Case1-April-2013
New pathway is emerging in Indian Agriculture with Strategic shift towards specialized segmentation- Urban Agriculture, Coastal agriculture, Tankfed and Rainfed agriculture. Canal based agriculture and Groundwater based agriculture; Structural change-Value addition(processing and packaging), safe storage and marketing, agricultural extension, mechanization of agriculture and seed market; climate change adaptation- Farm ponds, risk management with crop insurance, changing cropping systems and food security with nutrition and health expanding small millets, pulses and oilseed production, organic farming and sustainable agriculture.
Paradigm shift towards agriculture development than agriculture growth is the need of the hour. Structural change in agricultural strategies would be a primary constituent of agricultural development. Traditional agricultural growth prospective has limitations in addressing changing scenario of agriculture. Present agricultural labour market dictates a strategic shift in viability of agricultural production system. Sustainable agriculture is a part of development perspective with climate change adaptation.
Agriculture sector demands specialized approaches, methods and technology for development of different geographical and climatic zones. Coastal agriculture involves mixed agricultural system, cropping system and livestock. High rainfall, fragile water resources, cyclones and floods, sandy alluvial soil, back waters, delta are some of the salient feature of coastal agriculture. Sea water intrusion with alarming climate change threatens the coastal agriculture system. Backwaters are expanding and making agricultural lands unusable. Disasters like cyclone and floods hit coastal areas frequently in turn vulnerable with high risks in agriculture. Hence a special thrust should be on coastal areas with action research, different agricultural package, water resource management, coconut and cashew plantation and distinct agricultural extension system. Specialized Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) has to be established for coastal agriculture. Urban Agriculture is emerging as a sub sector with growing urbanization. Peri-urban areas are raising vegetables to meet the demands of urban population. It is kind of high value agriculture with marketing arrangement of gardens are also becoming a common feature to meet urban Kitchen. Using grey water for peri-urban agriculture is another potential area for development. Linking slum vendors for marketing of urban agriculture primarily vegetables would be a livelihood enterprise for them. Hence a specialized unit has to work on urban agriculture with more scalable projects to address distinct need of this segmentation.
Indian agriculture has an unique feature of small scale water bodies to mitigate droughts and flood moderator with tankfed agriculture system. Those water bodies are living heritages for centuries and lifeline for rural livelihoods. Farmers are managing these water bodies with their creative adaptation over many centuries. Tankfed agriculture requires special thrust with rigorous research, distinct extension methods, improved agronomic practices and crop production system.
Irrigated agriculture is now going through a transformation towards sustainable agriculture with organic farming, integrated pest management (IPM), Integrated nutrient management (INM) precision farming with drip and sprinkler irrigation and water conservation. Ground water based farming is very fragile and it has to be integrated with recharge structure and closer monitoring of water balance of this segment. Over exploitation of ground water leads to a disaster situation. New generation perspective has to be developed for each segment and deserves mission mode approach. Restructuring of agricultural system based on segmentation is critical for future development of Indian agriculture. Diversity of agriculture situation has to be recognized and strategic shift is imminent.
Agriculture is undergoing a dramatic change. Growing price, rise of inputs and seasonal swing of output price challenge the viability of crop production. Now farmers have to integrate value addition activity with their crop production to improve viability of their farming. Range of value addition, simple grading and packaging, semiprocessing, standardized processed food are possible in a decentralized manner. Structurally moving from farming to enterprise mode, both at household or farm and collective with different form including producer company with village based producer group, would be the future way. Safe storage at village is going to give and answer to price fall during harvest season. Farmers collective with bankers support could organize safe storage at village and towns. Cold chain could be created for fruits and vegetables to fetch a good price with quality. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of corporates could extend safe storage facility to farmers. Infact care today has provided four such safe storage facilities in Nagapattinum district for coastal farmers.
Marketing of agriculture produce would yield a greater gain to farmers with fair trade practices. Consumer price spread offers a band width for farmers to enter into market through organized channels and directly. Communication and information technology provides space for on time price information for better negotiation with market. Consumers are also interested to have a direct contact with producers to get a good quality product and affordable price. Regulated markets has to go through a structural change with changing market situation.
Mechanization of farm operation is emerging as a new way to handle labour shortage and high wages. Because of fragmented land holdings, peasant collective for mechanization would be the right way for scale and viability of mechanization. Pilots are going in many parts of India and time has come to scale-up mechanization in all segmentation of agriculture. Seed market has a greater role in crop production. Structurally farmers are moving away from seed production and multinationals are gaining control over seed market. There has to be a balance and regulations to ensure access and control of seed market by producers Farmers Collective would access seed farms for better access and control.
Agricultural adaptation to climate change has to be facilitated. Climate change brings a new challenge to farming in terms of uncertainty of rainfall, frequent disasters (droughts and floods) and temperature variation. Change in cropping pattern has to be evolved to respond to climate change. Multiple crops in a same rainfed field during the season would address climate variation and stabilize the income to farmers. As many as eight to ten crops are sown in rainfed areas during a season as an adaptation mechanism. Pulses, oil seeds, millets and fibers are part of the mixed cropping. Micro climate has to be digitized as that of micro water sheds for evolving adaptation methods. Establishment of an automatic rain gauge or a micro climate zone would enable farmers to go for weather indexed crop insurance. Now every development block plans to have and automatic rain gauge but that is not adequate. At least every five to ten square kilometer need an automatic weather station to guide the farmers to scientifically manage their risks and vulnerabilities. Farm ponds are becoming drought mitigators in rainfed areas, also climate change adaptation tool. Farmers are willing to go for more than a hundred farm ponds in a small hamlet to regenerate their rainfed farming.
Balanced farming means a district or state cultivate not only abundant cereals but also pulses, oil seeds, more so fruits and vegetables. Sophisticated technologies are available but they are not for farmer friendly. Self-regulation of farmers with farmers collective as SRO (Self Regulating Organization) to make balanced farming a reality. Market forces distort the balance in farming nd requires regulatory support from the state. India is at the bottom in terms of Nutritional security. . People are living with massive nutrition deficiencies. Our food security has to be fine-tuned with nutrition security immediately. This strategic shift would bring healthy citizen with higher productivity. Small millets production and consumption has drastically come down because of cereal consumption through public distribution system.
Small millets otherwise called ‘Nutraceuticals’ are rich in minerals with slow release of carbohydrates. Expanding small millets production and consumption would ensure nutrition security with sound health. Pulses and oil seeds production have priority over cereal production in irrigated areas and continued mission mode approach would ensure a desirable future. Organic farming gains considerable acceptance and fetches high price with niche market. More farmers are moving towards organic farming and it would demand support mechanism for production and marketing, while sustainable agriculture is appreciated, large scale practice with holistic understanding needs attention. Sustainable agriculture is a complex process with long term perspective and involves solid health, ecological sensitivities, organic practices, rainwater harvesting and conservation and preservation of biodiversity. Different stakeholders are conscious of the change in agricultural production system. Proactive policy and practice change are required immediately to bring desired change.