Technology missions

The Indian government has launched various technology missions in

agriculture from time to time, mainly as Centrally Sponsored
Schemes (CSCs). New missions in the 12th plan (2012-2017) are as
follows:

National Food Security Mission: Aims to increase

production of rice (to 10mt), wheat (to 8mt), pulses (to 4mt),
and coarse cereals (to 3mt)

National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture: Covers

micro irrigation, rain-fed area development, organic farming,
soil management, and land use survey, with special focus on
resource conservation, and efficient use of water

National Mission on oilseeds and oil palm: Oilseeds

include seeds like sunflower, rapeseed, mustard etc. India is
one of the biggest oilseeds importer, grower, and user in the
world (4th largest). Oilseeds account for 13% of GCA, and 10%
of value of all agricultural commodities in India.

Globally, India accounts for about 7% of total production, and 10%

of total consumption.

Total annual demand is huge, around 15-18mt. Annual production is

only about 7mt, so a substantial portion of this is met through
imports (about 56% of total demand). Also, domestic demand has
been rising at about 6% per annum, whereas domestic production
has only been increasing at about 2-3% per annum.

MSP has had little relevance for oilseeds. Moreover, very little
procurement of oilseeds is done, the emphasis of the countrys food
management system being on paddy and wheat in which case the
MSP has been adequate over the years.

The mission aims at correcting this situation by increasing the

production of oilseeds to about 10mt by 2017 (end of 12th plan)

National Mission on Agricultural Extension and

Technology: Aims to restructure and strengthen agricultural
extension to enable delivery of appropriate technology and
improved agronomic practices to farmers.

This is envisaged to be achieved by a judicious mix of extensive

physical outreach and interactive methods of information
dissemination, use of ICT, popularisation of modern and appropriate
technologies, capacity building and institution strengthening to
promote mechanisation, availability of quality seeds, plant
protection etc. and encourage aggregation of Farmers into Interest
Groups (FIGs) to form Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)

National Horticulture Mission: India is the 2nd largest

producer of fruits and vegetables in the world; horticultural
crops and products use 9% of the GCA, but provide about 25%
of the total value of farm products in India. However, the
productivity (yield per unit area) remains fairly low. National
Horticulture Mission was launched in 2005-06 to promote
holistic growth of the horticulture sector through an area
based regionally differentiated strategies. The scheme has
been subsumed as a part of Mission for Integration
Development of Horticulture (MIDH) during 2014-15

National Mission for Protein Supplements (NMPS):

Focuses on dairy development, development of piggery,
poultry, fisheries, and aquaculture

National Mission on Food Processing: The food-processing

sector has been growing at an average rate of over 8 per cent
over the past 5 years. India lags the world in the food-
processing sector, as a result of which of fruits and vegetables
worth nearly Rs 44,000 crore are lost annually due to lack of
proper infrastructure and facilities. The mission aims at
decentralization of implementation of relevant schemes to
State level.

The mission aims at organizing the unorganized food processors,

including Self-Help Groups, to help them reap advantages of Mission
initiatives, and ensuring advantages of
programmes/schemes/institutions/infrastructure of NMFP reach
Micro and Small Enterprises on preferential basis.
er ingredients for industrial use

Economics of animal rearing

Read:
1. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/goat-gamble
2. A recent article in Business Standard said that chicken prices
have gone up very much this year, because of the heat wave.
Andhra and Telangana account for about a third of the countrys
poultry production, and they have been strongly hit by the heat
wave.

Individual Level (not the best thing to use in exam)

Estimates say that about 3/4th of the actual financial spending on
self-employment schemes of both the union and state governments
in India is spent on financing animal husbandry related activities.
However, at an individual level, a simple cost-benefit exercise can
be done to determine whether animal rearing is a productive,
sustainable activity.

The cost of a cow yielding an average 10 litres of milk or a buffalo

giving an average of 8 litres is about Rs. 22,000. The average
monthly expenditure on a cow (for good quality fodder and other
uptake costs) is about Rs 1200, whereas the income is about Rs
2750, assuming 25 days yielding milk fetching Rs 11 for a litre. This
translates into a net monthly income of Rs 1550, if the farmer
purchased the cow with his own money. Now this cow is purchased
by a subsidy and soft loan from a bank, which would require a
monthly repayment of about Rs. 700 per month, over 3 years. The
net return for the farmer is now only Rs 900 per month or Rs. 10,800
annually. Similar calculations for buffalos show that annual income
from keeping a buffalo would be about Rs. 8,000 a year.

There are several secondary costs associated with cattle rearing as

well, which are hard to monetize:
Time spent in upkeep (looking for feed etc.)
Cattle rearing is a low-skill, but time-intensive activity. Higher
rates of cattle ownership in families coincide with lower school
enrolment rates

However, cattle are a good storage of value. The market for cattle is
very liquid, thereby making it very easy to dispose them off and
raise money at short notice.

Cattle are, therefore, a good investment not so much for generating

regular income, but as a fungible store of value for the farmer. They
are at best only a supplementary economic activity for poor
households.

(Update numbers- cost of milk given to farmers is about Rs. 30-40

today. Cost of cattle would also have gone up. Just take the analysis
framework from this discussion, and not the numbers).

Important article about current falling dairy prices:

http://indianexpress.com/article/business/commodities/crashing-
milk-prices-worldwide-is-latest-farmer-worry-at-home/

Macro level:

Estimates show that the value of output from livestock and

fisheries together is about 25-30% the total value of output
from agriculture and allied sectors, and they account for about
4% of the total GDP. The total output worth is higher than that of
foodgrains. Changing food habits will only serve towards increasing
the importance on this sector to the national economy.

Animal husbandry sector provides large self-employment

opportunities, and provides livelihood support to about 2/3rd of the
rural population. Animals provide nutrient-rich food products,
draught power, dung as organic manure and domestic fuel, hides &
skin, and are a regular source of cash income for rural households.
They are a natural capital, which can be easily reproduced to act as
a living bank with offspring as interest, and an insurance against
income shocks
of crop failure and natural calamities.

Government should ensure dissemination of important information

regarding:
Sources of availability of good breeds of productive animals
Cost of the animals
Cost of rearing to marketing stage that includes expenditure
on feeding, housing and management
Market for disposal of products at a reasonable profit
Sources of financing

India is the worlds largest producer of milk, second largest

producer of fish, and a leading exporter of beef.

The challenges facing the dairy sector are given below:

Small herd size and poor productivity (India has a huge
population of low milk producing cattle; likewise, the meat
yield of most species is 20-60% lower than the world average.
There remains a huge gap between the potential and
the realized yields in Indian livestock)
Inadequate budgetary allocation
Lack of equity with crop production
Inadequate availability of credit
Poor access to organized markets
Deficiency of vaccines and vaccination set-up
Majority of grazing lands are either degraded or encroached
Diversion of feed & fodd