adopting
controlled atmosphere (CA) storage in which oxygen is
maintained at about 5 per cent and carbon dioxide at 1 to
3 per cent, while temperature is adjusted to the particular
commodity, particularly fruits such as apples and pears.
Over the past many years, the cold storage technolo-
gies in India have undergone a significant transformation.
From the point of view of utilisation also, the contemporary
cold stores offer much wider scope than in the past
although heavy reliance on access to affordable source of
In br Ief
either electricity for pre-cooling and cold storage or diesel
fuel for transport refrigeration continues. Earlier the bulk
cold stores had fewer large sized chambers. The conven-
tional buildings were made of RCC frames, brick walls
and truss type sheet roofs having multi-level chambers
constructed with wooden or steel grating where loading
and unloading was done manually. The recent trend is to
have multi-purpose cold storages with larger numbers
of chambers with smaller capacity that vary from 5 to
12 m or higher. It holds goods in a stacking system with
modern racks that are designed for mechanised loading
and unloading of pallets or boxes, using electrical hoists/
lifts and/or fork lift trucks. Also now it is possible to have
simultaneous storage of a variety of items for farmers,
traders and other customers.
In old cold storages rice husk was used as thermal
insulation which needed very large insulation thicknesses.
It also caused maintenance and hygiene problems.
This method is now almost extinct. The recent practice
is to use expanded polystyrene (EPS), fiberglass, poly-
urethane rigid foam (PUF), extruded polystyrene (XPS) or
similar materials for insulation. Application of computers
to control the loading, unloading operations and to main-
tain the record of stocks is also practiced in some of the
recent cold stores.
The author is at IL&FS Clusters, New Delhi.
kiran.khandelwal@ilfsindia.com
GeoGraphy and you  May-june 2017 45
 Crop T eCh nol og ie s

By Subra Mukherjee and Shakuntala laSkar

Optical
SenSing
Of SOil nutrientS
for ‘Smart farming’
Over the years, chemical fertilisers have been applied to soil in
order to increase their fertility. However over or under application
of fertilisers can damage the crop yield and also cause serious
ecological concerns. Soil testing thus acquires an important
place in farming, specifically in site specific crop management.
Non-destructive in-situ measurements of soil nutrients with cost
effective optical sensing methods can help in determining and
monitoring the nutrient levels in the soil.

46 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 Customarily obtaining localised
in-situ measurements of nitrogen,
Photo: Prasad

phosphorous and potassium still

remain an open challenge especially in
the far-flung areas of sikkim.
W
ith an ever increasing popula-
tion, the demand for crop
production has also increased
exponentially in the past few
years. According to the UN
Food and Agriculture Organisation, global food
demand will be 70 per cent more in 2050 than it was
in 2006 (FAO, 2009). This has imposed enormous
challenges on the agricultural sector to find ways
to optimise the yield while addressing barriers
such as limited land and water supply, ecological
concerns, health issues and climatic changes. These
issues has led to the concept of smart farming also
known as precision agriculture—an information
intensive management strategy where production
inputs such as fertilisers are matched with the site
specific needs of the crops. Characterisation of soil
nutrients is an integral part of the diagnosis of soil
quality with reference to its fertility. Conventional
chemical and laboratory techniques are labour-
intensive, time consuming and very expensive.
So, there is an urgent need for smart farming tech-
niques such as precision agriculture.
Soil nutrients are vital for plant growth. Defi-
ciency as well as excess of these nutrients may
impede productivity. Chemical fertilisers are
added to soil to meet up the nutrient requirements
of plants. However, the uncontrolled addition of
these substances can cause severe environmental
hazards such as surface and ground water pollution
and also affect the quality of the crop (Lehmann
and Grisel, 2014). As such, a lot of attention has been
focused in this area in recent years, particularly in
precision agriculture and site specific manage-
ment procedures for obtaining localised ‘on the
go’ measurement of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P)
and potassium (K) in any soil. These components
represent the three most important nutrients in
agriculture and are the prime ingredients in almost
all fertilisers.
Nitrogen plays a fundamental role in the manu-
facture of chlorophyll in all plants and is an essential
element of enzymatic proteins which catalyse and
regulate the biological processes responsible for
plant growth. Phosphorus is another of the three
macro nutrients required for plants for their proper
growth, particularly in terms of root growth
stimulation. Potassium is important for stomatal
control in plants which effects water regulation
and CO2 exchange as well as enzymatic processes
that enable photosynthesis. It is also essential in
48 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
the manufacture and transport of sugar, starches
and proteins, aiding in the development of straight
leaves and quality fruit.
Any optical sensing system is based on the
measurement of reflectance, absorption or trans-
mittance characteristic of the soil sample when
irradiated with an optical source of appropriate
wavelength (based on the target ion). The amount
and type of soil minerals, organic compounds and
moisture content present in soil, the particle size of
soil and the type of soil are related to the soil spec-
tral properties in the optical domain (Escadafal and
Huete, 1992). The amount of energy reflected from
the soil surface in a particular spectral range can
be used as a measure for quantitative assessment
of certain soil properties. And therefore, study and
understanding of these relationships can be of great
significance for development of sensors to deter-
mine the quality of soil in terms of macronutrients
such as soil pH, and salinity etc.
Fertilisers had been in use by farmers since the
19th Century, however determining the correct
amount of fertilisers to be added to the soil in
accordance with the type of soil or crops has been
historically challenging and impractical until a
couple of decades ago. Although conventional
laboratory chemical analyses techniques give good
results, but they seem impractical when employed
for precision fertilisation. In standard laboratory
soil testing to measure macronutrients, various
automatic analysers and extracting solutions have
been used. The automated ion analyser has been
commonly used for simultaneously measuring
nitrate and ammonium whereas potassium ions in
soil extracts have been measured with a colorimetric
spectrophotometer and an atomic absorption spec-
trophotometry, respectively. However, standard
laboratory techniques to measure nutrient levels
in soil are complex and time consuming due to
the extraction and pre-treatment process involved
(Artigas et al. 2001).
There has been a significant focus towards
sensing technologies for precision agriculture and
site specific crop management methods in the
last decade, to determine soil properties like pH,
texture, salinity and organic matter, but custom-
arily obtaining localised in-situ measurements of
N, P and K still remains an open challenge.
Visible and near infrared (NIR) bands have
been used for developing sensors for nutrient
detection, because detectors used in this part
Fig. 1: Different steps involved in soil nutrient sensing

Detectional measurement
of target nutrient

Algorithm
development

Obtaining soil
The soil sensor will indicate spectral signature
the deficiency of Nitrogen (N),
Phosphorous (P) or Potassium
(K) at a location. This will help the Nutrient sensing
farmers use fertilisers optimally.

Pre-processing

Soil sampling

optical sensing based soil nutrient system which is in an experimental stage now, has six steps to detect the nutrient content on the field. once
developed, it will become a boon to farmers as they will be able to know the nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium requirement in their fields.

Table 1: Optical sensing methods and parameters

detected
of the spectrum are relatively inexpensive. The
Method Parameters detected first step is to develop a sensor for detecting a
NIR spectroscopy Nitrate content dedicated spectral signature associated with a
NIR spectroscopy OM, Soil moisture, CEC
specific nutrient and also the choice of appro-
priate source and soil sampling techniques. For
Admittance spectroscopy Variation in nutrient content
any soil nutrient sensor based on optical sensing,
VIS-NIR sensor Soil organic carbon, Nitrate, the sensor system should comprise of the steps
MIR spectroscopy moisture content.
shown in Figure 1.
MIRS Nitrate Controlling nutrients with the aid of such
UV, VIS,NIR absorbance phosphorous sensors will permit an optimisation of irrigation
spectroscopy and fertilisation management systems and thus
VIS-NIR sensor C, MC, pH and P will be very useful for reducing the environmental
Raman Spectroscopy Phosphorous impact caused by run-off nutrients into surface and
ground water.
Optical diffuse sensing in visible Nitrogen
and NIR and MIR ranges Phosphorous
Most of the soil nutrient sensing techniques
UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy described in literature involve one of the two
• Near-infrared-diffuse Reflectance Nitrate
methods:
Spectra  Optical sensing that uses reflectance spectros-
• ATR spectroscopy Phosphorous copy to detect the level of energy absorbed/
• MDRS reflected by soil nutrients.
• Raman Scattering  Electrochemical sensing that uses ion-selective
• Reflectance spectroscopy
electrodes which generate a voltage or current
Optical Fibre Sensor (UV source) Ammonia output in response to the activity of selected ions.
NIR absorption (MEMS based) Nitrogen A chronological summary of optical sensing
Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy Total Nitrogen and Organic methods employed in past 15 years is presented
Matter in Table 1.
Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy Soil pH, moisture content As stated earlier, inappropriate or uncontrolled
however poor results for application of fertiliser can lead to serious issues,
total phosphorous and while a nutrient sensor can be of great benefit in
potassium.
this regard. Some examples of the applications that

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 49

Optical sensing
is measurement
of reflectance,
absorption or
transmittance
of soil.
could be realised with the proposed system are:
 Real-time automated soil nutrient sensor for site
specific crop management;
 Real-time fertility assessment of soil and opti-
misation it according to the needs of a particular
plant;
 Information from such a sensor can be used to
effectively modify crop management practices
leading to better yield is; and
 Variable rate of fertiliser applicator based on the
amount of nutrient already present in the soil.
Future perspectives
Smart farming is an attractive technology and is
expected to augment the potentials of a resource
efficient approach to farming. This would enhance
more productive and sustainable agricultural
production.
Although quite a bit of work is already being
done in this field, most of the methods employ
very costly equipment such as spectrophotometers
as well as destructive chemical analyses etc. The
research mainly focused on developing simple
cost-effective and non-destructive methods of
detecting soil nutrients through optical sensors
is, at present, in a nascent stage. However, efforts
are being made in the direction of making the ‘soil
nutrient sensing system’ in such a way that farmers
could probably carry it to the fields and test the
fertility of the soil in-situ. This will help the farmers
to assess the quality of the soils in the fields and aid
in determining the accurate amount of fertilisers
to be added to the soil. In addition to increased
productivity, it will also prevent pollution of
ground and surface water caused due to excessive
application of fertilisers.
endnote
The potentiality of optical sensing methods for
nutrient detection is gaining fast stimulating
50 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
interest worldwide and over the years there has
been considerable progress in this field. Real time
‘on-the-go’ nutrient sensor leading to commercial
products will require extensive research and
developmental efforts. Advanced engineering
technologies based on optical sensors will prob-
ably open doors for rapid and accurate in-situ soil
fertility testing at a much lower cost in future.
references
Artigas J., A Beltran, C Jiménez, A Baldi, R Mas,
C Domınguez, J Alonso. 2001. Application
of ion sensitive field effect transistor based
sensors to soil analysis. Computers and
Electronics in Agriculture, ISSN 0168-1699,
31:281-293.
Escadafal R. and Alfred 0. R. Huete. 1992.
Soil optical properties and environmental
applications of Remote sensing, in
Proceedings 17th ISPRS Congress, 29(B7):
709-715
FAO. 2009. Global Agriculture Towards 2050.
High Level Expert Forum. October 12-13,
Rome. Available at: at:http://www.fao.org/
fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/Issues_papers/
HLEF2050_Global_Agriculture.pdf.
Ferwerda, A.Z. Kouzani. 2010. Wireless sensor
networks for in-situ image validation for
water and nutrient management. Proceedings
of ISPRS Technical Commission VII
Symposium, Institute of Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing, Vienna University of
Technology, pp. 187-192.
Jianhan Lin, Maohua Wang , Miao Zhang, Yane
Zhang, Li Chen. 2007. Electrochemical
sensors for soil nutrient detection :
Opportunities and challenges, in 12th
proceedings. International Conference on
Computer and Computing Technologies in
Agriculture (CCTA 2007), Wuyishan, China,
pp. 1349-1353.
Lehmann Ulrike, Alain Grisel. 2004. Miniature
Multisensor Probe for Soil Nutrient
Monitoring. Procedia Engineering, ISSN 1877-
7058, 87: 1429-1432.
Nair R. 2016. Precision Agriculture – A long way
to go for India. Agro News, 2 September.
The Authors are Senior Assistant Professor and Professor
respectively, Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati.
shakuntala.lashkar@dbuniversity.ac.in
 In br Ief

Women in agriculture
By Staff RepoRteR

Majority of women workforce in India is ◆ As per the Agriculture Census (2010-11) published in

engaged in the agricultural sector and this domain could
not have sustained this far without the seminal role played
by them. Unfortunately, women are still looked upon as
labourers and not as farmers. They are the invisible face
of agriculture. Following are a few highlights showing the
position of women, their role and contribution in agricul-
tural and allied activities.
◆ Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2011, estimates
that ‘women produce between 60-80 per cent of the
food in most developing countries and are responsible
for half of the world’s food production’ ( SOFA team
and Doss).
◆ In the Indian Himalayas a pair of bulls works 1,064
hours, a man 1,212 hours and a woman 3,485 hours in
a year on a one-hectare farm, a figure which illustrates
women’s significant contribution to agricultural produc-
tion (Vandana Shiva, 1991: Food and Agriculture
Organisation of United Nations, Sustainable Develop-
ment department, New Delhi).
◆ According to Satyavathi et al., in Gender, Technology
2014, merely 12.78 per cent of agricultural landholdings
are in the name of women. This excludes women in deci-
sion making concerning farming and related work.
• McKinsey Global Institute in 2015 reports that, ‘more
women in India tend to work in low-productivity jobs than
men. 75 per cent of female employment in rural areas is in
agriculture compared with 59 per cent for men’.
The blight of gender bias and unequal social status is
very much witnessed in women’s work status in agricul-
ture as most women do not have land rights even after
they have been farmers throughout their lifetime. It is of
utmost importance that rural women be appreciated for
their identity and be uplifted in their position by
recognising their role in agriculture production.

and Development 2010, Indian women spend some

25 hours a week on their domestic chores and about 5
hours a week on upkeep and care, and in community
service work. Moreover, they invest their 30 hours in
unpaid labour.
 Crop T eCh nol og ie s

Svalbard Spitsbergen
Global
Seed
Vault
Greenland
NorweGiaN Sea

Norway The seeds are preserved with

iceland
Fig. 1: Spitsbergen island, where
the Svalbard vault is located
a focus on their unique genetic
material with a bank-like
deposit/withdrawal system.

52 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 By Staff RepoRteR

The
DoomsDay
VaulT –
ConserVaTion for
the World’s Crops
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault or the Doomsday Vault is a seed
storage facility for the world’s agricultural crops that can help
in combating the effects of climate change, population growth,
extinction of crop species and destruction of gene banks.
PhoTo courTesy : croP TrusT, flickr.com

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 53

B
uilt like a bomb shelter in a blue moun-
tain in Norway is a contingency storage
facility for a resource that is more
necessary than any other consumables
in the world. The Svalbard Global Seed
Vault, popularly known as the ‘Doomsday Vault’
is a storage facility for seed samples of the planet’s
agricultural crops. Its primary purpose is to utilise
these crop samples in the event if one or many vari-
eties of crops suffer extinction.
The facility is located on the island of Spitsbergen,
in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, which is about
halfway between the Arctic Circle and the North
Pole. It is a storage facility cut into a mountain
with tunnels running through to rooms inside the
mountain. This structure is expected to protect
the seeds from events such as rising sea levels and
earthquakes and also from seasonal vagaries. The
The svalbard vault on the island of spitsbergen in Norway
cuts into Plataberget Mountain with tunnels leading up to
the storage facility.
54 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
permafrost and thick rock ensure that even if the
power is turned off, the temperature inside the
structure does not rise to more than 4oC below zero.
However, in a recent news report published by
the Guardian (UK) on May 19, 2017, it was found
that rising temperatures due to global warming had
melted some of the permafrost expected to keep the
seed samples in deep freeze. Hege Njaa Aschim, a
spokesperson for the Norwegian government is
reported to have said that the melting of the perma-
frost was not configured in plans for the facility and
that substantial quantities of water entered through
the opening of the main tunnel and then froze like
a glacier. Nevertheless, the vault was not breached.
The vault managers are now working on water-
proofing the tunnel system leading to the storage
facility (Carrington, 2017).
The seeds are preserved in Svalbard with a focus
 on their unique genetic material, but the samples
are not expected to last forever—a few centuries at
the most. Stocking up depends upon deposits made
to the Svalbard Vault. The vault currently holds
more than 880,000 samples. Genetically modified
crops and illegal crop varieties such as marijuana
are not allowed (Crop Trust, undated).
The purpose behind the facility is not simply
to act as a gene bank for crops in the event of a
global catastrophe, but to address the more
small-scale localised destruction of certain crop
species. Many countries around the world have
their own gene bank for crop species. India’s
own first contribution was pigeon pea, which is a
drought-resistant crop. Its implications for food
security led to genetic mapping after its introduc-
tion (Crop Trust, 2015). The individual gene banks
are vulnerable and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
PhoTo courTesy : croP TrusT, flickr.com
is used for the future when a need may arise to
use its stocks. Also, climate change could mean
changes in agricultural practices and having a
source for global crops might help in mitigating its
effects. Another issue of concern could be future
population growth.
The Svalbard Vault operates much like a bank, in
the sense that the caretakers to the Svalbard Vault
do not have any proprietary rights to the seeds
deposited by individual depositors. They function
with the prime motive of preservation in that the
seeds are kept in sealed foil packets and are grouped
and preserved country-wise at a temperature of
18oC below zero.
It is only the depositor who has ownership of
the seeds in the vault and can withdraw the dona-
tion when required. For example, Syria withdrew
its donation to the Svalbard Vault when its own
gene bank was destroyed by a bombing during
the ongoing war in Syria whereas gene banks in
Afghanistan and Iraq were destroyed with some
genetic material not backed up in the Svalbard
Vault. The Philippine gene bank was destroyed
by flooding from a typhoon followed by a fire
(Duggan, 2016).
Crops are not just threatened by wars or
catastrophe. Agricultural diversity has declined
dramatically on a global scale. Nearly 95 per cent
of global agricultural needs are met by just about
30 crops (Duggan, 2016). Such lack of genetic
diversity leaves crop species more vulnerable
to diseases. Local crops are also threatened by
regional calamities.
Questions could be asked, however, as to why
other locations such as Antarctica were not
preferred, as Antarctica is used largely as a scien-
tific repository and large areas of it are ecologically
protected by international laws.
references
Carrington, Damian 2017. Arctic stronghold of
world’s seeds flooded after permafrost melts, The
Guardian, 19th May.
Duggan, Jennifer 2016. Inside the Doomsday Vault,
TIME, 29th February.
India’s involvement with the Svalbard Global Seed
Vault. Available at: https://www.croptrust.org/
blog/india-deposit-svalbard-global-seed-vault/.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Available at: https://
www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-
seed-vault/.
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 55
 P ho t o - e s s ay

Water in most of the major reservoirs across the Krishna and Godavari
rivers has reached dead storage level. Boys, girls and women all are
in search of a drop of water. Two villages in Mahabubnagar district,
situated on either side of a dried-up river Tungbhadra, are dependent on
oozing pits in the river bed.

56 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

By Vinod BaBu

Scarcity
and
diSplacement:
Water Woes Compel
The clouds have been unkind to Telangana for
years, taking a toll on the land, rendering water
bodies barren and scarred. To combat this, the
Telangana government took to building reservoirs
to irrigate the drought-prone districts. For those
who agreed to be displaced, life has thrown up
challenges. Villagers had to leave their homes,
farms and move.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 57

 Villagers in Etigadda Kishtapur
in Medak district, Telangana
meet to discuss the proposed
Mallanna Sagar reservoir on the
river Godavari.

58 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 The wait is
endless
The Telangana government is working
on ambitious projects to find a lasting
solution to recurring drought. These include
redesigning irrigation projects: Mission
Kakatiya for restoration of irrigation tanks
and Mission Bhagiratha for piped drinking
water supply to every household in the
country’s youngest state. Until the fruits of
such efforts are borne, it is a wait and watch
situation for this lone man in Adilabad.

Newly laid pipelines to

each house in every village
failed to supply adequate
water. Few villages have
underground water, the
supply of which is irregular
most of the time.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 59

 What we
once called
home
The Mallanna Sagar reservoir to irrigate
drought-prone Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad,
Warangal and Rangareddy districts would
displace about 30,000 people in 14 villages and
submerge about 20,000 acres of land. Several
people lost their will to live when they heard that
they would lose their land.

Today the drought is mani-

fested in every facet of human
life and it is particularly so
with the rural poor. The exodus
of people from rural areas of
Telangana to newly settled and
far off places has made their
lives doubly vulnerable.

60 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

 Initially the villagers of
Aloor were not willing to be
displaced, but with the Aloor
reservoir’s retention capacity
increasing, several families
agreed to move elsewhere.

The author can be reached at munna.virgo@gmail.com

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 61

F or e s t ry P ol icy
 By NaiNa Sharma

Forest
stewardship
CounCil
The forest certification systems by the Forest Stewardship
Council is reflective of an emergent need, intertwining
business and ethics. Its guidelines have setup a benchmark
against which the modus operandi of timber corporations and
plantations can be examined.

The Council’s forest management principles,

PHoTo: PrasaD

based on certifying forest-use lacks in

reach, especially in forested areas of
Dhanualti, Himachal Pradesh in India.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 63

E
stablished in 1993, the Forest Steward-
ship Council (FSC) is a non-profit
organisation, headquartered at Bonn,
Germany. Over the years, it has laid
down a series of principles and guide-
lines for forest management. The companies which
adhere to these principles are eligible to apply for
the FSC mark, which can in turn be used to distin-
guish their products from the others. The creation
of the FSC gained momentum during the Earth
Summit of 1992 which saw active campaigns by
NGOs that advocated the incorporation of prin-
ciples of sustainable development into the work
ethics of business corporations (Dingwerth, 2007).
Organisations like World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
played a proactive role in the creation of such a body
that would certify wood and timber produce based
on their sources. In doing so, it helped establish
guidelines for sustainable forest management.
Following several rounds of consultations in ten
different nations, the FSC finally took shape in
1993. In keeping with its foundational aims, an
integral aspect of FSC’s agenda revolves around
combating the ill effects of deforestation, poverty
as well as global warming.
With an overarching mission that is based on the
objective of ‘promoting environmentally appro-
priate, socially beneficial and economically viable
management of the world’s forests’, the FSC has
laid down guidelines under the category ‘Global
Strategy’ listing a series of principles which are as
follows:
◆ to ensure fair and just access to the benefits
accruing from FSC models;
◆ to ensure that there is transparency in the
management of products which adopt the FSC
label; and,
◆ to enhance the value of goods and services which
are acquired from forests that are certified by the
FSC.
an analysis of the structure and role of
the FsC
Structurally, the FSC’s functioning is facilitated
by three bodies—the general assembly, the board
of directors and the executive director. In terms
of hierarchy, the general assembly is at the apex.
It includes members from all the three bodies. As
per the rules, members have been bestowed with
the rights to attend meetings, frame and submit
proposals as well as vote on motions (Gale and
Haward, 2011). The FSC has a vast network of
64 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
partners, which further the agenda and guidelines
of the organisation. The network comprises of FSC
National Offices as well as representatives and FSC
National Focal Points. With the increasing aware-
ness around rights of indigenous communities and
natives, the FSC board has attempted to include
representatives from indigenous communities in
their midst as well. An FSC member has the option
to seek membership in either of the three cham-
bers—environment, economic or social, which are
subsets of the general assembly.
Unlike most dominant global bodies, the FSC
has endorsed a seemingly progressive model by
according equal representation to the Northern and
the Southern blocks of developed and developing
nations. Prima facie the FSC attempts to maintain
a democratic structure by according equal repre-
sentation to all the nations. However, the impact of
the organisation has been more pronounced in the
developed nations. The reason for this could be that
the developing nations are still in transition and in
their desperate race for enhancing GDP figures,
issues like brand image and best practises tend to
take a backseat.
The FSC lays down elaborate guidelines for
the sustainable management—right from the
temperate to the tropical varieties. Besides, FSC
principles also encapsulate plantations and forests
which generate non-timber forest products.
A minute perusal of the FSC principles exhibits
that they are primarily based on scientific studies
and knowledge. As an example, Principle 6 lays
stress on forest cultivation which is organic and
devoid of chemicals and toxic pesticides. Such a
principle is a corollary of the effective campaigning
by environment groups, coupled with recent
advancements in scientific know-how that have
highlighted the potentially deleterious impact of
chemicals in forestry and plantations. Further-
more, it proscribes the use of genetically modified
organisms as well as foreign exotic species, which
reflects an endorsement of the precautionary
principle. A FSC certified plantation/forest would
therefore be required to maintain a record as well
as diligently monitor certain biological agents as
prescribed by globally accepted scientific studies
(Gale and Haward, 2011).
Despite significant variations in FSC certified
forests across nations, various studies have inferred
that FSC certified forests are better managed than
the ones which are not certified (Pattberg, 2005) .
In Asia, South Korea and Japan are doing fairly well
in achieving the FSC prescribed targets in forest
management while Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia
continue to be ranked low. In fact, the Southeast
Asian region witnessed massive levels of deforesta-
tion between 2000 and 2010—a report by FAO states
that the total loss amounted to about 2.4 million ha.
The major cause of deforestation continues to be
illegal logging, which sheds light on ineffectiveness
of the domestic statutes vis-à-vis forest governance
in Southeast Asia. These reports therefore, make a
case for giving incentives to forests which are certi-
fied (Pattberg, 2005).
Certification of a forest is impacted by a wide
range of external factors, most importantly
market forces. As of now, the manufacturers and
exporters do not seem to face enough pressure by
way of demand for certified products in developing
nations. As such the largest importer of products
which are certified continues to be the European
region—the certified products constitute more
than five per cent of the amount of wood products
which are traded. Netherlands and the United
Kingdom have created a strong brand value for
certified products, whereas the market is still small
in Japan, India, and China.
Forest certification does not hinge upon the
consumers as much as it does upon their market
based motives. As such, the major factors that
would impact the growth in the volume of certi-
fied products are the need to increase the share of
revenues and the desire on the part of the producer
to combat the risk factor. Currently, illegal wood
and timber products happen to be much cheaper
than the legally certified ones. This means that
most buyers are unwilling to pay extra for a product
merely because it is certified. In order to make the
legally sourced products more viable, the domestic
regulations will have to be stricter so as to eliminate
the illegal timber mafia. As of now, barely 0.8 out of
78.92 million ha have been certified by FSC. In fact,
the FSC certified wood makes up for less than 10 per
cent of the wood which is in demand (Taylor, 2005).
A FSC certified forest or product remains valid
for a span of five years—though annual audits and
assessments are required.
Interestingly, the popularity of the FSC has also
generated competition from rival accreditation
agencies such as the Canadian Standards Asso-
ciation, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest
Certification as well as Sustainable Forestry Initia-
tive in the United States. At the same time it has also
pushed FSC to constantly enhance its standards
The Forest
Stewardship
Council provides a
certification system
with prescribed
targets.
with the overarching purpose of further popular-
ising its brand value.
Forest certification in developing
countries
Unfortunately, India has not done much to enhance
its cover of accredited forests. Various theories
have been postulated in an attempt to understand
the slow progress of India on this front—a major
reason for this is purportedly the unwillingness on
the part of the government to lose control over the
management of forests (Taylor, 2005). Unlike most
parts of the world, a major segment of the forests
within India are not privately owned, instead they
come under government control. A few years
back there was a plan to formulate a body called
the Forest Certification Council which would be
sponsored by the government. The proposal is
yet to materialise into anything concrete. Private
forest owners have their own reservations with
respect to FSC certification—many of them feel
that a set of homogenous principles laid down by
the agency overlooks the unique conditions in
India. Additionally, the process of certification is
deemed expensive given that most private forest
owners have limited resources (Tsanga, Lescuyer
and Cerutti, 2014).
The pressure by the demands of international
markets has acted as a catalyst for the voluntary
application of certification by logging companies in
developing nations—most notably in Africa. Previ-
ously the African nations have witnessed serious
conflicts between the indigenous populations
and logging corporations. This trend is gradually
getting reversed as more and more companies are
trying to adhere to the FSC guidelines which lay
stress on involving the locals in decisions pertaining
to forest management (Taylor, 2005). FSC certified
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 65

as of now, barely 0.8 out of 78.92 million ha have been certified
by FsC. In fact, the FsC certified wood makes up for less than 10
per cent of the wood which is in demand.
centres have, for instance, been fairly effective in
establishing multi-stakeholder forums with the
support of locals, improving the equation between
corporations and the local populace. However,
there is a need to improve the power equation
between FSC and the natives by including more
local representatives in their forum. Till now, the
corporations had adopted a top-down approach,
whereas a bottom-up approach would be more
beneficial (Tsanga, Lescuyer and Cerutti 2014).
The FSC’s emergence helped mediate the
tenuous situation generated by frequent clashes
between corporations and the affected populations.
However, the FSC brand has also had to wrestle with
credibility issues. This became evident with the
emergence of an organisation called ‘FSC watch’
arguing false certification by FSC even when the
produce did not meet the required criteria. Against
this backdrop, the need of the hour for FSC is to
66 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
address the issues that dilute its credibility. Such
measures would go on to determine the appeal and
relevance of the organisation in the years to come.
endnote
The increasing appeal of FSC prescribed princi-
ples indicates that these guidelines have entered
the arena of international soft laws. However,
in order to be effective, it is important to work
towards enhancing the value attached to certi-
fied forests in developing nations since a major
segment of the world’s biodiversity hotspots lie in
the global south. By spreading awareness amongst
consumers and exerting pressure on corporations,
one should work towards incorporating sustain-
able forest management principles into the body
of international hard laws, i. e. actual binding legal
instruments and laws.
references 
Dingwerth, K. 2007. The New Transnationalism:
Transnational Governance and Democratic
Legitimacy, The Forest Stewardship Council.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.
144-185.
Gale, F. and Haward, M., 2011. Global
Commodity Governance State Responses to
Sustainable Forest and Fisheries Certification
Pattberg P. 2005. What Role for Private
Rule-Making in Global Environmental
Governance? Analysing the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC). International
Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and
Economics, 5 (2): 175-189.
Takoni L., Obidzinski K., & Agung F. 2004.
Learning lessons to promote forest
certification and control illegal logging in
Indonesia. CIFOR Library, Indonesia.
Taylor P. L. 2005. In the market but not of it:
Fair trade coffee and forest stewardship
council certification as market-based social
change. World Development, 33 (1): 129-147.
Tsanga R., Lescuyer G., and Cerutti, P. 2014. What
is the role for forest certification in improving
relationships between logging companies
and communities? Lessons from FSC in
Cameroon. International Forestry Review,
16 (1): 14-22.
The author is a lawyer at the Delhi High Court.
naina1165@gmail.com

Farmers’ suicide
By Staff RepoRteR
Prior to the economic liberalisation during
1991-96, farmers’ suicide was unheard of. In a paper, ‘The
largest wave of suicides in history’ by P. Sainath in 2009,
between 1997 and 2007, the number of farmer suicides
are a staggering 182,936. Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
account for close to two-thirds of these suicides. These
states account for just about a third of the country’s popu-
lation, but two-thirds of farmers’ suicides.
It is perhaps not a coincidence that the origin of suicides
can be traced to when the economy opened and multi-
national corporations (MNCs) including some of our own
big players started dealing with farm products. The MNCs
lured farmers to go for cash crops, which was never the
mainstay of Indian agriculture. For millions of subsistence
farmers in India, this meant much higher cultivation costs,
far greater loans, much higher debt and being locked into
the volatility of global commodity prices.
Liberalisation made the farmers ambitious and the
governments enthusiastic. This deadly combination
resulted in displacing cheap traditional varieties of seeds
by expensive hybrid seeds and later by Bt cotton in the
drier regions of India. One crop failure and the farmers fell
into a never ending debt trap. Maharashtra became the
worst victim as the farmers opted for Bt cotton in a
big way.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under
the Ministry of Home Affairs compiles and disseminates
the data on suicides in its publication ‘Accidental Deaths
and Suicides in India’ (ADSI). As per this Report, 5650
and 8007 farmers committed suicide in the country during
2014 and 2015 respectively. The situation seems to have
improved as compared to the period between 1997-2007
when the average suicides per annum were to the tune
of more than 18000. However, under-reporting of suicide
cases cannot be ruled out.
It is worth mentioning that crop failure leading to debt
trap could hurt the small and marginal farmers the most.
In br Ief
Between 2014 and 2015, 13,657
farmers committed suicide—72.6
per cent of suicides were by small
and marginal farmers.
The big farmers with other sources of income have been
able to avoid the distress. As per the National Crime
Records Bureau 2015, 72.6 per cent of the all suicides
were committed by small and marginal farmers.
The central government shifts the onus to the states,
citing that agriculture and allied issues fall under their
purview. However, this makes it difficult to explain the
enthusiastic announcements made by the central govern-
ment for minimum support price (though it is not available
to many crops/fruits etc.), grand insurance schemes
which have no logical basis, establishing food parks–the
concept which has not yet taken off and a plethora of
either unsuccessful or still to take shape schemes.
An insurance scheme with individual access to farmers
and dedicated insurance agents is panacea for farmers
plights. Agriculture has to be linked to industry in such a
way that there are no middlemen and the profits are shared
between the farmers and the end-users. Till this becomes
a reality, the farmers will be forced to end their lives with a
bearing upon their potential exit from farming.
GeoGraphy and you  May-june 2017 67
 In dI a ou t door s

By Dipanjan Ghosh

LIVING
ROOT BRIDGE
Living tree bridges that one finds in picturesque Meghalaya
are called Jingkieng Deingjri meaning ‘bridge of the rubber tree’
in Khasi. Tree bridges are natural structures that are examples
of bioengineering at its best.

68 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue

Photo: SomSubhra Sarkar

the umshiang double decker root bridge of

Nongriat in East khasi hills district of meghalaya
stands at a height of 732 m. reaching the upper
bridge, which is 20 m long is a tough job and
demands a high degree of physical fitness.

GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 69

L
iving root bridges are found in the
West Jaintia Hills and East Khasi
Hills of Meghalaya. All Khasi villages
are connected by a network of stone
pathways known as the ‘King’s Way’.
Throughout this network hundreds of living
root bridges form the bridleways over the myriad
water channels that criss-cross the area. But the
most famous is the Umshiang double decker root
bridge of Nongriat village in Sohra (Cherrapunjee).
Another root bridge is located at Riwai village near
Mawlynnong. The bridge at Wahthyllong village
in the East Khasi Hills is the most beautiful of all
the bridges and was featured in the Human Planet
series of the BBC.
The locals do not know when or how the tradi-
tion of living root bridges started, although the
development and upkeep of these bridges have
been a community affair among Khasis from time
immemorial. These bioengineering masterpieces
were first alluded to in the Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal by Lieutenant H Yule in 1844, but
soon after these wonders were forgotten till they
were once again rediscovered by Denis P Rayen, a
local resident of Sohra in 2006.
The bridge building tree
The Indian rubber tree (Ficus elastica) of Mora-
ceae is native of the thick tropical rainforests of
North East India. This particular species is also
common in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, China,
Malaysia and Indonesia. Rubber fig is a large, long-
lived, dicotyledonous tree, about 30-40m tall, and
with a stout trunk up to 2m in diameter. The trunk
develops adventitious aerial and buttressing roots
to anchor the plant in the soil that help support its
heavy branches.
It has broad, oval and leathery leaves with a shiny
upper surface. Rubber trees produce unisexual
flowers that are arranged in a special type of
inflorescence, termed hypanthodium. Each such
inflorescence is associated with one to few tiny
wasps that help in pollination. After fertilisation,
the entire inflorescence is converted into a tiny, oval,
yellowish green fruit known as fig or syconium.
Like other fig plants, the rubber tree possesses a
white milky latex in the body which is a complex
aqueous emulsion of tannins, resins, gums, alka-
loids and glycosides.
However, the most striking feature is that the
rubber tree produces series of secondary aerial
70 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
roots, known as prop roots, from the higher parts
of its trunk. These roots can luxuriously grow along
the riverbanks and even across rivers or creeks. The
useful life-span of any given living prop root is vari-
able, but it is thought that under ideal conditions,
they can in principle last for hundreds of years.
As long as the trees remain healthy, they naturally
self-renew and self-strengthen as their component
roots grow thicker.
Creation of a root bridge
Long ago, members of an indigenous tribe of
Meghalaya, known as War Khasis, found an
opportunity to use tiny hair-thin hanging roots of
rubber tree as bridges in crossing the rivers easily.
Thus whenever and wherever their need arose they
simply grew the tree and trained the growth of its
prop roots intertwined with boughs and twigs, over
the rivers. For growing the roots in right direction,
locals usually use betel nut (Areca catechu) trunks
with their middle region sliced down and hollowed
for creating a guidance system for root growth. The
betel nut trunks prevent the rubber tree roots from
fanning out and make them grow straight. Sticks,
stones and some other objects are also used to
stabilise the growing bridge.
Once the roots reach the other side of the river
they easily access the soil and extend their root
systems. During the dry season, the roots snake over
the rocks and boulders in order to reach the water
and thus maintain good anchorage for the bridge-
in-the-making. These trees also naturally pair up,
intertwining with the roots of neighbouring trees
to share resources. The aboriginals realised that
with careful coaxing over many years, the roots
could form almost any shape. There are even living
root step ladders, guard railings and hand rests.
The surface of the bridge has bits of wood and rocks
added to the mix, so that it is easier to cross.
There is also another reason why wood is added.
The wood decomposes and gives nutrients to the
roots of the tree growing around it. As far as records
are concerned, the region receives a total volume
of about 4900 mm of rains. Under such circum-
stances, a normal wooden bridge would quickly rot.
It takes decades to build a bridge but once
complete, they just get stronger and it is
believed that some of the root bridges are over
five hundred years old—much longer than any
conventional bridge.
These bridges are quite strong and can support
Photo: moutuShi Sarkar
the roots of the rubber tree are trained to grow in a specific way to form the structure of the bridge, Wahthyllong village in
the East khasi hills.
the weight of more than fifty people at a time. The
live aerial roots of rubber tree contain a reason-
able amount of mechanical tissues such as xylem,
phloem, sclerenchyma and prosenchyma tissues
and at the same time they are in a state of continual
growth, gaining more strength with time. The
elasticity of the root tissues of rubber tree also
increases the tensile strength of the bridge.
The chief advantage of a living root bridge is that
it does not get washed away by strong currents
or by the rain—but remains permanent. It can
withstand high levels of soil erosion during the
monsoon on one side, and on the other are capable
of resisting termite attacks that often destroy
wooden bridges.
The longest known living root bridge is near
the Pynursla village in East Khasi Hills— span-
ning a length of 50 m with a width of over 1.5
m. While the oldest one is Ummunoi, placed at a
height of 426 m.
endnote
India is ever unique in many respects as this vast
country offers us many incredible objects and facts.
In every nook and corner of our country, some
amazing facts are waiting to be discovered. Living
root bridges are one such legacy that are absolutely
unique in structure and growth.
references
Allen T. 2011. Living Root Bridges. BBC Human
Planet. Available at: http://humanplanet.com/
timothyallen/2011/03/living-root-bridges-bbc-
human-planet/.
Atlas obscura. The Root Bridges of Cherrapunji.
Available at: http://www.atlasobscura.com/
places/root-bridges-cherrapunji.
Dubal H. 2016. Living Root Bridges – Meghalaya.
Available at: http://timeloop.in/bonvoyage/user/
article/101.
Indiamarks. Unique Living Bridge of Cherrapunji,
India. Available at: http://www.indiamarks.
com/unique-living-bridge-cherrapunji-india/.
The author is freelance writer and photographer.
dpanjanghosh@gmail.com
GeoGraphy and you  May-June 2017 71
 Website
Mahalanobis national
Crop Forecast Centre
(MnCFC)
www.ncfc.gov.in
Established in 2012,
Mahalanobis National
Crop Forecast Centre
(MNCFC) is part of the
Department of Agriculture
and Cooperation, Ministry
of Agriculture, Government
of India. It provides in-
season crop forecasts and
assessment of drought
situation and undertakes
various projects.
national Centre of
organic Farming (nCoF)
www.ncof.dacnet.nic.in
National Centre of Organic
Farming at Ghaziabad and
its various regional centres
are engaged in promotion
of organic farming in the
country through technical
capacity building of all the
stakeholders. The issues
include human resource
development, transfer of
technology, promotion and
production of quality organic
and biological inputs of all the
stakeholders. In addition, they
provide financial assistance
to small entrepreneurs and
conduct trainings.
earthstat
www.earthstat.org
EarthStat provides
geographic datasets for
growing global population
and the impact of agriculture
on environment. Global
datasets on crops, pastures,
harvested areas, greenhouse
emission of gases etc. are
provided freely. Various
international organisations
such as National Geographic,
ESRI, etc. are using these
datasets to analyse real world
agricultural problems.
72 May-June 2017  GeoGraphy and you 102 issue
sustainability
Challenges in the
agrofood sector
By rajeev Bhatt (ed.)
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 RNI No. DELENG/2001/5002

We share
because
we care
l Coal India Limited producing over 81 per cent of the nation’s entire
coal production is conscious of its commitment to the countrymen
and touches the lives of people in more ways than one.
l Constructed 53,142 toilets (nearly 36 per cent constructed by all
CPSEs) in six states spreading over 100 districts of the country.
l Built ‘Premashraya’ a 525 bedded outpatient home with palliative
care facilities as an extension to Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata.
l Actively involved in holistic development of villages in
backward districts.
l Set up Kabi Guru Industrial Training Centre equipped with
latest infrastructure to impart quality training and skill
development to the youth.

Committed to improve ‘Quality of Life’