GROUP C

Section 1

INDIAN AGRICULTURE & FOOD

SECURITY
A Sustainable Way Towards The Future

Agriculture in India is an important sector since 1947, at that time it was 55% of the
total GDP engaging near about 70% of the total population in this sector. But even
by engaging such a large population the production was very low due lesser
productivity, the result of which the per capita income was awful. During the year of
1950-51, it was realized that to sustain the country there is need for planned
approach towards the agricultural development especially for the rural India for
developing their living standards and thus by decreasing the widespread poverty
and malnutrition. The unique feature of Indias agricultural economy is its varied
agro ecosystems, which result in tremendous variation across the country. To tackle
this situation, policy should be such that it will focus research on every possible
variation in the ecosystem, in order to come up with a region specific plan of action.
The era of pre-green revolution (1950-1968) saw drastic decline in the growth in
GDP agriculture. The reason was due to lack of proper technology, mechanization,
good quality planting materials and lesser use of fertilizers. The Green Revolution
was started by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan in 1966 but its effects were seen after 196869. Later on the era was characterized by trying to achieve a sustained growth. The
details of the contrasts and comparison I mentioned in the table below.
Phases

All Sectors

Agriculture
and allied
2.00

Agriculture

Non
Agriculture
5.42

Pre-Green
3.71
1.97
Revolution
Green Revolution
3.72
2.38
2.63
4.62
Period
of
Wider 5.52
3.57
3.58
6.40
Dissemination
Post Reforms
6.01
2.08
2.04
7.23
Recovery
8.24
2.62
2.55
9.47
The inference was that, overall economy was growing at a steady rate, expect
during the era of Green Revolution. However in the case of agriculture and its allied
sector there was fall of the growth rate during the post-reform era which continued
for some time then the phase of recovery begin. Also, it could be seen that the nonagricultural sectors were much more catalyzed after liberal reforms rather
agriculture suffered. While agriculture suffered, the non-agriculture sectors
continued its growth trends achieving a growth rate of 9.47% in 2011, which was
about more than three times of agriculture during that period.
Mostly, there is nothing we can put on the policy of liberalization of the country in
the form of trade and industrial policy reforms that must be damaging agriculture.
Also no major segment has shown a steady contraction, damage caused by
changing policy rather some crops like cotton and horticulture have expanded
rapidly during the reform process. Also, apart from the internally driven reforms, the
decade witness a change in economic environment i.e. accession of India to the
WTO norms in 1995. It may be considered as potentially doubly beneficial to
agriculture, if industries would have been more protected among the sectors.

Agricultural Growth (in %) Since 1991 in a Long - Term Prospective

1949-50 to 1964- 1967-68 to 2002- 1991-92 to 2006-07
65
03
Crop
Are Product Yiel Are Product Yiel Are Product Yiel
a
ion
d
a
ion
d
a
ion
d
Foodgra 1.4 2.8
1.4
-01 2.4
2.1
-0.1 1.0
1.1
ins
Others
2.4 3.7
0.9
1.3 3.1
1.6
0.4 1.7
1.1
All
1.6 3.2
1.2
0.3 2.7
1.9
0.1 1.3
1.2
Crops
Together with the data of near about 50 years we can see that it is the slowing of
output growth in 1990s that depresses the rate of growth for 1967-2003. Looking
from the yield prospective we may infer that output growth during this latter period
could have been lower still if yield hadnt accelerated giving the true significance of
Green Revolution. Yield growth would have been higher if had it not been affected in
nineties. To brief it up there is an across the board slowing down of output and yield
growth since 1991 for two significant group of Indian Agriculture.
There is a strong body of opinion that the growth in agriculture since 1991 is largely
by increased integration with world economy also known as Globalization.
Although while considering the impact of global integration on indigenous
agriculture, we must also see the net trade or both exports and imports. So what do
imports do, enhance supplies and for agricultural commodities, the prices are
generally determined by demand and supply can be expected to lower the prices
relative to the counterfactual equilibrium. In the case of manufactures, the expected
prices set by the firms with market power increase in import is not necessary for a
lesser price following the integration. Mark-ups are inversely related to potential
competition, so very integration of segmented markets is enough to lead to
declining mark-ups and thus prices in the hitherto protected market. But that is not
so for agricultural commodities, for which expanding imports will lead to lower
prices.
The Size Distribution Of Operational
Holding
1960-61 1970Category
71
Marginal (<1ha) 39.1
45.8
Small (1-2ha)
22.6
22.4
Semi-Medium
19.8
17.7
(2-4ha)

Land Holdings
19811991-92
82
56.0
62.8
19.3
17.8
14.2
12.0

200203
69.8
16.1
9.0

201213
73.3
15.3
7.2

Medium
(410ha)
Large (>10ha)
Total

14.0

11.1

8.6

6.1

4.3

3.7

4.5
100.0

3.1
100.0

1.9
100.0

1.3
100.0

0.8
100.0

0.5
100.0

Decreasing land holdings has been a problem for the nation since the beginning
which need to be addressed, otherwise could have an adverse impact. As we can
see in the table above by now the majority of farms holding are under marginal and
semi-medium and the percentage of land under large land holdings will soon
become zero. These figures can actually lead to a downscaling production in the
sense of cultivation taking place on the progressively smaller farm units. Almost
50% of the Indian states have lesser than the average land holdings required to
sustain a family of five, where as some states like Assam, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have more than the
average of the minimum required.
India has more than 50% of total land under rain-fed category that contributes 40%
of food and supports 40% of human and 60% of the total livestock population.
These areas are characterized by deficient and erratic rainfall followed by rampant
land degradation consisting of mostly small and marginally poor farmers. These
areas were left behind during the time of green revolution. These areas still have
low productivity and marketable surplus i.e. yet to be utilized properly. In order to
revive the agriculture in India, some technological intervention are which may raise
the productivity by half-a-tonne/ha. The work that is needed to be done are: water
harvesting and ground water recharging for supplemental irrigation (117 Mha-m
water goes as runoff), adopting micro irrigation to increase the water use efficiency,
use of fertilizers on soil test basis, development of the existing crops and at the
same time trying to introduce new suitable crops (maize hybrids, pulses and
oilseeds), adopting IPM or integrated pest management system to maintain the pest
population in the field below threshold level, introduction of organic farming, low
premium crop insurance suiting to rain-fed farmers and use of regular training and
extension activities to improve skills and knowledge of these farmers on various
aspects of agriculture.
It has undermined the influence of market forces during determining the output
prices and subsidies and that has led to higher domestic food prices. The input
subsidies were given to reduce some food prices of essential goods, but what it
done is have increased the use of inputs resulting in soil degradation, ground water
depletion etc. Gradually, the subsidies have contributed to fiscal deficits. Also,
direct interference of government agencies has discouraged the private sector
participation in marketing of commodities and market regulation.
While the amount used in subsidies also could have been used for getting better
technology and improving the quality of inputs available in order to increase the
competitiveness also improve the productivity at the same time. Indias regulatory

and policy systems have always favored the production of Foodgrains, thus by
hindering vertical coordination in the value chain as well as the development of its
horticultural industry. Also the subsidy amount could have been utilized in research,
education and infrastructure under the guidance of central government as currently
most of them come under the jurisdiction of state governments. As we know that
India is a highly decentralized system of governance until recently been discovered
that it has been the main obstacle while undertaking fundamental reforms in this
sector.
India announced its 1st comprehensive agricultural policy in 2000, under the name
of the National Agricultural Policy (NAP). Its aim is to achieve 4% annual growth in
agriculture sector within two decades. But since its announcement the whole work
to be done is only on the papers, nothing significant has been done to implement it.
In 11th five-year plan India has acknowledged the problem of increasing subsidy in
the budget, but has done nothing to reverse the trends. However some steps have
been taken to make the market more responsive:

revising the APMC Act to allow contract farming

removing the reservations for small scale firms on food processing industries
removing restrictions on futures trading on many commodities
Allowing up to 100% foreign ownership in many agribusiness sectors, except
in some forms of retailing and primary production.

FDI & Indian Agriculture

Question is whether it is beneficial for farmers or are they only looking for profit?
India is a lucrative place for FDI, but can be beneficial if is controlled by a proper
code of conduct and ethics. With national food security bill, everybody will be
provided homegrown food and then the attention on farmers will increase. Many
have advocated and promoted organic farming as it could lead to higher
productivity, but looking into its yield fluctuations how can one ensure that it will
give the expected result. As per the current scenario of Indian agriculture
sustainable organic agriculture will need more science, not less. First it is important
to harness all the required tools that traditional wisdom and contemporary science
can offer in order to usher in an era of bio-happiness. Foreign direct investment is
still at a nascent stage because there are many loopholes in the organized retailing.
The government is facing criticisms by many group but still it has defended this
policy decision by claiming that introduction of FDI would benefit the farmers in
many ways, notably by eliminating the exploitative middlemen thus giving more to
the farmers. Also, it has been claimed that entry of retail giants will significantly
improve marketing infrastructure and wastage problems will be solved. However
several questions are still to be answered regarding this policy. First, it has been
argued that these so called retail giants will form a monopolistic regime which in a
long run will adversely affect the interest of farmers, which subsequently will
increase farmers exploitation. Secondly, entry of these new players will lead to

displacement of small farmers who are incapable of meeting the quality demands
set by the retail giants and will gradually be driven out of the market. Until, these
things are honed to perfection, India will not become the global leader in FDI. So,
what can the country do is to focus on maximizing political and social stability along
with coming up with better regulatory environment. But there are some stiff
challenges that larger FDIs in India faces, such as:

Resource challenge, India has huge amount of resources of which some are
still underexploited or unexploited. These are well distributed in both rural
and urban areas. The focus is to increase infrastructure 10 years down the
line which require US$ 150 billion. This is the first step to overcome
challenges facing larger FDI.
Equity challenge, India is a developing at a faster pace but still its
developments have taken place unevenly as urban areas are getting more
attention than the rural pockets which still are inadequately exploited. Thus
by fostering social equality we can achieve a sustainable economic growth.
Political challenge, there should be a common ground between the
parliament and the foreign countries investing in India so that it would help to
improve FDI with the support of the political structure.
Federal challenge, very important, the need is to accelerate the
implementation of rules, policies and regulations at the same time keeping
policies in all the states at par.
Country should focus on the areas of trade, banking and insurance
liberalization and poverty reduction also, because trade relations with foreign
investors will always bring in new challenges in investments.

Currently there are several prevailing problems of food which we can put in three
dimensions, as

It is easily available
Its not easily accessible
The absorption of food

There is no problem over food scarcity but rather lack of money which
problematizes the entire situation. The main cause behind that is the inadequate
purchasing power which is due to insufficient opportunities for gainful employment.
The thing that make the situation more worse is whatever food is accessible, is not
absorbed into the body because of pesticides, chemicals and lack of nutrients.
Meeting the worlds food security challenge will require a multinational collaborative
effort to integrate the best research and technology from science, engineering and
socioeconomics so that it can bring benefits where they are most needed. An
alternative solution which can be considered is, analyzing the contribution of
different industrial inputs and environmental factors to assess the realizable
potential of the genetically superior cultivars, where the actual realization will be
governed by technologies adopted with respect to the three factors of

 Land and water management

Crop management
Post-harvest management
No matter how far we improve in areas of science and technology, agriculture will
still be the backbone of a country like India which maybe the most populous country
around 2030. So we have to make our agricultural sector more sustainable by
having an evergreen revolution if we want people to enjoy better health, better food
and a good life.
Gaps in the existing system
Residual Effect of Green Revolution

There have been traces of Heavy usage of inorganic fertilizers, and the
various adopted methods have been affecting the soil quality and the human
health.
It has been observed that Less water is being used with less efficiency i.e.
inorganic methods used in green revolution does not consider using water
efficienctly.
Heavy dependence on NPK fertilizers which is three component fert.
(Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium)- still the state of Punjab is consuming
most amount of these fertilizers. While traditional practices used avoid such
dependency on these synthetics

Recommendations
Everything else can wait, but not agriculture. The quote was stated by our former
Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, in the sense of creating the importance of
agriculture in the mind of people. Looking back on our progress in agriculture since
1947, India is still waiting to achieve food security.
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan a pioneer in Indian Agriculture, often addressed as "Father of
the Green Revolution in India" is known for his leadership and success in introducing
and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. The green
revolution in 1960s mostly in the part of western India has led to significant increase
in yield of many food grain crops and helped India to lead from a begging bowl to a
leading food grain exporter in the globe. But the main problem that lies ahead is the
ever-increasing population, decrease in land holdings and degrading quality of farm
lands.
According to National Commission on Agriculture, out of the total geographical area
of 3,287,263 Mha, approximately 148.09 Mha land is degraded land. India occupies
about 2.4% of the worlds total land area; it supports over 16.7% of the entire global
population. The combination of an increasing GDP, population growth, urbanization
and industrialization are imposing a pressure on the quality of our soils as well as
leading to conversion of agricultural lands for non-agricultural purpose. Farmers are
using fertilizers based on their affordability and availability, also multi-cropping is

leading to drainage of essential nutrients. According to the Ministry of Agriculture

2008 statistics, almost 14% are unusable (excluding the fallow lands).
So, what a population rich but land hungry country like India need is an evergreen
revolution, which can help us to improve the farm productivity and quality in
perpetuity without any ecological harm. Technologies which can improve land, water
and labor productivity, are urgently needed. The smaller the farm, the greater is the
need for marketable surplus in order to generate cash income. Based on several
recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, a National Policy for
Farmers was placed in Parliament in November 2007, which states for a paradigm
shift from measuring agricultural growth purely in terms of million tonnes of grains
to measuring the growth rate in the net income of farmers. Also, one
recommendation was assured and remunerative price production cost plus 50%
profit, which a farmer deserves as a citizen of this country looking to the high
amount of risk in Indian agriculture.
Capacity to support evenly both the existing human and animal populations has
been exceeded in many parts of the developing world. Hence, the need for future of
food security mainly depends upon population stabilization, the conservation and
care of available arable land through proper attention to soil health and
replenishment of fertility, and the conservation and careful management of all
water sources currently available so that more crops can be produced per drop of
water. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan coined the term evergreen revolution to highlight the
pathway of increasing production and productivity in such a manner that short- and
long-term goals of food production are not mutually antagonistic. The aim of this
new thrust is to lift food production well above the level obtained by the green
revolution of the 1960s, by using more advanced technology and regulatory policies
and even safer than those now in existence. The evergreen revolution will help
make agriculture sustainable.
There are now unique opportunities for launching a food-for-sustainabledevelopment initiative, in the form of a grain for green movement. Such a
program could accord priority to:

Restoration of hydrological and biodiversity hot spots, particularly in the

mountain ecosystems and practicing organic agriculture
Coastal agro-aqua farms (e.g. planting of salicornia, mangroves, casuarina,
palms, etc. along with coastal agriculture and aquaculture) increase return
from the coastal fallow lands
Water harvesting, watershed development, wasteland reclamation, and antidesertification measures to have increase water use efficiency
Recycling of solid and liquid wastes and composting it to incorporate some
organic matter into the soil to improve soil fertility
Agro-forestry and other sustainable land-use systems in the fields of
resource-poor farmers in order to both add and bring diversity into the
ecosystem

Components of Ever-Green Revolution

Although there many factors that can be considered while designing a future plan
for executing the concept of ever green revolution, here are some of the concepts
that a play a very important role in achieving the goal total food security, they are
1. Organic Farming: It is a production system that sustains the health of the soil,
ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and
cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of the inputs with
adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines traditions, innovations and
science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and
good quality of life for all involved. (Definition by IFOAM)
2. Low-External-Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA): It is a type of agricultural
practice which makes optimal use of locally available natural and human
resources (such as soil, water, vegetation, local plants and animals, and
human labor, knowledge and skill) and which is economically feasible,
ecologically sound, culturally adapted and socially just.(Reijntjes, Haverkort
and Waters-Bayer, Farming for the Future , 1992).
3. High External Input Sustainable Agriculture (HEISA): It basically talks about
increasing the area productivity of a natural system. Its practices are similar
to the integrated farming system approach. For example, rice cultivation and
aquaculture.
4. GM Crops (Still debatable): Crops are genetically modified having resistive
genes incorporated in them through genetic modifications in there DNA
molecules. The research in this field is still in its nascent stages and could be
a significant contribution to the future of Indian agriculture
Organic Farming
It promotes and enhances the biodiversity
Organic farming largely excludes the use of chemicals
Soil health. Soil water, soil air get improved by the use of organic farming
practices.
Organic farming practices use natural methods like using compost instead
of fertilizers thus recycle of farm waste is possible through these practices
like sugarcane bagasse etc can be used, mulching is practiced for water
conservation.
Organic farming Vs. Conventional farming:
If we compare the two farming methods we will found that organic farming is the
best practice keeping in mind the environmental impact. Agriculture affects our
environment directly, thus it becomes vital to understand the methods of farming
practices. Effect on land is one of the main difference between the two practices.
Organic farming helps in maintaining and enhancing sustainability and ultimately
the biodiversity. It also improves soil quality and air space, better water utilization.

Large use of inorganic fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides which are useful for short
term benefits but they deteriorate the soil and water quality. Ground water table
which is crucial for human health is affected by use of inorganic chemicals. The key
differences and analysis of the two farming practices is described below.
Advantages of organic farming:
More efficiency Organic farming practices rely on natural energy sources unlike inorganic methods
where huge amount of nitrogenous, potash and phosphate NPK fertilizers are used
India is the major importer of potash fertilizer and Punjab which is the major state in
terms of fertilizer consumption all this is adding to on farm cost and on top of this it
also affects our motherland and other health hazards. While organic practices avoid
using these fertilizer and use traditional methods like compost, farm waste
utilization. Bio gas, bio fertilizers and organic farming practices like mulching to
control weeds as well as to save the moisture content of soil. Also the energy
consumed while producing these inorganic fertilizers adds to GHGs greenhouse gas
emission and thus pose greater challenge for the human beings.

Healthier soil
Soil quality is an important factor while going for any type of crop production.
Different soil have different profiles, some are rich in humus content like Indian
gangetic planes while black cotton soils used for cotton production in the
Maharashtra belt. Thus it becomes vital to keep improving or maintain the soil
health for better crop productivity as soil provide essential nutrients, minerals for
plant growth. Now the use of synthetic chemicals inhibits certain nutrient uptake by
the plant roots also it affects the pore space and air and water quality in the soil
thus each year the land which is depend on inorganic farming practices loses its
nutritional value and soil health.
Farm waste utilisation
Organic farming utilizes different on farm waste like sugarcane bagasse, compost
from different residue of plants and mulching with natural means like bigger plants
can protect in conserving moisture conservation, better farm practices crop
utilisation.
Organic certification
it is the process of certifying organically produced crop, seed and food products. The
certification criteria varies from country to country. In India national programme on
organic production NPOP was launched in the year 2000 by GOI. It implements
national standards for organic production. Various stages inspection, compliance
needs to be done while producing organic food and getting certified.

Limitations of organic farming

Low productivity though the organic farming practices improves soil heath
but overall productivity of farm as compared to a farm that is applying
inorganic nutrients is less as artificial methods re used for getting short term
benefits.
Less convenient for large scale farmers farmers growing crops commercially
prefer convenient methods better techniques without considering impact on
environment thus they will prefer aircraft pesticide spray for their farms
rather than depending on organic methods which will require huge labour if
hand weeding has to be carried out in the whole farm.

Conclusion
After the liberal reforms the country has been growing steadily and has transformed
itself in global scenario. The opening of the economy has led to higher incomes and
greater, better and more diversified demand. However, the major concern is the
slow growth of agriculture, India still carries the legacy of its past centrally-guided
closed economy. Policy crisis, specially its implementation has been a major concern
and growing subsidies that has weaken the economy further. So, fundamental
reforms are needed to utilize the real potential of agriculture in India. However the
constitutional conflicts and inter-state rivalries has worsen the situation in the
country. Some critical prospects from Indias context in agriculture are water
scarcity and valuation, reforms in commodity price policy, public and private
investment in rural infrastructure and logistical services, and the level of
government involvement and potential crowding out of private initiatives in the
marketing and trade of agro-food products. But regardless of all that and the path it
takes, still India will be considered as significant player in global market and in
multilateral trade negotiations due to its population size and its agricultural
resource base. India could be a huge market for agro-food products and also a
formidable competitor, but the need for the nation now is to grow and open trade
policies and try to implement it successfully.

References:

Sivasubramonian (2004). Sources of Economic Growth in India, Oxford

University Press, New Delhi.
Chand Ramesh, Kumar, Praduman and Sant Kumar (2011). Total Factor
Productivity and Contribution of Research Investment to Agricultural Growth
in India. Policy Paper No. 25, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and
Policy Research, New Delhi.
GoI (2011). Website of Seeds Division, Department of Agriculture &
Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India accessed on 5 April
2011 (http://dacnet.nic.in/seednet/seeds/material/IndianSeedSector.htm#Role
of Public and Private Seed Sector).

Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture,

Government of India
http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/589/589_m_s_swaminathan.htm
www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/Agricultural%20Situation.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/1570954/Indias_Second_Green_Revolution_The_Soc
iopoltiical_Implications_of_Corporate-driven_Agricultural_Growth