Theme PYQ Analysis/Probable Qs

Crops and Cropping  Major Factors for

Patterns success of Rice-
Wheat system.
How this system
became bane ?
(2020)
 Integrated
Farming System
Role in Sustaining
Agricultural
Production (2019)
 Sikkim =1st organic
state; ecological,
economic benefits
of organic state.
(2018)
 Role of National
Horticulture
Mission in
boosting
horticulture;
(2018)
 What is
allelopathy?
Discuss its role in
major cropping
systems of
irrigated
agriculture. (2016)
Water, Irrigation,  Measures to
Irrigation System improve water
storage, irrigation
system for
judicious use
(2020)
  Impact of National
Watershed
Project. (2019)
 water-use
efficiency.
 role of micro-
irrigation in
increasing the
water-use
efficiency. (2016)
 Need for Crop
insurance, imp of
PMFBY. (2015)
Post Harvesting Issues–  Main constraunts
Storage, Transport, in transport and
Marketing of Agri marketing of
produce agriculture
produce? (2020)
 Impediments in
marketing and
supply chain
bottleneck? Can E-
commerce help in
overcoming ?
(2015)
 APMC Criticism?
(2014)
Subsidy and Issues  How do subsidies
impact cropping
pattern, crop
diversity, and
economy of
farmers?
Significance of
crop insurance,
MSP, food
processing for
 small-marginal
farmer. (2017)
 Various types of
subsidies offered?
Distortions created
by them?
MSP  What is MSP? How
will it rescue
farmer from low
income trap?
PDS , Issues  Reformative steps
taken by Govt to
make food grain
distribution
system more
effective? (2019)
 Food Security Bill,
WTO? (2013)
E-Technology;  How can
Technology biotechnology
improve the living
standards of
farmers. (2019)
 Various types of
revolutions in
India after
agriculture; how
they helped in
poverty alleviation
and food security.
(2016)
Economic of Animal  Role of National  Fisheries
Rearing; Technology Horticulture  Major Technology
Missions Mission in Missions – Major
boosting points.
horticulture;
(2018).
  Livestock rearing
potential;
measures to
promote this
sector (2015)
 India needs to
promote Pink
Revolution. Critical
Analysis
Food Processing Industry  Challenges and
opportunities of
Food Processing
Industry ? How
increase ↑ by
Food Processing.
(2020)
 Policy by Govt to
meet challenges of
Food Processing
sector (2019)
 Role of
Supermarkets in
SCM? How do they
eliminate
intermediaries?
(2018)
 Reasons of poor
acceptance of
small processing
unit? Importance
of Food Processing
unit in uplifting
socio-economic
status of poor
farmers (2017)
 Should contract
farming and land
 leasing be
promoted due to
decreasing land
holding size?
(2015)
Land Reforms  Role of Land
Reforms in
Agriculture
development.
Factors
responsible for
success of land
reforms in India
(2016)
 Relation b/w land
reform,
agricultural
productivity,
elimination of
poverty. Difficulty
in implementation
of land reforms in
India? (2013)
Misc.  contributions of Sir
M.Visvesvaraya
and Dr. M. S.
Swaminathan in
the fields of water
engineering and
agricultural
science
respectively [can
also relate to role
of Indians in S&T]
(2018)
 Ques on Agri
Finance? (2014)
Definitions :
 Food Security, as per FAO, exists when all people, at all times, have
physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that
meet their dietary needs and to ensure an active and healthy life
 Agricultural marketing system is defined as physical and institutional set
up to perform all activities involved in the flow of products and services
from the point of initial agricultural production until they are in the hands
of ultimate consumers.

Statistics:

Pre-Independence:
 48% of GDP from Agri in 1950—51;
 Grain Production – 51MT (1951) to 285MT (2017-18)
 Yield - ↑d 4 times since 1950 (present – 2070kg/hectare)

 Crops
o NSA- 43% (141mhc)
 Cereals (Rice, Wheat) = ~40%NSA
 Coarse Cereals (Jowar, Bajra,Maize, Ragi, Barley) -16.5%
 Pulses – 13%.
 Oilseeds (Groundnut, Soyabean, Rapeseed, Mustard ,
Sesame)– 20%
 Horticulture – 16%.
o Staple Crops – Gross Cropped Area (GCA) – 77%; Contribution in
Total output (41%) (NITI@75)
o High value crops –GCA-19%; Contribution in Total output(~41%)
o World’s largest producer of pulses and spices. largest area under
wheat, rice, cotton.
o India- Largest exporter of rice in the world; 2nd largest producer of
wheat and rice, after China.

 Growth:
o Avg Annual Growth in Real terms : 2.88% (2014-15 to 2018-19)
o 2012-13 : 1.5%
o 2014-15 : (-0.2%)
o 2016-17 : 4.9%
 o 2018-2019 : 2.9%.
o 2019-2020 : 4%. (Commendable)
o Fisheries sector - continued rapid growth from 4.9 % in 2012-13 to
11.9 % in 2017-18
o Horticulture – 30% of India’s agri. GDP from 8.5% of GCA.
o GCF (gross Capital formation) showing fluctuating trend.

 Share in GVA
o ↓ from 18.2% in 2014-15 to 16.5% in 2019-20

 Employment and Livelihood–

o 45.7% in 2014-15 (5th Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey).
o 50% population will be urban by 2050 (WB). % of workers in total
work force would drop to 25.7% by 2050.
o NSSO 2011 – 20% of agri households with agri. As primary
occupation = BPL

 Crop yield losses = 15-25 % due to pests, weeds, diseases, rodents etc.
India’s per hectare pesticide consumption far less than developed
nations.
 Credit –
o nearly 40% credit still from informal lenders.
o Skewed regional distribution : Low in NE,Eastern,Hilly states;
Highest in southern states.
o Small, marginal (<=2hc) – lesser access to institutional credit. As, a
result, indebtness = major among S,M Farmers => Farmer Suicides.
 R&D - <1% of agri GDP is spent on research.

Land:
 Average farm size(1.15 hectares) ; Half of what was 40 yrs ago ;
predominance of small and marginal farmers (<2hc)
 NSSO 70th Round – min. 1hc land needed to cover consumption
expenditure. (In India – 65% = <1hc)
 Landholding:
o Marginal(<1hc)- 68.5% (Agri Census 2015)
o Small (1-2hc) – 17.7% (Agri Census 2015)
 o Large (>4hc) – 4.3% (Agri Census 2015)
 Mechanization –
o India – largest Tractor industry in world.
o Farm Mechanization – low(40-45%) compared to global standards (
USA-95%, Brazil-75%, China-57%)
o potential to ↑ productivity by 30% and ↓ cost of cultivation by
25%.
 Women In Agriculture:
o Out of total women: 55% agri laborers, 24% cultivators (Census
2011)
o However, gender disparity in ownership of landholding in
agriculture – only 12.7% landholding held by women (even
amongst those – majority in marginal and small holding categories)

Irrigation:
 2.4% land; 18% population; 4% water resources;
 >60% agriculture Rainfed (dependent on Rainfall)
 Area under micro irrigation – grown 2.5 times – in last 4 years. (NITI@75)
 Need : ↑ irrigation coverage to 53% of GCA by 2022-23 (NITI@75).
 Almost 89% of GW in India is extracted for irrigation. By 2050, India will
be global ‘hot-spot’ for water insecurity.
 Water guzzlers (Paddy, Sugarcane), consume 60% of irrigation water.

MSP :
 Only 6% farmers get benefit of MSP. (Shanta Kumar Committee)

Lack of alternative opportunity

 The situation assessment of India reported – 40% of farmers would like
to quit agriculture if alternative opportunities were available.

ALLIED:
  70th round of NSSO – Livestock rearing = principal source of livelihood for
3.7% of agri households.
 4% of GDP and 25% of Agricultural GDP.
 Livestock sector – grown at CAGR of 7.9% in last 5 yrs (ES 2019)

Dairy:
 India –
o One of the largest cattle population in the world. (1st in Buffalo
population, 2nd in cattle population)
o largest producer of milk (188 MMT production in 2018-19)(20% of
World Production)
 All India per-capita availability – 394 grams/day.
 Provides livelihood to 15 crore farmers.

 Small Ruminants – India=

o 16% of world’s goat population, (2nd in world)
o 6.4% sheep (FAO) (3rd in world) (Wool Production – 44 million kg in
2017-18)

Fisheries:
 2nd largest fish producer globally (13.7 MMT in 2018)
 Employment – 16million fishers, fish-farmers at primary level, almost
twice of it along the value chain(ES 2019)
 6.6% of agricultural GDP;
 India = one of the leading seafood exporting nations.
 65% - Inland Fisheries.

Poultry
 ~88 billiion (2016-17) (66 per person)

Food Processing Industry:

 2016 – Contribution – 8% to India’s GDP through manufacturing.
 Last 6 yrs(till 2017-18) – annual avg. growth – 5.06% ;
 Employment – As per, ASI 2016-17: Registered – 18.5lakhs ; Unregistered
– 51lakh workers.
Agricultural Exports:
 India’s share in global agri exports – 2.2%
 Ranks at 10th in world.
 Export – 13% of agri GDP
 agricultural exports grew at 9% compared to China (8%), Brazil (5.4%) and
US (5.1%) (2007-2016)
 Key Exports – cereals, fruits, vegetables, processed food etc. Marine
products + meat + rice = 52% of total agri exports.

NFSA :
 Covering 80crore people
 Food subsidy : risen substantially : 60K crore in 2009-10 TO 1.7lakh crore
in 2018-19;

Keywords
 Agripreneurs
 Annadata to urjadata (In context of PM-KUSUM Scheme, used in Budget
2020)
 Burgeoning food subsidy bill
 Climate Smart Agriculture
 DFI by 2022;
 Farmgate to Fork & Plough to Plate.
 Feminization of Agriculture.
 Hidden Hunger
 Indian Agriculture in ICU – Irregular, Cyclical, Uncertain and unevenly
distributed Monsoon
 Lab to Land
 Labour Augmenting Technological process, Capital Augmenting
Technological process (for Farm Mechanization)
 Land productivity to Water Productivity.
 Net water exporter (uses 2x-4x water to produce unit of crop, compared
to China, Brazil)
 Per drop more crop
 Plateauing yields.
  Technology Fatigue.
 Viable, profitable , sustainable agriculture (VPS)
 Water guzzlers (Paddy, Sugarcane)
 ‘Banks on hooves’ (Livestock considered , because of risk coverage they
provide)

Conclusion Type/Good Phrases

 sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas” will not be possible unless
agriculture performs in a sustained manner at around 4 per cent per
annum, if not more.
 Doubling Farmer Income – shift of focus from production centric
approach(tonnage) to incomes(farmer centric)
 By the mid-1960s, hit by back-to-back droughts, India had to fall back on
PL480 imports of wheat from the US and the country was labeled as a
“ship to mouth” economy.
 The government has surely shown a willingness to walk the right path and
deserves compliments.
 Need: shift from the philosophy of ‘green revolution led’ productivity to
‘green methods’ led sustainability in agriculture
 The main objectives of food management are procurement of foodgrains
from farmers at remunerative prices, distribution of foodgrains to
consumers at affordable prices and maintenance of food buffers for food
security and price stability.
 ‘X’ makes a good move towards/promoting ‘Y’
 Agriculture plays a pivotal role in providing livelihood, ensuring food
security, reducing poverty and sustaining growth.
Theme – Crops and Cropping Pattern
Cropping pattern refers to proportion of area under different crops at different
points of time. It also indicates the time and spatial arrangement or sequence of
crops.

depends on various factors related to:

Geography – Soil and climatic parameters, Resource, disease and Pest, Ecological
Suitability, Moisture Availability
Social - Condition of households, Literacy, • Financial Stability
Economic - Infrastructure facilities, Pricing Structure, Size of the Land Holding,
Technology

Categories of Crops
• Based on End Usage: Food crops, cash crops, Plantation crops, Horticulture
crops
• Based on Seasons: Kharif season, Rabi season, Zaid
Kharif- June-September ; Rice, Cotton, Bajra, Maize, Jowar, Tur
Rabi – October to March ; Wheat, Gram, Rapeseeds and Mustard, Barley
Zaid – April to June ; Vegetables, Fruits, Fodder
Rice Region  Rice-Jute-Tea in Assam Valley, north-west
Bengal and lower Gangetic plains.
 Rice-Pulses-Millets in central Bihar, eastern
Madhya Pradesh and eastern Uttar Pradesh
 Rice-Millets in entire Andhra Pradesh,
southern Orissa and some parts of Tamil
Nadu.
 Rice-Coffee-Spices in southern extremity of
Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Wheat Region  Wheat-Maize-Sugarcane in West Uttar
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.
 Wheat-Jowar-Bajra in Indus Plain covering
Punjab and Haryana.
 Wheat-Jowar-Bajra in Vindhyan scarp land
and Malwa Bundelkhand plateau.
Jowar-Bajra  Jowar-Cotton in Maharashtra.
 Jowar-Cotton-Oilseeds-Millets in Karnataka
and Maharashtra.
 Jowar-Wheat in entire Rajasthan, Haryana
and some parts of Uttar Pradesh.
 Bajra-Jowar-Pulses in Rajasthan desert and
semi-desert areas.
Cotton Region  Cotton-Jowar-Bajra grows in close
association with one another in the
Maharashtra and Western Madhya Pradesh.
 Cotton-Oilseeds combination developed in
Gujarat.
 Cotton-Pulses-Rice region developed in
Narmada banks and Eastern Gujarat.
Millet Maize Region  dominates in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and
Madhya Pradesh.
 Ragi in South of Karnataka.
Maize based cropping Rice-maize has emerged a potential maize-based
systems cropping system in peninsular and eastern India.
Fruit and Spices Region ‘Duns’ and valleys in the Himalayas, foothills of
Nilgiri, Annamalai, Palni and Cardamom hills in
Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Pattern –
 skewed towards Rice and Wheat based
 Dominance of food crops, in that cereals.
 Horticulture significant growth.
  Pulses, Millets struggling.
 Importance of Kharif Crops ↓ing
 Affect of Climate Vagaries : Eco Survey - Unirrigated areas will be affected
more than irrigated areas.
Pulses cultivation in India
Background:
 India produces a quarter of all pulses in the world and consumes 27% —
more than any other.
 India is also the largest importer of pulses.
 Madhya Pradesh is a major pulse-producing state, caters 32% of total
production.
 A large number of pulses are grown across multiple agro-climatic zones:
o Kharif: Arhar (pigeonpea ); urad (black gram); moong (green gram);
barbati (cow pea), lathyrus.
o Rabi: gram; pea; ramjash masoor (lentil).
o Zaid (summer): urad; moong; cow pea.
 Huge demand: The annual consumption of pulses in India currently is
about 26 million tonnes and will reach 39 million tonnes by 2050.
Importance of pulses:
1. Pulse as a Source of Nutrients: Cheapest source of dietary protein.
 Low fat/high complex carbohydrate content.
 Reduction of plasma cholesterol
 Colonic bacterial fermentation
 Phytochemical content.
2. Pulses and soil health:
 Active biological N fixation.
 Conserving and improving physical properties of soil by virtue of
their deep root system.
 Add considerable amount of organic matter through leaf and flower
fall.
3. Pulses and Water Management: When grown as a cover crop, pulses help
in minimizing water loss through soil runoff, recharging soil profile, and
consequently reduce flood hazards.
 4. Pulses for Multiple Cropping: Eg. Early pigeonpea-wheat and wheat-
mungbean in north India.
5. Pulses in Intercropping: Amenable to intercropping with cereals, millets,
oilseeds and even pulses.
6. Export potential: Pulses such as kabuli gram, bold seeded lentil, rajmash,
green peas, etc. have export market, particularly in Arabian and European
countries.
7. Pulses as Fodder and Concentrate.
India’s pulses challenge:
1. Stagnation of production over the past five decades: Production of pulses
grew only by 45% from 1951 to 2008, while wheat production grew by
320% and rice by 230%.
 Though production of pulses has risen in the past decade — by 65%
between 2009-10 and 2020-21, over-all growth is not enough to
meet domestic demand.
2. Productivity problem: The average yield of all pulses is about 660 kg /
hectare compared to the world average of 909 kg / hectare.
3. Shift towards food grains: Gangetic plains quit pulses for other crops
around 1990 because of:
 MSP and incentives in favour of food grains.
 Improvement in irrigation facilities.
 High yield of wheat at 3,000-4,000 kg per ha as against the 800 kg
per ha yield of pulses.
 Acreage of chana in northern and eastern states decreased from 4.2
million ha to 0.8 million ha between 1960 and mid-2000.
4. Shifts in agriculture: In the past six years, sowing for kharif season has
remained below normal in six major pulses-producing states of Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh.
5. Agro-climatic constraints: More than 87% of pulses are grown under
rainfed condition.
6. Pulses being replaced by soyabean: Area under soyabean in India was
60,000 ha in 1980-81, which increased to 11.8 million ha in 2019-20.
7. Research gap: Either crops for agro-climatic zones of India not produced
or fail to reach end cultivators.
 8. Policy gap: Procurement infrastructure and capacity in pulses limited.
 Capped procurement: Eg. At 25% of production for pulses whereas
there is no limit for wheat/rice.
9. Restrictive policies: Eg. The Essential Commodities Act, 1955, fixed a limit
of 200 tonnes for storage of pulses on wholesalers, which is too less.
 Frequently changing export/import rules creates market
uncertainties.
Way forward:
1. Pulses’ inclusion under PDS: Could help fight malnutrition and encourage
farmers to grow more pulses.
2. Streamline procurement processes: Resolve issues like NAFED gives very
little time to farmers to supply pulses, complicated registration process
etc.
3. National Pulses Development Project should be reviewed and an action
plan prepared to increase the production of pulses.
4. Improve the seed quality and ensure that they reach the farmers in proper
quantity.
 The National Seed Corporation Ltd needs to expand to core areas.
 Seed replacement rate (SRR) shall be raised adequately (Currently
35%, chould be 42% atleast).
5. Implement “farm to fork” strategy to dilute the link between farmers and
consumers and supply food straight from the farm to the plate.
6. Encourage private investment into pulses value chain: Corporate houses
shall be encouraged to increase investment in infrastructure development.

Horticulture in India

Horticulture is the science, art, as well as business of cultivating vegetables, fruits,

flowers, ornamental plants, and herbs.
Classification of horticulture:
1. Olericulture: Science of vegetable growing
that is concerned with production, storage,
processing, along with the marketing of
vegetables.
2. Pomology: Science of food growing that
deals with planting, harvesting, storing,
processing, as well as the marketing of fruit
& nut crops.
3. Ornamental Horticulture: This Segment of Horticulture Comprise two sub-
parts-
 Landscape Horticulture: Production, marketing, along with
maintenance of landscape plants that are beneficial in garnishing
the outdoor/external environment.
 Floriculture: Revolves around production, use, along with marketing
of floral crops.
4. Arboriculture: Cultivation, management, as well as the study of shrubs
useful for ornamental purposes, individual trees, vines, along with
persistent woody plants.
Horticulture in India
 Horticulture accounts for 30% of India’s agricultural GDP from 8.5% of
cropped area.
 As per the 1st Advance Estimates for 2020-21 the total horticulture
production in the country is 326.58 lakh MT from an area of 27.17 lakh ha.
 India’s major exports include onions, mango pulp, fresh mangoes, dried
walnuts, fresh grapes.
 India’s biggest export markets are South Asian & Middle Eastern countries.

Importance of horticulture in India:

1. Source of food and nutrients: Rich source of carbohydrates, vitamins,
minerals and antioxidants.
2. Source of employments, contribution to GDP: Horticulture accounts for
30% of India's agricultural GDP.
 3. Source of Foreign exchange: In FY21, fresh fruits was the leading
horticulture product exported from India based on value of over 56 billion
Indian rupees.
4. Contribution to environment health and mental piece: Pollution control,
check soil erosion etc.
5. Source of fuel, fodder and shelter
6. Source of raw materials for industries
7. Source of herbal medicines

Government initiatives to support horticulture:

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH):

 A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture
sector.
 MIDH provides technical advice and administrative support to State
Governments/ State Horticulture Missions (SHMs) for the Saffron Mission
and other horticulture related activities Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
(RKVY)/NMSA.

Project CHAMAN: Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment &

Management using geoiNformatics in collaboration with ISRO.

National Horticulture Board (NHB): To improve integrated development of

Horticulture industry and to help in coordinating, sustaining the production and
processing of fruits and vegetables.

Challenges before horticulture sector in India:

1. No Minimum Support Price for horticulture products.
2. High input costs compared to food grains cultivation.
3. High price fluctuations.
4. Lack of sound transport network and scarcity of good cold chain storage.
 India's international transportation costs are 20-30% higher than
other countries.
 Indian grapes are 40% cheaper than Chile’s but by the time they
reach the Netherlands, they cost the same.
5. Horticultural export limitations: Limited availability of market intelligence.
 Way forward:
1. Science and technology-led advancement: Eg. Remote sensing technology
like orchard rejuvenation, crop identification, aqua horticulture soil health
mapping.
2. Improvement in quality seeds & plants:
3. Imparting the meaningful education and awareness:
4. Adopt post-harvest management exercises to enhance the value of fruits
in the long run.
5. Value addition in Horticulture crops:
6. Establishing a better long-distance transportation network:
7. Preserved cultivation, hydroponic & aeroponic:

Theme – Water, Irrigation, Irrigation System

(Water as a Resource discussed in GS1 )

1. Surface
a. Flood - Tanks, Canals, wells & tubewells (a) Check Basins (b) Furrow Irrigation
(c) Border
b. Micro - Application of water at low volume at frequent intervals under low
pressure to the plant root zone. Ex - Drip irrigation & Sprinkler. Only 8 ml ha land
in India is under micro-irrigation while potential is 70 ml ha. (a) Drip - Online and
Inline (more cost eff); (b) Sprinkle - Mini and Micro
2. Subsurface - injection of pipes etc on roots. Issue - Expensive, freq blockages,
need to be handled with care. Drip irrigation.

(Data of Diff irrigation – to be updated)

Importance of Irrigation

1. Increase the cropping intensity.

2. Diversification to high value crop.
3. Inc productivity through availability of water and high Water Use efficiency.
4. Resilience. (ES – Unirrigated areas will suffer more due to CC)
5. Food security.
6. All above translates to 2x income.

Issues in Irrigation

1. Subsidisation of water:
2. India net exporter of water: India produce water guzzling crops like rice,
sugarcane. 1 kg of husked rice need 2100 lt of water (In India, 2700 lit. use). India
exports basmati & with it 10 trillion litres of water.
3. Water use efficiency [ratio of volume of water used productively]: Only 38% in
India.
4. Over-dependence on monsoon: esp when monsoon is highly erratic. (~55-60%
area rainfed)
5. Skewed MSP/Procurement regime: It changes the cropping pattern of farmers.
Ex - PJ & HR not rice eating state still leading state in rice production due to high
MSP and open procurement process.
6. Inter-state tensions.
7. Low application of technology despite being associated with Israel.
8. Overexploitation of GW, Declining availability of groundwater – due to Subsidy
offered ; India is the largest extractor of groundwater in the world; Around 90%
GW use is in irrigation.
9. High cost of micro-irrigation

Benefits of Micro Irrigation:

 Water Use Efficiency (WUE)

 Low Energy Costs
 Higher fertilizer-use efficiency (FUE) (through fertigation)
 Reduce Soil Loss
  Improved Crop Quality, Higher Yields
 Reduced Labour Costs
 Marginal Solis & Water
 Efficient & Flexible

Challenges with Micro Irrigation

 High cost of purchase.
 Trampling by elephant, boar, nilgai etc. damages the equipment, but
repairman not available locally and repair costs not covered in crop
insurance -> So less adoption.

Solutions

1. Increasing water productivity: International Rice Research Institute came up

with water saving tech like alternate wetting & drying and rice intensification.
2. Promotion of micro-irrigation (sprinkler, raingun and drip irrigation) - Water
soluble fertilisers can be delivered directly to root system via fertigation reducing
fertiliser usage, associated cost & soil contamination problems. Also, less water
evaporation, less electricity / diesel consumption, and higher yields than
traditional flood irrigation.
3. Agro-Climatic selection of crops: According to study by ISB Hyderabad, if
farmer shifts from growing rice & wheat to other alternatives like cereal, it could
reduce the water demand by 33%.
4. Quantitative ceiling on water use per ha. (political will needed)
5. Conservation tillage: ex Mulching i.e. covering the field so that water
evaporation not take place; reduce transpiration by weeds.
6. Niti & ES 16 suggestions on Irrigation:
(a) ↑ funds for PMKSY;
(b) River-Linking;
(c) Shifting water intensive crops like sugarcane/cereal/grain need to less
water-stressed regions and encourage pulses cultivation in the drought
prone areas;
(d) Encourage micro-irrigation;
(e) Rain water harvesting;
 (f) Watershed Management i.e. building percolation tanks, recharge wells,
etc. with community participation.
7. Decrease water loss through evaporation, run off & deep drainage.
8. Economic Survey 2018-19: Govt should shift its focus from ‘land productivity’
to ‘water productivity’.

Best Practices :

Must use case studies

1. Mission Kakatiya – Telangana: Restoring minor irrigation sources of water
like ponds and tanks.
 Decentralised approach: Public participation in restoration and
maintenance of water resources.
2. Narmada (Sanchore), Rajasthan: Use of micro irrigation technology like
sprinkler and drip irrigation was made mandatory.
 Establishment of integrated irrigation system that comprises of
canal systems, micro irrigation facilities and a network that even
handles the problems of salinity, soil moisture, drainage etc.
3. Root Zone Watering by SWAR (System of Water for Agriculture
Rejuvenation) implemented at Hyderabad.
 SWAR shifts irrigation from surface to measure moisture at plant
root zone.
4. Bhungroo – Ground Water Injection Well: Injects and stores excess rainfall
water underground.

Pani Panchayat – Orissa Water Resource Consolidation Project: To improve the

planning and development process for the state’s water resource; thus
increasing the overall agricultural productivity through investments for
improvement of the existing scheme.

Israel Model: It recycle around 80% of waste water using desalinisation plants &
extensively use drip irrigation tech to master art of sustainable agriculture.
Bangladesh Model: Introduced ‘Direct Dry Seeded Boro Rice’ technology that
increased water efficiency by 50%.
Govt Steps

1. PMKSY (2015): 4 components

a. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Prog - to accelerate the development of pending
irrigation proj;
b. Har Khet ko Pani - creation of new water reservoir, diversion of water from
water abundant to water scarce area;
c. Per Drop More Crop under M/o Agri;
d. Watershed development & mgnt. - Bottom up Approach i.e. Decentralisation
approach

2. Micro-Irrigation Fund: By NABARD under PMKSY

a. Aim - (i) To provide for fin assistance to states on concessional rate of interest;
(ii) Lending rate - 3% lower than normal lending rate of NABARD; (iii) Pan-India
coverage.
b. Challenges - (a) High initial cost of irrigation; (b) Inefficiency in implementation
of sch; (c) Skill barrier in handling & maintenance; (d) Inadequate electricity
supply.
3. National Hydrology Project: Mapping of groundwater aquifers across the
country.
4. E-Tech in aid of farmers - RFID enabled logistics for better tracking, Controlling
the envt in cold storage based on demand.
5. Composite water Management Index by Niti Aayog.

Watershed management
Definition:
Watershed is a topographically delineated area drained by a stream system i.e.
the total land area above some point on a stream or river that drains down slope
to the lowest point.
Watershed management is the process of guiding and organizing use of land and
other resources in the watershed to provide desired goods and services without
adversely affecting soil, water and other natural resources.
Need of Watershed Management
 1. Watershed degradation threatening livelihoods of millions of people:
2. Development of healthy agricultural and natural resource base:
3. Population growth exerts pressure on forests, community lands and
marginal agricultural lands:
4. Socio-economic factors:
5. Improvement of environment by build-up of vegetative cover, reduction of
runoff and soil loss, improvement in livestock milk production policy.

Focus of watershed management:

1. Village common lands as well as private lands.
2. Institutionalised community participation.
3. Sustainable rural livelihood support system.
4. Decentralised planning and decision making.
5. Ridge to valley treatment approach.
6. Integrated and holistic development of watershed unit.

POWER Concept of watershed management:

 P:
1. Production of food-fodder fuel fruit fibres fish milk in sustainable
basis.
2. Pollution control.
3. Prevention of floods.
 O:
1. Over exploitation of resources to be minimized.
2. Operational practicability of all on-farm operations.
 W:
1. Water storage at convenient locations.
2. Wild animal and indigenous plant life conservation.
 E:
1. Erosion control.
2. Eco-system safety.
3. Economic stability.
4. Employment generation.
 R:
1. Rainwater harvesting.
 2. Recharge of groundwater.
3. Reduction of drought hazard.
4. Reduction of siltation in multi-purpose reservoirs.
5. Recreation.
Benefits of watershed management:
1. Controls floods, erosion and sedimentation.
2. Enhances productivity per unit area, per unit time and per unit of water.
3. Increases cropping intensity.
4. Leads to proper utilization of waste lands through alternate land use
systems.
5. Ensures ecological balance.
6. Maximizes income through integrated farming system.
7. Stabilizes income even under unfavourable weather conditions.

Watershed development in India: At present Ministry of Rural Development and

Department of Land Resources, Government of India funding watershed
development programmes under
1. National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA)
2. Watershed Development in Shifting Cultivation Areas (WDSCA)
3. Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP)
4. Desert Development Programme (DDP)
5. Integrated Wasteland Development Project (IWDP)
6. Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)

Issues associated with watershed management in India:

1. Improper watershed management: Limited investments and silos
approach.
2. Challenge in equitable sharing of benefits among stakeholders: Eg.
Women, marginal farmers and landless laborers gain very little.
3. Many a times, common lands do not get treated adequately and re-
vegetation does not take place as expected.
4. New crops problems: Due to improper understanding of the interaction
between biophysical and socio-economic processes.
5. Conflict among various government ministries.
6. Hard to conduct meaningful impact assessment studies.
Case studies:
1. Watershed Development in Ralegaon Siddhi, Maharashtra: Leadership of
Anna Hazare turned once poverty stricken Ralegaon Siddhi into a self-
sufficient village.
 Two percolation tanks, thirty nullah bunds, eighty-five wells, and
eight borewells, farmers now grow two or three crops every year.
2. Johad – Watershed in Alwar District of Rajasthan: Revived a traditional
technology to restore the ecological balance of the region.
3. Integrated Micro Watershed Development Programme of N.M. Sadguru
Water and Development Foundation in Gujarat Village:
 All tribal village, intensive focus on eco-friendly agri-practices.
4. All- Woman Watershed Committee in MP Village:
 Led by Sita Bai, initiative under Rajiv Gandhi Watershed
Management Mission.
 Women’s Self Help Groups protect 5.5 lakh trees planted on
community and Government land.
Theme - Storage, Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce and Issues and
Related Constraints

Agricultural marketing system is defined as physical and institutional set up to

perform all activities involved in the flow of products and services from the point
of initial agricultural production until they are in the hands of ultimate consumers.
It includes all activities like procurement, grading, sorting, transporting and selling
the agriculture produce.

Background
In post independent India, despite abolition of zamindari, farmers were not
‘liberated’ from exploitation cos goons of local bainya/moneylender (often
forcibly) take away the produce to recover their dues w/o adequate
compensation to farmer. To address this nuisance, state govt began enacting
laws to provide ‚1st sale of agriculture produce can occur only at the
government notified market yards only‛. Such laws are known as 'APMC Acts'
under which APMCs are formed responsible for operation of local mandis.

Issues
 APMC issues
o Market Segmentation – Monopoly of APMCs -> reduces buyer
competition
o each farmer confined to single mkt in many products -> representing
huge inefficiency
o Poor price discovery : due to lack of commodity futures, market price
fluctuations, information asymmetry, cartelization.
o Intermediation
 Multiple taxes – entry , exit fees
 Farmers get only fraction of what consumer pays (15-40% , as
per Ashok Dalwai Committee). Consumers pay high prices.
(Artificial inflation is created)
  Missing credit markets, lack of storage, high transportation &
processing costs add to the retail-farmgate gap. (especially in
fruits, vegetables), thus, substantial wastage occurs.
 Poor vertical integration.
o Grading Issues – very less grading facilities – leaving purchaser with
confidence lack.
o Lack of storage and cold chain facilities.
 Demand-supply issues – Marketing infra at present unable to convey end
consumer demand, leading to surplus of some and deficit of some
commodities.
 These fragmented marketing infrastructure lead to escalation in the cost of
prices and prevents the farmer from getting remunerative prices. Post-
harvest losses: This happens due to fragmented markets, lack of access to
proper storage, poor transport facilities
 High Spatial Price Dispersion: In India, ratio of the highest/lowest price of a
commodity (a measure of price dispersion)(Economic Survey 2015-16) – is
thrice than US. This indicates that markets are not well integrated and
logistics cost is high.
 Price fluctuation – in areas where MSP procurement isn’t adequate.
 Contract Farming related issues (discussed later)
 State Subject - so, no uniformity. Model APMC yet to be implemented.
Importance :

 Efficient way for farmers to dispose off their surplus produce at fair price.
 ↑ market exposure
 ↑ price realisation
 Help farmer deal with market forces.
 Support to farmers not conversant to market forces.
 Other common points of importance of FPI – exports, preventing wastage,
nutrition security etc.

Steps Taken:
1. E-NAM
a. Objective : connect the existing 580+ APMC mandis across India
through a web portal, thus enabling interstate and intrastate (within
state) trade of agricultural commodities.
b. Managed by SFAC (under MoAFW)
c. Mechanism
i. Single license to be valid across state
ii. Single point levy of mkt. fee
iii. E-auction as a mechanism for price discovery
d. Benefits
i. promotes uniformity, streamlining of procedures across the
integrated markets
ii. remove the information asymmetry between buyers and
sellers
iii. help in real time price discovery based on actual demand and
supply. Allows farmers to access a nationwide market with
prices commensurate with quality of his produce.
iv. promotes transparency in auction process.
v. availability of better quality produce and at more reasonable
prices to the consumer.
e. Challenges
i. Only 16 states have so far connected their mandis with the
web portal.
ii. Many APMC mandis lack in quality-check labs for grading of
the commodities before online auction- so buyers hesitant to
purchase.
iii. Delays in the actual delivery.
iv. States finding it difficult to convince all stakeholders like
farmers, traders and commission agents to move to the online
platform
v. Lack of technical expertise and internet facility at the State
Agricultural Departments
f. Reforms –
i. 3rd party assaying & quality certification mechanisms
ii. dispute settlement mechanisms
 iii. systems for forwarding goods to buyers etc….only then both
buyer and seller can trade confidently.

2. Model APMC Act 2003

a. Farmers need not bring produce to Mandi -> can sell directly but since it
was a model act states not incorporate the provisions.
b. Exporters/Processors/Traders etc can buy from farmers directly.
c. APMC was mandated to maintain transparency in pricing system and
transactions.
d. PPP in management and development of agriculture market.
e. Kept contract farming out of the purview of APMC.
f. Standardisation of quality by state govt.
g. Abolition of commission agent system.
h. Limitations: (a) States reluctant to change; (b) Even if sold outside APMC,
mandatory to pay mandi fee; (c) Agriculture being state subj, only state
govt can reform archaic laws

3. Agriculture Produce & Livestock Marketing (Promotion & Facilitation) Act,

2017
a. Aim - To liberalise trade in farm produce and Better price realisation for
farmers.
b. Features - (i) Single market within state i.e. One state, one market; (ii)
Allowed private wholesale market; (iii) Direct sale by farmers to bulk
buyers; (iv) E-trading; (v) Cap on market fee and commission - 2% of sale
price for food & vegetables and 1% for grains; (vi) Deregulation of
perishables; (vii) Create a national market with a provision of inter-state
market license for trading.
c. Aims to promote competitiveness by breaking existing monopolies.
4. Export Policy (Discussed later)

Way Forward :

1. Single market for each state eventually maturing into one nation, one market -
Farmer needs to pay fee only once unlike current scenario where he needs to pay
multiple times whenever they switch to diff market.
2. Entry of Pvt Players -> competency & efficiency → infra.
3. Cap on fee commission.
4. Keeping contact & processing outside APMC.
5. Bring ‘Market’ in concurrent list.
6. ES 16 & Niti Aayog –
(a) Replace APMC ‘licensed’ intermediary system with open registration
backed by bank guarantees, so that entrepreneurs w/o political clout, can
also enter this game;
(b) Non-APMC registered buyers should have right to setup alternate
market place & buy produce directly from farmer -> competition ->
lucrative price for farmer;
(c) Govt should allow for 'aggregators' to collect produce from small &
marginal farmers;
(d) encourage contract farming;
(e) exempting perishables from APMC.

Theme – Direct, Indirect Subsidies and Minimum Support Prices.

Subsidy -> benefit given to an individual, business, or institution, usually by the
government. Can be in cash or kind. To promote a social good or an economic
policy

Direct subsidy: government transfers money to the ultimate beneficiary

Example: Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG

Benefits of Direct Subsidy:

• Better targeting, reducing pilferages.

• ↓ transportation and storage costs
• delivered immediately to the beneficiary accounts.
• Increases choices of spending
• Easier do to after PMJDY and ↑ financial inclusion.
Issues of Direct Subsidy:
• Lack of Awareness
• accessibility to banking services in rural areas is very poor.
• IT Infrastructure
• Not protected during inflation

Indirect subsidy do not involve any direct transfers , but in form of price
reduction, welfare mechanisms, cheaper credits, insurance facilities, farm loan
waivers, etc. Example: PDS subsidy.

Benefits of indirect subsidies:

• Targeted development: development of priority areas which are not developed.

Issues of Indirect Subsidies:

• Not progressive: Mostly beneficial to the big players as the poor and
unorganized depend on cash and have less access to formal channels.
• Skewed: Indirect subsidies is one of the reasons why Indian agriculture has
become cereal centric, regionally biased, and input intensive.
• Trade distorting: Sometimes they also tend to distort the trade at national as
well as globallevel.(Amber Box Subsidy issue)

Types of Agricultural Subsidies in India:

1. Input subsidies: The can be granted through distribution of inputs at prices that
are less than the standard market price for these inputs.
(a) Fertilizer subsidy: Distribution of cheap chemical or non-chemical fertilizers
among the farmers.
o Issue – skewed NPK ratio due to Urea being largest procured ((6.7) :
(2.4) : 1 in the country as against their desirable ratio of 4:2:1.); Issues
of Eutrophication ; Black marketing in Nepal; Damage to soil; Issue of
water pollution; Fertilizer subsidies are generally cornered by the
manufacturers and the rich farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western UP.
(b) Irrigation Subsidy – Issues of GW exploitation, salinity, alkalinity ; Misuse of
water; Issue of WUE (Discussed in detail) ; Water extracted from deep inside
earth has shown contamination of Arsenic and other heavy metals.
(c) Power Subsidy – issue of power crisis in other sectors; energy crisis.
(d) Seed Subsidies
(e) Credit Subsidy- promotes misuse of money for non-capital investment ;
embed incentives for fraud, diversion, and waste.

2. Price Subsidy: It is the difference between the price of food-grains at which FCI
procures foodgrains from farmers, and the price at which FCI sells either to
traders or to the PDS.
3. Others – infra subsidies, export subsidies etc.

Issues -
 Fiscal deficit
 Reduced Capital investment
 Poor targeting – inclusion, exclusion errors
 Misuse of resources – land , water, power, soil etc.
 Can direct Cropping pattern towards monoculture- MSP procurement for
Rice-wheat in North-western India.

Solutions
 JAM-DBT
 Separate agriculture feeder network (under DDUGJY). This separate
agriculture feeder will supply electricity only for a few hours a day. The
process has shown positive results in arresting decline of ground water
levels in Gujarat.
 Creating awareness among farmers, increasing penetration of soil
health card scheme, promoting organic farming and innovative products
like neem-coated urea will go a long way to check the issue.
 Crop diversification by including more crops under MSP, Mission
on Integrated Development of Horticulture, Organic and Cooperative
farming, food processing, mixed farming, Direct Benefit Transfer.
 Alternatives to price interventions that have similar advantages
of targeting beneficiaries must be explored and tried. For instance, Price
deficiency payments are a substantial improvement on procurement-based
price supports.
 Credit subsidies would be better spent in strengthening the credit
infrastructure and rural banking.
PM KISAN

WF
1. Technology Choices for Farmers: It is realised that the adoption of
technology for resolving liquidity issues is just one cog in the wheel. Knowledge
and extension support is also needed to bring about adoption.
2. Digitisation of land records - is the key to the success of the scheme.

BP
1. KALIA Scheme of Odisha: direct cash transfer of ₹5000 for a farm family over
five seasons.
2. Rythu Bandhu Scheme of Telangana: provides ₹4000 per acre to each
farmer.

PM-KISAN has the potential to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty and
low income of farmers and provide thrust towards achieving goal of doubling
farmers income by 2022.
 MSP

MSP - minimum price set by the government for certain

agricultural products, at which the products would directly be bought from the
farmers if the open market prices are less than the cost incurred.

 announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing

season.
 takes into account a variety of factors like cost of production, changes in
input prices, input-output price parity, demand and supply, and other
micro-level and macro-level data and aggregates at the district, state and
country levels to determine the MSP for the season

Objectives/Benefits :
 Remunerative, stable price and income for farmer.
 To help him purchase enough for inputs for next season
 Protects them against informal money lenders.
 adequate supply of stock for PDS in Fair price shops. (food security –
accessibility)
 insurance against the vagaries of price volatility, climate change.
 Helps them make informed sowing choices about crops, Evolving a prod
pattern which is in line with the overall need of the economy
(diversification)

 To ensure stability of supply for the next seasons.

3 Types of Cost
1. A2 - Actual cost paid by farmer for purchase of various inputs like seeds,
fertilisers, pesticides, hired labour, rent of land, machinery, etc.
2. A2 + FL - Cost of unaccounted family labour
3. C2 - Includes notional cost of rent of own land, notional interest on own
capital

Swaminathan said that MSP needs to be 50% higher than the C2 cost. However,
Govt prov 1.5 times of MSP at A2 stating that C2 is v.high & will not be feasible
for them to set MSP 50% more than C2 as it might lead to inflation.

Issues
1. Low MSP (not cover cost of farmers); (A2+FL where as Swaminathan
Committee had recommended C2.)
2. Poor awareness level; (NITI – 10%)
3. Delay in MSP payment;
4. Poor facilities at procurement centre;
5. Low involvement of state in deciding price;
6.distorts the market because the government procurement agencies buy 70-80
percent of
wheat and rice by forcing out private players.
7. Procurement excessively focus on the wheat, rice and sugarcane leading to
distorted cropping pattern & depletion of water res & water degradation;
8. Not cover perishables;
9. Aggravates backwardness of eastern states.

Way Forward :
NITI Aayog :

 ↑ awareness and timely dissemination of info to the lower level;

 Timely payment; MSP should be announced well in advance of the sowing
season;
 Need for meaningful consideration with state govt on methodology of
computation of MSP as well as the implementation mechanism;
 Criteria to fix MSP should be current yrs data and not based on historical
data;
 Improvement facilities at procurement centres like drying yards, waying
bridges, toilets etc; more godowns to be setup for better storage facilities.
 Shanta Kumar Committee recommendations.
 PM-AASHA
Other Price Support Schemes

1. Price Support Scheme [PSS] for oil seeds, pulses and cotton - a] Under NAFED
(FCI specialised in procuring food grains); b] Implemented on request of states;
c] Aim is to prov remunerative prices to growers when price fall below MSP.
2. MIS (Market Intervention Sch): a] NAFEA primary procurement agency; b]
For perishable agri & horticulture commodities not covered under MSP; c] At
the request of the state govt only. State govt bear 50% burden with the centre
(For NE 7:25); d] Either prod up by 10% or market price down by 10% - Only
then MIS can be invoked.
3. Price Stabilisation Fund: a] Set up in 2014-15 under Dept of Consumer Affairs
from 2016 (Earlier M/o Agriculture) to curb price fluctuation in pulse price exp
during that time; b] To regulate price volatility of impt agri & horticulture crops
like onion, tomatoes & pulses; c] Prov for maintaining strategic buffer of these
commodities for subsequent calibrated release to
 Theme - Public Distribution System - Objectives, Functioning, Limitations,
Revamping; Issues of Buffer Stocks and Food Security

PDS = a food security system which inclydes within its fold a government-
sponsored chain of Fair price shops entrusted with the work of distributing basic
food and non-food commodities to the needy sections of the society at very
cheap prices.

Why Procurement - (i) To run PDS; (ii) Maintain Buffer Stock i.e. for emergency
situation; (iii) Price Stabilisation; (iv) Nutritional Needs - MDM/ICDS.

Objectives :
 provide essential consumer goods at subsidized prices to the consumers.
 protect the low income groups by guaranteeing the supply of certain
minimum quantities of food grains at affordable price.
 Ensuring equitable distribution.
 minimum nutritional status
 Controlling inflation and prices.

Evolution :

June, 1997, the Government of India launched the Targeted Public Distribution
System (TPDS) with a focus on the poor. Under TPDS, beneficiaries were divided
into two categories:
 Households below the poverty line or BPL; and Households above the
poverty line or APL.
 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): AAY was a step in the direction of making
TPDS aim at reducing hunger among the poorest segments of the BPL
population.

(When PDS was first introduced, it was a universal entitlement scheme. In 1997,
it was changed into the Targeted PDS. Unlike most states in the country, Tamil
Nadu retained the Universal PDS,providing subsidised food grains to the entire
population. Its PDS success story has been inspirational.)

National Food Security Act, 2013 – (Rights Based approach)

 Priority households - 3 kg for wheat, Rs.2 kg for rice, Rs.1 kg for coarse
grains.
 General - 50% of minimum support price (MSP).
 Pregnant and lactating women- Free meal during pregnancy and 6
months thereafter, and Rs.1000
per month for 6 months.
 Free meal at local anganwadi (6 months to 6 years); Mid-day meal at
school (6 to 14 years).

Functioning:
● The existing TPDS operates through a multi-level process in which the Centre
and states share responsibilities.
● The Centre is responsible for procuring or buying food grains, such as wheat
and rice from farmers at a minimum support price.
● It also allocates the grains to each state on the basis of a formula.
● Within the total number of poor in each state, state governments are
responsible for identifying eligible households.

The Centre transports the grains to the central depots in each state.
After that, each state government is responsible for delivering the allocated food
grains from these depots to each ration shop.
The ration shop is the end point at which beneficiaries buy their food grains
entitlement.
Limitations:
 Storage Issues:
o shortfall in storage capacity, incidents of rotting food grains. But
procurement is increasing. (CAG)
o Imbalances in availability of storage capacity across states: On the
one hand, there is a shortage of space in consuming states, such as
Rajasthan and Maharashtra, while on the other hand, a major
portion of total storage capacity is concentrated in states
undertaking large procurement such as Punjab, Haryana, Andhra
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
 Quality of food grains
 Leakages in PDS: 40-60% of PDS gains siphoned off to black markets as per
NSSO 2011.
 Procurement Issues –
o Huge Buffer Stock with FCI due to open-ended procurement.
o Limited to certain crops like rice, wheat -> cereal centricity of
farming in India.
o confined to North western and Southern states.
o Post-Harvest loss of grains in transportation.
 o FCI stored double the grains that prescribed under buffer limits
which has led to inflation & losses (cos FCI not have enough infra to
store → rot).
o As per Shantakumar Committee, only 6% of farmers could sell
produce to govt. while others are either unaware or lack of access of
MSP .
 Huge Fiscal burden of subsidy - rising on account of increase in
procurement prices and other costs (distribution cost, carrying cost, etc.)
and also due to inefficiencies caused by highly centralised and bureaucratic
mode of operations.
 Identification Issues – inclusion, exclusion errors (Economic Survey,
Shanta Kumar committee) (Ghost Card Holders)
 Limited benefits to poor from PDS: Both Rural and Urban poor have not
benefited much
from PDS and their dependence on the open market has been much higher
than on PDS.
 Urban Bias: For quite a longer period of time, PDS remained limited mostly
to urban areas.
Although, there has been expansion of PDS in rural areas now, but its
effectiveness in terms of timely and adequate availability remains under
question.
 Inflation – due to ↓ supply -> net quantities available in open market
reduce. This leads to increase in Price. This dual market system i.e. PDS and
Open market operates to the disadvantages of poor, especially those who
are excluded from the food security system.
 Corruption in the system.

Revamping:
• Digitization of Ration Cards , seeding with Aadhar (56% of the digitised cards
have been seeded , resulting in -
• Better targeting of beneficiaries
• Removal of duplicate and ghost beneficiaries

Computerisation of FPS allocation , declaration of stock balance, issuance of

web-based truck challans. allows for quick and efficient tracking of transactions
• Tamil Nadu implements a universal PDS, such that every household is entitled
to subsidized food grains.
 States such as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have implemented IT
measures to streamline TPDS, through the digitization of ration cards, the use
of GPS tracking of delivery, and the use of SMS based monitoring by citizens.
 Many states have also installed ePOS (electronic point of sale) devices at the
fair price shops
 DBT: Three UTs-Chandigarh, Puducherry and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have
implemented DBT on a pilot basis.
 Recent – One Nation One Ration Card.

Way Forward:
● Direct Benefit Transfer as recommended by Shanta Kumar Committee.
● Local procurement: This could reduce large scale movement of food grains
thereby reducing transportation costs and leakages.
● Aadhar related issues need to be addressed: Authentication failure, lack of
connectivity, biometric issues shouldn’t lead to exclusion.
● Grievance Redressal and Social Audit of PDS.
● To enhance the nutritional level of masses, bio-fortified foods need to be
distributed through the PDS.
● Options like Food Coupons could be used for reducing corruption and bring
portability.
● Participation of SHGs, cooperatives and NGOs to ensure the transparency of
PDS system at ground level.
 Negotiable warehouse receipt system (NWRs) should be taken up on priority
and scaled up
quickly.

ShantaKumar Committee Recommendations

1. Outsource procurement in good states.

2. Procurement payment reforms - use of negotiable warehouse receipt (farmer
deposit their food grain in exchange of receipt which can be used as a collateral
to get loan for sowing for next season) as payment is delayed most of the times.
3. If state govt gave bonus over MSP then they should bear the burden and FCI
should not procure more than the prescribed limits from those states.
 4. One Nation-One Fee.
5. Buffer Stock Reforms - (i) Proactive liquidation; (ii) Maintain foodgrain + forex
(for import).
6. Storage Reform - (i) Gradual outsourcing of storage by FCI to CWC, SWC and
private players on competitive bidding; (ii) Use of Silos for scientific storage in
place of cover; (iii) End to End Computerisation; (iv) Transport in containers &
not gunny bags to reduce losses.
7. Post procurement give 6 month ration to beneficiaries - reduce storage
requirement.
8. Transport Reform - (i) Use container not gunny bags; (ii) improve night
security at rail points; (iii) use inland waterways wherever possible.
9. DBT to farmers - pay per hectare.
10. Curtail National Food Security Act 2013 - max coverage 40% (currently 67-
70% - too much & govt can't afford it).

Steps taken :
PM-AASHA [PM Annadara Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan]:
1. Aim - (a) To plug gap in procurement sys; (b) Address issue in MSP sys; (c) Give
better returns to farmers.
2. 3 components - State have choice to choose to compensate their farmers.

a. Price Support Scheme - Procurement done by central agencies like FCI, NAFED.
They physically procure pulses, oil seeds & copra.
b. Price Deficiency Payment - It entails no procurement but difference is paid
between the MSP & actual selling price to farmers.
c. Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme - It allows private players to procure
crops at MSP when market price drop below MSP & later compensated by the
govt. It provide quick fix for govt incapacity to provide proper infra.

3. Significance: (a) Innovative MSP + approach to the problem of non-

remunerative prices; (b) Insure crop diversification; (c) Saving for the centre; (d)
Better price realisation by farmer.
4. Issues –
 privatisation of procurement
  Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana, Price Deficiency Scheme of MP led to trade
cartelisation wherein prices are set artificially low to get better price
difference;
 Not addresses structural bottlenecks and only provide bandage solution; d]
may lead to market distortion.

One Nation One Ration Card:

identify beneficiary through biometric authentication on electronic Point of Sale
(ePoS) devices installed at FPS. Under this, a migrant will be allowed to buy
maximum of 50% of family quota. This is to ensure that the individual, after
shifting to another place does not buy the entire family quota in one go.

Benefits of ONORC
• intra-state as well as inter-state portability of ration cards benefitting inter/intra
state migrants
• Remove bogus ration card holders through an integrated online system.
• Control rising food subsidy bill by preventing leakages etc.

Challenges :
• Technological issues
 Aadhaar authentication, which is pending (around 15%)
 e-PoS machines – low especially in states like Bihar, West Bengal
 Internet connectivity and reliability
• Poor quality of rural electrification
• Huge gap in data on patterns of domestic migration-
• Centre state relations- may be seen encroachment on state subjects. Thus,
cooperative federalism needed.
• Disincentivizing provisions for local food habits and needs: Some states, in
current system, distribute iodised salt, spices, and pulses, among others, as per
their capacity and local needs. As burden of eligible
beneficiaries will be different for every state (based on in/out migration), new
system may disincentivize states from diversifying diets of local people.
Buffer Stocks:
• Buffer stock refers to a reserve of a commodity that is used to offset price
fluctuations and unforeseen emergencies. Buffer stock is generally maintained for
essential commodities and necessities like food grains, pulses etc.

Objectives:
• PDS requirements
• Meeting emergency situations arising out of unexpected crop failure, natural
disasters, etc.
• Price stabilization or market intervention to augment supply so as to help
moderate the open market prices.

Issues:
• Buffer stocks increasing gradually, almost twice the minimum prescribed
amount leading to inflation.
• Rather than maintaining buffer stock to achieve food security, excess stock was
generally due to export bans and open ended procurements.
• Liquidation of excess stocks in open markets -> extremely slow and ad-hoc
causing market distortion.
• Even after maintaining enough reserves of pulses the price rice couldn't be
addressed completely which was seen earlier this year as pulses prices shot up.

Food Security – To be updated.

 Technology Missions

1. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture : Bee keeping also

promoted in it. One of MIDH sub-mission is ‘Coordinated Programme on
Horticulture Assessment and Management using ‘geo-informatics’ (Project
CHAMAN) to use space technology / remote sensing data to assess the
horticulture production & diseases in India. 2018: Phase-II of Chaman launched.

2. National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to increase production of rice, wheat,

pulses, millets (coarse cereals) and commercial crops & restore soil fertility.
a. 2018 declared as “National Year of Millets”, UN & FAO accepted India’s
proposal to celebrate 2023 as International Year of Millets

Because, millets are tolerant to drought, climate change, photo insensitive; need
less water, provide nutritious elements in poor families’ diet.
So, Govt create two sub-missions.
i. NFSM on Makka and Jau.
ii. NFSM on Nutri-Cereals - Jowar, Bajra, Ragi and little millets like Kutki, Kodo,
Sawa, Kangni and Cheena.

b. NFSM has another sub-mission: National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm
to augment the availability of vegetable oils and to reduce the import of edible
oils. Associated term: Yellow Revolution.

3. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture to encourage organic manures,

bio fertilizers, cropping practices for soil and moisture conservation measures;
Rainfed Area Development (RAD) programme.

a. Subscheme: National Bamboo Mission (NBM) to augment the income of

farmers.
Further, Indian Forest Act, 1927 was amended to exclude bamboo from the
definition of ‘trees’. This will encourage bamboo grown outside forest area
without interference from Forest Department.

4. Sub-mission on Agriculture Extension: farmers training & skill development

with more use of electronic / print media, mobile apps and ICT tools, etc.
5. National e-Governance Plan on Agriculture: to enhance reach of extension
services- about cropping methods, market prices etc. to the farmers.

6. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material - to promote new technologies in

seed production, processing, storage, certification and quality etc.

7. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) To

increase the availability of farm machines to small and marginal farmers. e.g.
‘Custom Hiring Centres’ where they can rent the machines without spending
money on individual ownership. encourage R&D for small-sized machineries for
small landholdings, hill-areas etc.

8. Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine

To minimize the damage by insect pests, diseases, weeds, rodents, etc. and to
shield our agricultural biosecurity from alien species.

9. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics

For data collection which can be used for R&D and policy making.

10. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation - Give financial

assistance for farmers' cooperatives for agricultural marketing, processing,
storage etc.

11. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing - To develop online

and offline agricultural marketing infrastructure.
National Biofuel Policy:
● By 2040, India is expected to consume 15% of world’s oil consumption.

Salient Features:
● Categorizes biofuels to enable appropriate financial and fiscal incentives

• Basic Biofuels first generation(1G) - bioethanol and biodiesel

• Advanced Biofuels second generation(2G)- ethanol, Municipal Solid
Waste to drop in fuels(Drop in fuels are those renewable fuels which can
be blended with petroleum products)
• Third Generation (3G) - biofuels and bio-CNG etc
● Allows raw material like sugarcane juice, sugar containing materials like Sugar
Beet, Sorghum and starch containing materials like corn, cassava, wheat,
broken rice not fit for human consumption.

● Farmers not getting appropriate price during surplus production can use it for
production of ethanol with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination
Committee

● Thrust on advanced biofuel by extending VGF of 5000 crore for 6 years to

setup 2G biofuel refineries

● Encourages setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production

from non-edible oilseeds and used cooking oil

Benefits:
● Reduced import dependency
● Cleaner environment , reduced CO2 emission.
● Reusing cooking oil can cause lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension
which can reduced by using used cooking oil to produce bioethanol
● Solid waste mgnt.
● 2G biofuel refineries will spur infrastructural investment in rural areas
● Biofuel refineries will generate employment opportunities for the locals
● Adopting 2G will reduce farm waste and increase the income of farmers

Issues:
● By 2030 Indian food need will increase by 4o% and need 500MHa more land
under cultivation.
Therefore there is very less land available for cultivation of raw material for 2G
biofuel production.
Theme – E-Technology in farmer aid

 RFID enabled logistics for better tracking, Controlling the envt in cold storage
based on demand.

 GM/HYV, DD Kisan, Kisan Suvidha Portal

 SHC, AI Sensors to ascertain soil, when to farm, etc.

 Happy Seeders, Drones used for pesticide spray, robots for monitoring, Kisan
Vigyan Kendra, CSC (Info kiosks). Mobile Controlled Irrigation, Transmitting
meteorological data over phones.

 Land Record Modernization Programme

 DBT, BAPU

 Use of satellites for assessment

 e-NAM, Rakam

 GPS Tracking of Trucks in PDS Distribution.

1. Evolution of Agriculture in terms of Tech

a. Farming 1.0 - Traditional Methods.
b. Farming 2.0 - GR incorporate use of fertilisers & pesticides.
c. Farming 3.0 - Using tech in agriculture (precision agriculture).
2. A fully developed Farming 3.0 will look like
a. Better & cheaper satellite mapping enhanced by more precise crop identification
and growth algorithms, allow for improved monitoring of crop status.
o Field sensors collect data on nutrient quality, moisture weather, and other factors
that effect yield.
o Super accurate yield maps determine precise seed & input prescription for each
plot.
o Variable rate seeders & applicators provide each plot with optimal amount of
input.
o Autonomous equipment & drones navigate field with limited or no oversight.
o Real time livestock data allows farmers to identify sick and in-heat animals.
o Data stored in central repository & in cloud where it can be accessed for analysis.
o Farmers access data from their home control centres.
o Real time data on-machine performance help predict & prevent maintenance
issues inc equipment uptime.

3. AI & Agriculture: Since agriculture is the massive source of data.

a. Crop and soil monitoring - leveraging sensors and various IoT based tech to
monitor crops & soil health. Ex - CropIN, AI Enabled Bots replacement of Pesticide.
b. Predictive agricultural analytics - Various AI and machine learning tools are been
used to predict the optimal time to sow seeds, get alert on risk from pest attacks &
more. Ex - Microsoft India made AI based sowing app.

c. Supply chain efficiency using real time data analytics on data screens coming from
multiple sources to built an eff & smart supply chain. Ex - Gobasco making an
intelligent agriculture supply chain.
d. Climate Change: Analysis of weather, temp, wind, water, soil, Develop Forecasting
Models.
e. Labour Shortfall: Panacea for Workforce shortage.
f. Food Grading, Classification, Weed detection, plant recognition.

4. Using Blockchain - Jiva Bhoomi using Block chain to create a transparent online
market place to buy & sell crops under one platform.

5. Second Green Revolution

 a. Dry land Farming - collaborate with Israel, precision irrigation [only as much water
as needed], drip irrigation.
b. Millet Sisters. (The Millet Sisters are a network of small-scale women farmers who
grow bio-diverse millets in their farms. Its an NGO)
c. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan.
d. Genetic Engineering of HY crops or Drought resistant variety crops.
e. Make Green Revolution → Evergreen Revolution.

6. Farmer’s Knowledge System: start agriculture w/o know how about latest tech.
a. Knowledge today is factor or production.
b. National Agricultural Database (Soil, Land, Water, Seed, Marketing etc.) - amount
of land and type of land, data of soil, data on water availability.
c. Agricultural Knowledge Workers in line with ASHA [for health], creche [for child]
could be conceptualised.
d. Gyan Choupals could be setup to provide technical know how.

7. Sea Water Farming: Coastal Areas Solution; Salinity Resistant Crops.

Given the huge potential of agriculture in Ind it is imperative that the tech is used to
to the maximum so that both farmers & consumers can make the most of it.

Economics of Animal Rearing :

Animal husbandry refers to raising, care and breeding of livestock like buffaloes,
cows, pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, camels, goats, etc. which are useful to humans.It
also includes poultry farming and fishing.

Significance :

1. Income:
 subsidiary income , especially the resource poor who have few animals, less
land (S, M farmers)
 Provide relatively regular income to the farmers through sale of milk.
 income during emergencies to meet exigencies like marriages,treatment ,
education etc.
 serve as moving banks -> thus providing economic security.
2. Employment: unskilled, relatively less literate people depend upon agriculture
for their livelihoods. But crop agriculture = seasonal, hence dependence upon
livestock for utilizing their labour during lean agricultural season.
3. Products - products such as milk, meat and eggs are an important source of
animal protein to the members of the livestock owners. (Nutritional Security)
4. animals offer social security to the owners in terms of their status
5. Draught work
6. Wastes used in farming (gobardhan yojana etc) (Integrated Farming system)
7. Resilient to Climate Change, weather vagaries ; Imp for sustainable agriculture.

Recent Prospects -> Urbanisation, changing lifestyle habits, ↑d export market, CC

resilience.

Challenges faced by Animal Husbandry Sector

 Productivity is very low : annual milk yield of Indian cattle only about 50 per
cent of the global average. Non-availability of superior quality breeding
bulls. Poor quality of semen produced by many of the laboratories.
 Frequent diseases - Foot and Mouth Diseases Influenza, etc. affect them +
Insufficient veterinary services and diseases control:
 Lack of Access to credit: receives only about 12 per cent of the total public
 expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors, which is disproportionately
lesser than itscontribution to agricultural GDP.
 Declining pastures coupled , limitations of fodder.
 safety and quality parameters at the collection centers is almost non-
existent.
 Poor livestock extension services.
 Lack of access to organized markets: Most of the farmers lack access to
formal market for
their produce. Produce is usually sold to local markets.
 Env concerns – Methane emissions, epidemics (Nipah Mad cow),
 Livestock rearing = input intensive
  Non preference for indigenous species, despite huge diversity. Comparative
preferences for highly productive exotic breeds.

Theme - Food Processing Industry

Statistics:
 Indian Food and Grocery Market = world’s 6th largest.
 5th largest industry i.t.o production, consumption, export, growth.

Definition:
 Supply Chain – N/W b/w suppliers of Raw Material (Farmers), company
(food Processor), and distribution N/W to mkt. the finished products.
Supply Chain represents the steps it takes to get the product/service to
customer.

Supply Chain:
Significance
 Demand for agri inputs, raw material to companies -> ↑↑ GDP
 Employment – direct, indirect – Agri, logistics, food processing ; secondary
employment ; reduce disguised unemployment.
 low intermediation – high prices for producers, low for consumers; This
also helps to curb inflation
 Enhances market for HVC (high value commodities) by demand creation ->
higher incomes domestically and through export ; Also, this provides
impetus for crop diversification
 Lesser wastage; Eases burden for FCI in MSP Procurement.
 Infrastructural development – Transport, Storage, logistics.
 Exports are boosted
  Balanced (Inclusive ) development – curbing R-U migration => Rural and
Urban development

Challenges in Linkages
 Input Side – (From farm)
o High cost of agri products –coz of low agri productivity(All problems
related to inputs used in Agri – Land, Irrigation, Extension,
Mechanization, Seeds, Fertilizer etc.)
o High seasonality of raw material production
 Post Harvest –
o Intermediaries - in APMCs and Fragmented Markets
o Poor infra like cold storage, sorting, transport, electricity.
o Credit access difficulty.
o High cost of logistics – around 13% of GDP in India etc.
 Industry
o Highly fragmented , dominated by unorganized sector.
o Substandard levels of processing industries.
 Others
o Inadequacy of market intelligence – regarding nature of demand and
supply.
o Multiplicity of legislation, anomalies in domestic food laws with Intl
standards, lack of coordination and admn. Delays.
o Underdeveloped food testing network

Importance of FPI
 Points written for Supply Chain (above) can be recycled
 Other points
o Boosts value Chain, BW-FW linkages (Farm to Fork Approach) – by
creating synergy b/w consumer, industry, agri. – thus, potential
source to boost rural development
o ↑ farm gate prices;
o Addressing critical issues of Food and Nutritional Security.
 o Boost Exports

Scope/Potential
1. Abundant Raw Material –
2. Geographical Advantage – variety of soils, livestock, huge coastline,
irrigated area
3. New Demand –
a. ↑ing population + Young population ↑ing + rising middle class +
high disposable income
b. More nuclear family + jobs => less time for cooking
c. R-U migration => Urbanisation => Emergence of Tier1,2 cities;
d. shopping mall and supermarket culture
e. Media, advertisements – people are inclined to try new things.
f. Emerging NCDs, health conscious lifestyle -> demand for healthier
food.
g. Emergence of Organic food market
4. Govt proactive support
a. 100%FDI allowed in the sector through automatic route.
5. Other Factors
a. Resilience – performed well even during 2008 Economic crisis.
b. Huge potential for development –
i. Only 6-7% vegetables processed (US - >60%, China - >20%)
ii. only around 15% HVCs in India’s export basket (US-25%, China-
49%)

Challenges:
 Low level of food processing, bcoz of poor economies of scale.
o Why poor economies of scale :
 For long, many FPIs were reserved for SSI
  High input costs,coz of multiple taxes, intermediaries. Profit =
Low , => cant expand;
 Formal Credit accessibility issues.
 Intentionally, to reduce tax-compliance, many prefer smaller
plants over larger ones
o It results in following problems
 small and disorganized manufacturing
 Pricing – high, compared to MNCs, and Indians are price
sensitive
 Brand building
 Low technology
 Marketing
 Quality not meeting export standards.
 Supply Chain Issues (discussed above)
 Lack of adequate testing facilities, poor compliance with standards.
 Lack of skilled manpower – food engineers, food microbiologists, Quality
control scientists, Production managers etc.
 Formal Education Inadequate – lack of Grad/PG/Entrepreneurship courses
for food science and technology + outdated syllabus + faculties having
limited Industry experience.
 Lack of R&D in packaging, processing– R&D majorly dominated by public
sector, which itself has inadequate infra, updations with time. Doesn’t
compare to Global best standards.
 Transport Problems – in Road,Rail,Ports etc.
 Export Problems (will be discussed)

Mega Food Parks Scheme

 a “Cluster” approach , based on Hub and Spoke model.
 creation of state of art support infrastructure in a well-defined agri /
horticultural zone
  Typically consist of supply chain infrastructure including collection centers,
primary processing centers, central processing centers, cold chain and
around 30-35 fully developed plots for entrepreneurs to set up food
processing units.
 Common facilities include cold storage, food testing and analysis lab,
affluent treatment plant, common processing facilities, packaging centre,
power supply, water supply, seminar/ conference / training facilities

Objectives:
 small and medium entrepreneurs find it difficult to invest in capital-
intensive activities. It aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural
production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and
retailers so as to ensure
o maximizing value addition,
o minimizing wastage,
o increasing farmers’ income and
o creating employment opportunities particularly in rural sector

 This cluster approach makes food processing more economically viable.

 potential to revive the agriculture in the surrounding areas by increasing
returns.

Challenges

 It seemed that most developers were interested in the Rs 50 crore grant

and in getting the change in land use from agricultural to industrial and
wait for land prices to appreciate. They never seemed to have the intention
to put up an MFP
 Promoters have faced difficulties in selling the new concept to banks and,
as a result, have failed to secure loans to build the parks.
 Two, acquiring the 50 acres of land, which is mandatory under MFPS, has
been another challenge
 Three, convincing small enterprises to set up shop at these facilities has not
been easy
  And four, the overall economic slowdown, globally, and in India, did not
help either.

LAND REFORMS:
Is a planned and institutional reorganization of relation bw man and land.
Types
 Zamindari Abolition
 Land Ceiling
 Land Tenure
 Land consolidation
 Present – Land Leasing
 Equity and Ownership – FRA, Dalit Land holding, Minimum Land holding for
Nomadic Tribes
 Ecological concerns – EIA
 Digitisation
Need :
 ↑ production and productivity – bcoz of incentives.
 Social justice + egalitarian society.
 Economic and regional development of rural areas
 Improve standard of living
 Farming on modern Scientific lines (DPSP)
Performance of different states in Land Reforms
Since land = falls under State list, so state legislatures had to enact the
zamindari abolition. Meaning no uniformity. Different states had different
provisions, and different degrees of success.

Zamindari system:
By 1972, all the States had passed laws to abolish intermediaries. But there was
no clear mention about just and equitable compensation.
 J&K – No compensation paid.
 UP –
o Compensation in inverse proportion to zamindar’s income.
o Bhumidhar (tenant farmer) could become owner of the land after
paying 10 times the annual rent to his Zamindar
 Bihar – Epicfail – Zamindari blocked the implementation by frequently
approaching courts.
 Most states had vague definition of ‘personal cultivation’

Tenancy Reforms :
 providing security of tenure to all tenants met with only limited success.
o The continued existence of large number of insecure tenants
o Oral Agreements
o Delays in Law making.
made the successful implementation almost impossible.
 Only creamy layer (rich farmers with knowledge and resources)
benefitted. Sharecroppers, women,SC/ST didn’t benefit.
 But there are success stories such as those of ,J&K,Kerala and West
Bengal(Operation Barga – which fixed rent at 25% and gave security of
tenure.)

Land Ceilings:

 1949- Agrarian Reforms Committee, chaired by J.C. Kumarappa,

Recommended a ceiling on landholding which was to be three times the
size of an economic holding
  Nagpur session of Congress, 1959 - Passed resolution that All states
should complete land ceiling by 1959

But,
The long delay, and the nature of the legislation, ensured that the ceilings
would have a limited impact.

Failure:
 Andhra Pradesh had allowed 6 to 72 acres (depending on the nature of
land) per ‘extra’ member of the family. Like this, most states kept ceilings
very high
 Exempted Land Catergories – most states used very broad and vague
definitions. Eg – TN exempted land held by cooperatives , which was
misused.
 Land Ceiling – big failure in UP – large ceiling limit, exemptions,
zamindars connived with officials, litigations. Etc
 Overall – only 2% land redistributed.
 >6 million hc wastelands were distributed.
 Resulted in huge fragmentation of land as time passed.

Success :
o J&K -by mid 1950s, about 230,000 acres of surplus land had been
handed over to tenants and landless labourers
o > 25% of the total surplus land that was distributed throughout
India, belonged to WB.
o Some success achieved by bringing Land Ceiling Laws under 9th
Schedule. But, overall results far from satisfactory.
o Prevented further concentration of land.
Themes – Miscellaneous
1. Discussion on other inputs
2. Agriculture Exports
3. Farm Loan Waiver
4. Conservation Agriculture
5. Climate Smart Agriculture
6. Importance of Millets.
7. Taxing agriculture Income
8. Farmer Producer Organisation
9. Organic Agri, ZBNF
10. Use of Biotech in agri.
11. Contract Farming

Agricultural Exports
Why Boost Exports
 Utilizing Surplus
 Optimum utilization of resources - Due to India’s agro-climatic conditions,
India is capable of producing many variety of agro-commodities .
 Help build Global Value chains(GVC) => Employment in agriculture, agri-
based industry, food processing sector.
 2x Income by 2022 target – export earnings, market access
 ↑ Forex , ↓ CAD.

Challenges :
 Trapped at low end of GVCs – India’s share in high value products in export
basket – 15% (china – 49%; US – 25%
 Poor export competitiveness – Inability to harness export potential of HVC
(High value commodities) like – Horticultural, Animal Products – bcoz of :
o Low agri. Productivity
o Lack of uniformity in quality
o High logistics cost
 o Lack of adequate post harvest infra (STM), packaging
o Absence of mkt. intelligence and global mkt. linkages
o Stringent global SPS,TBT barriers.
o Branding and Marketing Issues.
 Mkt Fragmentation – due to APMC acts, stocking limits, trading restrictions.
 Agri. exports not commensurate with production – eg – India = 1st in milk ;
top in fruits, veg. , meat, etc. , but production does not find way to exports
 Declining exports – Cereals (dominant commodity in exports) – showing
declining trend.
 Inconsistent and restrictive govt policies – like Min. Export Price (MEP), MIP
– for short term goals of taming inflation, protecting domestic industry,
providing support to farmers – makes the env. Uncertain, and India an
irregular supplier; farmers also loose on Intl’ price hike.
 Till recently, absence of a comprehensive Agro. Export Policy – which had
impeded formation of Agri Value Chains.
 Emerging Challenges of Protectionism, Trade Blocks.

Agricultural Export Policy 2018

Objectives

Policy Recommendations
Strategic
1. Policy Measures
a. Stable Trade Policy
Regime
b. Reforms in APMC Act and
streamlining of Mandi
Fee.
2. Infrastructure and Logistics
Support
3. Holistic approach to boost
exports
Operational
1. Focus on Clusters
2. Promoting Value Added Exports
3. Marketing and Promotion of
Brand India.
4. Attract Private Investments in
export oriented activities and
infrastructure.
5. Estd. of Strong Quality Regimen
6. R&D
7. Creation of Agri-Startup Fund.
 4. Greater Involvement of State
Govt in Agri Exports

Way Forward:
 Input side mgnt – to increase agri productivity and reduce costs.
 Focus on High Value Agro commodities , where India has comparative
advantage – like, organic foods, Basmati Rice, Banana, Mango, vegetables,
shrimps, meat etc.
 Mkt Reforms:
o Marketing Reforms – model APMC, model Contract Farming, model
APML etc
o Mkt. Intelligence – to assess consumer preferences, competition,
mkt. dynamics variations – this will make export promotion activities
focused and outcome oriented.
 Development of efficient domestic, Global Value Chains – with pvt sector
participation to bring investment and technology.
 Harmonization with intl standards/practices, certification, testing. Setting
independent world class food testing and inspection infra
 External : take up issues of farm subsidies,mkt. denials, high import duties
at regional (FTAs) and Multilateral trade forums (WTO).
 Convergence of Govt Schemes for Holistic Reforms.
Farm Loan Waiver:
Arguments Against:
 Moral Hazard –
o loss of discipline to be efficient, cost-savvy and hardworking , when
risky behavior is insured by Govt.
o Undermine honest credit Culture- Urjit Patel. Will aggravate NPA
Problem (2016 – 5.4% ; 2018 – 7.2%)
 Higher Fiscal deficit – household, business hurt (crowding out of
investment)
 Mistargeted – only formal loans waived; loans from informal sources not
waived; Rich farmers benefit more than poor and small farmers ; Access to
future credit becomes difficult as banks become wary.
 Diversion of funds from social infra (eg – Health – 1.2% ; Need- 2.5% of
GDP)
 Puts pressure on other states
 Real agricultural issues unaddressed. It’s a short term remedy; Can’t
prevent farmer suicides – major reason of which is lack of marketable
surplus, lack of remunerative prices, lack of financial inclusion and financial
planning.
 Acc to ES 2017 – major macroeconomic components of GDP show no
improvement – consumption did not rise post 2008 waive-off, investments
did not rise + led to crowding, ↑ Fiscal deficit for Govt, exports dependent
on many other factors (CC, protectionism)
 Millets in India
Context: The United Nations General Assembly adopted an India-sponsored
resolution to mark 2023 as the international year of millets.
Definition: Millets are a group of highly variable small-seeded grasses, widely
grown around the world as cereal crops or
grains for fodder and human food.
Millets in India: Major millets and minor
millets
Major millets: Sorghum (Jowar), Peral millet
(Bajra) and Finger millet (Ragi)
Minor millets: Foxtail millet (Kakum), Kodo
millet (Kodon), Barnyard millet (Sanwa),
Little millet (Kutki/Shavan), Proso millet
(Chenna/Barri).
Nearly 60 million acres of land in India are under millet cultivation.
India is the largest producer of sorghum and millets, accounting for over 80% of
Asia’s production.
Major millet producers include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
Significance of millet promotion:
1. Healthy dietary constituent: Millets are gluten-free, and high in dietary fibre
and micronutrients such as calcium, iron and phosphorus.
 Better sources of proteins that rice or wheat.
 Long way benefits in preventing and curing chronic diseases like
diabetes, heart diseases and obesity.
2. Relevant in times of climate change: Millets being tolerant to harsh weather
conditions and droughts.
3. Cultivated as dual-purpose crops: Providing both food grain for human
consumption and straw for animals, contributing to economic efficiency in
mixed farming systems.
 4. Water efficient crop: 5000 lts of water required to grow 1 kg of rice, millets
require only between 650-1200 lts of water.
5. Environment friendly: Millets can also be grown with lesser chemical inputs
such as fertilizers and pesticides.
 Millet based cropping systems foster and enrich agro-biodiversity of
their ecosystems.
6. Less wastages: Millets are also less prone to spoilage and damage.
 Eg. Finger millets can be stored and consumed even after a decade of
growing.
7. Climate mitigation crop: Millets are C4 carbon sequestrating crops
contributing to the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere.
8. Short growing season: Of 70-100 days, as against 120-150 days for
paddy/wheat.
Issues in millet production in India:
1. Area under production of millets shrank: While almost a third of all major
foodgrains in India constituted millets during 1950-51, this reduced to only
15% by 2018-19.
2. Consumption side issues: Lesser acceptability compared to wheat.
3. Higher price: Price of millet is 3 times that of regular rice.
4. Policy bias: National Food Security Act of 2013, which entitles three-fourths
of all households to 5 kg of wheat or rice per person per month at Rs 2 and
Rs 3 per kg, respectively, has reduced the demand for millets.
5. Cropping pattern bias: Millets are traditionally being grown in rainfed
conditions especially by the marginal farmers and tribals.
6. Price uncertainties: MSP procurement not optimal.
7. Poor post-harvest infrastructure linkages: Processing capability no
developed.
Government initiatives to support millet production:
1. Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion
(INSIMP) as part of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
2. National Food Security Act provides for the distribution of millets through
the PDS.
 3. In Tamil Nadu, the government along with civil society is trying to convert
fallow lands into millet farms.
Way forward:
1. Agro-biodiversity based cropping pattern to expand millets cultivation of
water stressed areas.
2. Supportive policies such as widening MSP procurement infrastructure and
incentives to shift to millets in priority zones.
3. Investment needed in building post-harvest processing infrastructure
linkages.
4. Awareness measures to break people’s lack of acceptance for millets.
5. Research support: To develop new varieties of millets. Mechanisation in
millet cultivation shall rise.
Case studies: (Can be Used)
1. M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) working in Kolli Hills to
promote traditional millets farming through the women collectives.
 35 SHGs in the Kolli Hills, with over 386 members (of whom 214 are
women), in institutionalization of various millet operations including
millets value chain.
2. In Odisha, a voluntary organisation “Nirman”, with the help of Kutia Kandha
community has restored twelve varieties of traditional millets.
3. IFAD has supported an initiative to revive kodo and kutki cultivation in
Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh.
 The project was started in 2013-14, with 1,497 women-farmers from
40 villages – mostly from the Gonda and Baiga tribes – growing these
two minor millets on 749 acres.
 Use of Biotech in Agri
 Developing climate friendly carbon responsive crops through genetic
engineering.
 Developing strategies to manage thermal stresses in plants and dairy
animals.
 Developing disease resistant, salt tolerant freshwater fish and prawn.
 Developing strategies for low input sustainable agriculture with increases
water and nitrogen use efficiency.

Contract Farming
Importance – replication of earlier points discussed.

Issues/Challenges
 State Reluctance
 Stockholding limits on contracted produce – under ECA,1955.
 Lack of uniformity or homogeneity among states law
 Regional Inequality
 Supply side issue
 Capital-intensive and less sustainable pattern of cultivation
 Encourages Monoculture Farming
 Monopsony
 Information asymmetry
 Predetermined Prices - can deny farmers the benefits of higher prices

Model Contract Farming Act – to be updated.