‘Green Revolution’ in the 1960s
has been the only major breakthrough in the agriculture sector in India. This
was the result of pioneering work by agricultural scientists and the efforts of
farmers. High agricultural production and productivity achieved in subsequent
years has been the main reason behind attaining food self-sufficiency to a
large extent. However, the country has not witnessed any big technological
breakthrough in agriculture since then. The food safety net for a population of
over 1.2 billion requires enhanced agricultural production and productivity in
the form of a Second Green Revolution. Further, there is an urgent need to
focus on ways to achieve higher production and productivity levels in pulses,
oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables, which was out of the ambit of the First Green
Revolution, but are, nevertheless, essential for nutritional security.
Moreover, achieving high level of production in the allied sectors of dairy, poultry,
meat and fisheries is also essential, not only to widen livelihood
opportunities and enhance rural income, but also to add to the supply basket of
nutritious food . The relatively weak supply responses to price hikes in
agricultural commodities, especially food articles, in the recent past, has
raised the issue of efficient supply chain management and need for sustained
levels of growth in agriculture and allied sectors. Investment in rural
infrastructure, in the form of irrigation, roads, bridges, market yard/ market
complex/ rural mall (e.g. ITC’s Choupal Sagar), warehousing, cold chain, and
power transmission infrastructure, could lead to a rapid and sustainable growth
in agricultural production and productivity.
Most important, the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act
needs to be amended by all States, to enable farmers to sell their produce at
the right price at the market of their choice. Thus, the choice before the
nation is to invest more in agriculture and allied sectors with the right strategies,
policies, and interventions. This is also a ‘necessary’ condition for
‘inclusive growth’ and for ensuring that the benefits of growth reach a larger
number of people.
Over the past few years, several
discerning changes have been observed in rural India, which will go a long way
in redefining agriculture and would also have a significant impact on the
investment credit requirements for primary production, areas of diversified
activities, trends in value addition and supply chains. While the face of traditional
on-farm activities has altered significantly since the onset of the Green
Revolution, some of the basic features of this remarkable change relate to (a)
an increasing number of small and marginal farmers with progressive decline in
average size of holding; (b) increased usage of high yielding varieties of
seeds, quality inputs and modern equipment necessitating higher investment
credit; (c) deceleration in rate of growth in production of food crops
particularly in agriculturally advanced states like Punjab; (d) limited
progress in technology adoption especially in rain-fed areas. The diversified
and new farm activities observed are: (a) an increased trend towards commercial
and horticulture crops but with almost imperfect markets for these crops; (b)
greater importance to food cash crops like sugarcane, oilseeds, spices and
condiments, fruits and vegetables, etc.; (c) emergence of hi-tech agriculture
and organic farming; (d) a shift towards market-led demand-led agricultural
production; (e) a significant increase in the share of output of allied sectors
viz., dairy, poultry and fisheries and horticulture crops in the agricultural
GDP. Concomitantly, there has been an
emergence of new post-harvest activities, viz. (a) food processing; (b)
storages, godowns, market yards and activities related to grading and
certification; (c) increasing importance of services sector in rural areas.
Reform in agricultural marketing is long overdue as APMC Act restricts the sale
of produce outside market yards. Such restrictive provisions need to be
removed.
In the changing agricultural
environment, Research and Development (R&D) in agriculture needs to be
demand driven, with involvement of farmers in technology development. While the
public sector could play a catalytic role, the entire R&D process could be
made more pluralistic by involving public, private farmers’ organizations, and
the voluntary sector. In this context,
the corporate sector can play a prominent role in funding R&D and transfer
technology from ‘lab to land’, as part of an integrated contract farming model. There is a need to refocus R&D
agenda from crop centric research in irrigated areas to location specific
cropping systems in dry lands, hills and tribal areas. Greater attention needs
to be directed towards horticulture crops which are land and water saving.
Efforts may also be made for harnessing remote sensing technologies to optimize
application of inputs and exploring areas in emerging capital-intensive
biotechnology. There is a need to upscale water saving agronomic and management
practices like System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and energy saving irrigation
methods (drip and sprinkler) to increase agriculture productivity. Major, medium and minor irrigation projects
sanctioned should also have a component of R&D. NABARD and banks need to
collaborate with agriculture universities, Krishi
Vigyan Kendras, etc. to help farmers improve and diversify farm produce.
NABARD has also been advocating the need for banks to focus on financing Area
Development Projects in agriculture and allied activities for intensified area
development, leading to rapid capital formation.
Noted agricultural scientist Professor
M. S. Swaminathan mooted the idea of an ‘Evergreen Revolution’. This implies
not just increase in crop yield but also productivity without social or
ecological damage. Professor Swaminathan had demonstrated that there was a need
for agricultural renewal which would address the aspects of soil health,
irrigation and water supply, technology transfer from ‘lab to land’ in post
harvest phases, and market advice to farmers. In this context, there is a need
for doubling food production in the country, with a special focus on increasing
the output of fruits and vegetables.
Rainfed areas are particularly prone
to year-to-year fluctuations of production and degradation of environmental
resources. Concerted efforts are needed to rejuvenate their natural resource
base as also to stabilise and augment the income sources of farm households. The
experience of NABARD in participatory investments with community based
watershed development projects in dry land areas under the Watershed
Development Fund has shown that watershed projects, when designed, implemented
and maintained through community participation and voluntary community labour,
are better executed in terms of technical parameters and lead to substantial
downstream benefits for all participants. Similarly, Watershed Development
Projects implemented by NABARD under Indo-German Watershed Development
Programme in water scarce districts of Maharashtra can be replicated in other
states having similar environment. Significantly, the Integrated Watershed Development
initiative of ITC has helped create freshwater potential covering over
64,000
hectares in water-stressed areas. Based on a
participatory approach, the programme facilitates building, reviving and
maintaining water harvesting structures as well as management of water
resources to reverse land degradation, provide critical irrigation and increase
agricultural productivity. HUL is another
company which is implementing a Water Conservation and Harvesting project with
two major objectives, viz. (a) to reduce water consumption in its own
operations and regenerate sub-soil water tables at its own sites through the
principles of 5Rs viz. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover and Renew; and (b) help
adjacent villages to implement appropriate models of watershed development.
Similarly, Reliance Rural Development Trust (RRDT) promoted by RIL has been
constructing check-dams for conserving water and to raise water tables of the
surrounding areas. These initiatives by the corporate sector could be
synergized by dovetailing them with programmes promoted/ implemented by
government departments/agencies and NABARD.
