DFI Vol-12A
DFI Vol-12A
DFI Vol-12A
Farmers Welfare
Volume XII
February 2018
Doubling Farmers’ Income – Volume XII
Science for Doubling Farmers’ Income
Foreword
The country has witnessed a series of concerted discussions dealing with the subject of
agriculture. In 1926, the Royal Commission of Agriculture was set up to examine and report
the status of India’s agricultural and rural economy. The Commission made comprehensive
recommendations, in its report submitted in 1928, for the improvement of agrarian economy
as the basis for the welfare and prosperity of India’s rural population. The urban population
was about 11 per cent of the whole, and demand from towns was small in comparison. The
Commission notes, that communication and physical connectivity were sparse and most
villages functioned as self-contained units. The Commission encompassed review of
agriculture in areas which are now part of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The net sown
area in erstwhile British India was reported as 91.85 million hectares and cattle including
buffaloes numbered 151 million. Almost 75 per cent of the cultivated area was under cereals
and pulses, with rice and wheat occupying 46 per cent of the net sown area. The area under
fruits and vegetables was about 2.5 per cent and that under oilseeds and non-food crops was
about 20 per cent. In the ensuing years, as well known, the country underwent vast changes in
its political, economic and social spheres.
Almost 40 years later, free India appointed the National Commission on Agriculture in 1970,
to review the progress of agriculture in the country and make recommendations for its
improvement and modernisation. This Commission released its final report in 1976. It refers to
agriculture as a comprehensive term, which includes crop production together with land and
water management, animal husbandry, fishery and forestry. Agriculture, in 1970 provided
employment to nearly 70 per cent of the working population. The role of agriculture in the
country’s economic development and the principle of growth with social justice, were core to
the discussions. The country was then facing a high population growth rate. After impressive
increase in agricultural production in the first two Five Year Plans, a period of stagnancy set in
and the country suffered a food crisis in the mid-1960s. The report in fifteen parts, suggested
ample focus on increased application of science and technology to enhance production.
Thirty years hence, the National Commission for Farmers was constituted in 2004 to suggest
methods for faster and more inclusive growth for farmers. The Commission made
comprehensive recommendations covering land reforms, soil testing, augmenting water
availability, agriculture productivity, credit and insurance, food security and farmers
competitiveness. In its final report of October 2006, the Commission noted upon ten major
goals which included a minimum net income to farmers, mainstreaming the human and gender
dimension, attention to sustainable livelihoods, fostering youth participation in farming and
post-harvest activities, and brought focus on livelihood security of farmers. The need for a
single market in India to promote farmer-friendly home markets was also emphasised.
The now constituted DFI (Doubling Farmers’ Income) Committee besides all these broad
sectoral aspects, invites farmers’ income into the core of its deliberations and incorporates it as
the fulcrum of its strategy. Agriculture in India today is described by a net sown area of 141
million hectares, with field crops continuing to dominate, as exemplified by 55 per cent of the
area under cereals. However, agriculture has been diversifying over the decades. Horticulture
now accounts for 16 per cent of net sown area. The nation’s livestock population counts at
more than 512 million. However, economic indicators do not show equitable and egalitarian
growth in income of the farmers. The human factor behind agriculture, the farmers, remain in
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frequent distress, despite higher productivity and production. The demand for income growth
from farming activity, has also translated into demand for government to procure and provide
suitable returns. In a reorientation of the approach, this Committee suggests self-sustainable
models empowered with improved market linkage as the basis for income growth of farmers.
India today is not only self-sufficient in respect of demand for food, but is also a net exporter
of agri-products occupying seventh position globally. It is one of the top producers of cereals
(wheat & rice), pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and marine fish. However, there remain
some chinks in the production armoury, when evaluated against nutritional security that is so
important from the perspective of harvesting the demographic dividend of the country. The
country faces deficit of pulses & oilseeds. The availability of fruits & vegetables and milk &
meat & fish has increased, thanks to production gains over the decades, but affordability to a
vast majority, including large number of farmers too, remains a question mark.
The impressive agricultural growth and gains since 1947 stand as a tribute to the farmers’
resilience to multiple challenges and to their grit & determination to serve and secure the
nation’s demand for food and raw material for its agro-industries.
It is an irony, that the very same farmer is now caught in the vortex of more serious challenges.
The average income of an agricultural household during July 2012 to June 2013 was as low as
Rs.6,426, as against its average monthly consumption expenditure of Rs.6,223. As many as
22.50 per cent of the farmers live below official poverty line. Large tracts of arable land have
turned problem soils, becoming acidic, alkaline & saline physico-chemically. Another primary
factor of production, namely, water is also under stress. Climate change is beginning to
challenge the farmer’s ability to adopt coping and adaptation measures that are warranted.
Technology fatigue is manifesting in the form of yield plateaus. India’s yield averages for most
crops at global level do not compare favourably. The costs of cultivation are rising. The
magnitude of food loss and food waste is alarming. The markets do not assure the farmer of
remunerative returns on his produce. In short, sustainability of agricultural growth faces serious
doubt, and agrarian challenge even in the midst of surpluses has emerged as a core concern.
Farmers own land. Land is a powerful asset. And, that such an asset owning class of citizens
has remained poor is a paradox. They face the twin vulnerabilities of risks & uncertainties of
production environment and unpredictability of market forces. Low and fluctuating incomes
are a natural corollary of a farmer under such debilitating circumstances. While cultivation is
boundarised by the land, market need not have such bounds.
Agriculture is the largest enterprise in the country. An enterprise can survive only if it can grow
consistently. And, growth is incumbent upon savings & investment, both of which are a
function of positive net returns from the enterprise. The net returns determine the level of
income of an entrepreneur, farmer in this case.
This explains the rationale behind adopting income enhancement approach to farmers’ welfare.
It is hoped, that the answer to agrarian challenges and realization of the aim of farmers’ welfare
lies in higher and steady incomes. It is in this context, that the Hon’ble Prime Minister shared
the vision of doubling farmers’ income with the nation at his Bareilly address on 28th February,
2016. Further, recognising the urgent need for a quick and time-bound transformation of the
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vision into reality, a time frame of six years (2016-17 to 2022-23) was delineated as the period
for implementation of a new strategy.
At the basic level, agriculture when defined as an enterprise comprises two segments –
production and post-production. The success of production as of now amounts to half success,
and is therefore not sustainable. Recent agitations of farmers (June-July 2017) in certain parts
of the country demanding higher prices on their produce following record output or scenes of
farmers dumping tractor loads of tomatoes & onions onto the roads or emptying canisters of
milk into drains exemplify neglect of other half segment of agriculture.
No nation can afford to compromise with its farming and farmers. And much less India,
wherein the absolute number of households engaged in agriculture in 2011 (119 million)
outpaced those in 1951 (70 million).Then, there are the landless agricultural labour who
numbered 144.30 million in 2011 as against 27.30 million in 1951. The welfare of this
elephantine size of India’s population is predicated upon a robust agricultural growth strategy,
that is guided by an income enhancement approach.
This Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) draws its official members from various
Ministries / Departments of Government of India, representing the panoply of the complexities
that impact the agricultural system. Members drawn from the civil society with interest in
agriculture and concern for the farmers were appointed by the Government as non-official
members. The DFI Committee has co-opted more than 100 resource persons from across the
country to help it in drafting the Report. These members hail from the world of research,
academics, non-government organisations, farmers’ organisations, professional associations,
trade, industry, commerce, consultancy bodies, policy makers at central & state levels and
many more of various domain strengths. Such a vast canvas as expected has brought in a
kaleidoscope of knowledge, information, wisdom, experience, analysis and unconventionality
to the treatment of the subject. The Committee over the last more than a year since its
constitution vide Government O.M. No. 15-3/2016-FW dated 13th April, 2016 has held
countless number of internal meetings, multiple stakeholder meetings, several conferences &
workshops across the country and benefitted from many such deliberations organised by others,
as also field visits. The call of the Hon’ble Prime Minister to double farmers’ income has
generated so much of positive buzz around the subject, that no day goes without someone
calling on to make a presentation and share views on income doubling strategy. The Committee
has been, therefore, lucky to be fed pro-bono service and advice. To help collage, analyse and
interpret such a cornucopia of inputs, the Committee has adopted three institutes, namely,
NIAP, NCAER and NCCD. The Committee recognizes the services of all these individuals,
institutions & organisations and places on record their service.
Following the declaration of his vision, the Hon’ble Prime Minister also shaped it by
articulating ‘Seven Point Agenda’, and these have offered the much needed hand holding to
the DFI Committee.
The Committee has adopted a basic equation of Economics to draw up its strategy, which says
that net return is a function of gross return minus the cost of production. This throws up three
(3) variables, namely, productivity gains, reduction in cost of cultivation and remunerative
price, on which the Committee has worked its strategy. In doing so, it has drawn lessons from
the past and been influenced by the challenges of the present & the future.
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In consequence, the strategy platform is built by the following four (4) concerns:
Sustainability of production
Monetisation of farmers’ produce
Re-strengthening of extension services
Recognising agriculture as an enterprise and enabling it to operate as such, by
addressing various structural weaknesses.
This Report is structured through 14 volumes and the layout, as the readers will appreciate, is
a break from the past. It prioritizes post-production interventions inclusive of agri-logistics
(Vol. III) and agricultural marketing (Vol-IV), as also sustainability issues (Vol-V & VI) over
production strategy (Vol. VIII).The readers will, for sure value the layout format as they study
the Report with keenness and diligence. And all other volumes including the one on Extension
and ICT (Vol. XI), that connect the source and sink of technology and knowledge have been
positioned along a particular logic.
The Committee benefited immensely from the DFI Strategy Report of NITI Aayog. Prof.
Ramesh Chand identified seven sources of growth and estimated the desired rates of growth to
achieve the target by 2022-23. The DFI Committee has relied upon these recommendations in
its Report.
There is so much to explain, that not even the license of prose can capture adequately, all that
needs to be said about the complexity & challenges of agriculture and the nuances of an
appropriate strategy for realising the vision of doubling farmers’ income by the year of India’s
75th Independence Day celebrations.
The Committee remains grateful to the Government for trusting it with such an onerous
responsibility. The Committee has been working as per the sound advice and counsel of the
Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh and Dr. S.K.
Pattanayak, IAS, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’
Welfare. It also hopes, that the Report will serve the purpose for which it was constituted.
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The first part of this volume discusses how future scientific research and development can be
prioritised to bring direct focus on areas that will have immediate impact on farmers’ income.
In the course of undertaking scientific studies, in regard to agriculture, the efforts can tend
become an exercise in academic pursuit, for enhancing agricultural knowledge and undertaking
new discoveries. Such scientific direction is important for the general and long term
development of scientific knowledge including new research. However, for the purpose of
meeting the national agenda to double farmers’ income, there is a need to direct the scientific
research into areas that can bring income gains in the comparatively shorter term for all
agriculturists, especially for under developed and poorly resourced farmers. The focus of the
discussion is to move from the ‘Science of Discovery’ to ‘Science of Delivery’.
The second half of this volume discusses the availability of various digital technologies and
associated applications, which can be utilised to enhance farmers’ income. A systems approach,
that promotes convergence within the technologies, so as to develop farms and farmers as
enterprises, is deliberated. All business enterprises need to optimise on inputs, both knowledge
and materials, and link the involved activities with market demand. The organisation of the
production system with the aim to maximise resource use is possible with modern day
technologies. Similarly, the inputs and the output require to be guided by, and directed to
assured demand. Science that optimises on the inputs, helps to reduce costs, makes the
production more competitive and mitigates any inflationary pressure. Linking farmers with
optimal demand and assisting the marketing system to develop optimised supply chain
operations are critical areas where technologies can add great value to the farmer.
The following Volume-XIII, will share the Committee’s views on structural weaknesses and
address them through reforms and a suitable governance framework for the future.
Ashok Dalwai
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Index of Figures
Figure 1.1 Fertilizer consumption and use efficiency in India from 1970-71 to 2013-14 ...................................... 8
Figure 2.1 Smart Infrastructure to Support Convergence ..................................................................................... 29
Figure 2.2 Compression of time: science of design, development and delivery ................................................... 34
Figure 2.3 Transition of supply-push to demand-pull research ............................................................................ 35
Figure 2.4 Integrate science & production with market ........................................................................................ 36
Figure 2.5 Nexus of water-energy-nutrition ......................................................................................................... 37
Figure 2.6 Income, Nutrition, Education-Health .................................................................................................. 37
Figure 2.7 Need to compress impact pathways .................................................................................................... 39
Figure 2.8 Activities that benefit from PPP model of functioning ....................................................................... 42
Figure 8.1 Sample dashboard for cold-chain infrastructure development .......................................................... 149
Figure 9.1 Sustainable Land Use System ........................................................................................................... 162
Figure 9.2 Land evaluation for Suitability for Crops based on Land Resources Inventory ................................ 165
Figure 9.3 Land Resource Inventory (LRI) at Micro Watershed level ............................................................... 166
Figure 9.4 Evolution of Indian Earth Observation System ................................................................................. 167
Figure 9.5 Major Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Agriculture .......................................................... 168
Figure 10.6 Use of various types of approaches and data for crop forecasting under FASAL project ............... 169
Index of Tables
Table 1.1 Increase in productivity (kg/ha) of foodgrains in India .......................................................................... 4
Table 1.2 Productivity of some important crops in India and world ...................................................................... 9
Table 1.3 SDG number 2, related interventions and targets set by NITI Aayog .................................................. 20
Table 3.1 Seed requirement and availability of major crop groups ...................................................................... 55
Table 3.2 Change in seed replacement rate of major crops at five years interval in India .................................... 55
Table 3.3 List of states where the seed replacement rate of major crops is below optimum ................................ 55
Table 4.1 Potential area available in different districts for cultivation of pulses in rice fallows. ......................... 72
Table 5.1 Global area under bio-tech crops .......................................................................................................... 95
Table 5.2 Global area under bio-tech crops (Million Hectares**) ........................................................................ 96
Table 5.3 Some examples of transgenic crops and traits in the public research system ..................................... 102
Table 5.4 Potential crops with corresponding genetic traits expressed in GM: experiences in United States .... 102
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Volume XII A
Research & Development for Agriculture
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Chapter 1
Introduction
Science and Technology (S&T) and Innovation in Farm Management are critical inputs for economic
development and poverty alleviation. The introductory chapter provides a broad overview of areas of
operational concern deliberated in Volumes (III – XI) of DFI Report, as the basis for necessitating
application of Research and Development (R&D) and Digital Technology in these areas for resulting
in a relatively less vulnerable and enhanced income growth of farmers.
The Committee identifies and focuses on seven major sources of growth (Volume II), operating
within and outside the agriculture sector. These are,
Improvement in crop productivity.
Improvement in livestock productivity.
Resource use efficiency or saving in cost of production.
Increase in cropping intensity.
Diversification towards high value crops.
Improvement in real prices received by farmers.
Shift from farm to non-farm occupations.
In Volume-II of its Report, the DFI Committee tables the “growth targets” for doubling
farmer’s real income while improving the ratio between farm and non-farm income from 60:40
as of now, to 70:30 by 2022, by:
b) Improving and optimising input delivery mechanism and overall input efficiency
[technologies, irrigation methods, mechanisation, Integrated Pest Management (IPM),
Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), farm extension services, adaptation to
climate change, integrated agri-logistics systems, Integrated Farming Systems
Approach, etc.].
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Farmers’ income is directly related to cost of agricultural production (including input costs)
and profitable monetisation of the agricultural produce, through effective market linkages. The
DFI Committee Report, in Volumes III – XI and XIII, deliberates upon specific economic
activities and topics that have a durable impact on farmers’ income increase, some of which
are categorised as follows:
ii. Agricultural Value System (AVS) as an integration of the supply chain and to drive
market led value system – District level, State level and National Level Value-System
Platforms to promote individual value chains to collaborate and integrate into a sector-
wide supply chain.
iv. Developing Hub and Spoke System at back-end as well as front-end to facilitate and
promote a AVCS (which includes input providers, farmers, transporters, warehousing,
food and agro-processors, retailers).
ix. Farm Linked Activities including secondary and tertiary sector activities of MSME
scale, for promoting near-farm and off-farm income generating opportunities as well
as to facilitate that more of the produce captures more of the market value.
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xii. Research & Development and ICT for Doubling Farmers’ Income.
The various interventions suggested in various volumes of the Report as above, will stand to
benefit by close interface with science in agriculture, which is the subject dealt with in this
Volume, namely Volume XII.
In order to bring the designed emphasis on different aspects of science, the issues have been
delineated as Research and Development in Agriculture, and deployment of ICT in Agriculture.
Accordingly, these two different issues are dealt with in Volume XII-A and XII-B.
This, Volume-XIIA, deals with the role of Research and Development (R&D) for delineating
the needed science and developing appropriate technology to cater to the comprehensive
mandate of agriculture and realise the objective of enhancing farmers’ income.
The introduction of high yielding varieties, additional irrigation facilities, a great input flow
through fertilizers and pesticides, farm mechanisation, credit facilities, buttressed by price
support, and other rural infrastructure facilities ushered in the green revolution. It stimulated
infrastructure and rural development, increased prosperity of villages, and improved the quality
of life. The radical change in land use and agricultural production transcended India from a
food importing country to a self-sufficient and even to a food-exporting nation. There is lot of
improvement in the agricultural production and productivity per se in India after the green
revolution (Table 1.1).
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There has been a quantum jump in production of various agricultural commodities. By 2017
foodgrains sector has increased by 5 times, horticultural crops by 9.5 times, fish by 12.5
times, milk 7.8 times and eggs 39 times since 1951. This has created a sizeable buffer stock,
despite high increase in population. Grain crops registered about 127 m ha (59 per cent) of the
gross cropped area (GCA) of the country. Rice and wheat occupied 22 per cent and 15 per cent
of the net cultivable area in India respectively. Relative to cropping patterns, rice occupies the
largest cultivable area during kharif (June to October) season, whereas wheat occupies largest
cultivable area during rabi (November to March) season. Pearl millet (bajra), maize and
sorghum occupied about 5 per cent, 4 per cent and 4 per cent of total cropland area in India
respectively during 2009-10. Though the area under maize exhibited an increase from 3 per
cent in 1990-91 to 4 per cent in 2009-10, the area under pearl millet and sorghum declined
significantly during the same period, from 6 per cent to 5 per cent (sorghum) and 8 per cent to
4 per cent (pearl millet). The data for the year 2016-17 shows the status in terms of percentage
of GCA and annual total output as: (pearl millet 3.84%; 9.73 million tonnes), maize (4.95%;
25.90 million tonnes), and sorghum (2.89%; 4.57 million tonnes).
India has clearly emerged as a leading horticultural country of the world with a total annual
fruits & vegetable production of more than 300 million tonnes during 2017-18. The area under
horticulture has grown substantively over the last decade to about 25 million hectares which
includes a wide variety of crops, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushroom, floriculture,
medicinal and aromatic plants, nuts, plantation crops including coconut and oil palm which are
grown in different agro-climatic conditions. The positive change in production has been a result
of gains in both productivity and area.
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agricultural labour force. The livestock sector in India in recent times has been growing faster
than crop sector. The contribution of livestock output to the total output of the agriculture sector
has significantly increased from 15 per cent in 1981-82 to 29 per cent in 2015-16. This not only
provided a cushion to agriculture growth but also has set a pace for itself to emerge as an engine
of agricultural growth.
This clearly depicts the impact of agriculture research system in imparting food security to the
nation and benefitting the farmer with better output and income. The ICAR-SAU combination
contributes to the coordinated research and education system for agriculture and allied sciences
in the country. The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW),
under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India has been playing
key role in extension and agricultural development system of the country.
The country has witnessed an impressive growth in rice production in the post-independence
era due to the adoption of semi dwarf high yielding varieties coupled with the adoption of
intensive input based management practices. Rice production has increased four times,
productivity three times while the area increase has been only one and half times during this
period. In order to keep pace with the growing population, the estimated rice requirement by
2025 is about 130 million tonnes. Plateauing trend in the yield of HYVs, declining and
degrading natural resources like land and water and acute shortage of labour make the task of
increasing rice production quite challenging. The current situation necessitates adoption of
some innovative technologies to boost rice production. The country has become a leading
exporter of the Basmati rice. Major export destinations (2016-17) were Saudi Arabia, Iran,
United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait. The country exported 40,00,471.56 metric tons (Mts)
of Basmati rice worth of Rs. 21,604.58 crore (or 3,230.24 US$ Mill.) during the year 2016-17
to these countries.
Other area of work to enhance yield is popularization of rice hybrid. Efforts are being made to
promote cultivation of hybrid rice through various crop development programmes such as
National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India
(BGREI) under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
From the initial level of 10,000 ha in 1995, area under hybrid reached one m ha in 2006,
exceeded 2.5 m ha during 2014, which is about 5.6 per cent of the total rice area in the country.
It has picked up during the last eleven years, mainly because of increasing popularity of hybrid
rice in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya, Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and it is estimated
that around 3 m ha plus was under hybrid rice cultivation in India in 2016 which is around 7
per cent of the total rice cropped area in India.
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Maize (corn) is one of the most versatile emerging crops having wider adaptability under varied
agro-climatic conditions and is valued as food, feed, fodder and industrial raw material.
Globally, maize is known as the queen of cereals, because it has the highest genetic yield
potential. In India, maize is the third most important food crop after rice and wheat. In view of
its universal nature and adaptability under diverse ecology, development of high yielding
hybrids with in-built resistance and tolerance to diseases, pests and various climatic stresses;
and development and fine-tuning of production ecology deserve priority attention. During the
last 10 years, more than 120 hybrids have been developed and released in addition to
development of various production technologies. As of now (2017-18) more than 200
cultivators are available in the field.
While it is true that the growth rate of maize output over the last 5 years is more than that of
USA & China, the country’s output of 27 million tonnes (2016-17) pales before the output of
370 million tonnes of USA. Productivity in India is 2.6 tonnes/ha as against 12 t/ha in USA
and 5.5 t/ha in China.
Considerable field scale understanding is available in India from empirical research on crop
response to irrigation under varying soil, water use and environmental conditions, and efficient
irrigation schedules have been developed for all the major crops. Similarly, technology
improvements are being consistently addressed to application efficiencies of the commonly
practised basin, flood, furrow and border methods of irrigation. Similarly, newer technologies
are becoming increasingly available to help reduce the energy requirements of pressurized
micro-irrigation systems like drip and sprinkler. Low pressure micro-irrigation technologies
are being aggressively promoted in India by the central government, state governments and
many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to improve irrigation efficiencies and
agricultural productivity.
The new technologies of micro-irrigation now include drip/trickle systems, surface and
subsurface drip tapes, micro-sprinklers, sprayers, micro- jets, spinners, rotors, bubblers, etc.
Despite wide promotion, only about 10 million ha of land is currently under micro-irrigation
in India as against the total potential of 63 million ha. Maharashtra is the leading state under
micro-irrigation followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Micro irrigation is
popularly practised in about 30 crops, and is more popular in horticultural crops which allow
relatively wide spacing. It is however critical that micro-irrigation is popularised and facilitated
in field crops grown in rainfed cultivation systems. This will benefit the small and marginal
farmers, who are predominant practitioners of field crops and rainfed farming systems.
Studies have revealed that water savings ranging between 25 and 50 per cent are possible by
drip irrigation compared with surface irrigation. Micro-irrigation also facilitates application of
controlled quantity of water and nutrients in the vicinity of each plant, such that the crop, water
and nutrient needs are almost matched with irrigation water supplies. Most current research in
micro-irrigation is focused on simultaneous precision application of water, fertilizer and other
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inputs to match the crop requirements on the field to increase the marginal productivities of
water and inputs through impact on the quantity and quality of produce.
The practice of conservation tillage, agro-forestry, ley farming, mulching, nitrogen fixing
legumes, crop diversification, integrated nutrient management etc has the potentiality to
enhance C-sequestration in various locations.
Freshwater aquaculture is an integral part of the agriculture in India. It is one of the fastest
growing subsectors in the country which has registered a growth rate of 5.1 per cent per annum
over the last 60 years. During this period, the fish production in the country has increased from
0.75 million metric tonnes (mMT) in 1950-51 to 9.45 mMT in 2013-14, of which the major
contribution has been from aquaculture as the sector has grown from 0.37 mMT in 1980 to 5.1
mMT at present. The consumption demand for fish is rising over a period of time, primarily
due to the growing population, expanding urbanization and changing food habits. In future,
freshwater aquaculture sector holds the key as around 85 per cent of the additional food fish
demand could be met from the freshwater sector.
The dairy and livestock sector too has grown and both milk and meat production have
registered impressive growth, and India tops the global milk output at 165 million tonnes.
Stagnant yields in last 20 years except in cotton – importing edible oils and yet to reach
pulse – self-sufficiency.
Depletion of critical resources – water & soil.
Climate change – rising temperature and frequency of extreme weather events.
Infrastructure constraints – power, roads, storage (cold & dry) and other agri-logistics.
Low risk bearing capacity of farmers – poor farm returns.
Low profitability in many crops / due to high vulnerability geographies – high cost of
production; and less than remunerative returns.
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In India, subsidies and increased awareness about fertilizers have led to a significant increase
in fertilizer consumption. Importantly, while fertilizer consumption has continued to rise
substantially, the elasticity of output with respect to fertilizer use has dropped sharply (Figure
1.1). During the period of 1970-71 to 2010-11, while foodgrain production grew by about 2.3
times, the increase in fertilizer (NPK) consumption was about 13 times (GoI, 2014). In the year
2013-14 food production was 264.8 million ton with use of 24.5 million tonnes of NPK
fertilizers. The average crop response which was about 50 kg of foodgrain per kg of NPK
fertilizer during the year 1970-71, fell to about 18.70 kg during 2010-11 and further down to
about 10.8 during 2013-14. It also needs to be noted, that the increase in fertilizer use has come
at significant cost. The fiscal burden of fertilizer subsidy which was just Rs 60 crore in 1976-
77, shot up to over Rs 70,000 crore in 2012-13. It was as high as Rs. 72,437.58 crore in the
year 2016-17). There are other important costs in the form of long-term soil degradation,
degradation of water resources (in both quantity and quality), and general stagnation of yields
due to application of sub-optimal nutrient ratios. Thus, disproportionate NPK fertilizer
application, multi-nutrient deficiencies, and lack of organic manure application has led to
reduction in the carbon content of the soil and contributed to stagnating agricultural
productivity. This is turn has been getting reflected in high cost of production over the years.
Figure 1.1 Fertilizer consumption and use efficiency in India from 1970-71 to 2013-14
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The doubling/enhancing of farmer’s income can be achieved through various means, of which
scaling up production via productivity of the crops/dairy etc. units is one of the important
factors. As on date, there is lot of scope for improvement in Indian average yield levels vis-a-
vis that of the world, as well as neighbouring countries.
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Several factors are responsible for lower productivity in India. (Table 1.2). Of these the
research and strategic gaps which requires policy support and research prioritization are
discussed.
In terms of population, India has the distinction of being the most populous country in the
world after China. Increasing food production and ensuring food & nutrition security for such
a huge population is a difficult task. The challenge can be addressed only if improvement in
other sectors as well as increased investment in R&D, upgrading research infrastructure, better
management of agricultural resources and creating more income generation opportunities are
ensured.
An important option is increasing investments in agricultural R&D and rolling out
efficient institutional reforms in order to contribute more effectively to tackling the
emerging challenges in agriculture including food & nutrition security both at national
and regional levels. Investment in agricultural R&D, must accompany institutional
reforms to create an environment that facilitates adoption of new technologies.
Otherwise the existing gap in adoption of new technologies will continue.
The emerging concept of agricultural innovation systems involves a wide range of
stakeholders and a dynamic process. For efficient outcomes, the innovation system
should allow an effective linkage between farmers and local communities with research
institutions and markets.
Importantly, preparation of research agendas/plans are still missing or there is little
involvement of farmers, producers, and policy makers for agriculture development to
be effective. Agricultural research needs to be more demand driven rather than supply
driven, which calls for responsive changes in organizational culture, structure and
systems. Assisting national agricultural research systems (NARS) to implement such
changes is a major development challenge.
Agricultural research systems need to be integrated with appropriately designed and
sustainable agricultural extension/advisory systems that are able to support farmer
innovation & experimentation; facilitate learning between farmers and researchers; and
provide farmers with the information they need to make choices about production
processes.
With a view to cater to the needs of farmers in a changing climate, public extension
agencies and development departments need to change their orientation from purely
varieties and inputs to other areas like resource-conserving technologies, farm
mechanization, post-harvest management, marketing and deployment of technologies
for early warning & risk management.
Innovative agricultural development should require research to be integrated and follow
multi-disciplinary approach.
Participatory research and development could be a practical approach through which
scientists, extension agents, NGOs and farmers are engaged to address low productivity
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and poor resource use efficiency in an integrated approach. This approach, which has
been known for long, needs now to be scaled-up.
Past experience indicates that public sector alone cannot meet current & future
challenges; and private sector has huge potential in meeting various requirements of
agriculture. Therefore, there is a need to create favourable environment for private
sector participation in agricultural research and technology development.
Given the Indian agricultural structure dominated by small and marginal farmers and
who technologically are advised to practise integrated farming system (IFS), the NARs
of the country should adopt package approach in preference to mono-cropping / mono-
activity; as also income basis as an alternate to productivity/production basis.
In this context, the agenda of research and development needs to be changed to marshal efforts
for its integrating through active partnership. The convergence issue needs to be dealt with
proper infrastructure development, institutional building and policy guidelines.
The partnership should also provide scope for private sector participation in R&D.
Like in all other parts of one’s life, there is increasing use of electronic devices, tools and a
fusion of digitised systems, to manage agricultural processes. Hence, the phrase “Digital
Agriculture”, a recently coined catch-phrase seems a misnomer - it actually refers to the use
of digital technologies in managing the business of agriculture. ‘Digital Technologies in
Agriculture’ is probably the more accurate narrative.
Advanced technologies are not uncommon to agriculture. Gene mapping under the electron
microscope, bio-technology and the information services have regularly brought into use
available digital technologies. Satellites & weather scanning radars and digital temperature &
humidity sensors have been around for a few decades. However, of late, the digitisation of
agricultural information and its analytics is increasingly changing the way farming is done.
Gone are the days of second guessing the next monsoon, or of watering the field at set
schedules. Embedded sensors in the soil can tell when and how much water to feed, and digital
analysis of wind patterns and upper jet streams has reduced the guess work of rain dancers.
Digital photography allows for near-instant spectrographic analysis of soil and plant health. In
minutes, patterns not visible to the eye, are compared with a large database to diagnose the
INM and IPM needs on a farm. These possibilities are already in use in pockets, and need to
find more universal application.
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Digitisation of everyday data, helps to analyse trends, forecast events in advance and quickly
share knowledge across geographies. Already, in the communications arena, digital
technologies have made a huge impact on agricultural communities. Alerts and remote advice
are frequently sent to farm across the digital ether helping in intelligent decision making.
Digital technologies can help counter many of the inherent vagaries in farming and optimise
upon the resources that are deployed. Given, that there is increasing concern from climate
change, land depletion, water shortage and wasteful use of agro-chemicals, making sure that
farms remain environmentally relevant and sustainable will require more use of digital devices
and the associated analytics in agriculture.
A farm itself is no longer a large field, but can now be addressed by aid of technology at the
scale of a few feet and even at a granular level. Geo-informatics is not merely the cartography
of large tracts of land, but can be used for precisely targeted treatment on a field, without
affecting the adjoining tract of land. This precision can even happen at the level of individual
plants, opening up opportunities for efficiency, hitherto unimaginable. While one is used to
seeing growing use of protected cultivation, using physical plastic and glass to envelope and
safeguard the plants from inclement happenings, the future may yet see another envelope,
invisible and digital, that is superior to the current day protected cultivation practices.
In agriculture linked governance, a fusion of digital technologies are playing an important role.
The direct benefit transfer (DBT) system for a multitude of support schemes, linked with
Aadhaar (the 12 digit unique identity number based on biometrics) is a notable example. Digital
head count of livestock and analysis of their health through RFID (radio frequency
identification) and micro-chips based ear tags and the traceability of a vegetable to its farm plot
through digital barcodes are examples of applications. The electronic National Agricultural
Market (eNAM) is yet another example, where digital technologies are aimed to link farmers
seamlessly with a national level market.
Not too far into the future, any citizen could order a flower or a fruit while still on the bush,
thanks to use of digital technologies in agriculture. Emergent Artificial Intelligence (AI) may
replace the shepherd dog, or take self-contained decisions to robotically prune leaves and
manage the canopy in orchards. Maybe, farmers will have a robot repair workshop, with 3-D
printers in their barns, in a few more decades.
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The on-going massive digitalisation of Agricultural Input System, Production System and
Output System has already shown positive and influential impact on productivity increase and
effective input management. Output management in the markets is also showing positive
changes. The achievements in all these domains can be scaled up and also needs to be
developed to provide for a demand driven agricultural value system that is inclusive and
equitable towards farmer producers. Reduction in cost of cultivation, produce losses and
predictable risk management are important aspects that help to overcome distress sale, and this
will rely on effective access to technology and will help to promote a sustainable farming
system among others.
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Various technologies would require to be integrated for the purpose of enhancing income of
farmers. To sustain economic growth, each intervention would require to be market linked.
Integration is possible by deploying digital technologies, to provide the necessary control
triggers, for monitoring and assessment. Simple systems like centralised quick response (QR)
codes can help prevent spurious inputs (pesticides and chemicals) and facilitate a tracking and
tracing system. An ecosystem based on R&D, ICT and data that supports the delivery of timely,
targeted information and services will hasten the process of making farming profitable and
sustainable while securing safe, nutritious and affordable food for all.
The new mandate of agriculture (from the farmer income perspective) is not only to produce
more from less, but also to capture value from every grain, ounce & drop produced, and to
ensure that this value is monetised in equitable manner, for bringing sustainable economic
growth to farmers. As such, from the perspective of doubling farmers’ income, there is a need
to prioritise efforts in science and technology (S&T) along these lines. A broad categorisation
is possible in reference to target areas for S&T:
i. Extension services: that strengthen knowledge dissemination. This includes targeted
information sharing systems, expanding outreach of extension services, building
capacity and skills, standard operating procedures, protocols and good agricultural
practices, providing knowledge to take up secondary agricultural activities, etc.;
ii. Risks: that mitigate the inherent risks in agriculture. These include a range of systems
such as weather forecasting, insurance coverage, market forecasting, animal and
plant health, pest mitigation, etc.;
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iii. Post-production: that safeguards the produce and enables efficient marketing. These
include modern warehousing and inventory management systems, traceability for
food safety purposes, value assaying technologies, transparency in price discovery
and exchange process, packaging and transportation systems, minimising of produce
losses, technologies that convert waste into usable commodities, value-addition
where form of produce is changed, and similar;
iv. Resource use: that optimises the use of natural resources at each level of the
agricultural eco-system. These include converging initiatives taken for soil health,
water health, quality of planting material, feed and similar inputs;
v. Energy use: that brings energy use efficiency in agricultural activities. These include
those that bring efficiencies in use of fuel and electricity, automation that minimises
indiscriminate energy use, systems that enhance the output from labour, etc.;
vi. New developments: that generate new technologies and associated knowledge, such
as developing of new varieties, breeds, climate resilience, etc.;
vii. Agricultural governance: that identifies and builds a database of farmers, links
identified farmers to their specific requirements, ensures that delivery systems are
transparent and effective, monitors cropping and yields, facilitates access to a unified
national market, performance dashboards, etc.
The application of modern day technologies, especially digital technologies are all pervading,
and this Committee does not intend to list all the options and applications. The options available
include innovations, which also change with every new development. However, there is a need
to prioritise efforts, and the localised need assessment of farming clusters at state and district
level, and should be fully considered. This will make the S&T system more effective and
efficient.
At the national level, the priority areas to target doubling of farmers’ income, though Science
and Technology could be:
a. Famers database – as recommended in Volume-XIII, to build a dynamic database and
ensure targeted and efficient delivery of support to farmers, and to assist specialised
extension services.
b. Credit availability – to provide greater coverage under Kisan Credit Cards including
crops, fishers and livestock farmers, and universal access to post-harvest pledge loans.
c. Market efficiency – to provide market intelligence through demand & price forecasting.
d. Extension system – to standardise the information, integration of effort among
stakeholders and to maximise coverage to reach all farmers.
e. Resource use efficiency – specifically to improve soil and water management.
f. Sustainability and productivity gains – to improve yields and broad base the production
while suiting regional ecological strengths.
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g. Risk management – information and insurance systems that improve farmers’ capacity
to handle the vagaries of weather, pests, disaster and markets,
h. Convergence in efforts by public and private sectors.
Result Areas
Identify Farmers
Cultivation Policies Sustainability Credit & Investment
Market Intelligence
Science & Technology Optimal monetisation
Inventory management
Marketing Monitoring Equitability
Delivery of Services
Support Productivity
Risk Management
There are various schemes and programmes of both Public Sector (Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of
Fertilizers, Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of Science &
Technology, Department of Space, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Industries etc.) and Private Sector
at village level, and digital technologies that can help bring convergence at ground level.
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vi. Information technology (IT) systems - the core component in the transition from
breakthroughs in labs to field-scale implementation
viii. Smart sensors and new delivery systems to help combat viruses and pathogens
ix. High Performance Computing (HPC) for manipulation of very large data sets,
particularly those related to agricultural genomics, proteomics, geo-informatics
and climate change
xi. An effective regulatory approval process for new technologies, which allow
farmers to gain access to the latest technological advancements, to be put in place.
This Vision Document clearly perceives the need for a regulatory process for new technologies
so as to allow farmers to gain access to latest technological advancements, and also the fusion
of technologies for achieving higher level productivity in food and agriculture systems.
This Document has also identified “Information Technology (IT) Systems as the core
component in the transition from breakthroughs in a Labs to field-scale implementation”,
besides giving due importance to High Performance Computing (HPC), Precision farming,
Fusion of Technologies – Bio-Technology, Nano-Technology and Information Technology, in
ICAR’s endeavour to adopt as “technology drivers”. This requires establishment of GRIN
Centres of Excellence (COEs) in Genomics, Robotics, Informatics and Nano-Technology, in
each of the ICAR Institutes and Agricultural Universities (State and Central).
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(i) Creation of detailed Soil Data base to develop micro level agricultural land use plan
and Space technology enabled spatial database for Village Resource Centres
(ii) Development of a National Portal on agriculture statistics and soil resource and its
spatial decision support systems
(iii) Extension of Land Use statistics data, under nine fold classifications, to Village /
Panchayat level in pilot districts
(iv) Development of a prototype of ICT based information dissemination system for
stakeholders for various agro-climate zones
(v) Appropriate decision support system (DSS) for assessing risk and risk profiling at farm
level, regional level as well as at national level including appropriate advisories for
risk mitigation
(vi) Need to convert relevant information to knowledge before it is transferred to the grass-
root for wider impact and dissemination
(vii) Installation of about 20,000 Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) for collating weather
data from Gram Panchayat level, assuming that a weather station can be representative
in about 5 K.M. radius
(viii) Development of GIS and Remote-Sensing methodologies for detailed soil resource
mapping and land use planning at the level of a Watershed or a River basin
(ix) Implementation of Agricultural Resources Information System (AgRIS) Project
(http://agris.nic.in) in every district.
1 NMSA (2009) : Mission Document of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) 2009, one of eight Missions
announced under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), Government of India;
2
Moni.M (2004): Designing e-Government for the Poor – “Agricultural Resources Information System (AgRIS): An e-
Government Programme for fostering agricultural growth, poverty reduction and sustainable resource use in India”, presented
in the Regional Workshop on Implementing e-Government”, organised by Asian development Bank Institute (ADBI) and
Information, Communication and Space Technology Division of UNESCAP.
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were undertaken during 2002-10. This dataset is essential for undertaking agro and socio-
economic analysis of a village, facilitating micro-level planning.
Such a comprehensive database based on these parameters is yet to be established in India. The
database is to be linked with farmer database and farm database. Both the AgRIS and DISNIC-
PLAN Projects had faced both inter-and intra-institutional problems, as they were conceived
well ahead of time. Whereas, e-Governance projects (top-down) were undertaken but
operational projects (bottom-up) for developmental sector were not given required importance.
In view of their relevance, the NMSA 2009 Report had recommended for operationalisation.
The NMSA 2009 Report has also recommended “installation of about 20,000 AWSs” to
strengthen agricultural risk management system, which requires “site specific” real time
weather and biological data. Weather Stations are the source for all weather data for agricultural
uses viz., Agro-Meteorological Planning, Forecasting, Research and Agro-Meteorological
Advisory services etc. Such agro-met advisory services empower farmers to take the right
decisions viz. What to grow, when to sow/plant, when to irrigate, how much to irrigate, when
to plant, what pest to scout for, when and what to spray, when and how much to fertilize, when
will harvest be, and about expected yield.
The National Statistical Commission Sub-Group-V Report 2011 has recommended for
overhauling the existing Indian Agricultural Statistical System through ICT enabled process
from “Farm-Household” and “Farm-level” to Panchayat, Block, District, State and Centre, by
bringing the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) Institutions and about 500
Departments of life sciences (Botany and Zoology) and about 250 Departments of Geography
and Spatial Informatics in to the System, to facilitate implementation of the World Bank-FAO’s
Global Strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics.
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This Report 2011 stated, “restructuring of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES)
by inducting ICT Professionals and Big Data Analysts, at appropriate level is essential to make
the Directorate ICT-enabled and to build Decision Support Systems (DSSs) based on Database
systems, Experts systems and Knowledge bases, by applying Big Data Analytics”. The DES
is expected to be Decision Support System (DSS) enabler based on Big Data Analytics.
The nodal Ministry in respect of SDG number two (2) is the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers’ Welfare (MoAFW), Government of India. This SDG states: “End hunger, achieve
food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. In this target setting
exercise, target number 2.3 states: “By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and the
incomes of small scale producers, particularly women, indigenous peoples, family farmers,
pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive
resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value
addition and non-farm employment”.
The related interventions & targets are presented in the Table below based on extractions from
mapping by NITI Aayog.
Table 1.3 SDG number 2, related interventions and targets set by NITI Aayog
Other
Centrally Sponsored
Related concerned
Schemes/Central Sector Targets
Interventions Ministries/
Schemes (CSS)
Departments
Green Revolution, the 1) Targeted 2.1 By 2030, end hunger and ensure Consumer
umbrella scheme, includes: Public access by all people, in particular Affairs Food &
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana Distribution the poor and people in vulnerable Public
(RKVY); and Krishi Unnati System (TPDS) situations, including infants, to safe, Distribution,
Schemes {Mission for nutritious and sufficient food all
2) National Food Tribal Affairs
Integrated Development of year round.
Security Act
Horticulture (MIDH),
(NFSA), passed in 2.2 By 2030, end all forms of
Integrated Scheme on
2013 malnutrition, including achieving,
Agriculture Census &
Statistics, Integrated Scheme by 2025, the internationally agreed
3) Antyodaya Health & FW,
on Agriculture Cooperation, targets on stunting and wasting in
Anna Yojana
Integrated Scheme on children under 5 years of age, and Ayush, WCD
Agricultural Marketing, address the nutritional needs of
National Food Security adolescent girls, pregnant and
Mission, National Mission on lactating women and older persons
Oilseeds & Oil Palm 2.3 By 2030, double the Agriculture &
(NMOOP), National Mission agricultural productivity and Cooperation,
for Sustainable Agriculture incomes of small-scale food
(NMSA), and National Chemicals &
producers, in particular women,
Mission on Agriculture Fertilisers,
indigenous peoples, family
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Other
Centrally Sponsored
Related concerned
Schemes/Central Sector Targets
Interventions Ministries/
Schemes (CSS)
Departments
Extension & Technology farmers, pastoralists and fishers, Tribal Affairs
(NMAET)} (Core) including through secure and
equal access to land, other
2. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
productive resources and inputs,
Yojana (PMFBY)
knowledge, financial services,
3. Rasthriya Pashudhan Vikas markets and opportunities for
Yojana (White Revolution), value addition and non-farm
the umbrella scheme, includes employment
National Livestock Mission
2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable
(NLM), National Programme
food production systems and
for Bovine Breeding and
implement resilient agricultural
Dairy Development, and
practices that increase productivity
Livestock Health and Disease Agriculture &
and production, that help maintain
Control Programme. (Core) Cooperation
ecosystems, that strengthen
4. Interest subsidy for short capacity for adaptation to climate
term credit of farmers change, extreme weather, drought,
flooding and other disasters and
5. National Programme of
that progressively improve land and
Mid-Day Meal in Schools
soil quality
(MDM) (Core)
6. Price Stabilisation Fund 2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic
diversity of seeds, cultivated plants
and farmed and domesticated
animals and their related wild
species, including through soundly
managed and diversified seed and Agriculture &
plant banks at the national, regional Cooperation
and international levels, and
promote access to and fair and Tribal Affairs
equitable sharing of benefits arising
from the utilisation of genetic
resources and associated traditional
knowledge, as internationally
agreed
2.a Increase investment, including
through enhanced international
cooperation, in rural infrastructure,
agricultural research and extension Commerce
services, technology development
and plant and livestock gene banks External
in order to enhance agricultural Affairs
productive capacity in developing
countries, in particular least
developed countries
2.b Correct and prevent trade
restrictions and distortions in world
agricultural markets, including
through the parallel elimination of Commerce
all forms of agricultural export Agriculture &
subsidies and all export measures Cooperation
with equivalent effect, in
accordance with the mandate of the
Doha Development Round.
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Other
Centrally Sponsored
Related concerned
Schemes/Central Sector Targets
Interventions Ministries/
Schemes (CSS)
Departments
2.c Adopt measures to ensure the
proper functioning of food
commodity markets and their
derivatives and facilitate timely
access to market information,
including on food reserves, in order
to help limit extreme food price
volatility
The target mapping indicates the need for greater coordination between among various
departments and ministries and as recommended in the DFI Report, various areas of
convergence are necessary. As such, a multi-tier coordination between the implementing
agencies of the ministries and departments, including state governments have been proposed
in the DFI Report. The coordination and monitoring is obviously optimised through use of
digital technologies. However, the accountability and monitoring needs to be structured under
the responsibility of a nodal empowered body or Commission charged with doubling of
farmers’ income. This assumes importance, considering that Government of India targets to
double the farmers’ income by 2022, that is, 8 years ahead of the SDG targeted year of 2030.
1.10 Annotation
India has/is witnessed/witnessing several revolutions in agriculture viz., the Green Revolution,
Blue Revolution, White Revolution, Sweet Revolution, Rainbow (Pulses) Revolution, Bio-
Technology Revolution, etc. India continues on its mission to develop capacities in health and
agricultural technologies, information and communication technologies, bio-technology and
nano-technology as a priority. India has also achieved great advancements in satellite based
technologies in the last 40-50 years. The need is evident, to converge technological expertise
on making farming practices a sustainable and profitable enterprise.
Achievement of the recommended growth targets for doubling farmers’ real income and for
improving the ratio between farm and non-farm income from 60:40 as of now to 70:30 by 2022,
necessitates application of Science & Technology in farm management, to effectively
impacting “farm to profits”. Self-sustainable models empowered with improved market
linkages are expected to be the next generation agricultural models with built-in digitalisation.
This means digitalised data and application will be the accepted norm for farm management.
Research and development projects, covering various technology needs such as in plant
biology, soil management, water use efficiency, industrial machines, robotics, genetics,
industrial use of agricultural raw outputs, etc., are all ongoing and necessary. These help to
develop agriculture in keeping with the changed dynamics, and to keep agriculture future ready.
However, there is need to also prioritise such efforts, to meet an already changed dynamic, of
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farmers not achieving an income growth rate, synonymous with that achieved by the users of
farm produce.
Modern scientific knowledge keeps upgrading and extends the users’ horizon. Boundaries are
frequently redrawn and this is happening at ever increasing speeds. It is obvious that research
and development programs are kept equally nimble and adequately paced with such advances,
though not in isolation but with determined focus on a holistic systems approach to agriculture.
The Constitution of India through Article 48, requires that the country endeavours to organise
agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines. This makes it mandatory to
explore and apply modern scientific knowledge. Science is an evolving subject and the modern
learnings as they apply to agriculture will inherently require to shift as and when scientific
knowledge progresses. Holistic application of scientific learning is also indispensable for
sustainable development and for the welfare of farmers.
Key Extracts
India’s achievements show up gaps, when compared to global yield levels; breaking
these stagnant yields is the scope that exists through research and development.
Priority attention is needed in respect of millets, pulses and oilseeds, on enhancing
yield per unit area or per unit time.
New science & technology needs to facilitate the income-centric transformation of
agriculture. Simultaneous to growth of farmers’ income, the ratio of farm:non-farm
income will have to change from the present level of 60:40 to 70:30.
Creation of detailed soil data base to develop micro-level agricultural land use
plan, and space technology enabled spatial database for Village Resource Centres
will promote efficient utilisation of natural resources.
Use of organic manure or bio-fertilisers be promoted to reduce burden on
inorganic fertiliser. This will improve soil health and also reduce spend on
fertilizer linked subsidy.
Facilitate fusion of various technologies encompassing bio-technology, nano-
technology, space-technology, information-technology, GIS technology, sensor
technology, drones, web based technology etc.
Deployment of ICT at various stages in the agricultural value system will impart
greater efficiency and effectiveness.
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Chapter 2
Research & Development for Doubling Farmers’ Income
Scientific research is an important driver for new discovery. Such scientific discoveries are made
pragmatic when used to develop solutions for grass root level problems. Science, when delivered to
meet pre-determined outcomes, is normally driven by economic considerations and doubling of
farmers’ income is a key outcome proposed for the Research & Development community.
Indian farmers are presently vulnerable to impacts of climate change, water scarcity and land
degradation. In addition, increasing fragmentation of holdings, extreme weather events, rising
input costs and post-harvest losses pose an enormous challenge to sustaining agricultural
growth. Modernisation of research systems draws strongly on Spatial Data Integration (SDI),
especially cloud computing capabilities to integrate data assets across organisations. This will
help support modern breeding programs, model priorities and track progress using geo-spatial
analytics and apply machine-learning to distil complex data into actionable and relevant
recommendations for farmers.
There has been considerable expansion and change in the research and extension system, but
the key questions remain: ‘Is this sufficient to double farmers’ incomes by 2022? Is there a
need for a different mindset to ensure that agriculture science empowers farmers to reach their
full economic potential? Can this be achieved while delivering nutrition to the nation as well
as within the ecological boundaries of India’s natural resources?’ It is important to note, that
‘Demand-Driven Innovation’, that leverages participatory research to engage farmers to
optimise their individual value chain, and key supply chain actors to design, develop and
deliver relevant income centric solutions, takes on a sense of urgency. The core to this modern
approach is compressing the time to deliver technology and knowledge at scale and to ensure
desired outcomes are achieved.
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Gross value added (GVA). This situation does not support welfare of agriculture dependent
population. This requires innovation to reduce production costs and market systems to increase
unit prices of farm produce, with both integrating appropriate technology and services to reduce
production and market risks. Only if these issues are addressed, will farmers have an
opportunity to double their incomes and youth (future farmers) see agriculture as a viable
commercial enterprise.
Indian agricultural research needs to compress the time for demand-driven innovation
to reach farmers’ fields to increase rural incomes resilience and nutrition to the nation
Science of Delivery is a new and potentially disruptive concept that will motivate scientists
and development practitioners to collaborate beyond their own disciplines and institutions.
Popularizing innovative technologies and achieving larger impacts on the ground requires the
involvement of all stakeholders. Science of Delivery will require focused funding, institutional
incentives, behaviour change, and rethinking on the role of public extension systems.
Farming is a complex and risky business in the wake of increasing water scarcity, land
degradation and climate change as also market unpredictability. Its success heavily depends on
the size and quality of the land, weather, markets, knowledge, access to inputs, support services
and capital and infrastructure. Hence, solutions need to be flexible as one tailors them to local
needs and production and market situations and scale them through “trust networks” and
market signals that leverage ICT. Science of Delivery for agriculture development requires
strengthened farmer organisations, better functioning service providers and an enabling
institutional framework. Demand for agricultural advisory services will likely emerge from
market players who want to compress supply chains to increase quality, integrate traceability,
ensure supply and be competitive in the marketplace.
Modernising agriculture will draw on the rapid evolution of molecular biology and
information technology to integrate across disciplines to develop new varieties with
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multiple production and market traits integrated. In a similar manner, modern tools
(cloud computing, artificial intelligence, mobile, remote sensing, and systems research)
are driving transformation of agriculture in advanced economies that incentivise youth
to return to agriculture as a commercially attractive and sustainable enterprise.
Backward integration of supply chains ensures that farmers’ surpluses will enjoy
market opportunities. Agri-entrepreneurs are recognizing their rapidly emerging role to
compress supply chains and provide primary processing services closer to rural
communities to reduce losses, increase convenience to diversify diets, and shift the
value capture process closer to farmers.
Achieving tangible economic benefits for farmers will require research systems to adopt and
Operationalise a holistic approach through convergence and collective action. To achieve the
goal of sustainable intensification, backward and forward linkages in terms of providing
necessary inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, machineries, credit and insurance), local value
addition and preservation (primary processing and storage) and market integration. This will
require modern grades and standards, policies and private sector partners in the agrifood sector.
With the support of Aadhaar India Stack coupled to Spatial Data Integration (SDI) (Agri Stack
or KisanStack), the vision for doubling farmers’ incomes can be translated into reality with the
commitment from leadership at all levels to work as a consortium of public and private sector
partners to implement state rural development plans – with speed and at scale.
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Modern grades and standards to be set for all major commodities (including
horticulture, livestock and fisheries) that can be graded based on mobile devices. This
will support traceability to realize higher prices for farmers and support the vision to
triple agri-exports by 2022.
National Nutrition Mission should integrate with DFI strategy for creating consumer
awareness to diversify diets and farms. Farmers should be incentivised to produce better
nutrition to fuel the development of children and expecting mothers in particular, and
general population at large.
Primary processing should shift closer to farmers and farm gates for reducing post-
harvest losses, value addition closer to farms, and for the greater convenience of rural
consumers.
Leverage Aadhaar India Stack and Spatial Data Integration (KisanStack) to converge
schemes with progressive states to deliver targeted and timely subsidies for farmers
based on the ecology, soil requirements and market requirements to dampen price
volatility and prioritize local investments in processing and storage. Within a year, lead
farmers in participating states would have a mobile dashboard to optimize farm
resources, access service providers and connect to e-NAM clusters, processors or
consumers to compress the supply chains and to consolidate logistics. Based on
learnings in these lead states, the systems can be replicated in other states and union
territories across the country.
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Given the complexity of convergence and the data-intense nature of agriculture, DFI’s strong
recommendation is to put in place incentives to drive Spatial Data Integration across research
organisations, government ministries and progressive private sector partners that will enable
the delivery of timely, targeted and tailored solutions for farmers to double their incomes by
2022.
Difficulty in transitioning from an intensive pilot level (hundreds) to large scale (millions)
adoption of technology by farmers is a concern and has been referred to as the “Death Valley
of Development”. To bridge this gap, there is a need for a research for development mindset
that is focused on demand-driven innovation, that engages a wide range of development actors
in the public and private sectors and one that consults with farmers and consumers in the design,
development and delivery of farmer- and consumer-preferred solutions.
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and natural resource management in India. Overall, 65 per cent of the area of the 10 major food
crops (including sorghum and millets) is planted with improved varieties, and of this total area
approximately 60 per cent is being sown to varieties having CGIAR ancestry, and half of these
are derived from crosses made at a CGIAR Centre (i.e., direct releases by national systems).
Among regions, impacts have been highest in Asia (both in relative and absolute terms) and
lowest in Africa (Renkow and Byerlee, 2010). However, what has been tapped into is
approximately 1 per cent of the genetic diversity in the development of new varieties
(Upadhyaya et al., 2006). As Climate Smart Crops are developed, there will be need to apply
modern genomic tools, crop improvement databases and breeding tools to accelerate the
integration of diverse production (pest and disease resistance, drought and flooding tolerance),
profitability (machine planting and harvesting, processing quality) and nutritional (amino acid
and lipid profiles, micronutrient dense) traits to support modern agri-food systems and
economic opportunity for farmers. ICAR institutions are working to migrate breeding programs
into the Breeding Management System (BMS). This work is being done with International
Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and supported with high
throughput genotyping and phenol typing to accelerate genetic gains.
Seed systems research is the next important issue to accelerate replacement of the old with new
varieties. Innovative models on seed systems that leverage participatory variety selection with
farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and state seed corporations (SSCs) have proven to be a
very successful model in replacing Swarna rice variety with a submergence tolerant version
called Swarna Sub1. In a similar manner, improved varieties of pulses and groundnuts are being
scaled up. In 2002, the Hybrid Parent Research Consortium (HPRC) for sorghum, pearl millet
and pigeon pea was established by ICRISAT, that was later replicated for rice and maize. The
model offers small and large seed companies access to elite breeding lines and provides public
sector breeding programs with feedback on trait prioritization and multi-location testing to
increase the confidence that improved varieties will perform in diverse production systems and
meet diverse market demands.
The HPRC (Hybrid Parent Research Consortium) offers an example of how the public
system can foster partnership with the private sector. Delivering innovation and
knowledge at scale requires to be promoted as “Science of Delivery”.
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Anthropology of adoption
Understanding the decisions of farmers to not adopt new varieties and technologies must be
better comprehended. For most humans, “seeing is believing” and hence the role of lead
farmers in demonstrating technologies can be critical in their communities. In this regard, SDI
and India Stack can be leveraged to target the testing of improved technologies with lead
farmers. Using real-time mobile-based monitoring, the transaction costs and latency of
feedback can be dramatically reduced.
The right institutional incentives and partnerships will be required to drive this change at
multiple levels, and federal and state budgeting will be the key incentive. Based on state
priorities and “Labs” that bring critical independent actors together, research priorities should
be set, not only to increase productivity, but also profitability for farmers, i.e. reduce production
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costs while increasing the unit market value of surplus produced. Appropriate grades, standards
and certification (again a rich space for innovation in India) can increase market value realized
by farmers by incentivising better quality output. A consortium of public and private sector
partners to implement with speed and at scale can be implemented, under support and guidance
of the Agri-Value System Platform proposed in Volume IV of this Report.
Demand for high-quality agricultural advisory services will likely emerge from market players
who want to compress supply chains to increase quality, integrate traceability, ensure supply
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and be competitive in the market place. This trend started with high value horticulture and
livestock products and is now starting with staple crops.
The approach of the consortia programs has been to strengthen input and output supply chain
linkages to meet the 4 Es through 4 Cs by establishing seed villages, custom hire centers and
small-scale businesses to undertake best-bet options for increased agricultural productivity and
profitability. Community based organisations (CBOs), service providers and emerging models
of Farmer Producer Organisations will be key consortia partners for scaling impact.
It is only in recent years, that the importance of “soft systems science” has come to be
appreciated as an enabler of transition from pilot projects to large-scale implementation and
impact. Organisations like ICRISAT have only recently taken initiatives to train the next
generation on these skills that draw heavily on emotional intelligence and partnership
engagement and business planning. Similar adoption is also needed by ICAR and SAUs in their
research and technology transfer systems.
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ICRISAT and its partners have adopted this approach in modernization of crop improvement
programs to accelerate the development and release of new varieties.
Assessing the status of breeding programs is the entry point for modernization based on best
practices used in public and private sector breeding programs. Based on this assessment,
prioritised investments were made and implementation of best practices were monitored. New
tools included the adoption of a cloud-based breeding management system (BMS),
standardized trait ontologies, bar-coding to reduce data error, high throughput genotyping to
support marker-assisted breeding, early generation multi-location testing, and crop modelling
to target product development and release.
Another area of rapid innovation is in the integration of modeling, remote sensing, advanced
geo-spatial analytics, cloud-computing, internet-of-things and mobile phones. Integration of
these tools is providing timely and targeted insights for farmers, agri-business, markets and
policy makers. However, the research community is in the early stages realizing the potential
of integrating this domain with that of modern crop improvement and farming systems to
optimize variety development in the context of farming systems and market demands.
Source: ICRISAT
A third important domain for the research community is to work on compression of time to
develop and delivery demand-driven innovation to farmers’ fields at a large scale. A few
examples of this exist already in India (see examples below for chickpea and rice). The process
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deployed in realising these need to be adapted in other crops and States so as to harvest
economic opportunity and climate smart options at farmers’ end at the earliest.
Source: ICRISAT
A fundamental shift is required within the science community as society demands more from
public institutions charged with delivering solutions to serve meet its dynamic needs. This is
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especially true in case of Indian farmers who require innovations and the knowledge to
optimize inputs to reduce production costs and maximize unit price of surplus to increase their
incomes.
Research and innovation also need to embrace and leverage new technologies such as cloud
computing, mobile, remote sensing and innovative partnerships with the private sector to
deliver timely, targeted and tailored products and services to empower farmers to realize their
full economic potential, produce safe and nutritious food for the nation within the ecological
boundaries of India’s natural resource base. Participatory research that engages farmers,
other value chains, supply chain actors and researchers will be key and need to provide
feedback to determine priorities, budgets, monitor progress and adjust implementation
plans as required to accelerate impact – this is the Science of Delivery.
Most agricultural commodities have long and often inefficient supply chain linkages with a
host of intermediaries. However, the era of online marketing is now influencing innovation in
the agri-food sector to compress these linkages; and innovative business models are delivering
higher prices to farmers and higher quality to consumers creating a win:win situation. This is
an innovation space that is evolving quickly and will introduce significant disruption into
existing market mechanisms.
What is needed to support and accelerate this process is more facilities like that of ICRISAT’s
ihub to integrate Science of Delivery with data assets and innovative business models to
address past market failures in delivering value to farmers and consumers. There could possibly
be other such well tested platforms, that can be identified and adopted with suitable changes to
meet specific needs.
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Research into improving water-use efficiency, providing clean and sustainable energy to
promote value addition at the community level and providing nourishing food at the community
level will contribute to increasing incomes. ICT tools can serve as decision support systems
while also help guide implementation and monitoring.
Inclusion of education and agriculture domains into the recently-launched National Nutrition
Mission can play a crucial role. Multi-disciplinary research to address the synergies between
health, agriculture and education is vital to tackle malnutrition and ensure that farmers get a
premium price for producing nutritious food.
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Sectors such as finance and IT have been leading the application of advanced analytics to
deliver business solutions, while agriculture, which is data-intensive, has made the least use of
big data analytics. In large part, this is due to the scarcity of structured data and meta-data to
drive digital innovation. Two key interventions to address this would be the implementation of
Spatial Data Infrastructure that complements the Aadhaar India Stack via cloud storage
provided by commercial providers through hybrid (public + private cloud) services. These
resources should be opened to the public and private sectors to foster data-driven innovation
for agriculture that is now fueling agriculture in advanced economies.
The second intervention needed is to put in place institutional incentives to ensure that the
publicly funded data is stored on such services in a structured manner with clear ontologies and
meta data to support integration across institutions. This would support collaboration within
the agriculture sector and also with other key allied sectors such as health, development and
education. The concept and aim of farmers’ welfare has to go beyond the enterprise of
agriculture and include several government promoted, as also market-centric welfare services.
This will likely involve building on the existing partnership between government (Union and
State) and IT sector established by the National e-Governance Division. Key data sets to start
with will be soil, hydrology and weather data assets that can be made available to public and
private sector researchers and development partners. In the case of hydrology, watersheds
could be integrated as meso- and macro-watersheds and further into sub-basins and basin level
for the effective planning, management and monitoring to realize sustainable development of
rural economies.
A research and development unit at the state level needs to be set up to study agro-ecological
regions staffed with adequate and appropriately qualified/trained human and financial
resources. Incentives should be in place to promote sectoral convergence at farm level by
linking different programs and schemes through SDI and Aadhaar, so that subsidies are based
on needs of the farm and farmer to maximize input use efficiency (irrigation and fertilizer that
include micronutrients), support market price stabilization, and eventually offer farmers with
simple options in advance of the growing season to reduce risk (production and market),
optimize inputs and integrate into structured markets. Aadhaar offers a unique platform to track
the performance of these subsidies and, if designed well, a means to track DFI in real time.
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Box 2.1: Technology helps farmers get better returns in shorter time
Why (The issue): Banana farmers in Siddipet, Telangana, suffered from a lack of
transparency around market demand. Therefore, they sold to intermediaries at rock-
bottom prices.
Who (The stakeholders): Agri-preneur Keansa collaborated with Farmer Producer
Organisations to map data about the farmers’ produce (bananas) to traders in
far-off towns interested in buying them.
How (The technology): i. Traders could access key data – number of farmers,
type and amount of produce available, historic price points– on the app and plan
their purchases for a sustained period of time. ii. Ensured of a continued supply,
they agreed to pay a premium price for the farmers’ produce. iii. Farmers gained
an assured market for their produce and therefore were able to charge higher
prices than what they could charge for a distress sale in a local, saturated market.
What (The benefits): 61 per cent increase in farmer income; Time for sale cut
down to half; Zero revenue loss due to miscalculations
Governments play a key role by providing young people with a favourable investment
environment and developing policies that incentivise their participation in agriculture. At
present, youth face many challenges to access government and private financing to engage in
agribusiness. Training young farmers on best farming practices, post-harvest handling, and
packaging is also important as well as developing businesses that provide production,
processing and aggregation services to shift more economic opportunity to rural youth. One
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catalytic opportunity has been realized through developing ICT-based business solutions to
attract youth to farming and farm linked enterprise business models.
In terms of PPP, engagement of a private sector agency for the front-end marketing can be a
crucial and successful model, wherein, the produce from the GrAMs (Gramin Agri-Markets),
which is cleaned, sorted and graded before being dispatched to terminal markets in a well-
packed and finished form to direct purchase by the last mile customer. Such supply chain
models that include value capturing activities in the hands of village communities allow for
greater income flow to farmers.
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An example is also seen in how ICRISAT addressed this need by establishing its Agribusiness
& Innovation Platform (AIP).Promising intervention models that empower FPOs (or similar
collective models) to adopt value-adding opportunities at the farm level have contributed
towards increasing farmer incomes and create rural employment. An emerging area is
collection centres as well as primary processing activities that compress and integrate the
supply chain and enable farmers to capture a higher percentage of value.
Research and innovation for impact are most important, where, challenges are greatest and the
best solutions are delivered by diverse teams – this is true of Indian agriculture. Fortunately,
India has been putting in place the digital infrastructure to deliver personalized interventions
to farmers through Aadhaar, alongside a wide range of policy support measures to create an
enabling environment for farmers and a clear goal to work towards.
In this context, the agenda of research and development needs to be changed to crowd in greater
efforts on integrating research and development through active public-private partnerships that
are demand-driven and based on sustainable economic growth engines for rural communities.
This will require a framework to prioritize research within each agro-ecology and state to frame
convergence of schemes, institutions (public and private) and disciplines that include new areas
such as nutrition, health and education to deliver on both short- and longer-term development
goals of India.
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Box 2.2: Example of demand-driven innovation to help farmers cater to markets profitably
What (The benefits): Advanced technology helped cut costs and bring down
crop selection time from breeding (first step) to national testing trials (final step)
from over 10 years to just six years. This means farmers get access to higher value
marketable varieties with better nutrition to increase their incomes and deliver
in half the time.
Given the complexity of convergence and the data-intense nature of agriculture, a strong
recommendation is to put in place SDI (Spatial Data Infrastructure) and incentives for their
adoption by research organisations, government ministries/departments and progressive
private sector partners in order to enable the delivery of timely, targeted and tailored solutions
to the farmers and enable them to double/enhance their incomes.
A focused effort is required to push the concept “Science of Delivery” to increase rural
incomes. The States needs to take ownership, create robust implementation plans along with
adequate budgetary support and leverage Aadhaar India Stack and SDI to provide the
technology backbone. Given the past success of the National e-Governance Division (NeGD)
in supporting e-Governance reforms, the NeGD should now pivot its focus towards DFI in
collaboration with State e-Mission Teams.
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In developing countries, the share of private sector in the total agricultural research investment
is only 6.3 per cent against 55.2 per cent in developed countries. It would be good to build a
policy framework that crowds in greater private sector participation in R&D.
While agriculture will be the engine for rural growth, it must be seen in the context of agri-
food systems to deliver better incomes, nutrition and health. To this end, coordination of
schemes that bring together Agriculture, Health and Education will be key for long-term
growth and reaping the youth dividend of India to translate Innovation into Impact.
NeGD can pivot focus on DFI strategies by working with State e-Mission Teams along with
SAUs, CAUs, ICAR, CGIAR, private sector and FPOs to define state growth engines for each
agro-ecological zone. Focus needs to be on a few leading States that can offer full support
preferably at the level of respective Chief Ministers and a direct report supported by the State
e-Mission team that has license to work across Ministries within the State. The key areas that
need to be actioned relate to:
Grades and standards for all major commodities (including agriculture, horticulture,
livestock, fisheries): established so that they can be graded using mobile-based devices.
This will support traceability needed to more than triple agri-exports by 2022 so farmers
can access international markets.
National Nutrition Mission should synergise its efforts with Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture to create consumer awareness of diets
for children and young mothers to ensure children reach their full genetic potential and
farmers can access local markets.
Leverage Aadhaar India Stack and SDI to converge schemes with progressive States to deliver
targeted and timely subsidies for farmers based on the ecology, soil requirements and forecast
market requirements to dampen price volatility and prioritise local investments in processing
and storage.
In a quick span of, say, within a year, farmers in participating States could have a mobile-
dashboard to optimize farm resources, access service providers and connect to e-NAM clusters,
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processors or consumers to shorten the supply chains and consolidate logistics to double their
income. This can then be scaled up for universal coverage of all geographies and farmers.
Key Extracts
The optimal approach to R&D is to move from ‘Science of Discovery’ to ‘Science
of Delivery’, focussed on increasing rural incomes.
Need to focus on demand-driven innovation to help farmers to market their produce
efficiently and earn profits.
Each state needs to take ownership, create robust implementation plans along with
adequate budgetary support, and leverage Aadhaar India Stack and Spatial Data
Infrastructure (SDI) to create a technology backbone.
There is urgent need to encourage and strengthen public research system in terms of
efficiency and evolving technologies to address problems in order of priority, and
strengthening PPP (Public Private Partnership) wherever it is beneficial.
Innovative models on seed systems that leverage participatory variety selection with
farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and state seed corporations (SSCs) will help
in maintaining the desired seed replacement ratio in different crops.
Farming is a complex and risky business in the wake of increasing water scarcity,
land degradation and climate change. Hence, solutions need to be flexible in terms
of being able to tailor them to local needs and production situations and scaling them
through “trust networks” that leverages ICT.
Incentives should be in place to promote sectoral convergence at farm level by
linking different programs and schemes through SDI and Aadhaar. This would allow
subsidies to be targeted on needs of the farm and farmer to maximize input use
efficiency (irrigation and fertilizer that include micronutrients), support market price
stabilisation, and eventually offer farmers with simple options in advance of the
growing season to reduce risk (production and market), optimize inputs and
integrate into structured markets.
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Chapter 3
Unaddressed Research & Development and Its Impact
Green Revolution – I (1965-80) aided by appropriate and robust science & technology has brought in
success, the most visible being food security for the nation. The next revolution, GR – II has to similarly
adopt new science & technology to achieve success based on the principles of comprehensiveness,
sustainability and profits. It would, therefore, be more appropriate to paraphrase the new
transformation phase as ‘Farmers’ Income Revolution’. Critical gaps in R&D in this context are
identified and solutions suggested.
It has not been secular across all the crops and sub-sectors of agriculture (horticulture,
livestock, fishery etc).
It has not been universal across all categories of land holders and all geographical parts
of the country.
It has not addressed all links along the agri-value system. More particularly, the post-
harvest management failed to receive full attention.
True food security has not been achieved as yet, and it can more appropriately be
defined as ‘cereal security’, as seen from pulse inadequacy that the country suffered till
2016-17; and the continued deficit in oilseed production and edible oils.
It has been highly resource use intensive resulting in depleted water table and degraded
soils. There is technology fatigue.
Large swathes of rainfed systems have not received fair & rational attention and
treatment.
It is now time to redefine ‘food security’ to encompass the ability to meet the domestic needs
of carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins. Food security must come to intrinsically mean food
and nutrition security, for supporting healthy life styles of modern India.
In addition to the popular green revolution around wheat and paddy, there have been several
other radical changes in different sub-sectors of India’s agriculture including dairy and
livestock sector. These have been referred to as ‘White Revolution’ (in respect of milk), ‘Blue
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Revolution’ (in respect of fisheries and aquaculture), ‘Rainbow Revolution’ (in respect of
pulses) and the like. Yet there remain wide gaps, on account of which, it can be said, that a
wholesome transformation of agriculture is still awaited.
While today food security in the conventional sense overshadowed by cereals may not be a
concern, the income security of the farmer has emerged as the new challenge. Sustainability of
resources and productivity-production is of course critical. It is, therefore, time that an all-
encompassing next green revolution (GR-II) is launched with support from science &
technology, described by pluralistic features, some of which are identified below:
The term Green Revolution, unwittingly brings primary focus on production alone, with little
reference to other aspects of the agricultural value system. It is no gainsaying, that the frontiers
of science are not circumscribed by any boundary, and it is also neutral in deployment and
application. It would be left to the scientists and policy-makers to take advantage of science for
addressing issues of choice and needed answers/solutions to the challenges of the day and for
translation of the vision identified by the nation into reality. Based on the findings of science,
it would be feasible to convert the same into technologies, which will then need to be
transferred to the farmers without loss of time and content. The transfer of technology has
always been a challenge. The common reasons attributed are illiteracy and lack of awareness
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among farmers, and inefficiency of the extension machinery. While these may be true, there is
always scope for improving upon this situation.
It must not, however, be forgotten that the great achievements in the field of Indian agriculture
are not only an outcome of the efforts of scientists and support of policy-makers, but more
importantly, the credit is that of the farmers who responding positively have absorbed and
adopted the technologies. They have demonstrated their willingness to take risks. The farmers,
for e.g., in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, who have been the torch bearers of the country’s food
security, through impressive outputs of paddy and wheat, have exhibited their ability to respond
to the new technology and policy built around these crops, only because they were able to
monetise the produce and find profits. Similar is the story of adoption of Bt Cotton in India, or
large scale cultivation of maize in Bihar or record milk production through cooperatives or the
aggressive cultivation of horticulture across the country in the last decade. Hence, one of the
key requirements of technology transfer would be its ability to prove the monetisability of the
produce and conversion into net profits.
The farmers possess the wisdom and rationality to make appropriate decision regarding
adoption of new technology if they see value in it. The implication is, that if R&D outcomes
are income-guided, transfer of technology would be much easier.
In addition to the above, some critical gaps that need to be emphasised are:
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vii. There has not been enough focus on use of agricultural by-products. Apart from
R&D support, by-product management also requires policy and institutional
support. It is noted that:
a) agri-waste management in India is yet not an organised activity; and
b) organised waste management will help in creating additional jobs and wealth.
viii. Sustainable practices should become the core of R&D. Integral to this approach is
resource use efficiency. In addition to soil, water is another critical input that
deserves due attention of R&D. Use of poor quality water in soil dissolves organic
carbon and makes its unavailable to plants. Hence, R&D as also policy approach
should become more wholesome in dealing with resource use efficiency and not
treated partially as has been the approach.
Irrigated ecosystems
India accounts for only about 2.4 per cent of the world’s geographical area and 4 per cent of
world’s renewable water resources, but is destined to support about 17 per cent of the world’s
human population and 15 per cent of livestock. The net sown area has remained at around 140-
141 million ha. (M ha) since 40 years, while the number of farmers over this period has
increased from 70 to about 140 million. About 10 million farmers are being added every five
years. Hence, the country faces the twin challenges of meeting its water needs and sustaining
the desired pace of development. The irrigated area in the country is about 65.7 million ha,
which is 47 per cent of the net cultivated area of 141 M. ha; and further only about 26 million
ha is under irrigated double cropping. The remaining extent of land (53 per cent of net
cultivated area) is rainfed and, is therefore, vulnerable to vagaries of monsoons.
The primary objective should be to enhance the irrigated area under double crop. A better water
management for every farm enterprise with its assured source of irrigation lays the foundation
for a more secure production system at the farmer’s level. At the same time, the production per
unit of various inputs, as also investment in irrigated agro-ecosystems, must be optimal. There
is a gap in the development of required irrigation infrastructure. Further, per capita availability
of water has been steadily declining, from 5177 m3 in 1951 to 1820 m3 in 2001 to 1588 m3 per
year in 2010 due to increase in population, rapid industrialization, urbanization, cropping
intensity and declining groundwater table. There is gap on the water resources development.
Already more than 80 per cent of the available water is marshalled for agriculture with no
further scope for additional allocation. Unfortunately, there is a wide gap between irrigation
potential created and its utilisation. This gap needs to be bridged through use of potential
technologies. These include breeding water use efficient varieties, adopting water use efficient
cropping system (crop alignment), water use efficient technologies like micro-irrigation,
sensors etc.
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Rainfed ecosystems
The farm productivity and resource use efficiency in both irrigated and rainfed systems are
declining over the years due to inappropriate water and land management practices, water
scarcity, soil degradation, land fragmentation, lack of access to credit and markets etc. Further,
the climate change has enhanced the probability of vulnerability of food production in the
country. Despite huge investments (approx. 60 billion USD), the area under irrigation has not
been increasing at the desired rate. Therefore, future food security largely depends on greater
productivity and sustainability of the rainfed systems. Farmers’ yields are currently lower by
two to five times the potential yields achievable.
In India, rainfed agriculture constitutes 53 per cent of the net cultivated area (GoI, 2014) and
is the hot spot of poverty and malnutrition as it has been bypassed by the desired package of
intervention when compared with irrigated areas, that have benefitted from green revolution
technology. The researchers and policy makers have now realized the importance of rainfed
agriculture to meet the demand for food which would continue to rise with the growing
population expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2050, and also to a meliorate the socio-economic
status of the farmers. Equally important it is to enhance land productivity of such vast tracts of
the country’s arable land.
There is vast untapped potential in rainfed areas, and with appropriate soil and water
conservation practices higher productivity, on-farm jobs and incomes can be realised. Even in
tropical regions, particularly in the sub-humid and humid zones, agricultural yields in
commercial rainfed agriculture exceed 5-6 t ha-1. At the same time, the dry sub-humid and
semi-arid regions have experienced the lowest yields and the weakest improvements of yield
per unit land.
Yield gap analyses carried out for major rainfed crops in semi-arid regions of India have
revealed large shortfalls. They are lower than achievable yields by a factor of 2-4 times.
There is variability in the spatio-temporal rainfall in the country. Average rainfall in the country
is 1183 mm (75 per cent of it is received in about 100-120 days); 68 per cent of the sown area
is subjected to drought in varying degrees; and 21 per cent of the sown area receives rainfall of
<750 mm which is located in peninsular India and Rajasthan. Drought- prone areas lie in the
country’s arid (19.6 per cent), semi-arid (37 per cent) and sub-humid (21 per cent) regions that
occupy 77.6 per cent of its total land area of 329 million ha. There is a gap in mitigation
strategies to cope up with these variabilities in rainfed ecosystems. Rainfed agriculture is
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relatively more risk-prone, linked as it is majorly to monsoons. There exist wide gap in
technology & management adoption for risk negotiation at farm level.
There is need for evolution & promotion of appropriate technologies including crop
diversification; developing crop genotypes with high and stable yields coupled with abiotic and
biotic stress tolerance; location-specific soil and water conservation measures, alternate land
use systems and the like. These can be evolved through participatory research approach.
Increasing resource-use efficiency for enhancing system productivity is pivotal for increasing
and sustaining the productivity levels in rainfed agriculture. For sustainable livelihoods, current
extension system promoting commodity based technologies needs to be reoriented towards
system based approach. In order to strengthen such a reoriented extension system, R&D has to
primarily reset itself and adopt system (eg. IFS, watershed based etc.) and small & marginal
farm based hypothese and objectives for appropriate outcomes.
Hill agriculture
The hill agriculture displays its own unique characteristics and its potential has remained under-
utilised due to various reasons. The unique features include undulating topography, lack of
system specific technologies, poor marketing and processing infrastructure and under
developed supporting institutions. Gaps exist in harnessing the potential. Agricultural growth
can be accelerated through diversification from low to high value crops. Demand for attribute
based products that can be produced only in hill ecosystem is rising rapidly, and this can be
taken advantage of provided agri-logistics and marketing issues are addressed.
Separate hill agricultural policies need to be formulated. Market driven production and market
led extension systems are lacking in the developmental programs of hill states. There exists
gap in construction of basic infrastructure coupled with institutional support which would
harness farming externalities. Hill areas need expansion and up-scaling of watershed
development and programs. Watershed approach would include ridge to valley based treatment
of the hilly & undulating topography. Simultaneously, the intervention has to be livelihood-
centric, so that all the inhabitants find a stake in watershed treatment and subsequent
management. There is need for research relating to introduction of improved and adaptable
varieties of crops & breeds of animals; efficient management of soil, water and pests & diseases
and increasing the animal production by adopting scientific system; hill topography specific
agriculture machinery; increasing the rural income and employment through developing high-
value low-volume products, that can be sold at a competitive advantage outside the region.
Local opportunities for value creation are also necessary.
Coastal agriculture
Coastal ecosystems are often fragile and can be irreversibly damaged. Scientific and
precautionary measures are necessary to avoid possible detrimental effects of agricultural
practices on coastal ecosystems. Agricultural plans must address issues of efficient use of land
and water, appropriation of new land for agriculture, and the maintenance of the water flows
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and stocks and water quality necessary to support coastal ecosystems, as well as the use of
agro-chemicals and such other factors. Coastal agriculture has major positive, but also
potentially negative effects on the coastal environment. Hence, the system needs sensitive
approach to R&D, as also agricultural practice.
Sustainable agricultural policies are, therefore, needed to minimise the negative impacts of
inland agriculture on coastal areas. There is gap on the research on environmental threats to
coastal areas; understanding the relation between lack of linking on demographic and
occupational pressure & sectoral dependence; arresting ecosystem degradation and natural
resource loss. There is a need to revamping of agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors. The
gap also exists on integrated coastal area management policy, and its implementation in the
country
Crop sector
Gaps exist in harnessing conventional and modern scientific knowledge, tools, and cutting-
edge of science for development of improved crop varieties or hybrids suited to diverse agro-
ecologies and situations, and efficient, economic, eco-friendly and sustainable crop production
and protection technologies; promoting excellence in basic, strategic and anticipatory crop
science research. Gap also lies in refinement of seed-production technologies and production
of breeder seed with added emphasis on hybrid cultivars.
In the year 2012, it was estimated that by 2016 hybrid rice would cover an acreage of 5 m ha.
This has not however been realised. The main factor is the consumers’ preferences. Some
prefer firm rice, while others like sticky rice. Yield of rice hybrid achieved in India is a
maximum of upto 7 t/ha, while according to media reports China has witnessed yield of rice
hybrids at around 11t/ha. This can be attributed to the fact, that still 80 per cent of the seed
industry depends on narrow genetic pool and lines developed way back in 1980s. The solution
for achieving massive hybridisation in rice would lie in new elite germplasm that matches the
quality requirements of rice coupled with much higher yield advantage and value added traits.
Maize is another important cereal, that throws up opportunities for enhancing productivity to
realise higher production in the country. India needs to produce at least 45 million tonnes of
maize by 2030 and 65 million tonnes by 2050. The average productivity of maize in USA is
around average 11-12 t/ha while in India it’s about 2.6 t/ha. It is more than 5.5. t/ha. in other
major maize producing countries like Brazil, China etc. The increase in production should
preferably come from increase in the productivity rather than area. The most critical factors to
realize this would be enhancement and diversification of germplasm using modern tools and
techniques, development of diverse and productive breeds, development and fine-tuning of
resource conservation techniques and reduction of cost of cultivation by enhancing resource
use efficiency. More than three-fourth of maize cultivation in India is under rainfed conditions.
This puts a limit on productivity of the crop. The high yielding cultivars are yet to reach one-
third of the farmers. The most productive cultivar type i.e. single cross hybrids (SCHs) are
grown on 25-30 per cent of total acreage under maize. It would be necessary to popularise
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SCHs and cover the entire maize area for realising higher productivity. The productivity status
of Bihar and Tamil Nadu has shown the usefulness of SCHs in realising high production by
bringing their major cultivation area under SCHs. Timely availability of improved seed is still
an issue. Now, more rigorous efforts are necessary to fulfil this demand.
Another crop which has gained in yield as high as five times is pearl millet over the last five
decades. This is however not sufficient. To realise further gain, improved single cross hybrids
need to be popularized in pearl millet growing areas. Enhancement and diversification of
germplasm using modern tools and techniques is a continuous process, but needs due emphasis.
Hybrid vigour in pigeon pea is still untapped at the level of farmers’ field, which needs further
attention in terms of research and investments.
There is need for conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of plants, insects and
other invertebrates, and agriculturally important micro-organisms; and also for providing
knowledge-intensive advisory and consultancy in crop-science.
Genetically Modified (GM) cotton in India has provided important learnings, both pros and
cons, including the use of genetic engineering to mitigate crop specific and location specific
problems/challenges in non-food crops. Since use of GM in food crops is an issue under debate,
the latest technologies could be assessed and adopted for important non-food crops as of now.
Simultaneously, the apprehensions about safety of G.M. based food crops can be addressed
and the issue settled at the earliest. It is said, that in the absence of transgenic technology, that
the world came to adopt since 1996, several food & non-food crops have benefitted from high
productivity and other resistance/tolerance traits; and that in the absence of this technology, the
world may have had to find an additional 100 million ha. of cultivable land to meet the
increased demand for agri-commodities.
Seed sector
The availability of quality seed is still a major concern in the country. Even though, in case of
most of the crops sufficient seed is being produced, through public and private sector (Table
3.1), there are however many concerns. The quality of such seed is highly questionable since
it does not pass through quality checking system, as in India certification is not compulsory.
As of now, of the total quantity of seeds used, only 35-40 per cent is certified seed, and the
balance is mostly farmer saved seeds.
A more robust seed production system, that will increase the ratio of certified seeds is
necessary. Even the quantity of farmer saved seeds needs to be taken care of by promoting and
closely monitoring the ‘Seed Village Programme’. Both Seed Hubs (that produce certified
seeds) and Seed Village Programme (that promote farmer saved seeds) need to be supported
by new and location-specific seeds, as also seed processing infrastructure. This would help in
maintaining the desired levels of quality and standards.
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Low seed replacement rate (SRR): The minimum seed replacement rate to achieve higher
productivity is 25 per cent in case of varieties of self-pollinated crops, 35 per cent in case of
varieties of cross-pollinated crops and 100 per cent in case of hybrids (National Seed Plan,
2005). The emphasis on seed replacement advocated through various fora and extension
activities along with rapid growth of seed industry in India has resulted in reaching the optimum
SRR in most of the food crops like wheat, paddy, maize, soybean, mustard, mung bean etc. in
a span of one decade (Table 3.2).
Table 3.2 Change in seed replacement rate of major crops at five years interval in India
Table 3.3 List of states where the seed replacement rate of major crops is below optimum
SRR in
Crop States Crop States SRR in 2011
2011
Paddy* Rajasthan 7.34 Mung
Karnataka 21.09
Madhya Pradesh 16.85 bean*
Tamil Nadu 21.53
Jammu & Kashmir 22.41 Rajasthan 18.35
Orissa 21.65 Madhya Pradesh 21.26
Uttarakhand 13.23 Uttar Pradesh 20.80
Jharkhand 17.12 Orissa 2.41
Sikkim 20.00 Bihar 20.24
Meghalaya 23.50 Chhattisgarh 3.65
Nagaland 12.40 Jharkhand 21.21
Arunachal Pradesh 7.36
Mustard** Chhattisgarh 24.76
Soybean* Uttarakhand 8.79 Assam 26.18
Sikkim 6.00 Uttarakhand 19.07
Jharkhand 20.50
* optimum SRR is 25 per cent; ** optimum SRR is 35 per cent
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However, in certain crops viz., chickpea, sunflower, jowar etc. the minimum SRR required for
better production and productivity is yet to be achieved. Similarly, in case of the crops where
the national average is more than optimum, lot of disparity exists among individual states. For
example in crops like paddy, mung bean, mustard etc. where the national average is above the
optimum, there are many states that are still lagging behind (Table 3.3).
Low varietal replacement rate (VRR): The release of new varieties at both state level and
central level is very encouraging in almost all the crop groups. The new varieties are generally
high yielding relative to the existing varieties or are better protected through tolerance or
resistance to pests and diseases or have some additional quality attributes. By using these newly
released varieties, the cost of production can be reduced with reduced used of pesticides; better
quality will fetch better price; or higher yields will help in increased production and
productivity. Any of these situations will help the farming community with higher revenue.
However, the penetration of new varieties is still far lower than the expectation in most of the
crop species. Along with SRR, VRR also needs due attention.
Simultaneously, inclusion of new releases, that are more location-favourable will need to be
integrated into the seed chain. R&D efforts will be needed screen large number of releases
already made for location-specific recommendations.
Lack of seed grid: At present, there is no seed grid available in the country. The development
of seed grid will reduce the problem of quality seed availability at the national level.
Designer seeds suitable for abiotic and biotic stresses: Development of situation-specific
varieties is the need of the hour. By using various technologies including modern bio-tech tools
like Crisper- Cas9 technology and other GM technologies, particularly in case of non-food
crops varieties that possess resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses can be designed. In
recognition of the larger concerns of bio-safety of GM based food crops, greater emphasis on
using untapped genetic diversity through conventional breeding would be an option.
New generation molecules for seed treatment: Seed treatment is an important technology
which can be used successfully for various purposes, including enhancement of higher initial
vigour, tolerance to pests and diseases, suitability for sowing under abiotic stress situations
Varietal identification through fool proof technology: Use of modern tools for faster
detection of varieties in short span is warranted for successful implementation of registered
traded seed concept.
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Safe seed storage technologies: A series of seed storage chains should be developed under
public private partnership for safe storage of seeds to meet the requirement in distress situations
Horticulture sector
There is a need for advanced research and development on horticulture and hi-tech production.
The research priorities should be on genetic resource enhancement and its utilisation,
enhancing the efficiency of production and reducing post-harvest losses.
Research and developmental gaps exist in respect of effective management, resistance to pest
and disease and tolerance to abiotic stresses; development of technologies to improve the
efficiency of applied inputs; increasing the value of production by reducing variability in yield,
quality, reducing crop loss and increasing marketability through development and site specific
technologies for different horticultural crops; developing system for productive use of
nutrients, water and reducing impact of pest and disease through the use of innovative
diagnostic techniques; improved understanding of interaction between native ecosystem and
production system and development of best practices to conserve bio-diversity and sustainable
use of resources; developing the production system that minimises the production of wastes
and maximizes the re-use of waste; enhancing the shelf life of perishable fruits, vegetables,
flowers, product diversification and value addition for better profitability; understand social
needs of communities and build the capabilities for practice the change for effective utilisation
of resources and adoption of technologies and respond to needs including bio-security needs.
There should be thrust on secondary agriculture as most of the produce is perishable in nature,
which results in great loss if proper care is not taken. Moreover, farmers can fetch more price
for their produce once subjected to value addition. Secondary agriculture aims at value addition
to both primary products & by-products of the crops. Science should enable maximum value
addition of various biological production that the crop generates.
One of the areas, that needs strengthening of both manpower & technology, is breeding
programme in horticulture. In case of perennials, that take many years for results, an individual
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scientist may not find enough zeal & incentive. Hence, breeding & research in perennials must
necessarily be assigned to a ‘Group of Scientists’, so that continuity is retained, even when
some move out for various reasons. Plant breeders from crop science may be brought in, till
horticulture builds its own manpower strength & capacity. This is true even in case of seasonal
horticulture crops like vegetables, flowers etc.
In conclusion
It can be said, that majority of the research-led interventions have mostly recommend new
fertilisers, varieties or agronomic practices but without considering status of resource
availability, farmers’ specific interests and capacities. Therefore, scientists and research
practitioners should undertake situation & need assessment policy and adopt an ‘advice on
demand’ approach. The scientific inputs should be combined with demonstration of new
technologies for showcasing the suitability, sustainability and profitability. This should come
with capacity or interest in helping famers move towards a more sustainable crop production
system that depends less on external and costly inputs.
In the absence of quality and timely seed availability, most of the farmers use traditional
low yielding crop cultivars. For some farmers, more than the issue of profits and resource
management, growing of enough food to feed their family and livestock is a greater concern.
Thus, it is very important for the researchers, extension and community workers to build
rapport with farmers based on trust and mutual respect. However, few farmers still remain
cautious about the outcomes and are slow to accept changes, because of several perceived and
real uncertainties in farming. Many farmers involved in decision making processes, in spite of
their keen interest in using new cultivars and technologies, persist with their own management
practices in fear of unforeseen effects. Therefore, researchers and extension agencies have to
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demonstrate new crop cultivars and technologies for their efficacy as well as impact and results,
for dissemination of their appropriateness and wider adoption.
Despite the renewed interest and investment in agricultural extension in India, both
adequacy & quality of extension services do not measure up to the desired level. Public
extension programs, extension services of the national agricultural research system,
cooperatives, and non-governmental extension programs have a very limited outreach (NSSO
2005). The public extension service is constrained by many factors including inadequacy of
finances, human resources, poor infrastructure including roads in rural areas, and poor internet
connectivity. As a result, many farmers have not benefited much from public extension services
in terms of information relating to new technologies. The results of the NSSO (2005) survey
clearly showed that only less than 20 per cent of the farmers are reached by public extension
services for performing their agricultural activities. Further, the recent NSSO survey revealed
that farmers continue to remain far removed from new technologies and guidance from state
run research institutes (NSSO 2013). Over 59 per cent of the farm households received no
assistance from either government or private extension services. Of the 40.6 per cent
households who have received extension assistance, only 11 per cent of the services came from
physical government machinery – extension agents, KVK and agricultural universities. More
farmers depended on other progressive farmers (20 per cent), media including radio, television,
newspaper (19.6 per cent) and private commercial agents (7.4 per cent).
The demand for extension system varies according to the landholding size and a
distinction can be made among subsistence farmers, medium farmers with small marketable
output, and large farmers with medium and large marketable output in terms of their potential
demand for agricultural extension services. As discussed in Volume XI dealing with
agricultural extension and technology transfer, there is scope for both public and paid extension
services.
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possible now through compilation of real-time data and subjecting it to big data analytics. This
calls for a farmer friendly, easily accessible market intelligence system.
In rural areas, communication needs and available channels are undergoing positive
changes through structural transformations. Subsistence oriented farming remains the basis for
food security especially in disadvantaged areas, while there is a general shift of intermediate
farmers into market-oriented production. Market-oriented farmers need to stay competitive in
an increasingly global business environment. While agriculture remains the mainstay of
economy for rural people, information and skills for alternative livelihoods gain in importance,
not only as an exit strategy, but also for the increasing division of labour. A facilitative
ecosystem needs to be created to transition India’s agriculture from subsistence to income-
centric enterprise. Science & management practices that can address this change management
are need of the hour.
On the other hand, efforts to close the information gap and, in particular, the digital
divide in rural areas, have been supported by the wider availability and accessibility of
communication technologies and infrastructures, like internet, rural radio and mobile phones.
However, in the absence of scientific and up-to-date information, development agencies have
tendency to provide conflicting information which is based on their perception. Therefore, to
minimise the damage, agricultural extension agencies including development agencies should
be involved while disseminating scientific information and build the capacity of development
agencies.
The existing technology dissemination and input supply system need to be revitalized
and fine-tuned to meet the emerging needs of farmers. Special emphasis on seed sector, input
use efficiency, financial and insurance institutions and a paradigm shift in technology transfer
mechanisms involving both the public and private sector including non-governmental
organisations would be critical in achieving the desired goals.
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The green revolution of the 1960s-1970s, the maize productivity and production growth in the
2000s, the cotton production revolution in the 2000s as well as the increased productivity of
fruits and vegetables has seed or planting materials as the primary driver of agricultural growth.
However, the weak input delivery system including knowledge delivery is a critical challenge
in the Indian agriculture system. Availability of improved and quality seeds along with proper
agronomic practices can enhance the crop yield by 10-15 per cent (GoI, 2016). Thus, timely
availability of quality inputs is essential to ensure increased production.
Credit is the backbone of Indian agriculture and farmers access credit from both formal
and informal sources to meet their requirement. Though formal sources are cost effective,
farmers heavily depend on informal sources due to cumbersome procedures as well as limited
access to formal sources in rural areas. Further, in the context of pending dues against previous
borrowings, the accounts turn NPA (non-performing assets) and the concerned farmer is
rendered ineligible. The share of institutional credit in agriculture has reached around 46 per
cent, leaving a big gap. In the rural sector, it is the informal sources that dominate the credit
space. Of these informal sources, professional moneylenders are the largest provider of
informal credit but at high rates of interest, accounting for 64 per cent. Friends and relatives,
who usually do not charge interest, provide 24 per cent of informal loans; shopkeepers account
for 4.9 per cent of informal loans to the agricultural sector; and the share of employers or
landlords providing informal credit to agricultural households is negligible.
Of the formal credit, it is the Banks which are the major source of credit supporting
agriculture, and account for 71 per cent of the total formal credit, followed by cooperative
societies (25.4 per cent) and government sources (3.6 per cent).
It is important to expand the reach of formal credit sources in rural areas majorly to
reduce the dependency on informal sector, as they charge high interest rate. This can be done
by establishing formal sources at rural areas and reducing procedural complexities.
Simultaneously, it may not be totally infra dignitatem to examine whether private channels of
loan can also be tapped by institutionalising the system and regulating them. It is more
important, that farmers find access to timely credit.
As results of participatory demonstrations that serve as local proofs hold high value in
convincing the farmers, larger number of frontline demonstrations using new crop cultivars
and methods need to be conducted. Results obtained at the experimental stations alone often
fail to attract the attention of farmers. Farmers have more confidence in what extension workers
teach if they are convinced that their recommendations are practical and are based on local
demonstrations. This is specially so in persuading the less informed and most sceptical families.
The results obtained from the local demonstrations provide the basic information required to
be used by extension workers. The individual farmer on whose field, the ‘result demonstration’
is conducted is the first person to learn about the new practice and become his own teacher and
also a model teacher for others. Extension workers can use this outcome and disseminate the
technology/practice among other farmers with greater confidence.
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One of the main reason for the existing large yield gaps between what the farmers
harvest on their farm and the researchers realise on pilot site, is largely the knowledge gap
between what to do and how to do it, apart from inability to procure the needed inputs as per
recommendations. In spite of a number of new/improved technologies, large number of farmers
continue to do their farming business in a traditional manner. The reasons are multifarious, as
the current knowledge delivery system mainly driven by public extension system has become
weaker, and is not equipped to deal with agriculture along the full complement of various
activities that help the farmer capture greater value. Similarly, while scientists are discovering
new technologies for increasing the productivity and farmers’ income, they find themselves
challenged in scaling up the adoption of such technologies for larger impact. For example,
climate resilient improved groundnut varieties (K6, K9, TAG, ICGV 91114, ICGV 0350,
ICGV0351, etc.) have been released by national and international level advanced research
institutes and universities to affect production increases. However, the area under these
varieties has not increased, and old variety such as TMV2 continues to rule in major groundnut
growing areas, such as Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh.
Marketing is one of the major concerns, that should be addressed. An effective market
structure that promotes monetisation efficiency and drives competitive price discovery while
ensuring a larger share for the producer in the consumer’s rupee is important. Critical to the
effectiveness of a market system is the existence of a robust and efficient agri-logistics
infrastructure. This if supported by R&D interventions will help to minimise food loss, improve
market access and thereby result in higher value capture for the farmer.
3.5 Annotation
Green Revolution propelled by science & technology-led high yielding varieties and supported
by inputs and price support, ushered in food security for the country. India has also become
export-capable in certain commodities. However, a critical examination of GR brings to surface
certain shortcomings, as manifest in its benefits reaching a limited number of cereals and
irrigated cultivation environments. Further, the technology being resource intensive, it has
caused soil degradation & depletion of water table in particular. The current challenges include
achieving yield breakthrough, cost reduction and marketability for higher returns on produce.
Also, the need of the hour is to impart the technology a more secular (i.e., covering all sub-
sectors including horticulture, animal husbandry and fishery) and universal (i.e., all
geographies and agro-climatic situations) character, so as to benefit all farmers, and achieve a
more robust and income generating agricultural production for the country.
The next phase of transformation through Green Revolution-II has to be not only more
comprehensive, but also income-centric in contrast to production-centric GR-I. It would,
therefore, be more appropriate to use the nomenclature, ‘Farmers’ Income Revolution’, as it
captures all the nuances along the agricultural value system.
In rolling out this new paradigm shift, the multiple agri-systems that exist in the country,
namely, irrigated, rainfed, hill and coastal need to be given appropriate attention. Further,
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within each of these systems, various production systems, including crops, seed, natural
resource management, horticulture and animal husbandry will need to be the centre-piece of
R&D activities. The new revolution around farm incomes, will have to ride on new science &
technology.
Further, to harness the full potential of the R&D outputs, the succeeding apparatus comprising
the developmental & delivery system has to be put in place. The gaps that exist in respect of
the above mentioned specific macro and micro-level domains, indicates the direction and
nature that is called for, from research & development initiatives.
Key Extracts
It is necessary to build on the success of Green Revolution-I and adopt a more
comprehensive and wholesome transformation of agriculture.
Similar to the role that R&D played in Green Revolution-I (1965-80), Green
Revolution-II, more appropriately to be called as ‘Income Revolution’ should also
ride on the back of science & technology.
There is a specific need to assess the constraints and potential of irrigated, rainfed,
hill and coastal agriculture; and deploy R&D outcomes for solutions.
Efficacy of all other agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation,
etc., as well as impact of agro-climatic conditions on the crop, is largely determined
by the quality of the seed used. So, there is need to further strengthen the seed sector
in partnership with private players for sufficient, high quality and timely supply of
seeds at reasonable price.
Research in horticulture should prioritise on improving genetic resource, higher
productivity and reduction of food loss, and these should be market-led in design.
In case of livestock sector, research gaps relate to animal health, reproductive
efficiency, fodder & forage, mitigation of methane emission and productivity.
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Chapter 4
Future Research and Technology Development
Research and Development in agriculture needs to be supported through higher public sector
allocations and facilitation of private sector participation. There are several challenges relating to
yield improvement, resource use efficiency, negotiation of biotic and abiotic stresses, and market-
friendliness. Science and Technology can help find answers to both short term and long term needs and
challenges in the context of climate change and income aspirations of the farming community.
Under such circumstances, one needs to adopt a new approach that ensures high returns and
sustainability. It calls for a paradigm shift in agriculture that draws sustenance primarily from
the principles of production ecology to achieve improved productivity and efficiency of
agriculture while reducing negative environmental impacts. While modern agriculture has used
chemical inputs to achieve an optimized uniformity in many areas, future agriculture can
benefit from agro-ecological intensification based on optimized complexity. Strengthening the
consortium of public-private institutions and development agencies with the state institutions
is a challenging task, as it calls for changing the mind-set. Therefore, future R&D approach
should be such as to address the following:
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Reducing the environmental and safety impacts of crop protection chemicals and
fertilizers & improving fertilizer use efficiency
Digitization of soil nutrition maps & precision in fertilizer application
Miniaturization of farm machines – reducing labour requirement and drudgery
Data capture from field using sensors, weather gauge stations and satellite technologies
for weather forecast.
Farm advisory service using ICT
Demand & Price forecasts well ahead of sowing and plantation season
Market reforms through electronic platforms; market competitiveness; exports.
More importantly, R & D has to focus on regions/areas and farmers therein, who have been by-
passed largely by green revolution technology. The large swathes of India’s rainfed agricultural
systems including the hilly tracts, now deserve to become the core of research and technology
innovations.
The allocations to the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) under the aegis of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), and
other organisations have largely been constricted. India spent Rs 6,238 crore on Agri-R&D in
2016-17, which is even less than 0.5 per cent of the total income earned from agriculture and
allied activities, ie gross domestic product. The expenditure on Agri-R&D in India has been
hovering around 0.3-0.4 per cent of Agri-GDP since 2001, except in 2011 when it registered
0.52 per cent share because of higher plan allocations of the Union government. The allocations
are minuscule in most of the poorer states situated in the eastern region of the country. The
amount spent on Agri-R&D is substantively lower in comparison to many developed countries,
and also when seen vis-a-vis comparable developing economies. The share of Agri-GDP is
much higher in Brazil (1.8 per cent), Mexico (1.05 per cent), Malaysia (0.99 per cent) & China
(0.62 per cent); and in the high income countries it stands at 3.01 per cent. Another worrisome
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trend in India is, that more than 90 per cent of the allocated amount is spent on salaries and
day-to-day expenditures in the ICAR, agricultural universities and research organisations,
leaving little for capital investment. A gross under-investment calls for serious attention to
upgrading infrastructure – buildings, laboratories, research fields, access to global best
practices.
The contributions of the NARS towards an increase in exports in recent years deserve special
mention. India is exporting basmati rice to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore, as also pomegranate
worth Rs 490 crore, grapes valued at Rs 1,780 crore, and banana at Rs 390 crore. Most of these
exports are attributed to the efforts of the NARS. A single variety of basmati rice (Pusa 1121)
released by the ICAR is generating Rs 15,000 crore of export value annually studies also shows
that public spending on Agri-R&D in India is much more effective in accelerating growth and
lessening poverty, compared to other economic and social expenditures. The returns on
investments in Agri-R&D are high at 33 per cent. Even at the disaggregated state level, there
exists visible evidence to show much higher payoffs from additional investment in research,
especially in the low-income agriculturally dominant states.
Considering the evidence of high dividends from Agri-R&D, the funds allocated in the budget
should rise. Investment in Agri-R&D is crucial to support increase in farmers’ income and
overcome agrarian challenges. In the long run, sustained increases in income will warrant full
support of R & D. Knowing that private investment in research is minuscule and is mostly in-
house expenditure by the seed companies, making available increased public resources to
ICAR and SAUs is critical to raise capital intensity, technological upgradation and its transfer
to the fields. The Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income, recommends stepping up of public
investment in agriculture by an additional amount of nearly Rs 240 billion by 2022-23 at 2015-
16 base (Volume II). As percentage of income from agriculture and livestock activities, the
investment should increase from the current 1 per cent to 2.3 per cent over the targetted seven
years of DFI period. It goes without saying, that the research activity must get its due share of
this increase on a sustainable basis. The government in its annual budgets can shift the
composition of expenditures across various economic activities by allocating a larger
proportion of additional revenues for investment in Agri-R&D. Concerted efforts should be
made to raise expenditure on agricultural research up to 1 per cent of Agri-GDP.
Importantly, higher investments in research should be supplemented with extension
services and institutional reforms to enable wider dissemination of research outcomes to
the farmers.
In the following sections, the needed research for spewing out appropriate technologies both
in the short term and long term is discussed and suitable recommendations made.
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Crop Research
Search for new genes: Climate change is no more a myth but now a reality. To combat climate
related challenges, there should be continuous and constant attempt to search for new genes.
These genes may either be mobilized from related wild species or through mutations, which
aims to be “reservoir of genes in need”. This should be mandatory for all important crops which
are being affected by climate change. Pre-breeding for such crops should be mandatory for
every research institutions.
Research on crop phenotyping: The era of post-genomics has been ushered in with vast
knowledge about the genome sequences of various crop species during recent years. It has
increasingly become easier and cheaper to sequence and map genomes, giving scientists access
to information. Nevertheless, carrying this vast information to practical field applicability has
remained a bottleneck especially for evolving multiple stress tolerant crops.
Future smart foods as health foods: Water scarcity, land degradation and climate change
have come to trouble Indian agriculture. These need to be addressed for a more sustainable
crop production and ensure the benefit and balance of both farmers and the environment.
Promoting climate resilient crops could be an answer to the country’s agrarian distress. Crops
such as millets and legumes are highly drought resilient while also being highly nutritious,
which will help combat malnutrition among children and the most vulnerable in society.
Food-based nutrition is the most important way to fight hidden hunger, under-nutrition and
mal-nourishment, particularly when nearly half of the population (about 600 million people)
spends more than 50 per cent of the income on food. The ratio of poverty is relatively higher
in rural areas. Among the land holding class the poverty is higher among small & marginal
farmers. Further, majority of the rural resource- poor are concentrated in rainfed areas. Under
such settings of arid and semi-arid regions receiving low to scanty rainfall (200-600 mm), the
cereals that can be grown profitably are millets which can withstand drought like conditions
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and are more climate-resilient. Moreover, millets are nutritionally superior to the commonly
consumed cereals, especially in respect of micro-nutrient content. Along with millets, livestock
and dairy activities are well suited to rainfed arid and semi-arid areas, and the two commodities
(crops-livestock) are highly complementary in socio-economic and ecological terms. For
instance, pearl millet in rainfed areas provides the main source of nutritious staple foodgrain,
high-energy feed grain (for milch and draft animals, as well as for poultry, fish, and other
mono-gastric livestock), and green and dry fodder for ruminant livestock.
So far, the investment in Indian agriculture has majorly been on cereal crops like rice, maize
and wheat. Focussed attention on R & D relating to these (3) three crops, more particularly,
rice & wheat since the 1960s, has resulted in seeds capable of high yields, conditional upon
intensive use of inputs. Concomitantly, the associated inputs too have benefited from subsidies
as an incentive, apart from that on MSP based procurement, further integrated into PDS.
Without saying, that other crops & other sub-sectors of agriculture have not benefited from R
& D, it can at the least be said, that rainfed system should have got greater focus. A positive
amendment in favour of rainfed systems brooks no delay.
However, with increasing income and changing food habit, food consumption pattern is
shifting from major cereals to millets and pulses, as also animal based proteins. Given the
economic condition of majority of the population, there is greater opportunity for popularizing
nutrition rich crops such as sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet along with other minor
millets. This is where the concept of Smart Food assumes importance. Smart Food is defined
as food that is good for people (highly nutritious), good for the farmer (climate resilient) and
good for the planet (eco-friendly). To mainstream these smart foods constant efforts, policy
back up, and incentive mechanisms are essential. Achieving this will be what is needed to make
a major impact on food security and some of the biggest global issues in unison such as
malnutrition, poverty, and environmental issues. Also, the incomes of the farmers in rainfed
areas will increase.
However, a major challenge with these foods is the absence of appreciation of their nutritive
value and lack of development of the value added chain. Millets which were the traditional
crops across many parts of the country have over the last one-two decades suffered less
preference. There has been less investment in these crops. Thus, there is an urgent need to
develop value based chain from the seed system through to modern convenience products.
There is also need for greater emphasis on millet & pulse related R&D, for higher productivity
and resilience against biotic and abiotic stresses. In the recent years, there has been some effort
in this direction and a positive response is already visible.
Seed research
Strengthening of quality assurance system for seeds: The availability of quality seed is to
be assured through compulsory certification. For this, private certification agencies with
qualified seed technologists also need to be promoted. This will not only assure the supply of
quality seed but also generate employment for the well qualified youth. All the varieties may
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be registered for value for cultivation and use (VCU) and only the varieties specified for the
state/local agro-climatic zone should be allowed to be traded in the region.
Strategies for enhancing SRR and VRR: The seed replacement rate (SRR) can be enhanced
only by providing sufficient quantities of quality seed through both public and private sectors.
Special emphasis either through subsidies or direct benefits on crops and in states, where the
SRR is low be implemented. The lack of awareness among the farmers about the new varieties,
which are better than the existing varieties, is one of the reasons for low VRR and resultant low
yield and higher vulnerability to biotic & abioitic stresses. Further, lack of large scale
demonstrations of new varieties and absence of market segmentation in case of public sector
varieties of major food crops are some other issues that need to be addressed. The de-
notification of old varieties particularly where new replacement varieties are available should
be taken up more vigoursly, coupled with massive field demonstrations by the extension
departments in collaboration with breeders for the spread of newly bred varieties among
farming community.
Development of seed grid and e-marketing systems: The development of seed grid will
reduce the problem of quality seed availability at the national level. The seed grid should be a
dynamic online system where the real time for seed indenting can commence. Similar to e-
marketing systems, the nodal agencies can be in contact with seed producers and supply is
made through online indenting. This model can be extended to grain market and it also reduces
the intermediaries in the agriculture sector, benefiting both the farmer and consumer is sequel.
Public-private partnership in seed and grain storage chains: Seed storage is one of the
crucial components at both farmer level as well as at corporate level for the supply of quality
seeds in the next season. The cold storage facilities if available at nominal costs will help the
producers and suppliers to store sufficient quantities for future use, thereby reducing the
chances of using poor quality seeds particularly during calamities like drought, floods, crop
failures. The same concept can be extended to grain storage also where farmers can store their
produce and distress sale can be avoided. This will directly help in realizing better revenue to
the farming community. The infrastructure development of cold storage chains can be taken up
through public and private partnership where operation of those godowns shall be managed by
public sector organisations and construction and maintenance by private sector on cost basis.
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this idea. The spirit of cooperatives can be enlarged by promoting other forms of farmers-
mobilisations like farmer producer organisations (FPOs), contract farming, etc.
Design of integrated farming system (IFS) model: IFS is a viable option to achieve food and
nutritional security at household level and even at individual level. Such land use system could
provide round the year employment to the farming family. Integrated farming system models
in irrigated and rain-fed ecosystems incorporating location-specific climate-resilient features
must be scaled up in order to achieve food and nutritional security, and also to mitigate adverse
climate change impacts. Suitable farming systems by integrating crop-livestock-fishery with
duck, vermi-composting, bee keeping, mushroom cultivation, and field and horticulture based
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crops is an optimal approach to harvesting the strengths of different farm and locally available
resources, besides de-risking the highly vulnerable profession of agriculture.
In the context of income approach to farming, it must be noted that IFS leads to fragmented
system of production over already fragmented cultivation areas, challenging the need for
efficiency in marketing. The solution to this lies in promoting IFS in clusters, and building an
institutional system for aggregating diverse products arising in small lots over such a cluster.
Drought mitigation: Crop diversification (including horticulture and plantation crops) with
low water requiring crops and with in-situ rainwater conservation could minimise the risk of
drought. About 11.6 M ha (million hectares) of land is mono-cropped with rice, and remains
fallow after harvest. A second crop of oilseeds, pulses, vegetables, millets and fodder crops can
be raised through effective utilisation of residual moisture and appropriate rainwater
management/conservation technologies in rice fallow areas. Large scale demonstration of
scientific ‘rice-fish cultivation’ is also possible. Further, fish hatchery should be given due
consideration (as a commercial venture for supply of fish seed) so that the appropriate fish seed
can be available at farmers’ door steps.
In about 3 to 5 million ha of the vast rice-wheat based cropping systems, and other crop fallows
of Ind-Gangeic Plains, depending on soil moisture and water availability, introduction of short
duration pulse crop, viz. mungbean (green gram) or urdbean (black gram) or cowpea or horse
gram would help. In addition, adoption of conservation agriculture techniques is the need of
the hour for enriching nitrogen and carbon in soils, encouraging protein nutrition and triggering
income growth.
Table 4.1 Potential area available in different districts for cultivation of pulses in rice fallows.
Potential
State Districts
area (m ha)
Chhattisgarh 0.88 Bilaspur, Dhamtari, Kanker, Jashpur, Raipur, Durg,
Rajgarh, Kabirdham, Korba, Mahasamud and
Rananadgaon
Madhya Pradesh 0.53 Annupur, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Dindori, Raisen, Jabalpur,
Katni, Jhabua, Rewa, Satna, Shahdol, Seoni, Mandla,
Narsingpur and Umeria
Odisha 0.37 Baleshwar, Dhenkanal, Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj,
Kalahandi, Bolangir, Kheonjar, Puri and Cuttack
West Bengal 0.52 Bankura, Purulia, Medinapur, West Dinajpur, Malda,
Jalpaiguri, Bardhaman and Birbhum
Assam 0.16 Marigaon, Naogaon, Lakhimpur, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon,
Nalbari, Kamrup, Barpeta, Darrang, Cachar, Goalaghat,
Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sonitpur
Consistent with the overall national mandate of food security and farmers’ income,
diversification from rice-wheat system to pulse/oilseed-wheat crop system may trun out to be
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more sustainable without sacrificing farmers’ income. Short duration (120-125 days)
pigeonpea genotypes, now available, can fit in a pigeonpea-wheat cropping pattern with
economic returns analogous to those from the prevalent rice-wheat system, plus offering the
farmer a huge bonus in terms of soil fertility, reduced water consumption, and enhanced human
nutrition.
Micro-irrigation: The water resources potential of India which occurs as a natural runoff in
the rivers is estimated at about 186.9 Million hectare metres (M ha-m). Considering the uneven
distribution of water resource over space and time, about 112.2 M ha-m of the total potential
can be put to beneficial use, 69 M ha-m through surface water resources and 43.2 M ha-m by
groundwater (Kumar and Kar, 2013). India experiences high degree of spatial variability of
annual rainfall. Highest annual rainfall of 11,690 mm is recorded at Mousinram, Meghalaya,
and lowest of 150 mm at Jaisalmer of Rajasthan. An average of 75 per cent of precipitation of
the country occurs during southwest monsoon season (June to September) only. The country's
vast extent of cultivated area (82 M ha) is still rainfed. For adequate living standards as in
western and industrialized countries, a renewable water supply of at least 2000 m3 per person
per year is necessary. As against this, the per capita per annum water availability in India now
stands at less than 1500 m3. This is expected to go down further with increasing population.
If only 1,000-2,000 m3 per person per year is available, the country is 'water stressed', when
the value comes below 500 m3 per person per year, the country is called 'water scarce' (Kumar
and Kar, 2013). With rapid population growth and rising expectation of better life, there will
be ever increasing demand of water for various competing sectors like domestic, industrial and
agricultural needs. Also more and more water will be required for environmental concerns such
as aquatic life, wildlife refuges and recreation.
With changing global climatic patterns coupled with declining per capita availability of surface
and ground water resources, sustainable water management in agriculture is turning out to be
a great challenge in India. Therefore, the available utilisable water resources would be
inadequate to meet the future water needs of all sectors unless the utilisable quantity is
increased by all possible means and water is used efficiently.
The crop yield and water use efficiency under conventional flood method of irrigation, which
is predominantly practised in Indian agriculture, are very low due to substantial conveyance
and distribution losses. Pressurized irrigation system is a well-established efficient method in
saving water and increasing water use efficiency and crop yield as compared to the
conventional surface method of irrigation, where use efficiency is only about 35-40 per cent.
The area under micro-irrigation is on the rise. The pace of coverage needs to be, however,
strengthened. The micro-irrigation system has brought focused attention on water soluble
fertilizers (WSFs). Some of the WSFs marketed in India are : Potassium nitrate (13:0:45),
Mono potassium phosphate (0:52:34), Potassium sulphate (0-0-50), NPK fertilizer (13:40:13);
(18:18:18 +2MgO+TE); (6:12:36); (19:19:19), Urea phosphate (17:44:0), Mono ammonium
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phosphate (12:61:0). Manufacturing and use of liquid fertilizers can save considerable energy
spent on solidifying the fertile.
Rainwater use efficiency: Water is a scarce resource and a key determinant of poverty and
hunger in rural areas. Hence, improving rainwater use efficiency (RWUE) is important for
achieving food security and better livelihoods. Soil test-based balanced fertilizer use is found
to produce more food with less water and significantly increased rainwater use efficiency in
crops by channelizing unproductive evaporation loss into productive transpiration (Chander et
al. 2014a). In Rajasthan, the RWUE of existing farmers’ cultivars with applied N and P in
maize varied between 3.36 and 7.39 mg kg−1 ha−1 (Chander et al. 2013b). The introduction of
improved cultivar in on-farm trials in target districts increased it from 5.43 to 10.8 mg kg−1
ha−1, and thereby proved the ability of improved cultivars to best Utilise the limiting water
resources. The integrated approach involving soil-test-based addition of fertilizers including
micronutrients to improved cultivar, however, recorded the maximum RWUE (8.20 to 16.2 mg
kg−1 ha−1) (Chander et al. 2013b). Therefore, integrated soil and crop management involving
improved crop cultivars and soil fertility management, with a purpose to increase proportion
of water balance as productive transpiration is one of the most important rainwater-
management strategies to improve yields and water productivity (Rockstrom et al. 2010).
Taking advantage of the sufficiently available soil moisture post the harvesting of rice crop,
during the winter season in the eastern India, growing of early maturing chick pea in rice-fallow
areas with best-bet management practices provide opportunity for intensification. An economic
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analysis has shown, that growing legumes in rice fallows is profitable for the farmers with a B:
C ratio exceeding 3.0 for many legumes. In addition, utilizing rice-fallows for growing legumes
could result in the generation of 584 million person-days employment for South Asia and make
the country self-sufficient in pulses production.
Conservation agriculture and zero tillage: Conservation Agriculture (CA) designed on the
principle of providing continuous soil cover (by using crop residues, cover crops, agro-forestry
etc.), minimum soil disturbance and crop rotations bears a high potential of sustaining Indian
agriculture by increasing productivity, while protecting natural resources and environment, that
are already under stress.
Under the present scenario of global warming due to emissions of Green House Gases (GHGs)
from land use change, and the available scope for carbon trading in India adoption of
conservation agriculture becomes imperative. The potential of carbon (C) sequestration in C
depleted soils of India is high with adoption of conservation tillage. Thus, the future
perspectives include the evaluation of conservation tillage practices affecting savings on water,
nutrients, energy and time for raising the productivity off-farms. Studies on water, nutrient and
tillage interactions are desired for improving input use efficiency. There is also a need to look
for strategies for zero tillage in dryland farming situations.
Management of acid soils: Nearly 25 million hectares of cultivated lands with pH less than
5.5 are critically degraded. The productivity of these soils is very low (one tonne/ha) due to
deficiencies of P, Ca, Mg, Mo and B and toxicities of Al and Fe. Liming and nutrient
management technologies have been developed to ameliorate acid soils and increase their
productivity. But economics of liming is questionable because of high lime requirement in case
of most of the acid soils of India, further compounded by the effect of liming not persisting for
long. Therefore, the liming effect of other low cost materials such as paper mill sludge, press-
mud, household wastes-ash and limestone has to be taken advantage of as an alternative.
Enhancing nutrient use efficiency: The country has now realized the absolute necessity of
integrated plant nutrient management systems involving a sensible blend of chemical fertilizers
along with composts, vermi-composts, green manures, bio-fertilizers, non toxic organic wastes,
bio-pesticides, etc. These are now almost universally advocated along with recommendations
on judicious use of irrigation water. Research is needed on management of soil biota, bio-
fertilizer, PSM, VAM, earthworms etc. for the enhancement of nutrient supply, solubilization
developing efficient techniques for inoculation and composting; transformation and turnover
of microbial biomass and biomass nutrients; recycling of organic wastes and organic matter
dynamics. R &D with time bound solutions
Over the years, farmers have increased their reliance on chemical fertilizers and have
abandoned or reduced the use of organic manure drastically. Long-term experiments have
clearly demonstrated increased sustainability of systems with Integrated Nutrient Management
(INM) strategies, that encompasses harnessing of biological sources and using legumes in crop
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rotation, organic manure, and soil test-based inorganic fertilizers for different crops. Incentives
are required to promote the use of organic manure/fertilizers as well as biological sources like
bio-fertilizer in order to encourage farmers to adopt integrated nutrient management approach.
These recommendations need to be tethered to the soil test results. This presents a major
challenge as the nutrient content of organic manures and fertilizers are highly variable.
There is an urgent need to examine & adopt policies and innovative institutional arrangements
for ensuring quality supply of bio-fertilizers and organic manure to the farmers by recycling
organic wastes generated both in urban and rural areas. Mechanisms should be developed for
recycling the organic wastes through aerobic-compost, vermi-composting or other methods so
that the farmers can use the recycled organic matter for crop production. Moreover, micro-
irrigation systems can be effectively used for the regulated supply of essential plant nutrients
through fertigation and addition of micro nutrients and secondary nutrients based on soil tests.
The problem of on-farm burning of crop residues has intensified in recent years due to use of
combines for harvesting and high cost of labours in removing the crop residues by conventional
methods. The residues of rice, wheat, cotton, maize, millets, sugarcane, jute, rapeseed-mustard
and groundnut crops are typically burnt on-farm across the country. This problem is severe in
irrigated agriculture, particularly in northwest India where the rice-wheat system is
mechanised. Burning of crop residues leads to plethora of problems such as release of soot
particles and smoke causing human health problems; emission of greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide adding to global warming; loss of plant nutrients
such as N, P, K and S; adverse impacts on soil properties and wastage of valuable crop residues.
Developing crop varieties to improve palatability and digestibility of the crop residues for
improved livestock production: Alternate uses of crop residues need to be optimized. Based
on the analysis of benefit: cost ratio, socio-economic and technical feasibility of on-farm and
off-farm uses, crop residues having competing demands for fodder, fuel, etc should find
channelization into conservation agriculture along with other end products like dung, slurry,
ash etc. There are several options such as animal feed, composting, energy generation, bio-fuel
production and recycling in soil to manage the residues in a productive and profitable manner.
Use of crop residues as soil organic amendment in the system of agriculture is a viable and
valuable option.
Fortified fertilizers: About 48.5 per cent of Indian soils are deficient in various micro-
nutrients, namely, zinc (Zn) (it is expected to aggravate to 65 per cent by 2025); 33 per cent
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are deficient in boron (B); and 12 per cent are deficient in iron (Fe). Zn deficiency is reported
to be the highest (40-86 per cent samples found deficient in available Zn) in Haryana, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,
followed by Assam and West Bengal (30-40 per cent soil samples deficient in available Zn).
Further, most boron (B) deficient soils (32-65 per cent Deficient Soil Sample) are in Bihar,
West Bengal and Karnataka. Of all the micro-nutrients, Zn is most widely deficient in Indian
soils and crop response to Zn has been reported for almost all crops. Cereals, especially rice
responds well to Zn fertilization on almost all kinds of soils.
The deficiency of secondary and micro-nutrients can thus be overcome by fortification of the
presently manufactured N/P/NP/NPK fertilisers to develop value-added/fortified fertilizers.).
Some of the fortified fertilizers are: Boronated single superphosphate (16P0.15-0.20B Zincated
urea (43N2Zn); Zincated phosphate (suspension) (12.9P19.4Zn); NPK fertilizer fortified with
B (10N26P26K0.3B); NPK fertilizer fortified with B (12N32P16K0.3B); DAP fortified with
B (18N46P0.3B) etc. There is an urgent need for developing customized fertilizers for different
regions and crops.
More efficient nitrogen fertilizers: Use efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen, which constitutes
more than 60 per cent of the total plant nutrients consumed in India is abysmally low; 30-40
per cent in rice and 40-60 per cent in other crops. The global warming potential (GWP) of NO2
is about 310 times that of CO2. Nitrates leached down increase the nitrate content in ground
waters above the safety limit of 45 mg L-1, which can lead to health disorders in humans,
especially in infants causing methaemoglobinemia (Blue baby syndrome).
A recent report from Punjab indicates the increase in nitrate content in water of some shallow
wells. Thus, low nitrogen use efficiency not only leads to financial loss to the farmers and
government, but it also creates environmental problems. Development of efficient low-cost,
slow-release fertilizers is therefore an immediate necessity of the country and world as a whole.
Nitrogen use efficiency can be increased by treating urea with nitrification inhibitors or coating
with some hydrophobic substances to retard the release of urea in soil solution or its microbial
oxidation to nitrates, which leach down or are lost to the atmosphere as N2 or NO2 gases.
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Minimising post-harvest loss: Integrating pre- and post-harvest protocols for minimising
post-harvest losses is of critical importance. Research is needed for preconditioning of produce,
packaging, product diversification with value addition where possible, and utilisation of by-
products, residues and wastes.
Enhancing quality of horticultural crop: Breeding is required for high nutritive value and
aesthetic value and processing and export quality. Developing sustainable land management
technologies including safe production technologies and organic farming, breeding varieties
for higher shelf life will be helpful to enhance quality of horticultural crops and for a more
efficient marketing.
Carbon sequestration and foot prints from horticultural systems: Optimising the value
chain in cultivation of small & marginal farmers, and linking the output for marketing including
of medicinal and aromatic crops.
Molecular biology and genomic studies: The study includes exploring bio-diversity for
tagging genes and pre-breeding lines for resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses through
association mapping; broadening of genetic base through inter-specific hybridization, space
breeding, haploidy breeding, mutation breeding, polyploidy etc., and their characterization;
development of improved varieties / hybrids through conventional breeding and space
breeding; non-nuclear genome manipulation, transgenic technology and nano technology for
abiotic and biotic stresses.
Understanding the stress physiology and the metabolic pathways which regulate various
stresses is need of the hour. This calls for genetic enhancement and field phenotyping of
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horticultural crops, root stock breeding and grafting technology for important environmental
stress (heat, drought, flooding, etc.) tolerance. Studies on the role of microbes in mitigating the
effect of abiotic stresses like high temperature and drought should be documented and response
of terrestrial microbial communities to climate change to be studied.
India’s livestock productivity, however, is 20-60 per cent lower than the global average. India
cannot afford to be a poor performer in livestock production considering the vast genetic
diversity of the country’s livestock and the opportunities available after globalisation of food
market. For improved productivity, the use of bio-technological, molecular and nano-
technology approaches in breeding, feeding, reproduction and health care need to be considered
(ICAR-CIRG Vision 2050; ICAR-IVRI Vision 2050).
Augmenting fodder resources: As of the year 2017, the country faced a net deficit of 32 per
cent of green fodder, 11 per cent of dry crop residues and 44 per cent concentrate feed
ingredients. Despite this precarious situation, forage production and development have not
received due importance. It has remained a ‘Grey Area’ as far as forage seed production and
availability are concerned. The confusion as regards the ownership of this responsibility
between the agriculture and animal husbandry departments needs to be sorted out at the earliest.
Dairy farmers now require new knowledge on innovations which can help them to produce
more from less input and support them to improve their livelihood. Largely the livestock
farmers are small and landless, and they require both technical and financial supports.
Under this circumstance, the strategies like area-based approach for cultivated green forage
production, integrating forage production with food and other crops, rejuvenation of grazing
lands/common property resources, promoting forage production from problem
soils/wastelands, judicious uses of forages from forests, promoting area/situation specific
hydroponic green fodder production, growing forages on bunds or fodder tree based boundary
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plantations under non-competitive land use approach etc need to be considered on priority. In
fact, augmenting forage resource is a more complex issue than food and commercial crops.
Lack of momentum in fodder development in the country is also due to poor organizational
structure, which needs to be strengthened. Keeping in view the huge livestock population and
the nutritional security they can offer, the area under fodder cultivation should not be less than
10 per cent of the gross cropped area.
Providing better feeds and nutrition: Even today, poor nutrition is the major constraint in
the country’s resource poor smallholder livestock production systems. To make the livestock
production self-sustaining, economic and eco-friendly nutritional strategies like the search for
newer/under-utilised and unconventional feed/fodder resources are needed. These should
provide green herbage to animals under varied management conditions like spineless cactus,
feed additives and strategic supplements for better bio-availability and improved health as well
as production of designer livestock products by modifying the rumen microbes using
conventional and advanced techniques. Bio-technological interventions, modulating rumen
fermentation for better nutrient utilisation as well as reducing methane emission from feed
resources need to be exploited for combating the adverse effects of livestock production on
environment.
Better health care and monitoring of diseases: Control of animal diseases is very important
when trying to improve the animal productivity and adopting intensive and commercial system
of production in place of extensive system. Development of new generation diagnostics and
vaccines along with appropriate adjuvant and improved delivery system for the endemic,
emerging and exotic diseases of animals is important. Research on developing technologies for
early and accurate diagnosis of different diseases should become a priority programme. Use of
advanced technologies like DNA fingerprinting for surveillance, Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR) tests for diagnostics and understanding resistance and genome sequencing is expected
to help in effective and early diagnosis and control of diseases. Health related research activities
should focus on controlling and eradication of important zoonotic and trans-boundary diseases.
There is need to develop sensitive sero-diagnostic, molecular, chip- and biosensor-based
diagnostics for important bacterial, viral, mycoplasmal, fungal and parasitic diseases of
animals. Studies on host pathogen interactions, functional genomics and immuno-modulations
of pathogens, molecular pathology, stem cell and cytokine therapy of different diseases need
to be strengthened. Nano-biotechnological approach needs to be adopted for efficient drug
delivery system, diagnostics and vaccines for better health care of animals.
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Frontier research: The research in the frontier areas of stem cells, pharmacogenomics,
nutrigenomics, transgenic animal technology, proteome analysis, siRNA technology, biosensor
applications, IVF-ETT, etc. will have to be gainfully Utilised for strengthening research
efficiency. The focus would be on strengthening diagnostic imaging, anaesthesia and surgical
techniques; development of facilities and expertise in specialty areas like ophthalmology,
neurology, cardiovascular diseases, dentistry, geriatrics, sports and space medicine; search for
newer healing promoters, biomaterials and implants for tissue engineering; modern
therapeutics like stem cell therapy, modern diagnostic biomarkers and expertise for early
detection of structural and functional disorders in sick animals; search for newer therapeutics
like alternative medicine, research on production, deficiency, toxicological and metabolic
diseases of animals and developing strategy for their mitigation.
Disease surveillance, diagnosis and control of diseases: Though there has been a general
reduction in the occurrence of animal diseases during the last few decades, largely due to the
improvement and development of diagnostic technologies, vaccines, drugs and services, there
has also emerged a global concern due to some new diseases and their potential of transfer
from animal to man. Several outbreaks of zoonotic diseases that have emerged in India include
avian and swine influenza, Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, Nipah
virus disease, and food-borne infections and intoxications are also a matter of growing concern.
Hence, there is a critical need to make progress in disease surveillance, forecasting and
assessment of changing disease pattern to control and combat the spread of emerging and
zoonotic diseases. Development of improved diagnostics and early detection, along with
increased awareness and preparedness to deal with highly infectious and emerging diseases
would help in reducing the levels of morbidity and economic losses.
Climate change adaptation: Animal production and animal bio-diversity are an evolutionary
physiological manifestation of animals varying in their abilities, capabilities, and production
capacities. Meat, milk, eggs, wool and other animal products, therefore, are end products of
physiological processes, which are greatly dictated by the integrated cell structure, function
and gene expression and external climate and environment. Climate change is likely to affect
the animal health and production, directly by altering the homeostasis and other physiological
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thermo-regulatory responses to maintain the thermal balance, and indirectly by affecting the
supply of feed and fodder, increasing vulnerability to diseases and pests. In results, the climate
change influences the production capacity of the animal.
Livestock infertility and its management: Good reproductive performance is essential for
efficient livestock production, and therefore, livestock improvement programs should aim to
increase reproductive efficiency. Integrated strategies for improvement of reproductive
efficiency are need of the hour which include feeding strategies to meet optimum nutrient
requirements, appropriate management practices.
Improved fertility, improvement in availability of genetically superior females and bulls, good
quality semen and artificial insemination services; strengthening breed nucleus herds/bull
mother farms, young bull rearing centers, semen collection and cryo-storage banks will also
help to improve livestock fertility. Application of modern bio-techniques of semen sexing, in-
vitro fertilization and embryo transfer should be implemented for long term improvement of
livestock germplasm. Important diseases which cause infertility and abortion in cows and
buffaloes like brucellosis, leptospirosis, listeriosis, FMD etc. should be controlled; vaccination
and other preventive measures should be strictly followed to control these diseases.There is an
urgent need for implementation of multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) selectively
for faster multiplication of superior germplasm.
Wastewater treatment and use for aquaculture: Wastewater uses, after treatment and
recycling deserves special attention, as a vast volume of wastewater resource is generated in
cities. Its utilisation, perhaps, is possible in aquaculture, harvesting environmental and
economic benefits. This is a win:win situation, wherein water productivity is enhanced, while
simultaneously promoting agriculture in the hinterland near large urban agglomerations.
Post-harvest technology
Post-harvest technology and associated value addition is an area that has not yet received much
attention in freshwater aquaculture sector. A large quantity of fish is lost while transporting.
Some fishes in their original body colour and taste are not liked by many, and therefore, need
to be processed and value added for human consumption. There is scope to improve post-
harvest management systems and processing technologies to fisheries.
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In many cases, the primary produce of a farmer can be sold directly to end-consumer, without
undergoing any intermediary change in value, or needing conversion into a new product. In
this case, the forward linkage, communicates the value produced to terminal markets, where
the value is monetised at the price discovered in that market. Here, the forward supply chain
contains activities to protect the value produced, such as preconditioning, packaging and
transporting the produce to destination market. Usually, fresh whole foods and flowers employ
this model in their marketing.
These two models are obvious available options at the global level. Globalisation, supported
by a reduction in communication and transportation costs, has enabled firms of all sizes, from
anywhere in the world, to source, supply and market products and services internationally. This
allows Indian farmers to partake in both models in the global value chain, which is another
term for cross border supply chains – to supply input material to agro-processors abroad, or for
export marketing of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers to terminal markets. In both cases, quality
and price competitiveness will have to be constantly improved and must find immediate focus
in the agenda of the R&D system, to support an aggressive export strategy.
Crop science
Genetically Modified (GM) crops and genome editing tools: GM crops are the products of
introduction of one or more of well characterized genes in a crop plant using recombinant DNA
technology, such that the gene introduced may belong to either a distant species (including pro-
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karyotes), or a closely related species or even the same species (as in case of the so-called
cisgenic plants). In some cases, the introduced gene may even be a synthetic gene or may result
from targeted mutagenesis. The GM technology is a powerful tool for developing future crop
varieties with in-built genetic resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses for reducing crop
losses and enhanced input use efficiency, yield potential and quality traits. Their use will be
crucial for the food and nutritional security of the country, and therefore, research on them
must be continued with the aim of developing safer, more productive and nutritious food crops.
However, this should be done in a more transparent and socially inclusive manner for wider
public acceptance. Also, concerns of the opponents of GM technology should be addressed to
allay the public concerns on food safety, environmental and economic security before
deploying this technology in food crops.
At present, 96 per cent of India’s cotton cultivation area is under Bt cotton varieties but it
wasn’t always so. Bt cotton was the first genetically modified crop to be approved for
cultivation in India in 2002, with the introduction of Monsanto’s GM cotton seeds. Bt stands
for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that produces toxins harmful to a variety of insects,
including bollworms that attack cotton. Bt cotton was created by introducing genes from the
bacterium into the cotton seed, creating a crop resistant to this pest.
The introduction of Bt cotton led to a dramatic increase in production across the cotton
producing states, and soon Bt cotton took over most of the acreage under cotton cultivation.
Cotton production rose from 14 million bales in the pre-Bt year of 2001-'02 to 37.5 million
bales in 2017-'18, a quantum rise helping in reducing India’s cotton imports and growth of
exports. In the backdrop of scarce labour, another area of work is developing herbicide
tolerance/resistance plants. GM free technology like CRISPR cas which has no associated risk
as apprehended in GM by some, is another area of research that deserves attention. In advanced
countries, it is coming up in a big way as an opportunity to handle farm problems, and India
should not lag behind. Mineral use efficiency like nitrogen use efficiency or phosphorus use
efficiency either through conventional means or by using modern tools like CRISPR cas is an
area full of potential for research and investment.
Crop improvement for disadvantaged areas: As high as 107 million hectares of the
country’s geographical area is degraded and barren, which can't be readily used for agriculture.
Scientific development of such wasteland can offer scope for expansion of area under
cultivation, afforestation, and promotion of such other biological activities. There lies greater
scope for such intervention in central Indian states like Madhya Pradesh with vast tracts of such
wastelands. It calls for huge investments of the order of Rs. 50,000 crore for developing half a
million to 1 million hectares of wasteland. It would be worth the investment if suitable and
cost-effective technologies are developed. India has diverse climates, including tropical wet
and dry, sub-tropical humid, semi-arid, arid, tropical wet and alpine climates. Taking advantage
of outcomes of field studies, climate-resilient farming can be undertaken in these developed
wastelands. Crops deserving priority are millets, pulses & oilseeds.
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Research in seed
Public private partnership: The private sector may engage with the public sector, which is
the main custodian of Indian germplasm for the development of new varieties and hybrids
through contract research. The quality enhancement is one of the key research area where there
can be collaboration between public & private sectors. The prioritization of research in public
institutes by reducing the burden of extension will help in developing a mutually beneficial
system. Proper guidelines for intellectual property rights can be notified and revised on regular
basis; and procedural delays reduced at public institutes which will agricultural research
system. A policy framework that promotes partnership in joint research, as also mutually
exclusive research based on clearly delineated domains will help in speedy and expansive turn
out of required seeds based on research.
Investment in prioritised research areas: The prioritization of research needs is one of the
key issues in the country. The targeted research with sufficient funding and its timely utilisation
will help in resolving several bottlenecks for the enhancement of production and productivity
in the country.
Infrastructure development: The state of art laboratories and institutes are required for
conducting the latest research. The lack of maintenance of the infrastructure developed is one
of the major reasons for the failure in public sector. A public private partnership can be
developed, where the maintenance responsibility of instruments is transferred to contract
organisations.
Use of low cost bio-sensors is yet another emerging application in crop field that can indicate
water-stress or nutrient stress experienced by crop. By using electronic sensors, fertilizers can
be placed precisely in moist zone, based on the spatial variability in native fertility. This will
improve the fertilizer use efficiency in rainfed agriculture and encourage farmers to use
fertilizers more effectively despite the risk of weather aberrations.
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Flood-prone and wet land area management of eastern India: In flood-prone areas,
drainage development, link and secondary drainage system in low lands, peripheral
embankment, land configuration according to need, and renovation of village and other ponds
should be given due consideration. Agro-forestry based land use is very vital for rehabilitating
waterlogged/marshy and degraded lands. Raised bed method could be adopted in marshy areas
for planting of saplings. Species like Anthocephalus chinensis, Casuarina equisitifolia,
Dalbergiasissoo, Eucalyptus spp.,etc have been found suitable for cultivation in such areas
besides various bamboo species. Such lands could also be rehabilitated with land configuration
and by adopting pisci-culture and agro-forestry together.
In seasonally water-logged areas, water chestnut & makhana could be cultivated in a cropping
system mode (water depth- up to 0.60 m). Vast waterlogged and wetland of the region offers
unique opportunities for agricultural development and employment generation by veritable
technological interventions such as cultivation of makhana, water chestnut, fish and lotus and
adoption of various combinations of integrated crop-forestry-fish-animal farming systems.
Importantly, the wetlands must be protected for biodiversity conservation
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As a result of watershed interventions, the water use efficiency by different crops increases
with substantial productivity improvement, resulting in higher profit margin. Enhanced water
availability enables farmers to increase cropping intensity and diversification into more
remunerative land use systems involving horticulture, forage production on sloping lands, etc.
Forage promotion strengthens livestock-based livelihoods which provide an alternative source
of income and livelihoods, in addition to improving resilience to shocks.
Minimising soil pollution: Soil is a crucial component of rural and urban environments, and
in both the places, land management is the key to soil quality maintenance. Due to increased
anthropogenic activities, soil is the recipient of several pollutants like pesticides, herbicides,
polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, heavy metals and many
inorganic salts. These pollutants have adverse impacts on soil physico-chemical environment,
nutrient cycling/transformation processes, soil biodiversity, plant growth, food quality through
contamination etc. Large quantity of urban wastes is produced in different cities causing water,
air and soil pollution.
Mining, manufacturing and the use of synthetic products (eg. pesticides, paints, batteries,
industrial wastes, and land application of city and industrial sludge) can result in heavy metal
contamination of urban and agricultural soils. Excess heavy metal accumulation in soils is toxic
to humans and other animals. This leads to introduction of toxic elements in the food chain and
might pose a serious threat to animal and human health.
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Raising climate resilient animals: Climate change would be affecting animal health and their
productivity, directly and indirectly through alteration in homeostasis and other thermo-regulatory
responses needed to maintain the thermal balance of animals. Productivity is also associated with
changes in expression of different genes under the changing climatic conditions. Hence,
identification of heat stress resistant animal breeds and proper shelter management systems
need to be developed to mitigate the adverse effect of climate change. These breeds should
selectively be bred by using molecular markers such as identifying single nucleotide
polymorphism (SNP) related with enhanced resistance to climate change and using them as
selection marker in breeding programme. Indeed, molecular characterization of candidate
genes for productive, health and adaptability traits in animals under the prevailing climatic
conditions needs to be studied.
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Marine fisheries
Assessing Ocean Health Index and Potential Fishing Zone: The Ocean Health Index (OHI)
deals with measurements of food provisioning services, traditional fishing opportunities, non-
food products, carbon sequestration, livelihoods and economies of coastal communities,
tourism and recreation value, aesthetic value and bio-diversity assessment of marine
ecosystems. The Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) Advisories present a good example of
integration of the power of Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) with fisheries. Ocean health can
also be monitored by remote sensing data and for coral reef health advisories.
Blue carbon: India is blessed with large areas of mangroves and coastal wetlands which give
the country a distinct advantage in a carbon-led economy. However, in order to Utilise the
economic benefits arising from ‘Blue Carbon’, these sensitive ecosystems need to be conserved
and propagated in years to come. Additionally a viable market needs to be created for carbon
trading (as on land – called the Green Economy), although significant efforts are required to
develop this into reality, including science background and policy reform.
Seaweed farming: Seaweed farming offers immense scope as a livelihood opportunity and for
developing a large number of by-products with several applications. Seaweed farming has the
advantage of low capital input as it is a primary producer requiring no feed inputs. Additionally
in future years, seaweed farming can earn carbon credits for the farmers. In India, seaweed
farming is at its infancy even though there exist technologies for farming many species. The
current industrial demand for raw material is not met by farmed and collected seaweeds in the
wild. Hence, research and development thrust is needed to address the issues facing seaweed
farmers and to popularize seaweed farming in India. Seaweeds can be used not only for food
purposes but also as supplementary feeds for livestock and as liquid fertilizer. They can also
be used for removing heavy metal pollution since they are good agents of biosorption or metal
adsorption from water. Nutraceuticals and metabolites obtained from seaweeds play a major
role in health and pharmaceutical industries. Marine primary producers are good carbon
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sequestering agents since they Utilise large quantities of dissolved CO2 thereby controlling
ocean acidification.
4.5 Annotations
The agriculture sector encompassing its multiple sub-sectors of agronomic crops, horticulture,
dairy, livestock and fisheries has benefitted from Research and Development (R&D) activities
of the well-established National Agriculture Research System (NARS) under the public sector.
The NARS is now called upon to play another important role to catalyse a new flush of growth
triggers across the sub-sectors. This is necessary to address the challenges that the agriculture
sector is facing in terms of stagnant yields, poor response to input use, stressed natural
resources, climate change and impact on the production system, as also the need for a more
market-facilitative production and post-harvest management environment. Various concerns
and challenges relating to both production and post-production environments vis-a-vis all the
sub-sectors of agriculture have been delineated, and they need to be addressed through both
short and long term research initiative.
In order to benefit Indian agriculture from appropriate, accurate and timely technological
outcomes, the NARS needs to reorient itself to address the issues from the perspective of
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incomes and sustainability. Further, the budgetary support for Agri-R&D needs to get more
robust. Since 2001, it has averaged around 0.3 to 0.4 per cent of income from agriculture &
allied activities. It is well known, that the benefits from Agri-R&D on accelerating growth and
reducing poverty surpass investments made in other economic activities. Simultaneously, the
Agri-R&D robustness can be further upgraded by adopting a Science Policy that promotes
R&D in private sector in partnership with public sector, as also exclusively.
There also exists scope for transgenic technology in both crop and animal sectors. However, in
due regard to the apprehensions of bio-safety relating to GM-foods, as also ethical and
environmental concerns, the technology deployment may now be confined to non-food crops.
Improvements in food crops can be effected by relying upon conventional breeding
programmes. These initiatives can take advantage of the rich genetic diversity that exists in
case of both crop & animal sectors, and very little of it has been utilised as yet.
Key Extracts
There is a need to focus and enhance investment to develop results for more yield per
acre, more crop per drop/per litre of water and more crop per unit of inputs (fertilizer,
pesticides etc.) across different agro-ecological regions.
Reducing cost of cultivation through economic crop production technology viz.
conservation technology and zero technology etc. is a sustainable alternative.
Promote climate resilient agriculture and negotiate abiotic and biotic stresses through
seed and biotechnology / crop production technologies
Reducing the impact of crop protection chemicals and fertilizers on environment and
food safety by improving use efficiency of the agro-chemicals. Digitisation of soil
nutrient maps & precision in fertilizer application
Science led future, will involve online, electronic market platforms; ICT based farm
advisory service; and demand & price forecasts well ahead of sowing/plantation
season to aid rational production decisions at the farmers’ level.
Innovation in farm machines to suit Indian agriculture is needed, to reduce labour
requirement and drudgery, and to optimise the use of various inputs and resources.
Research in animal sciences should focus on fodder resources, health care &
monitoring of diseases, marketing, livestock infertility & management etc.
Research in fishery sciences should address issues relating to feed formulation &
preparation, waste water treatment, post-harvest technology and value addition.
Studies show that return on public spends in Agri-R&D in India are high at 33 per
cent and R&D spends are much more effective in accelerating growth and lessening
poverty, compared to other economic & social expenditures. The budget/investment
on Agri R&D can be enhanced to at least 1 per cent of Agri-GDP.
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Chapter 5
Genetic Engineering for Crop Improvement
Conventional plant breeding has served India well, in building its food security. Beginning 1996,
transgenic crop technology has demonstrated its ability to achieve breakthrough outcomes, and several
countries, including India, have benefitted immensely. The science of this technology, its impact, pros
and cons need to be examined to arrive at a logical conclusion on its adoption in India.
5.1 Introduction
As the world’s demand for food continues to increase, plant breeders work to breed high
yielding crop varieties. The era of scientific crop improvement dates back to around 1900,
when the impact of Gregor Mendel’s studies on trait inheritance in peas became widely
recognized. Since then, a broad range of techniques have been developed to improve crop
yields, quality, and resistance to disease, insects, and environmental stresses of different nature.
Most of the plant breeding programs rely on manual cross-pollination between genetically
distinct plants to create new combinations of genes.
Genetic improvement of crop plants through conventional plant breeding has made impressive
contributions to the breakthrough in the global agricultural production. India too has benefitted
from the progress in science and technology. It has provided the platform for the Green
Revolution, and laid the foundation for social and economic gains over the last 50 years. The
nation has, however, hardly used 1-5 per cent of genetic resources available in the country so
far. India has rich genetic diversity pool of its own. At the global level too, there still exists
vast scope of genetic pool that can be tapped for achieving crop and livestock improvement.
Increases in global food production have kept pace with increase in population from 1960 to
2015. In this period, world cereal production doubled and per capita food production increased
by 37 per cent. Most of the productivity gains have been due to yield increases, particularly
those resulting from the discovery and deployment of dwarfing and other useful genes in wheat
and paddy, apart from maize. The progeny plants are intensively evaluated over several
generations and the best ones selected for potential release as new varieties. The more advanced
techniques involved in breeding new and improved crop varieties include mutagenesis, genetic
modification, and marker aided selection (MAS). Genetic modification allows plant breeders
to produce a crop variety that could not have been bred using conventional breeding techniques,
and is much more precise, in that, it transfers only the desired gene or genes to the recipient
plant. It is a technique, that has broken inter-species barriers, opening up a new world of
possibilities and be able to surmount the challenges.
The conventional crop improvement technologies such as plant breeding, despite a diverse gene
pool, may not always be able to meet the formidable challenges that are emerging in the
agriculture sector. Some of the limitations of conventional breeding are: i) lack of germplasm
resources for some of the major pests and pathogens of crops; ii) new plant types evolved for
higher productivity are more vulnerable to pests and diseases; iii) difficulties in sourcing genes
from wild relatives; iv) lack of nutritional qualities in major cereals crops; v) the methodology
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The term ‘genetically modified’ (GM) refers to insertion, integration and expression of
desired genes of another species or genera in an organism using a series of laboratory
techniques collectively called recombinant DNA technology. Other terms used for GM
plants or foods derived from them are genetically modified organism (GMO), genetically
engineered (GE), bio-engineered, and transgenics, etc. The area of plant bio-technology can be
divided into four broad subjects as follows:
The term “Genetically modified” is imprecise in the sense, that virtually everything one eats
has been modified genetically through domestication from wild species and many generations
of selection by humans for desirable traits. However, it is the one most widely used term to
indicate the use of recombinant DNA technology to improve the plant traits.
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agriculture in the current circumstances, characterised by higher aspirations among the farmers
and the new challenges, particularly relating to climate change.
There has been an appreciable growth of bio-tech crops during the period of 1996 to 2016 as
seen in the Table below (Table 5.1). In the year 2016, total area reached about 5.3 billion acres
spread over 26 countries planting bio-tech crops. Of these 19 were developing countries and 7
industrialized countries.
Another feature is the change in area under GM crops between the developing and
industrialized countries.
Prior to 2011, industrialized countries planted more than the developing countries, and by 2011,
global hectarage of bio-tech crops was evenly distributed between the two. Starting 2012
however, developing countries have consistently increased their bio-tech hectarage and by
2016, a difference of 14.1 million hectares between developing and industrial countries was
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seen. The developing countries account for 54 per cent of the global bio-tech hectarage
compared to 46 per cent for industrial countries (Table 5.2).
The trend for a higher share of global bio-tech crops in developing countries is likely to
continue in the near, mid and long-terms. This expectation is firstly, due to more countries from
the southern hemisphere adopting bio-tech crops and secondly, adoption of crops such as rice,
90 per cent of which is grown in developing countries, are deployed as “new” bio-tech crops.
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There are now 10 countries in Latin America which benefit from extensive adoption of bio-
tech crops. They are Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Mexico, Colombia,
Honduras, Chile, and Costa Rica. There are 8 countries planting bio-tech crops in Asia and the
Pacific led by India, Pakistan, China, Australia, Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and
Bangladesh. It is noteworthy, that Japan grew, for the sixth year, a commercial bio-tech flower,
the blue rose in 2016.
The rose was grown under partially covered conditions and not in open field conditions like
the other food, feed and fiber bio-tech crops grown in other countries. Australia and Colombia
also grew bio-tech carnations.
Four EU (European Union) countries, namely, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, and Slovakia
continued to plant bio-tech crops in 2016 with an increase of 17 per cent at 136,363 hectares,
compared to 116,870 in 2015.
In India, cotton is the single most important crop, that has adopted GM variety. Globally, the
cotton market is heavily dominated by India and China with regard to both production and
consumption. The two countries produced and consumed over 55 per cent of the total
cottonseed oil made during the year 2015-16. This dominance is largely attributed to the large
amount of cotton cultivation in the region and the high domestic demand for low-priced
cooking oil. Thus, in the last fifteen years over 2002 to 2016, cottonseed has become an
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important source of oilseed in India. This is borne out by the three-fold increase in production
of Bt cotton-based oil from 0.46 million tons in 2002-03 to 1.50 million tons in 2016-17.
Remarkably, Bt cottonseed oil accounts for as much as 15 per cent of the total production of
~8 million tons of edible oil from all domestic sources, in the year 2016-17.
In the year 2016-17, as many as 7.2 million number of cotton farmers adopted Insect Resistant
(IR) cotton [Bascillus thuringensis (Bt) cotton] representing 96 per cent of the estimated 11.2
million hectares of cotton area in India. In recent years, farmers have increased the density of
cotton planting particularly in irrigated and semi-irrigated conditions, leading to substantial
jump in cotton productivity per hectare across the states. The major states growing IR resistant
Bt. cotton in 2016 include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Madhya
Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. The high adoption
percentage of IR cotton by farmers across different states reflects the importance of controlling
the menace of the American bollworm complex, a group of deadly borer insects that were
causing heavy damage to cotton crop in the past.
Globally, a quarter of all the Brassica (mustard/ canola) hectarage in the year 2016, genetically
engineered varieties accounted for 8.6 million hectares, which means 24 per cent of the total
area of 36 million hectares. Farmers in Australia, Canada and USA have been benefiting from
bio-tech canola since 1996. India is a major importer of bio-tech canola (Canadian mustard)
oil and bio-tech soybean oil, and has also been consuming bio-tech cotton oil produced
domestically by cotton farmers for the past 15 years. India consumes approximately 5 million
tons of edible bio-tech oil as cooking oil every year. Bio-tech Indian mustard oil (if introduced)
would probably be no different from imported bio-tech canola (Canadian mustard) and bio-
tech soybean oils. Canada, Australia and USA have approved multiple traits of bio-tech canola
allowing for more than 90 per cent of their farmers to harness the yield potential through
hybridization and deploying an efficient weed control system by adopting multiple modes of
action weed control systems of glyphosate and glufosinate tolerance.
The development of bio-tech mustard is a classic example of India’s scientific ability to harness
the science of bio-technology and farm innovation in agriculture. India faces a huge deficit in
edible oil production and annually imports about some 14.5 million tons of edible oil including
oil extracted from bio-tech soybean and bio-tech canola. The imported edible oil accounts for
over 70 per cent of total edible oil consumption, pegged at 20 million tons. Annually, India
spends over Rs. 70,000 crore (US$12 billion) on edible oil imports, and the domestic demand
is further growing due to rising income levels and changing consumption patterns. This
highlights the importance of scaling up domestic production of edible oils from both primary
& secondary sources including palm oil. Increasing the average oilseed productivity of the 9
major seasonal oilseed crops cultivated in the country assumes importance.
Therefore, it can be expected, that if bio-tech mustard is promoted, about 6 million mustard
farmers in India who suffer from very low yield (1000 kg/ha) will stand to benefit. This will
improve the status of domestic oilseed production and also of edible oils.
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The year 2016 was the turning point for bio-tech in India, and it witnessed some major
developments as follows:
It transcended from the shadows of the moratorium on insect resistant (IR) brinjal
(eggplant) imposed in 2010.
Commercial release of bio-tech mustard.
o India successfully completed the process of inviting public comments on bio-
safety dossier of bio-tech mustard seeking permission for environmental release
of transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11, and parental lines containing events bn
3.6 and modbs 2.99 expressing barnase, barstar and bar genes.
o Bio-tech mustard is the first genetically modified crop developed indigenously
by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) of the
University of Delhi.
Approval of field trials of IR chickpea and IR pigeon pea developed by ICAR-Indian
Institute of Pulses Research (ICAR-IIPR) was a major development in the pulse crop
segment.
India retained the title as the number one cotton producing country in the world with
cotton production surpassing 35 million bales, despite the slowdown in global cotton
market.
The techniques of new biology or molecular biology have unravelled the genetic basis of yield
components; identified genes across the organisms which can impart tolerance against biotic
and abiotic stresses; modified nutritional status of the harvest; and even added industrial or
pharmaceutical value to the crops to make it a commercial raw material. It has also provided
means and ways to transfer the genes into the desirable compartment of the cell and in turn the
plant type per se.
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genes across the barriers of species were discovered. This has paved way for finding solution
to the long-standing breeding objectives which were otherwise difficult to accomplish through
conventional breeding techniques. The technique of plant transformation since its first
demonstration in 1983 by three research groups has been improved phenomenally and now
transformation protocols are available for almost all the major crops (Gelvin, 2017).
This technology has helped the world agriculture achieve major improvements in crops. In
India too, the advantages of transgenic technology have been harvested in improvement of
major traits. Some of these are discussed below:
Virus and fungal disease resistance: Incorporation of resistance against plant viruses
is another important area in crop improvement, for which dependence on
biotechnological intervention is high. Expression of viral genes encoding coat protein,
non-structural proteins (replicase and movement protein), use of antisense technology
are some of the strategies that have been effectively used in plants to confer resistance
against viral diseases (Beachy et al. 1990). The transgenic expression of viral structure
protein stops replication and spread of the infecting virus and the plant shows immune
response. The biggest success story of transgenic mediated virus resistance is the
cultivation of transgenic papaya expressing capsid protein in Hawaii, which virtually
saved the papaya industry from dreaded threat of ring spot disease (Yeh et al. 1998).
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Herbicide tolerance: HT crops are known as Roundup Ready® as they are tolerant to
glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup® herbicide). Glyphosate inactivates a key
enzyme involved in amino acid synthesis in all green plants, and thereby, acting as a
broad spectrum herbicide against nearly all weeds. Roundup Ready® crops have been
engineered to produce a resistant form of the enzyme, and they remain healthy even
after being sprayed with glyphosate.
Bio-fortified crops: Along with food security it is also important to achieve nutritional
security, which is particularly relevant to improve health standards. There are several
examples of bio-technological attempts to develop nutritionally rich crop varieties. The
most celebrated example is the development of ‘golden rice”. Three different genes,
namely, phytoene synthase (psy), lycopene cyclase (lyc) and phytoene desaturase (crtI)
have been introduced into japonica rice through Agrobacterium mediated
transformation that resulted in synthesis of beta carotene which is the precursor of
vitamin A synthesis in human body (Ye et al., 2000). Indian Institute of Rice Research
(IIRR), Hyderabad and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi are
engaged in transferring the genes to elite indica varieties.
To increase nutritive value of potato in terms of its protein content, an albumin protein
AmA1, rich in essential amino acids has been isolated from Amaranthus (Chakraborty
et al. 2000) and introduced in potato. The National Institute of Plant Genome Research
(NIPGR), New Delhi in collaboration with Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI),
Shimla has introduced the AmA1 gene into seven genotypic backgrounds suitable for
cultivation in different agro-climatic regions (Chakraborty et al. 2010).
Some cultivars of corn and cotton are referred to as ‘stacked’, i.e. possessing transgenes
for both insect resistance and herbicide tolerance. According to USDA-ERS (2013),
over half of the U.S. corn and cotton acreage was planted to stacked cultivars in 2013.
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Table 5.3 Some examples of transgenic crops and traits in the public research system
Crop Trait Transgene Institution Status
Rice Drought tolerance and AtDREB1A, ICAR-IIRR Glass house
resistance to yellow stem borer and cry1Ac
Chickpea Resistance to Gram pod borer cry1Aabc ICAR-IIPR Glass house
Pigeonpea Pod borer resistance cry1Aabc ICAR-IIPR Glass house
Sorghum Spotted stem borer cry1B ICAR-IIMR Field tests
Cotton Resistance to bollworm cry1Ac ICAR-CICR Field tests
Brinjal Resistance to fruit and shoot cry1Fa1 ICAR-NRCPB Field tests
borer cry1Aa3 ICAR-IIVR and Glass
house
Potato Quality protein Ama1 NIPGR/JNU Field tests
Mustard Heterosis Barnase, DUSC GEAC
Barstar
SN Domain Traits
1. Nutritional Higher vitamin content, more healthy fatty acid profiles.
enhancement
2. Stress tolerance Tolerance to high and low temperatures, salinity, and drought.
3. Disease resistance Resistant to diseases like citrus greening disease, fungal blight,
etc.
4. Bio-fuels Plants with altered cell wall composition for more efficient
conversion to ethanol Phyto- remediation. Plants that extract and
concentrate contaminants like heavy metals from polluted sites.
Table 5.4 Potential crops with corresponding genetic traits expressed in GM: experiences in United States
SN Crop Genetic traits expression
1. Sugar beet Herbicide Tolerance
2. Srainbow papaya Disease Resistance
3. Sweet corn Insect Resistance, Herbicide Tolerance
4. Canola Herbicide Tolerance
5. Field corn Insect Resistance, Herbicide Tolerance, Drought Tolerance
6. Soybean Insect Resistance, Herbicide Tolerance
7. Cotton Insect Resistance, Herbicide Tolerance
8. Summer squash Disease Resistance
9. Potato Reduced Bruising, Black Spot, Non-browning, Low Acrylamide
and Blight Resistance
10. Alfalfa Herbicide Tolerance
11. Apple Non-browning
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5.7 Genomics
Transgenic approaches along with advanced breeding techniques and tissue culture methods
are integral parts of today’s crop improvement programmes. High throughput genomic study
of crop plants is a promising area in the development of crop improvement.
Genomics is the research strategy that uses molecular characterization and cloning of whole
genomes to understand the structure, function and evolution of genes, and to answer
fundamental biological questions. The term genomics was coined by T.H. Roderick in 1986
for the study of structure and function of entire genome of a living organism.
The CRISPR/Cas gene-editing system is able to generate heritable, targeted mutations and also
to address concerns over the presence of foreign DNA sequences as it can generate transgene-
free plants. Therefore, it offers advantages in giving precision that was previously not possible
and in allowing the induction of mutations without the presence of transgenes in the final plants
(Ricroch et al., 2017). Transgene‐free procedures for generating GMOs are desirable because
they can circumvent regulatory obstacles. Indeed, in 2016, the United Stated Department of
Agriculture (USDA) decided, that genetically modified mushrooms that used CRISPR‐Cas9
technology are exempt from the USDA's GMO regulations since these mushrooms do not fall
under the regulatory requirements. A letter along the same lines was issued in response to an
inquiry made by the American company, DuPont Pioneer. DuPont Utilised CRISPR‐Cas9 to
knock out the Wx1 gene in corn, which encodes a synthase producing the polysaccharide
amylose. This modification resulted in a CRISPR‐edited corn containing starch made of a
different polysaccharide, amylopectin, a commodity used in several industries. The letter
posted by the USDA concluded that this GMO also escapes the agency's regulations.
Overall, these examples indicate that the regulatory bodies do approve different GMO products
that were engineered using the CRISPR‐Cas system, and are more inclined to do so as long as
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the system is removed from the engineered organism. This approach is rational, since the
endpoint product is identical to a product made in the traditional way, which would have taken
significantly more resources, labour, and time.
Genome editing is slowly and steadily coming to be accepted as a technique, that is more
advanced than the conventional breeding, but simultaneously safer than other transgenic
techniques, and therefore can be deployed in crop improvement, probably without a very
regulatory protocol or freed totally from regulation. A decision to this effect may be taken after
due deliberation by a competent body.
Fortunately, many of these risks have proven thus far to be minimal. But this may not be enough
for anyone to guarantee total safety as yet. For agricultural biotechnology to continue to help
mankind, future research must be ethical in nature, consequences must be painstakingly
analyzed, regulatory institutions must continue to operate, and the public must play an active
role in monitoring our scientists and biotech organisations (Dale et al., 2002).
The assessment of the safety of the transgenic crops vis-à-vis bio-diversity and environment is
a fundamental part of the global regulatory process before a transgenic species is released into
the environment. The goal of environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants is
to identify and evaluate the risks associated with the release and cultivation of these plants.
There are common safety concerns that must be addressed on a case-by-case basis prior to
commercialisation of a novel plant. These concerns include:
The basic premise to establish the safety of transgenic food is the substantial equivalence
concept, which seeks to establish whether the new crop/food is significantly different from
existing crop/food that is generally considered to be safe for consumers, and it provides critical
guidance as to the nature of any increased health hazards in the new crop.
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The Rules (1989) empowered regulatory decision making for the development of genetically
engineered (GE) organisms including crops from the research stage to large-scale commercial
use through a three-tier system. The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC) operates on
research level approvals; and the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM)
reviews all approved ongoing research projects involving the high-risk category and confined
field experiments.
Finally, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) functioning as an apex body in the
Ministry of Environment, Ecology and Forests (MoEEF), Government of India is responsible
for the approval of activities involving large-scale use of hazardous micro-organisms, as well
as recombinant products in research and industrial production from the environment angle or
commercial use.
In the states, it is the State Biotechnology and Co-ordination Committee (SBCC) and the
District-Level Committee (DLC) that inspect, supervise and monitor with the help of scientists
from state and central government institutions.
Under the Rules (1989), a set of rDNA guidelines were issued in 1990 covering genetically
engineered organisms, genetic transformation of plants and animals, mechanism of
implementation of bio-safety guidelines, containment facilities under three risk groups.
Revised guidelines for safety assessment and pre-release monitoring are approved by GEAC
through notifications from time-to-time matching with the needs of scientific knowhow. Such
documents do not require approval of parliament every time they are revised. In 1994 “Revised
Guidelines for Safety in Bio-technology” were issued. During 1998, to provide special review
for genetically engineered plants, “Revised Guidelines for Research in Transgenic Plants and
Guidelines for Toxicity and Allergenicity for Evaluation of Transgenic Seeds, plants and plant
parts” had come into force.
In response to changing needs of transgenic technology and safety science globally, in 2008
another set of “Guidelines and Standards for Operating Procedures (SOPs) for confined field
trials of Regulated Genetically Engineered (GE) Plants” were issued. A chart showing the
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agencies involved as per Rules, 1989 of the Environment (Protections) Act, 1986 for
environmental release of transgenic crops for in-house development is presented below:
The Government of India has been pro-active in recognising the strengths and weakness of
current regulatory framework and reforms needed. The Task Force on the Application of
Agriculture Bio-technology constituted by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2003 recommended
the establishment of an autonomous, statutory and professionally-led “National Biotechnology
Regulatory Authority” for generating the necessary public, political, professional and
commercial confidence in the science-based regulatory mechanism.
Currently, various ministries & departments of the central government including the Ministry
of Environment, Ecology and Forests, the Department of Biotechnology, the Ministries of
Agriculture, Health, and Commerce have considerable stake in the field. It would help in
adopting a comprehensive approach to regulation in preference to a sectoral approach. A
‘National Gene Technology Regulatory System’ with an overall mandate of regulating the use
of bio-technology products, be they plants, microbes, animals or drugs may be the need of the
hour with an Office of the Gene Technology Regulator to safeguard the health and safety of
the people and to protect the environment by identifying and managing risks that may emanate
from the use of the transgenic crop technology. Thus, a ‘Single Window System’ would come
into reality to address concerns of the society.
There has also been widespread resistance from the society at large, particularly in respect of
food crops, and hence the progress relating to commercialisation of GM crops has not been
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proportionate to the potential and promise that GM technology holds. Under the existing
regulatory system, so far, five events of cotton with genes MON 531 (cry1AC gene); MON
15985 (cry1AC & cry2Ab); GFM Cry1A (cry1Ab-cry1Ac); JK-1 (cry1Ac) and CICR (cry1Ac)
have been approved for commercial use. Further, at least 4 new events of cotton and one event
of brinjal EEI and corn each, besides mustard have been under consideration by GEAC.
The DFI Committee in due regard to the apprehensions and concerns that various stakeholders
at large entertain about GM based food crops recommends, that the transgenic technology can
be used more vigorously is case of non-food crops. As per the DFI suggested redefined mandate
of Agriculture (Volume XIII), this primary sector needs to go beyond food production to serve
the industrial sector by providing raw materials. Agriculture sector can sustain a robust agro-
processing industry including the energy sector. In this context, it is suggested that GM
technology can be used for crop improvement of non-food sector.
In case of food crops, use of genome editing which does not suffer from the safety fears
associated with other transgenic technologies can be considered. Further, the conventional
breeding technology can be continued to be relied upon by using the vastly unused gene pool
available in the genetic diversity of the country, as also from imports. There are well established
germplasm banks across the world today and can be accessed.
Key Extracts
Conventional technologies of agriculture such as plant breeding have proved successful
in imparting food security to India. However, they suffer from some limitations in
meeting the formidable challenges that have emerged of late. Genetic transformation
and genome editing are powerful technologies that can offer solutions to several such
problems.
Transgenic technology holds the potential of increasing crop productivity, and
contribute to global food, feed and fibre security; lowering production costs; and
increasing stability of production to lessen vicissitudes to abiotic and biotic stresses.
However, there exists widespread concern in India about the safety of using GM based
food crops, despite the comprehensive regulatory framework, that India has in place.
Till all concerns are addressed to consensus level satisfaction, GM technology may be
deployed in non-food crops like jute, flax, other fibre crops etc.
In order to achieve improvement in food crops, conventional breeding may continue to
be used by harvesting the unused genetic diversity. At best genome editing may be
thought of after due diligence, including a decision on the applicability of regulatory
protocol to genome editing technology.
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Chapter 6
Promoting Science-led Technology - Policy Recommendation
Technology is the daughter of science, and science has no limitations. As already validated by the
impressive performance of India’s agriculture, new science & technology are required to embark upon
another leap forward, that considers farmers’ income and farmers’ welfare as the core of
transformation. Further, the change should be based on the fulcrum of sustainable technology. Towards
this end, it would help to progress from ‘Science of Discovery’ to ‘Science of Delivery’.
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extension system, various information communication tools (ICT) are available which
can be deployed to bridge the gap between farmer and knowledge generator. Scenario
development simulations along with soft skill planning and participatory tools need to
be used.
Crop diversification to high-value crops and enterprises such as horticulture, livestock
and fisheries that contribute significantly to the income growth of farmers is critical. In
order to capture the optimal value from farm produce by the farmers, there is a need to
develop integrated cold-chain systems. Further, strengthened linkages with micro,
small and medium enterprises would accelerate growth of farm income and generation
of employment.
There is an urgent need to enhance overall input efficiency, which can be achieved
through implementation of resource-conserving technologies viz. zero-tillage, micro-
irrigation, system of rice/crop intensification; mechanisation of farm operations,
integrated pest management, integrated farming systems, farm extension services,
adaptation to climate change and agri-market reforms at the state levels.
The marginal efficiency of capital is much higher in minor- and micro-irrigation than
that found in the major and medium irrigation systems. This justifies the allocation of
greater resources towards the former by the respective state governments, in view of
the level of groundwater resource usage.
The cost of cultivation of major crops in real terms should be reduced to optimize the
net income of farmers. It is therefore, imperative to strengthen the input delivery
mechanism, especially with regard to seeds and extension services, and enhance the
efficiency of public agencies within the existing institutional set-up.
Private and public investments should be prioritised to facilitate crop diversification
towards horticulture, infrastructure development viz. storage houses, greenhouses and
micro-irrigation, and promotion of new culture for fruits and vegetables. Offering credit
support is highly desirable at the individual farmer and cluster levels to ensure the
success of diversification.
Special attention needs to be given to the north-eastern, eastern and rainfed eco-regions
for augmenting the scope of access to institutional credit. The dependence levels of
landless, small and marginal farmers on non-institutional credit need to be reduced.
The state governments need to reform their respective agricultural marketing systems
for enabling better price realisation by the farmers. The auction system in wholesale
markets should be more transparent.
It is important to raise investment intensity and improve capital use efficiency in the
infrastructural projects of the government, including irrigation and others, by investing
in area-specific and domain-specific needs, in order to maximise dividends. This also
necessitates effective governance and institutional interventions in each state.
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However, given the new challenges relating to need for yield breakthroughs; resistance to pests
& diseases; resilience to drought & other climate change impacts; and enabling agriculture to
feed raw material to industries, crop improvement programmes call for robust application of
R&D. In this context it is suggested, that:
i. Transgenic technologies may be used on priority in non-food sector.
ii. Since more than 95 per cent of the genetic diversity of the country has yet not been
tapped, conventional breeding programme may be depended upon in case of food
crops. The genetic diversity available outside the country may also be accessed for this
purpose.
iii. Of the several GM technologies, Genome Editing may be considered after diligent
examination in case of food crops, when specific trait is not available to undertake
conventional breeding.
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the marginal areas. Therefore, investment options for both adaptation and mitigation,
and policies which can help in reducing the impact of climate change, are urgently
needed at this stage, especially to provide incentives to the small farm holders for the
adoption of technologies and practices that can mitigate the impact of climate change.
There is a wide gap between initial discovery-proof of concept and the impact of
technologies which is called as ‘death valley’. To bridge this gap, there is a need for
‘Research for Development’ concept which can help to overcome the ‘death valley’ as
well as achieving large scale impact through strong network of extension system.
Currently, the focus is on increasing the production and productivity. But it is essential
to introduce innovative strategies that integrate agriculture and nutrition and such
nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions can focus on how agricultural
interventions in the field can be designed to improve nutritional outcomes whilst
promoting livelihood security. In this context, it is important to increase investments
and credit support for the small and marginal farmers to shift them from growing low-
value crops to high-value crops. This requires proper incentives, enabling policies and
institutions to slowly innovate to produce marketable surplus and invest further in
sustainable intensification.
It is important to recognise that market information and intelligence are crucial to
enable farmers to make informed decisions about the choices of crops, storage and
marketing. Dissemination of market information such as demand, production and prices
plays an important role in the harmonising the functioning of markets, and helps in
unifying them into a national agricultural marketing system.
New information and communication technology (ICT) tools to be used not only as a
means of knowledge exchange but also as a source of livelihoods for the educated
youths in the rural areas will have to be worked out. The process of changing roles and
additional responsibility and limitations of resources in public extension have created a
gap, which is getting filled up by private extension. This desirable development needs
governmental encouragement and regulation. There exists, a large space for public
private partnership in the area of agricultural sector. However, it has to be a win-win-
win proposition for all the partners. Small and marginal farmers’ interest must be at the
centre while devising the public private partnership policies. However, to
Operationalise integrated and holistic strategy through consortium approach, and calls
for a mindset change in various actors such as researchers, policy makers and
development workers, farmers and private industries.
The Science of Delivery is the collective and cumulative knowledge base of delivery
that helps practitioners make more informed decisions and produce consistent results
on the ground. Central to Science of Delivery is the notion of learning from operations,
revisiting past interventions to apply knowledge about the implementation process to
future interventions. One of the ways to strengthen science of delivery is to use
demonstrations results to build awareness among local level stakeholders especially
farmers about the new technologies. These are the local proofs which have more value
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in convincing farmers. Extension workers can use this information and can teach with
more confidence about a recommended practice when that is locally proved to be a
success in that area through local demonstrations. This is the first step of scaling-up of
new technologies for achieving large impact with minimum time scale.
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Chapter 7
Role of Digital Technologies
Digital technologies can play a transformational role in modernising and organising how rural India
performs its agricultural activities. The technologies include Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics,
Blockchain Technology, 3-D Printing, Internet of Things (IOTs) and others as they are developed.
Appropriate and timely adoption of such technologies can lead to smart and sustainable farming.
The transformation comes from the stark changes that technologies bring about on age old
practices and from informational inputs that effect a rethink in the decision making processes.
The transformation also causes disruptions as it builds aspirations and competition, which in
turn can amplify various errors and omissions. Various examples of changes that technology
can bring in the operational environment abound. Some are simple and already a part of history.
When communication systems were analog in nature, the market yards were literally assembly
points for farmers to collect and exchange information. The market network was also used by
the government as a platform to propagate information and ideas, and to regulate. With the
advent of digital communication, the information dissemination progressed onto radio,
television, and is now using mobile and internet technologies. The physical assembly of people
is not needed and markets should no longer be considered assembly points but as modern
platforms where produce can be aggregated in a scientific manner and as initiators of trade that
is transparent and offers a choice of markets to the producers. Digitised information systems
allow remote access to knowledge, has given rise to group sharing and continue even now to
revamp how societal exchanges happen interpersonally, commercially and in the extension
services system.
The impact on total yield through use of intensive farming technologies is already well known,
as well the ecological impact from misuse of chemical and natural resources. Now, for example
the government’s universal soil health card scheme, can give farmers access to information on
their soil health status, which can be used to decide on optimal use of various resources as
inputs. This system, as it is made more real-time, will bring transformational changes to the
cost of cultivation/production and the sustainability of farms. There are technologies where soil
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health can be assessed without transmitting the soil physically to a lab, but merely by taking a
spectral image of a soil sample. The digital spectrogram can be compared against a large
database and spectral analysis can diagnose the contents of the sample. This analysis can
happen in the cloud, and results communicated to the farmers almost instantaneously. There
exist various similar technologies where a sample from a field, gets converted into digital
information, is promptly analysed to provide accurate results, which then allows farmers to
take decisions best suited to the land they farm on.
A little less than half of agriculture is now being practised in irrigated conditions, though a
large share of agricultural land remains rainfed. This is being further refined through applying
straightforward mechanisms like micro-irrigation, fertigation and protected cultivation
systems. The next stage of interventions will extensively use specialised sensors to assess soil
moisture and composition, to send signals to actuators that control sluices and pumps, to initiate
a controlled flow of water with precise dosage of nutrients; and this can all be done without
immediate human interface. This technology will optimise on water resource use and reduce
current state of drudgery where farmers need to wake up pre-dawn to water the fields and is an
example how technologies will bring rapid and drastic change to past irrigation practices.
In protected cultivation, sensor based systems are also used to monitor internal humidity and
light conditions and automatically trigger lighting adjustments, fan-pad systems, etc. Such
activities are also digitally transmitted for record keeping and can allow remote controlling the
operations by the human interface. In fact, such technology adoption will warrant and kick in
new skills and practices in farming, such as calibration and managing pumps, valves, irrigation
lines, soil sensors and for measuring, mixing and testing of nutrient mixtures, etc. It is going to
usher in a positive disruption in how farmers function and the technologies they use.
The availability of satellite imagery, infrared imagery, and a myriad of remote inputs allow for
more accurate weather forecasts, advance warnings on pest infestation and similar, and more.
These are well known applications, of the merger of digital technologies and industrial
hardware, which are extensively used in agriculture, and they have made a lasting impact on
how agriculture is accomplished. Instead of traditional homilies about temperature and rainfall
events, the farmers now consult and share the advisories and forecasts of the same.
Geo-tagging of land, bio-tagging of livestock, bar-coding of planting material, and such, others
methods are using digital technologies, for identifying and managing farm assets. Similarly,
use of Aadhar to uniquely identify an individual and manage the delivery of support, is another
transforming intervention in farming. Digitalised, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to farmers is
a vital step, as will be the building of a comprehensive digital database of farmers.
The above examples, are not complete and only indicative, as the technologies continue to
improve and evolve. Every new technological development, in turn, sets off newer and
innovative utilities as they are rolled out and are applied by users in their activities. The roles
played by digital technologies keep getting upgraded and there is need to continuously monitor
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and identify new developments, so as to prioritise applications for the purpose of enhancing
farmers’ income.
The digital technologies, allow for some basic rethink on how a farmer uses mechanical tools,
reduces drudgery, and how they record, access and use information. A drone, spray machine,
tractor, water pump, etc. are physical machines, the use of which is made more relevant and
precise when the machine systems are able to signal each other digitally. Digital technologies
allow machine systems to interact and coordinate their activities in a logical fashion. Digital
technologies also allow for large amount of historic and real-time information to be recorded,
sifted and correlated and this in turn optimises how information is used.
Both individually and cumulatively, these technologies possess the power of ushering in a
constructive disruption, a phrase widely popular by now.
Remote sensing
Geographical Information System
Data Analytics
Artificial intelligence & Machine learning
Internet of things
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Remote sensing fundamentally made use of visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared
sensors to form images of the earth's surface by detecting the solar radiation reflected from
targets on the ground. As technology developed further, and resolutions improved, remote
sensing has advanced to also detect and identify heat signatures of planted crops and animals.
Similarly, moving beyond sonar, ocean temperature maps are used to show upwelling and
chlorophyll distribution to identify coastal productive zones, use side-looking airborne radar to
detect shoals of surface swimming fish, etc.
Nevertheless, CCE methods are time-consuming and costly, prone to large errors due to
incomplete ground observations, and often lead to poor crop yield and crop area estimations.
Recent advancements in technology have made it possible to rely on high-resolution satellite
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data sets on periodic basis. Reliable and timely information on crop area is extracted very
efficiently, which can be correlated with yield data. This will aid in more accurate crop
production estimations, add transparency to the system and speed up the crop insurance
processes.
Drones in agriculture
Technology has changed over time and agricultural drones are a good example of this. Today,
agriculture is one of the major adopters of drones in management. Drones can be ground-based
and aerial-based and are increasingly used for field analysis to monitor crop health, irrigation,
pesticide management, planting, etc.
Drones currently operate at 0.5 - 10 cm resolution and aerial drones (UAV – unmanned aerial
vehicle) can fly close to the surface of the canopy of natural stands or crops. Drones can be
used for conducting aerial surveys at regular interval to study the difference in land use, crop
loss assessment, crop health imaging, and integrated GIS mapping. The uses of drones for
gathering valuable data via a series of sensors, multispectral, thermal, and visual, for use in
analytics, mapping and surveying of agricultural land. Near real-time disaster survey can be
carried out using drones. The operators can enter the coordinates of the field to survey and
select an altitude or ground resolution. When pesticide spraying is taken up using drones,
waterbodies on the field can to be avoided if previously mapped. Depending on the sensors
deployed on a drone, various data can be captured, such as plant health indices, plant counting,
plant height measurement, canopy cover mapping, field water poising mapping, scouting
reports, stockpile measuring, chlorophyll measurement, nitrogen content in the crops, drainage
mapping, weed pressure mapping, and so on.
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Agriculture no longer drives other economic and social activities, as in the past, but is subject
to and is expected to reflect the demand from the wider population. Though the agricultural
system, directly impacts on quality of life of all individuals, even those in non-agricultural
activities, it in turn, is expected to be led by the demands from its end-consumers. A physically
inter-connected world has made agriculture a highly competitive production and marketing
system. Nevertheless, agriculture still has a certain fuzzy logic built into its operations, as the
factors that affect the system, have various degrees in how they manifest. The widening scope
of agricultural activities, its continued subjectivity to uncontrollable environs, the large
quantity of data it generates from dispersed locations, and the increasing need to have focused
& specific deployment of agricultural sciences has made the agricultural system an important
domain for use of aforesaid new technologies.
Farms and farmers produce big data, which need interpretation using Information technology
for transforming the agricultural value system. To illustrate, Agricultural Census data on about
138.5 million Operational holdings itself constitutes a very large database (VLDB).
As automation use in on-field and off-field machinery increases, large data from sensor
technology will also be available. Such sensors are already seen in irrigation system,
temperature control equipment, soil monitoring equipment, etc. The physical measurement and
monitoring mechanisms, deployed through mobile imaging, satellite imagery, drone patrolling,
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GPS / RFID (Geo Positioning System/Radio Frequency Infrared Data) tracking and production
traceability, will all require support from big data management and analytics.
National projects viz., Agmarknet, eNAM, Animal Health, Soil Health and such others,
generate data at micro-level granularity and require extensive analysis at national, state, district
and sub-district levels, if a comprehensive meaning is to be made of this data. It is not pertinent
for this Committee to list all the various data sources and their uses in agriculture as the list is
itself voluminous. Such data can be developed as “Data Marts” for utilisation. The analysis
will not only help at an operational level, but also assist policy makers by identifying structural
weaknesses, priority areas and improve monitoring capabilities. Harnessing big data, for
weather-index based insurance, financial and credit programs, are also viable propositions to
manage financial, weather and climate risks.
Long standing data, when compiled in a comprehensive and standardised manner, helps to
unearth previously hidden patterns, provides correlation between perceived disjointed activities
and opens new insights into the management and governance mechanism. The main challenges
in managing big data is collecting and collating the data, data storage, rights to the data and
data analysis, querying, and transfer.
Big Data Analytics gets its penetration by adopting technologies viz., Social Computing,
Internet of Things (IoT), Data Virtualization, Statistical Methods and Machine Learning, Data
Science Methods and Tools, Data Mining Algorithms, Data Analytics Processes, Platforms,
and Practices, and Information Visualization Tools and Dashboards.
Big Data Analytics is still at an early development stage in India. However, government
agricultural development schemes (spread across the entire agricultural value system),
AGMARKNET/e-NAM, Soil Health Card, National Animal Disease Reporting System
(NADRS), Kisan Call Centre Database, DBT schemes and others, are already driving the need
for adoption of Big Data Analytics in the agricultural sectors.
As a technology, IoT takes forward the networking of traditional devices like desktops, phones
and tablets, to a wider range of everyday things like appliances, sensors, vending machines,
automobiles, etc. In a local network, such connectivity can be seen in use in factories or
buildings, where a closed circuit system streams data internally (say visual, humidity or
temperature sensors) – when this information is made accessible over the internet, the local
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web would be a part of Internet of Things. IoT facilitates the remote access to active
information. For example, a farmer visiting the local market, can access his in-field soil sensor
to decide on what fertilizer to buy, or remotely access the health parameters of his livestock.
Moving ahead, the Web of Things (WoT), is a refinement of the Internet of Things by
integrating smart things not only into the internet (network), but into the Web Architecture
(application), for ease of use and bring a higher level of maturity for scalability and
sustainability.
Draft IOT Policy of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) addresses
IoT in Agriculture and Irrigation and provides incentives to capture investors’ interest. IoT can
be used in precision farming, pest management and control, soil monitoring water management,
food production and safety, and livestock. Just about every branch and activity in agriculture
and food need the support of sensing and interpretation of sensor data. Indeed, the whole
network of future sustainable agricultural and food technologies, capable of dealing with
climate change and population growth, will benefit from an internet connectivity of the things
involved.
Artificial Intelligence
Sensors provide the data, and can be used to automate specific tasks on the triggers provided.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes automation to another level, by incorporating analysis and
learning on the basis of past and current data. It further, adds the scope of automation even in
decision making, where the integration of multiple and varied information is interpreted to
balance a desired set of outcomes, which could themselves be variable. The vastness and
complexity in agriculture makes it a very promising field for application of AI technology.
Artificial Intelligence supports in decision making, provided through machine and digital
learning processes. Human intelligence can take long to assimilate, understand and react to all
the complex variables that comprise the uncertainties that agriculture is subject to. This tends
to promote a word-of-mouth method of activity, promoting copy-cat decisions or dependence
on more traditional decision taking. Artificial Intelligence can help make better sense of the
inherent fuzzy data and rapidly put out answers from extremely complex inputs. Further, the
logic improves with learning and these factors make AI suited as an agricultural technology.
Farmers can benefit not only from the direct on-farm applications of AI, but also from its use
in the development of improved seeds, crop protection, and fertility products. Besides the
unpredictable biological and weather related processes during cultivation, agriculture is also
dependent on variables from multiple market situations. In this complex situation, AI can offer
more reliable predictions, to be used as a basis for planning and control of all agricultural
activities.
Applications based on AI require large amounts of data to properly train the algorithms. Its
(AI) deployment is a natural corollary of large data warehousing (big data) and automation.
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The use of ICT by way of interactive communication with farmers, also creates opportunity for
AI powered chat-bots (which are conversational virtual assistants who automate interactions
with end users). These can use machine learning techniques, understand natural language and
interact with users in a personalised way, giving advice and recommendations on specific farm
problems.
Cognitive technologies allow analysing and correlating information about weather, type of
seeds, types of soil or infestations in a certain area, probability of diseases, data about what
worked best, year to year outcomes, market trends, prices or consumer needs; and in the final
analysis facilitate farmers to make decisions to maximise on crops and livestock output.
Remote sensors, Satellites, and UAVs (Unmanned Aviation Vehicles) gather information 24
hours per day over an entire field, so as to monitor plant health, soil condition, temperature,
humidity, etc. Thus, IOT and AI are the two technologies having progressive impact on
agriculture and its future. Design and development of AI algorithms to process vast agricultural
seasonal data can be challenging in an agricultural setting, but is necessary. The advent of big
data and sector-specific machine learning tools related to the sector provide the necessary tools
and data which when analysed will help increase agricultural productivity, inputs and produce
management, and farmers income.
It may also be appreciated, that two of the important Public Extension Service Centres, are
Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Agricultural Technology Management Agencies (ATMA).
Both these are well positioned to be the nerve centres for AI applications, and for knowledge
diffusion among India’s vast farming community.
Individual ledgers require to be reconciled when settling accounts, and the method was open
to corrections and manipulations. This manual and individual keeping of records was common
in the banking system, where the account holder would reconcile own ledger periodically with
the bank provided passbook. Individual ledgers maintained by each transacting party,
especially when transactions are complex, made the system inefficient, paper laden, and
allowed for human error or fraud, and in result leading to disputes at reconciliation stage. In
the blockchain, a single ledger of records is shared with the transacting parties, where each
must give consensus before another transaction is added, and once recorded, the transaction
cannot be altered.
In any supply chain, the blockchain using parties could include the producers, retailers,
logistics providers, and regulators. A digital trading platform based on Blockchain technology,
modernises agricultural trade by directly connecting each transacting party to the same dataset,
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Major food companies have commenced using Blockchain technology to transform their
supply chain. In the agricultural sector, Blockchain technology can also be used to record inter-
linked field practices such as INM/IPM (Integrated Nutrient Management / Integrated Pest
Management), confirm good agricultural practices, validate resource use efficiencies, build
traceability for the produce from farm to fork, prevent price extortion and delayed payments.
The technology also has various uses in the input supply chain, such as validating authenticity
of planting material by keeping a record of high resolution images of the material in transit,
provide similar traceability of other items from source to farms, record every input until point
of consumption at farm level, etc. This immutable record keeping system, can help build checks
in the input and output supply system. Since Blockchain relies on a distributed ledger (shared
records), it is considered more secure as it makes it difficult for anyone to compromise the
integrity of the data.
Blockchain adoption requires access to reliable internet connection. The initiatives to bring last
mile connectivity through wi-fi hotspots and mobile data in rural India, will enable such
technologies. The proposed COOPNET (Cooperative Informatics Network) networking more
than 100,000 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) can be operationalised with
such distributed cryptoledger (Blockchain) systems. The way forward is to establish a
“Blockchain Technology based Testbed” for Agricultural Value System.
Robotics and automation are commonly used in nurseries for seeding, potting and care of the
plants. Solutions are also in use in dairy facilities as in case of feeding and milking machines.
Similar examples are seen in the fisheries sector, where automated feeders and pond aeration
systems are used. Other reported on-farm uses are machines that recognise patterns and
undertake targeted spraying of pesticide and fertilizer, the precision allowing to limit the
application to individual plants. This functions much like face recognition in smart phones,
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where a data set of patterns triggers a precise reaction. Drones are unmanned flying machines,
and make effective aerial sensors, used to control robotic machines for planting, seeding and
harvesting large fields, besides other applications. The aerial view provided by drones, which
can be across the digital spectrum, is digitally transmitted to computer systems, linked with
geo-spatial signals and correlated and coordinated for various purposes.
In green houses, much like rain sensing windshield wipers in automobiles, rain and light
sensing robotic arms can automatically retract or cover the roof as per need. Similarly, hi-tech
sorting and grading machines in modern pack-houses, sift and assay produce on the basis of
optical and physical sensors, automatically package, label and move the boxes to next stage of
handling. Automatic fork-lifts, pallet put-away and picking arms, and many such uses are seen
in modern cold stores and warehouses. Robotic and semi-robotic equipment are also used in
poultry harvesting factories and abattoirs, besides in beverage factories, and the like.
Robotics ease the physical handling of activities and large loads, doing it faster than humans
can. The first level of smartness is derived from sensors, to start or stop an automation on its
pre-determined set of actions. Sensors and robotics go hand in hand, not only to actuate action,
but also to monitor and stop an activity, at levels that include safety needs.
The Information Technology Research Academy (ITRA), Hyderabad set up by the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology, in consultation with the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR), had identified various areas for research purpose in respect of
robotics, sensors, interpretation and use of sensor data. This was carried out in 2013, and even
in the short period of time (2013-2018), many more applications and uses can be added and
innovated, which implies the speed of changes occurring in the system.
The Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) has formulated a collaborative research
project entitled “SENSAGRI: SENsor based Smart Agriculture” - involving six partner
institutes under the ITRA Project Funding, to develop indigenous prototype for Drone based
crop and soil health monitoring system using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing (HRS) sensors,
so as to be integrated with satellite-based technologies for large scale applications. Such joint
research efforts are recommended, to be undertaken and completed as per timelines.
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One hears a new buzz about 3D printing, which is a process for the manufacture of 3D objects
made on the basis of a digital blueprint, and stored as a computer file. It not only allows for
rapid prototyping but is already used to produce small equipment and parts and can support
experiments to innovate on existing tools. Hard to get spare parts for old valves, gears, pipe
bends, plough tips, etc., can be printed for immediate use. In the years to come, such needs are
set to expand as spares for old model machines run out of stock and can be printed by the user.
Much like how welding or electrical capabilities are common in villages, 3D printing capability
may become at par for a farming operation. As 3D printing prices fall, a 3D printer might
become a standard tool on the farm. It is viewed that this technology may reach a point, where
machinery manufacturers allow farmers to purchase design files online and print spare parts or
products themselves.
Mention of technologies such as 3D printing and others may seem far-fetched, but the rate at
which these convert into real applications with widespread uses is constantly increasing.
Interactive agricultural micro-bots and robotic farm swarms, solar powered equipments,
algorithmic suggested rapid iteration based selective breeding, livestock biometrics, are
examples of technologies at various stages of use and development. Some could certainly
mainstream in the coming decade.
3DAC&FW (2016): Communication of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’
Welfare) - vide No. Z-11015/1/2015-IT-Part(I) dated 7-Jan-2016, to TEC which has formed the Working Group on SMART
Village and Agriculture set up by the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), Ministry of Communications
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(vii) Provide advice on crops to be sown based on NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, and
potassium) content and environment values and comparing with standard
databases.
(viii) Setting up of Digital Scare Crows, as well as monitor any field level intrusions.
(ix) Advise on requirement of water in the field in case of dryness increasing.
(x) Provide alert on any crop damage in case animals destroy crops.
(xi) Wireless communication to villages and online Knowledge-bases.
(xii) Recommendations on the basis of crop growth, stage-wise nutrient content and
required nutrients.
(xiii) Monitoring of incidence of insects and pests using sensors with various types of
traps.
(xiv) Digital view of field from home /remote location.
(xv) Information on real time moisture and temperature variations in grain storage to
undertake corrective measures to prevent pest infestation.
(xvi) Provide information on protected cultivation in greenhouses.
(xvii) Controlling the quantity, direction etc. in micro-sprinklers.
(xviii) Monitoring body temperature of animals to ensure proper health and
information on food quantity consumed from their food drum beds.
(xix) Quality evaluation of honey bees and honey bed growth using IR (infra-red
radiation) or UV (ultra violet) radiation analysis.
(xx) Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) sensors for monitoring and early detection of
reproduction events and health disorders in animals.
(xxi) Identification of Fish Density Zones (FDZs) in the Sea and informing and
guiding fishermen about FDZs, helping them thereby with enhanced fish catch.
(xxii) Temperature regulator in fisheries to produce different varieties of fishes in
different zones like greenhouses.
(xxiii) Use of bio-sensors matrix and analysing the weeds and insects in the field.
(xxiv) IR sensors for monitoring growth and development in urban horticulture.
(xxv) Monitoring the soil density and nutrition values after a particular crop.
(xxvi) Ontology based CDN Systems to assist the sensors for capturing data and
analysing with standard data sets for a specific crop domain dynamically.
(xxvii) Maintaining temperature/humidity for perishable goods.
(xxviii) Environment control and weather sensors in poultry farms.
The ICAR – ITRA Joint Research Programme is also required to look into the areas identified
by the DAC&FW for possible areas of IOT based smart devices and applications in agriculture,
and also to get associated with the TEC Working Group on M2M Domain: Smart Village and
Agriculture (set up in 2015), so as to enrich ICAR-ITRA Outreach Programme, based on the
standards published by TEC Working Group.
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Business models are changing and are trying to develop software platforms that will act as
farm-management systems, which will collect data from individual farms and process them,
allowing for the farm’s history, the known behaviour of individual crop strains and the local
weather forecast, and then make recommendations to the farmer. Information, when combined
with geo-mapped land, creates a yield map that shows which bits of land are more or less
productive, and thus in turn be fed into the following season’s planting pattern. Farming
solutions are facilitated by using technologies such as, Big Data (e.g. Agriculture Statistical
System - Scientific Disease Monitoring and solutions), for subsequent analysis and use in
Artificial Intelligence applications. The solutions they lead to can be such as, remotely
controlled irrigation water management, site-specific farming (variable rate) for adaptation of
the cultivation to the heterogeneity within the field (soil testing, landscape, microclimate),
maximise yield potential and improve crop quality, reduce amount of inputs and environmental
impact, etc. The technology and applications are suggestive of the scope and scale possible.
The impact on analytics in rationalising priorities and expediting the policy making process is
yet to be fully realised.
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During the last 22 years, agricultural sector has been witnessing ICT growth in a very
systematic manner. As the connectivity over BharatNet / RailTel / Cable TV etc., systems
strengthen in reach, they will also require to be sharpended with specialised content. Local
innovation cells, including farmers can be supported to create media for knowledge sharing.
7.9 Annotation
For many, the bringing in of digital technologies into Indian farming system may seem far-
fetched, especially from the perspective of doubling farmers’ income in a short time-period.
However, the importance of moving towards such system integration, of the physical and
digital worlds, is important to sustain income growth in the long run. A delay in making a
beginning will only push the earliest date of realisation of technology-led outcomes.
Lack of standards, a perceived poor transparency around data use and ownership, and the
difficulty of gathering and sharing data have led to a situation where AI algorithm developers
in Agriculture are still starved for data.
SMART Farming uses modern automation and IT to increase the productivity and efficiency
of farming in a sustainable way with minimal impact on the environment, which will be “Future
Farming”. There is a school of thought, that both digital technologies and precision farming
merge to form “decision farming”, which is termed as “future farming” and “smart farming.
This will amount to “Informatics-led Agricultural Development”.
Agriculture Skill Development, under the PMGDSA (Prime Minister Gramin Digital Saksharta
Abhiyan) scheme of the MeitY, should also consider “targets” to be achieved by 2022. All
Farmer Friends should be trained under PMGDSA. This Committee has recommended that the
current practice of one Farmer Friend per two villages be revised to have one Farmer Friend
per village and that at least 50 per cent of Farmer Friends be women.
(Volume XI on Extension Management).
As Agriculture is complex, and it involves multiplicity of both schemes and institutions, there
have been issues related to “institutional accountability” and “benefits reaching the needed
farmers”. It is suggested to operationalise a “Farmer Welfare DBT Portal” as the MetaPortal
(System of Systems) - in 22 constitutionally recognised Indian languages, linking farming
community and the Central and State government institutions..
The DNF sub-Informatics Networks viz., AGRISNET (and its subset DACNET), ARISNET,
AGMARKNET, PPIN, SEEDNET and HORTNET have been operational for more than a
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decade and need further strengthening. Networks viz., FISHNET, FERTNET and Weather
NET are at different stages of development, whereas the Networks viz., CoopNET, APHNET,
LISNET (AgRIS), AFPINET and ARINET are yet to get into synergy. The NeGP-AMMP was
expected to be “VISTARNET of DNF.
Digital Technologies in Agriculture (DTA) and Digital Networks for Farmers (DNF) are
essential components for empowering farmers, reducing cost of cultivation, increasing their
income, and enhancing agriculture productivity.
Key Extracts
All Farmer Friends be trained in use of digital technologies.
All PACs to be networked and computerised using block chain systems.
Establish Centre for Agricultural Informatics dedicated to Digital Technology
Applications in Agriculture/farming in Research and Extension Institutions (e.g.
ICAR Institutes/State Agricultural universities/Extension education Institutes
(EEIs) etc.), facilitating farming community in using Digital Technologies
Expedite creation of Geo-Spatial Land Resources Information system
(Computerised revenue land records, topo-sheets, aerial photographs, satellite
imageries, drone imageries, soil survey reports etc.) to strengthen “Farmwise
database” and Farmerwise Database”.
Focus on upcoming technologies with the aim output the most appropriate
applications that will support farmers in specific decision making, bring
transparency to the insurance process, provides market intelligence, aids market
connectivity and optimises on resource use.
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Chapter 8
Digitalisation across the Agri-Value System
Digitising the information flow and data analysis across the entire “Agricultural Value System” brings
extended benefits. Using digitised information to technologically engage and address specific needs is
digitalisation. Such intervention brings innovation, both structural and from perspective of governance,
which is needed to capture greater value from agriculture and for sustained income growth of farmers.
In these examples, each activity owner uses digital technologies to optimise his individual
value chain (with less inputs, more value is created and captured). These actors adopt new
technologies so that their inputs are streamlined and more intelligently managed, their
operations made more accurate and responsive, while requiring less managerial resources,
thereby ensuring that their activities add more value. However, such improvements and the
value gains are individual to each respective user or organisation. To make the larger
agricultural system more efficient, the improvements at value chain level have to be integrated,
in a way that the exchange of information is standardised and systems are inter-operable. Lack
of such standardisation, make the supply chain inefficient, and the optimisation at value chain
level, gets diluted when they integrate into the wider supply chain. On a physical level, an
example is seen in non-standard sizes of cartons, pallets, boxes and even transportation.
Though each component may have developed to suit and economise the specific value chain
of a user, the larger supply chain is made inefficient. Globally this is addressed through
standardised pallet sizes and containerisation.
Similarly, the use of multiple quality or market standards, makes the market system ineffectual
and non-transparent. In governance matters, non-standard data disallows development of
harmonised dashboards for monitoring and decision making. Lack of harmonisation in
knowledge management and dissemination also adds to confusion and conflicting conclusions.
The standardisation and digitalisation in the chain of agricultural and linked activities will
support focused and targeted implementation, a greater convergence in efforts, improved
monitoring of implementation and equitable development of this primary sector.
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weather forecasting system, geo-spatial crop forecasting and insurance monitoring system,
digitalisation of land records, market price monitoring and other large scale, high cost
functions, which have a wider socio-economic impact across areas. The public sector also has
many institutions and agencies that develop and implement solutions that are specific to crops,
regions or a set of activities, for subsequent sharing of the solution. The public service
envisioned is implemented at a low or zero cost to end-user, or through passing on the
technology to partnering private sector agencies.
The private sector, predominantly focuses in developing solutions and products that target
problems, that are more specific to a prospective range of end-users. The data used by private
sector solutions can be independently gathered, or sourced from data generated by government
services. For example, the data provided by government on crop production, yield, weather,
market prices, etc., is freely used by the private sector for analytics and developing solutions.
However, though the standard raw data output by public services finds cross-agency users,
there is no validation of the output that is arrived at by the various agencies functioning
independently. This at times results in the information and output being at cross purposes and
lacking integrity. This is a concern, especially in the extension services domain where the
information touches the farmers, that needs to be addressed.
Technology itself is not the answer to all problems. There are limitations to technology at every
level, which can also stem from how its utility is first conceived. For example, the soil health
system only captures twelve parameters, whereas measures specific to a crop or region may be
missed. Water testing parameters are not fully developed, though soil and water are primary
ingredients for combined use in cultivation. The digitised results of both soil and water,
required to be used on a farm, requires correlating the digital data of farm holdings with the
crop being planned. Nevertheless, technology usually brings refinement to operations, and
opens new vistas.
In many cases, various pilot initiatives have been undertaken with farmer associations and non-
governmental organisations, to share need based information with farmers. Some such
initiatives take the form of web portals and mobile apps. This Committee accessed some web-
pages that had been set up in the last decade, to only find that many were shut down or that the
information was not updated. In implementation, there are certain snags because of the
infrastructure, either of cost or operability, which offset the desired ease of operations that
technology is expected to bring.
It is not known how often such closures are due to lack of user interest, or because of economics
involved. A good idea is sometimes worth continuing, even if considered stand alone, and it
may not be viable for the operator.
Where a technology adds quantifiable value to the end product or service, the stand alone utility
is easily valued on the basis of a cost-benefit assessment. However, in many areas, technology
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also brings benefits on a socio-economic level, some of which cannot be readily quantified. An
example is the polluting impact of stubble burning – the systems to manage residue and stubble
may not always be rationalised on the basis of its operations, but would also require to be
evaluated on the basis of the impact on health, tourism, quality of life, etc. from the pollution.
In many such cases, the government plays a strategic role, and a narrow perspective of project
specific cost-benefit accounts is not a sufficient condition.
Digital and other technologies are to be viewed as a strategic tool and expense, used at various
stages of the agricultural value system. Some utilities are for the purpose of optimising
operations and inputs, others to mitigate resource shortfalls, for monitoring a set of activities,
undertake precision tasks and to support decision taking. There is on occasion also the need to
take a leap of faith, rationalised by broad based logical evaluation of a multiplicity of gains that
may accrue only in the long term.
Websites/Portals:
In order to meet the information needs of the farmer, Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers’ Welfare has developed different websites and web portals that allow farmers to
access the information using Internet. Information on Market Price, Soil Health Card, Crop
Insurance, Government schemes etc. is available to farmers through these websites. These
websites also aim at enhancing communication between the research institutions and the
farmers. They have also helped improve communication and knowledge sharing between
researchers and subject-matter experts. Farmers’ Portal, Agmarknet, Soil Health Card
Portal, eNam, Crop Insurance etc. are some of the examples of web portals developed for
farmers.
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commodity in nearest market and the maximum price in state as well as India have been
added to empower farmers in the best possible manner.
Pusa Krishi app helps farmers to get information about latest technologies developed in
research labs. This app is actually transferring the technologies from “LAB to LAND”.
Agrimarket mobile App can be used to get the market price of crops in market within 50
km of the devices location. This app automatically captures the location of person using
mobile GPS and fetches the market price. Crop Insurance mobile app can be used to
calculate the Insurance Premium for notified crops based on area, coverage amount and
loan amount in case of loanee farmer.
Weather information about likelihood of rainfall, temperature, etc. enables farmers to make
informed decision in choice of seed varieties, decide on timing of sowing and harvesting.
Information on occurrence of rainfall and other climatic uncertainties help in organizing better
storage facilities. With market information, farmers are better informed about markets status,
prevailing prices in the market. Further, when this information is forecasted across seasons, the
farmers can make more informed decisions to plan for the produce that is in demand, and this
will help in reducing distress sales by farmers due to market supply fluctuations.
At present, the KCC services are managed from fourteen locations. All KCC locations are
accessible by dialling a single nation-wide toll free number 1800-180-1551 through landline as
well as mobile numbers of all telecom networks from 6.00 A.M to 10.00 P.M. on all 7 days a
week including holidays. KCC enables farmers to engage in direct discussions with the subject
matter experts who are able to analyse the problem effectively and provide the solution directly.
For every KCC location, Level-II experts are also identified from State Agriculture
Universities, KVKs etc. In case, Farm Tele Advisor (FTA) is unable to provide answer to the
query of farmer, call is transferred to Level II expert. Around 25,000 calls are received daily in
KCC.
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KCC uses a backend data support system, which is inbuilt into the overall MIS (Management
Information System). The MIS software captures callers’ details and specifications of the query
which helps in analysing area-wise and crop wise details within a time space framework and
provides preventive, advance action solutions.
The long standing demand for scaling up the KCCs to 35, so that every state/UT has its own
and enable language compliant and location specific knowledge sharing with the farmers.
CCE Agri is a mobile app used for data collection and data monitoring in rural areas. Data of
crop cutting experiments (CCEs) is digitized using this mobile app which definitely removes
chances of human error and reduces the time in data collation. This app significantly improves
data speed (from harvesting to insurance loss estimation) and biggest gain is data quality. Geo-
tagging ensures field visit, photos mitigate the manipulation risk and data transfer greatly
improves data consolidation/analysis which eventually results in quick claim settlement.
In rural areas, there are challenges on account of absence of or poor connectivity. Hence, this
(CCE Agri) app has been designed in such a way, that data can be collected without internet
connection and as and when internet is available, data can be pushed to the server.
The need for a qualified database of farmers is also discussed in Volume-XIII of this Report.
Having a centralised database of farmers, cross-tabbed with minimum information of family
including names, age, gender, education, land size (owned or leased), other assets (livestock,
etc.), non-farm sources of income, total income, welfare coverage, etc. is required to provide
specific and relevant support, where it is most needed. Such collation and use of information
is possible today, using technologies mentioned in chapter 7 such as Big data, IOT, Block
chain, etc.
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Mere presence of digital technologies does not make the farming system more intelligent. The
agricultural value system requires the integration of the activities of independent actors and
hence the need for standardisation and integration of data flow, such that the information adds
value across the system.
There is a plethora of data collected in digital formats, at various hierarchical and horizontal
levels by different divisions & organisations, within and across departments and ministries.
The data requirements were developed in isolation and the architecture of applications, portals,
websites and other data collection points have not been standardised. This has resulted in non-
harmonised data structures, creating isolated databases, which cannot talk to one another.
Required, and possible today, is an effective tool for real time evaluation and monitoring of the
performance vis-a-vis the laid out targets. An inter-operable and open source architecture will
help in seamless integration through cross-database intelligence and use the power of big data
analytics and its interpretation for visualising patterns & trends and delineating the messages.
This will also facilitate an efficient and effective implementation at various levels. The quality
of implementation has always remained an issue. A well designed Management Information
System (MIS) will help in adopting outcome based implementation strategy, so that one is
monitoring beyond quantitative targets of works and expenditure. It is possible to adopt key
performance indicators for each of the programmes & projects and monitor their progress from
a qualitative perspective.
Sensors on fields and crops can provide granular data points on soil conditions, as well as
detailed info on wind, fertilizer requirements, water availability and pest infestations. The use
of granular data and analytical capability to integrate various sources of information (such as
weather, soil, and market prices) can help in increasing crop yield and optimising resource
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usage thereby lowering cost. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, can patrol fields
and alert farmers to crop ripeness or potential problems.
Farming depends on a predictable climate from one year to the next. In addition to hindering
farmers, climate change is also suppressing financial investment in agriculture, ranging from
small scale producers. Farmers need accurate weather forecasts. Since, climate change and
extreme weather events will demand proactive measures to adapt or develop resiliency, Big
Data can bring in the right information to take informed decisions.
In schemes like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY - crop insurance scheme), use of
Data Analytics can actually help in drawing inferences and making policies. Crop sown area
of a state is known. It can be juxtaposed with insured statistics - analysis can be done to find
reasons for lower or over insurance. Similar other factors can also be examined by putting more
layers like Cadastral Maps on top of sown & insured area. Since conducting crop cutting
experiments is a costly affair and requires lot of resources, major challenge is to reduce the
number of CCEs so that experiments can be done at selected locations only. Satellite data and
weather data can be utilised to cluster groups of Insurance Units (IUs) by mapping them
homogeneously expecting similar yield/vegetative index mapping. On the basis of vegetative
index, crop areas can be categorised in different groups and for each group, defined number of
CCEs can be conducted to arrive at yield of areas. Currently to make sure that CCEs are actually
happening, one has to go through each and every picture. Simple artificial intelligence
techniques can be used so that images can be recognised and odd ones can be removed from
the lot, and any initial recognition discrepancies can be relearned by the system.
Commodity Price forecasting is another area, where Big Data Analytics can help in a major
way. The prices of the commodities fluctuate significantly. The price forecasting information
can help the farmer to know the price in advance, and use this input to take an appropriate
decision on whether to sow that particular crop or not. Price Forecasting will also help
Government in taking decisions on fixing MSP, Import-Export duty and other policy decisions
etc. The prices of the yield are not same across all the local markets. So it is necessary to
provide forecasted price information for local market-wise, district-wise, state-wise and nation-
wise. Closely linked to price forecast is, demand forecast, in which case too Big Data Analytics
is useful.
Rapid proliferation of mobile technologies in rural areas can allow farmers improve
productivity based on the information received after Big Data Analysis. Burgeoning of data
offers unprecedented opportunities to understand preferences of farmers, and to deliver
customized services to them thereby increasing production with timely and accurate
information.
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entrepreneurs and works closely with T-Hub, India’s largest start-up incubator. Some examples
of ihub start-ups include business solutions that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify pests
and diseases, market integration, real-time monitoring and evaluation and UAV-supported
precision agriculture recommendations. Early indications suggest, that it is a faster mode of
moving from innovation to impact – the theme of the international ICT4D Conference held in
Hyderabad (May 16-18, 2017) which was supported by ICRISAT and the state of Telangana.
Agricultural system therefore, needs to feed the population while remaining ecologically
friendly and resource efficient. To address this challenge, it is critical to provide new, digitally-
enabled agro-services to farmers that will help increase yield while conserving resources, for
example, through precision farming. To be successful in this endeavour, or be smart in
agriculture, it will be critical to harness intelligent insights from data.
In the first instance, relevant data needs to be identified, get it captured and collated, and be
analysed for next level application. Today, various organisations are accumulating massive
amounts of different data. The major challenge is that the data is available in silos and in
different formats. The need of the hour is a comprehensive approach to juxtapose all related
data sets in an inter-operable manner, so that accurate analysis and predictions can be achieved.
The challenges and opportunities from data analytics is immense in a country like India with
670,000 villages and 137 million farmers speaking around 800 languages under 127 agro
climatic zones capable of supporting 3,000 different crops and one million varieties.
Technology has the potential to assess and re-shape past trends for the benefit of society. World
is now more inter-connected, spawning massive data, and exploration of this data can help to
drive decision making that can transform the farm-to-consumer supply chain. There are several
touch points along the agri-value system and each of it holds critical information. Big Data has
the potential to add value across each of the touch points starting from selection of right agri-
inputs, to monitoring the soil moisture, to tracking prices of markets, to controlling irrigations,
to finding the right selling point and till getting the right price.
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flagship schemes have been launched to help farmers in all possible ways. Due to the federal
nature of the Government, success of centrally sponsored schemes depends upon states and
ownership level varies from state to state. Further down the hierarchy, the responsibility of
implementation rests with decentralised Panchayati Raj Institutions at the District, Taluk/Block
and Gram Panchayat levels. Real time monitoring helps determine exactly when a scheme is
on track and make changes as needed.
Lack of real time information from states often leads to delay in decision making. Thus, it is
appropriate to have a Monitoring System in place, which will form the basis for modification
of interventions and assessing the quality of activities being conducted. With the rapid spread
of mobile phones and network coverage, smart phones that include Global Positioning System
(GPS) functions, can be used for data collection. Short Message Service (SMS) through mobile
phones can also be used as another affordable option for data collection system, even when
basic phones are in use. ICT solutions can lead to cost & time savings and improve quality of
information.
In Dashboard Monitoring System, field data is originating from the lowest unit and it can be
monitored at all the levels in the hierarchy. State/District level monitoring person can monitor
the data generated from block level and this way monitoring of schemes not only becomes
easier, but also real time, and both accurate and same information is made available to all
stakeholders. Auto alerts in the form of reports, SMSs or emails can be sent to all concerned
so as to enable mid-course corrections, and ensuring thereby effectiveness of the schemes.
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has importance from perspective of India’s obligations under the Montreal Protocol and will
benefit other related ministries.
A dashboard that can drill down to detailed information, will allow central government to
immediately redirect funds for areas where gaps are visible. A simple dashboard with spider
chart representation will inform development agencies when funds are supporting non-strategic
development and accordingly course correct on fund allocation.
In case of dry warehouse infrastructure, suitable details such as age and type of storage, whether
CAP (cover and plinth), roofed warehouse, silo, etc are important aspects which are not readily
available. will allow support be
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addresses the open architecture of technologies and allows the software systems to interact with
other systems and technologies, in a seamless manner.
Lack of standards for inter-operability can significantly slow down the adoption of emerging
technologies. Standardization is critical to allow the production and export of data needed to
support quality assessment, decision support and exchange of data. Developing a way to
standardize and harmonize data is necessary, especially when working towards data inter-
operability among many different systems.
Metadata is identified as one of the methods to manage information by indexing and applying
attributes at the "granular" level. An emerging use of meta data is the processing of large
amounts of data for analysis and improving quality.
There is need of developing standards that make inter-operability possible by providing the
protocols of how these data are actually transmitted from one computer system to another. It
will support all applications thereby allowing Government to increase the capabilities,
flexibility and efficiency of operations.
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As the farmers are automating their operation, robots and drones have become an integral part
of the agriculture farms and are assisting farmland owners to improve the yield and product
quality while addressing the increasing supply needs. With fragmented farms whose locations
may be dispersed in different directions, it’s almost impossible for a single farmer to go around
and tend to all parcels of his farm that need watering or a measurement. This is where robots
come into play for they can be pressed into service as per local needs.
v. Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is an integral branch of agriculture concerned with the care and management
of the livestock. It deals with all the tools and technologies involved in managing and ensuring
optimum health of farm animals, including genetic qualities and behaviour. Generating and
leveraging useful information through AI will help farmers to manage their livestock efficiently
with minimum supervision. With AI enabled smart sensors, the automated milking units can
analyse the milk quality and flag for abnormalities in the product.
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Chapter 9
Digitalisation of Villages
Agricultural activities are largely undertaken at village level and one can envisage digital technologies
for sustainable development of villages. The Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) for establishing
“SMART Village” to facilitate appropriate digital technologies in agriculture is in this direction.
India needs an economic movement that starts in villages, and not one that tends to bypass
them. There had been many efforts to establish “Village level Database” for micro level
planning and decision support, and “Village level Knowledge Management System” for
checking farmers’ distress (e.g. Information Village Project of IDRC/MSSRF Chennai, Village
Resources Centre of ISRO, Village Knowledge Centre of CAPART, Village Knowledge
Centre of Union Bank of India etc).
The National Alliance for Mission 2007 Initiative had received support from the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Development Research Centre
(IDRC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation (SDC), the United Kingdom's Department for International
Development, the World Bank, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), the McArthur Foundation, the Jhai Foundation, and the Global
Knowledge Partnership.
This National Alliance, then, included 22 government organisations including the Ministry of
Information Technology, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI), and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL); 94 civil society organisations; and
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Two initiatives, namely, GRID (Grassroots Level Informatics Development Programme) and
SMART Village Project of National Informatics Centre (NIC) were envisaged, during 2007-
12, to provide the benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) directly to
the communities at the grass roots level. This was with a view to promoting need-based
services related to life-cycle needs of rural population with institutional linkages and capacity
building among rural communities.
In 2008, the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, took keen
interest in operationalising a systemic response to prevent distress such as farmers’ suicides in
suicide-prone / affected villages, through setting up of Village Knowledge Management
System (VKMS).
One of the ideas is the possibility of linking Village Information System (VIS) and Land
Information System (LIS), so as to generate indicators for preventing distress and
identifying science and technology based solutions. Lot of data exists at village level,
which can be interpreted to generate early warning signals.
There is no comprehensive and upto-date Village Level Information System covering about
6.5 lakh villages in India. Managing local knowledge and blending it with modern Science and
Technology offers a constructive pathway.
The initiative in 2003-04, namely, ‘Provision of Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA)’ was
considered to be a new development model for Rural India, in terms of creation of jobs and
better amenities to its population, and many pilot projects were undertaken. The PURA 2.0
was launched in 2012. Now in operation is the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission
(SPMRM) - National Rurban Mission 2016, a successor to PURA 2.0, to deliver integrated
infrastructure cluster in the rural areas, including promotion of economic activities and skill
development – 300 SMART Village Clusters within 3 years, based on Integrated Cluster
Action Plan (ICAP) with 14 mandatory components as presented below:
A village requires optimal utilisation of its resources for its sustainability, as India lives in the
villages. A bottom-up development process through digitalisation is the most warranted
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intervention.
The earlier National e-Governance Programme (NeGP) has been re-categorised into e-Kranti
(electronic delivery of services) and e-Governance (reforming Government through
technology) Programmes.
The CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme: Digital Infrastructure
as Core Utility to Every Citizen; Governance and services on demand; and Digital
empowerment of citizens.
Among the others, CSCs also provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data
content and services, in the areas of e-Governance and Agriculture Services (Agriculture,
Horticulture, Sericulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and Veterinary). It offers web-enabled
e-governance services in rural areas.
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state and local governments, (iii) to develop programs and capacities related to human
resources, (iv) to develop collaboration with both private and public sectors, and (v) to take up
R&D in the area of geo-informatics.
The Digital India Programme envisaged “Leveraging GIS for decision support systems and
development”, under the “Governance and Services on Demand” Pillar. Digital Technology
from NCoG can be in the form of Geomatics Solution to farming community, in the
following areas:
There however exists scope to identify more such areas and cater to them appropriately.
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The on-going Digital Network for Farmers (DNF) over the Broadband Wireless/ Wired
Network with APP such as KRISHAK MITHRA Software (KMS) (Figure 4.1) will establish
the “last mile connectivity” to have farmers “digitally included” for ushering in “Digital
Agriculture India” effectively.
Introduce & promote Information and Communication Technologies that are cost
effective and appropriate for use in rural areas, to enable rural villages digitally to
access and benefit variety of services at the last-mile
Develop and implement a Service Model wherein the villagers, NGOs and the
Government work as a cohesive unit in building, maintaining and delivering the
information and knowledge base to facilitate development and empowerment of the
community
Operationalise BOM (Build, Operate and Maintain) Model for incubation/deriving
best practices for 2 (two) years and thereafter, a realistic sustainable ROT (Re-
model, Operate and Transfer) Model wherein all the failure entities and processes
are removed, new innovation, technology updates, process optimization are
introduced for 5 years
Explore and strengthen avenues to make the service model self–sustainable at
village level
Delivery of goods and services right from the request / registration at the village
level to delivery at the doorsteps, through the use of agile methods for refining the
processes every time in the Service –Delivery-Life-Cycle (SDLC).
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The Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Rurban Mission (SPMNRM) has 14 mandatory
components and other essential components as follow:
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9.5.2. Monitoring
i. National level Web based Monitoring system on all “aspects and components”
ii. Implementing Authorities to respond promptly to queries, complaints,
suggestions and comments provided/given by key Stakeholders
iii. Process Monitoring through geo-tagged photographs to be published in the
public domain
iv. Uploading of Photographs of all assets created at different stages
v. Outputs under each activity to be measured every quarter vis-à-vis the Physical
and Financial targets set out in the Village Development Plan
vi. Core Monitorable Indicators to be Utilised as appropriate
vii. Outcomes to be tracked from “time to time” to the extent possible
A stocktaking and diagnostic survey is needed early for micro-level planning process.
Databases built on these subsections will throw out sufficient. It is now imperative that both
the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) and a District level planning program is
institutionalised for establishing SMART VILLAGE – Digitalised VILLAGE to facilitate
“digitalised agriculture” in a holistic manner.
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(Fischer et al, 2001)4. Depending upon the soil, bio-climatic type and physiographic situations,
the delineation of India is as follows (Mandal et al, 1999)5:
Crop suitability is a result of both agro-climatic and agro-edaphic (the effect of soil
characteristics, especially chemical or physical properties, on plants and animals) evaluation.
i. Assess the available natural physical and human resources in the district and
possibilities of their better utilisation for acceleration in growth through more
scientific and technological methods and purposive investments
4 Fischer, G., Shah, M., Van Velthuizen, H. and Nachtergaele, F.O. (2001): Global Agro-Ecological Assessment for Agriculture in the 21st
Century, Luxemburg, Austria; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
5 Mandal, C., Mandal, D.K., Srinivas, C.V., Sehgal, J. and Velayutham, M. (1999): Soil Climatic Database for Crop Planning in India. Tech.
Bull. No. 53. NBSS and LUP, 1014p.
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The Base Line Survey conducted to prepare CDAPs, a mandatory requirement, had not
been utilised to build comprehensive Computerized Databases with Spatial Decision
Support System (Spatial DSS) for farmer-centric solutions. This lacuna needs to be
addressed for realisation of intended results.
Remote sensing sensors on board the drones, aircrafts or satellites enable to get information of
objects including crops, soil and water for mapping and monitoring purposes. India is one of
the few countries in the world that uses space technology and land based observations for
generating regular updates on crop production statistics and providing inputs to achieve
sustainable agriculture. In particular, remote sensing can help in getting information about crop
area, crop condition, crop yield, water and nutrient stress, crop parameters, such as leaf area
index, biomass, phenology; soil physico-chemical properties, soil degradation, soil moisture;
water spread, water bodies, water quality, etc.
Remote sensing is also big data resource that can support the development of derived weather
products (radar), improved hydrology and watershed management, soil health, crop coverage
and crop health estimates, among other application. Satellite imagery is now complimented by
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones, that can capture multi-spectral images to assess
crop health, damage and yield far more accurately than satellites. The utility of UAV is rapidly
maturing, and India stands to benefit tremendously from this technology to support
smallholder farmers and their migration to India’s own version of precision agriculture.
Remote sensing provides the dynamic ‘as-is’ information, whereas GIS facilitates to integrate
them. Remote sensing provides true picture without leaving any scope of manipulation.
According to Professor M.S. Swaminathan, “once you have the GIS map of an area with
critical parameters for livelihoods and agricultural crops, then planning for adverse weather
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and good weather is possible”, and then “the know-how of GIS should be converted to Do-
how” (Source : Geospatial Today, Vol 1 Issue 3, January-February 2003).
Natural Resources Management (NRM) for sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development,
requires fusion of technologies such as Remote Sensing Technology, GIS technology,
Database technology, Data mining, Data warehousing and GPS technology.
For scientific utilisation of natural resources base, it is considered that product of interaction
of rain with land, in other words, watershed is an ideal geographical unit. Each watershed
contains a complex mixture of: soil types, landscapes, climatic regimes, land use
characteristics, and agricultural systems, and can be subdivided into agro-eco-regions (AER)
having similar soil types, landscapes, climatic regimes, crop and animal productivity, and
hydrologic characteristics.
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The whole country has been divided into six river resources regions, 35 basins, 112 catchments,
550 sub-catchments and 3,237 watersheds (www.slusi.dacnet.nic.in), and further into large
number of mini-watersheds and micro-watersheds. Watershed development has become a
trusted tool for overall development of the village and people living within a watershed area.
This is due to the fact, that the development is comprehensive, that networks different
resources, people and animals; and is based on type of soil, depth of soil, vegetative cover,
harvestable rain water in that area, watering that area, water budgeting, and treatment given to
soils from the ridge to the valley. Basic components of Watershed approach are:
Community Development (Human Resource Development)
Soil and Land Management
Water Management
Afforestation
Pasture/Fodder Development
Livestock Management
Rural Energy Management
Farm and Non-farm Value Addition activities
To reduce the risks of marginalization and vulnerability, Madaswamy Moni (2000)6 suggested
development of a comprehensive Agricultural Resources Information Systems
(http://agris.nic.in) using Geomatics Technology in districts with public funding, facilitating
sustainable agricultural development, and also suggested the need for development of metadata
and application of Open GIS model for optimal utilisation of agricultural resources in India.
Agricultural development is knowledge intensive and information intensive (both non-spatial
and spatial) and development of Decision Support System (DSS) requires information on the
following: -
6 Madaswamy Moni (2000): “Impact of economic reforms on Indian agricultural sector: Application of Geomatics technology to
reduce marginalization and vulnerability of small farmers in India”, presented in the Map 2000 Conference, April 10-11, 2000,
organised by CSDMS, NOIDA (U.P.), India.
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Areas of future growth potential (where favourable climatic and soil conditions exist but
lack one or more elements of (i) adequate & controlled supply of water, (ii) technology
required for substantially increasing production of a major crop or crops, currently grown,
or capable of being growing, and (iii) transportation needed to bring the areas into national
economy)
Areas of low growth potential (where climatological, soil, topological or other deficiencies
without economic means for correcting them, exists) which require technological
breakthroughs before substantial increases in output are possible
It is a fact that the existing database on soil resource is inadequate to develop micro-level
agricultural land use plan in the country, for which the needed scale of resolution is 1:4000 /
12,500. The detailed digital database on soil (physical, chemical and biological) is a pre-
requisite to address the various issues related to scientific Land Use Planning, soil reclamation;
proper diagnosis of soils, judicious use of irrigation water and chemical fertilizers, nutrient
deficiencies for maintenance of sound soil health and land productivity.
The relevant soil parameters to be considered for such purposes are: soil type, elevation, type
of land form, slope, geology (type of parent material), textural class, type of soil structure, soil
water retentivity, soil pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon, CaCO3, Fe
percentage, major oxides, available macro and micro nutrients, depth of water table, erosion
class, drainage & runoff characteristics, land capability and irrigability etc.
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The National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), 2009 has suggested, among others,
that (a) development of “detailed Soil Resource Mapping” and “Land Use Planning”, in 1:
4000 / 12500 scale, involving Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DAC), ICAR
Institutes, National Informatics Centre (NIC), National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA),
National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Department of Land Resources (DoLR), State Land
Use Boards, Agricultural Colleges, Departments of Geography and Common Services Centres
(CSCs), in five years timeframe, and (b) development of Agricultural Resources Information
System (AgRIS) in eight years timeframe by Operationalising the following projects:-
Figure 9.2 Land evaluation for Suitability for Crops based on Land Resources Inventory
Rajendra Hegde et al (2015)7 suggest, that there is a need for a detailed site-specific database
on all land resources at the farm/watershed/village level. Due to the mismatch between the
Conservation needs of the area and the Programmes planned and implemented by various line
departments, investments though huge are not resulting in desired results. This micro-
watershed level Project suggests a detailed land resources inventory essential for:
7 Rajendra Hegde, Natarajan A, and Singh S.K (2015): “Sujala-III- Land resources inventory for integrated watershed development and
rejuvenation of agriculture in Karnataka, a World Bank Assisted Project”, ICAR – NABSS&LUP, Bengaluru.
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vi. Planning for crop diversification with suitable crops in rainfed areas
vii. Planning for addressing soil related constraints (alkalinity/acidity/nutrient
imbalance etc)
viii. Wasteland identification and planning for restoring them for productive use
ix. Identification of prime farm lands and farm clusters for zoning and strategic
planning
x. Preparation of watershed development plans by state line departments
xi. Proactive advice and technology transfer to farmers
xii. Monitoring benchmark sites for soil health status
xiii. Facilitating area specific research by SAU scientists and post graduate students
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) possesses impressive remote sensing
capabilities with its constellation of satellites with different resolutions, wavelengths and
cadence to support agriculture. Earth Observation (EO), Communication and Navigation
Satellites of ISRO are useful for various applications in the fields of Agriculture, Soils,
Fisheries, Livestock, Water, and Weather forecast advisories, matching with international
standards & trends.
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In continuation of Cartosat Series Satellites, the Resourcesat-3S & 3SA Satellites are planned
to have capabilities of advanced stereo PAN (1.25 M resolution) & Multi-spectral imaging (2.5
M resolution) by 2019-2020. Presently, India’s IRS Satellites provide multispectral data in the
range of 5.8m to 1000m ground resolution, with about 2 to 3 days to almost 30 minutes’
temporal resolution and with swath of 70 km to about almost regional coverage. ISRO’s
Microwave Satellite is useful during Kharif Season and under cloudy conditions. The Geo
Imaging Satellite (GISAT) is likely to be launched during 2019 which is expected to
provide images of multi-resolutions (50 m to 1.5 km).
Many recent developments, in other parts of the World, in satellite remote sensing have made
its use in agriculture, highly promising:
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Two other components of space technology, which include satellite navigation and satellite
communication are also extremely useful for various applications in agriculture. Indian
regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS or NAVIC) can provide location information and
can be used for various location based services and also geotagging of resources. The Indian
satellite based augmentation system of GPS signals (called GAGAN) can improve the accuracy
of GPS signals and thereby help in high precision operations in agriculture, e.g. Precision
Farming.
The MNCFC is also involved in the development of protocols of employing satellite data and
geospatial technologies, in varied agricultural applications and many flagship programmes viz.,
PMFBY, PMKSY, Soil Health Card etc.
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The Agriculture Ministry’s MNCFC is carrying out five national level programmes, where
Satellite data and GIS and Image Processing Technologies are being used in various domains
of Agriculture, as given below:
Programme Activity
FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural output Multiple pre-harvest production forecasts of 8
using Space, Agro-Meteorology & Land major crops at district/state/national level.
based observations)
NADAMS (National Agricultural Periodic district/sub-district level agricultural
Drought Assessment & Monitoring drought assessment for 14 major states.
System)
CHAMAN (Coordinated Horticulture Area & production estimation of 7 horticultural
Assessment and Management using geo- crops in 12 states and horticultural
iNformatics) developmental plan using geospatial technology.
KISAN (C[K]rop Insurance using Space To explore the use of remote sensing for more
technology And geo-iNformatics ) accurate assessment of crop yield.
Crop Intensification: Rice-Fallow Mapping and monitoring of post-kharif rice
fallow lands using satellite remote sensing and
GIS technologies for rabi crop area expansion.
Figure 9.6 Use of various types of approaches and data for crop forecasting under FASAL project
Following measures can be taken up for use of Space and Geo-spatial Technologies in the
farming sector:
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Dissemination of regular production and sowing area updates for crops through
GeoPortals: The Government already knows the minimum area required to avoid
production shortage. With satellite imagery, it is possible to know the progressive
coverage area on a daily basis. If a farmer is provided with the former and later date
during the sowing season, he will know exactly to plant and avoid over production
Use of Satellite Communication for Farmers’ Training and advisory (Teel-Agri-
Medicine)
Use of Satellite Navigation Systems (GAGAN and NAVIC) for precision farming
and geo-tagging of resources
Real-time and accurate assessment of losses caused by natural disasters (floods,
drought, hailstorm, pest/disease, cyclone, heavy rainfall) for better risk management
and implementation of crop insurance
Through the DST’s National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Initiative, DST has undertaken
Standardisation and Interoperability of Geo-Data Base of various Central Government
Departments and State Governments to overcome the problems of inaccessibility, and also
announced the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) in 2012. A Draft
Version of National Geo-Spatial Policy (NGP) 2016 has also been made for public view, in
May 2016.
8
NRDMS (2017): Note on Geo-Information and Communication Technologies (Geo-ICT) for “Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022” – A
Proposed Approach under NRDMS-NSDI Initiative of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India;
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In alignment with the objectives of doubling farmers’ income, the DST (NRDMS-NSDI) has
visualised following measures:
i. Data Set Updation with high resolution: Existing databases and data services
already available with the Central Ministries and State Line Departments, as
achieved under the NRDMS-NSDI activities, are required to be supplemented
through acquisition of additional high resolution (farm level) data sets in the critical
sub-sectors of Agriculture, to overcome the data gaps in developing decision
support systems
ii. Promotion of Geodata services in the framework of the Service-Oriented
Architecture (SoA) from lower level data nodes proposed to be set up at districts or
sub-district units (panchayats) for better management and Updation of data sets
iii. Development of Process models to support simulation and deployment of decision
support systems in areas like cropping pattern, water budgeting, energy
requirement, and pests and diseases, etc
iv. Adoption of Geospatial data and process standards from International
Standardisation Organisation (ISO)/ Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)/ Bureau
of Indian Standards (BIS – LITD 22) for supporting interoperable sharing of
information amongst the stakeholders and the systems (machines) using Web and
Mobile devices
v. Launching of Pilot Projects/Studies for developing Geospatial Information
Infrastructure (GII) for the Agricultural Domain to implement strategy, as below:
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The NRAA has also envisaged (i) to develop specific farming systems for critically drought
vulnerable 150 districts on priority to make agriculture sustainable and profitable; (ii) to focus
on Cluster based Irrigation Chain development; and (iii) to identify and recommend various
agro-forestry models for vulnerable districts across the country. Application of GIS technology
is essential for sustainable agricultural development in these vulnerable districts. The faculty
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serving in various Academic Institutions, Schools/ Colleges / Universities, can help in building
“geographic information system” for agricultural systems.
Both SMART Village and SMART Agricultural Resources Management Projects, are
required to be operationalised, particularly in vulnerable districts.
Different ministries and departments concerned with farmers’ welfare need to integrate their
efforts and coordinate their approaches. These include DAC&FW, DAHD&F, DARE/ICAR,
DoS, MoSET, MeitY and DOT. A common farmers’ welfare portal maintained by DAC&FW
can enable this.
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Both central and state governments have large number of schemes to benefit farmers. But full
benefits of these schemes do not reach the farmer most of the time, nor are all farmers aware
of the schemes. The proposed Farmers Welfare Portal, is expected to resolve this issue. This
Portal provides a seamless integration and inter-operability among various central government
ministries/departments, state government departments etc., so as to reach out the welfare
benefits to the intended farmers in real time. This will facilitate adoption of Standards and
Workflow efficiently.
Under the Agriculture Mission Mode Project (AMMP) of NeGP 1.0, it was envisaged to
operationalise a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation of Agricultural Schemes and
Projects – Service-8. The convergence of various sectoral programmes / schemes of the
Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development is essential at village level, to achieve desired
impact at farm and farmer’s level. The Ministry of Finance has made the use of Public Finance
Management System (PFMS)/mandatory for all Central Sector Schemes so as to ensure that
benefits reach the last mile, and also to know the actual status of utilisation of funds by the
multiple implementing agencies of both central and the state governments.
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Services and Grievances Redressal Scheme” as reiterated in the Parliament during March
2016, along with the Information Technology (Electronic Service Delivery) Rules, 2011 will
facilitate a farmer-centric “ICT led Extension” service delivery in rural India. Under the NeGP-
AMMP Project, it was envisaged to establish “Farmers’ Grievances Redressal System” in
22 constitutionally recognized Indian languages, with objectives as given below:
a. Establish a single window system for farmers and other stakeholders to register
their grievances
b. Bring transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in Grievance Redressal system
c. 24x7 access for farmers and other stakeholders of Agricultural sector to lodge the
complaints using the channels available in their vicinity
d. Workflow based Grievances Redress and Management System
e. Easy monitoring from higher levels – To review of receipt and disposal of
grievances, to track no response, delayed response of incomplete and non-
satisfactory response
f. Availability of database and analytical reports to record and monitor the progress
of grievance redress, identify the Section/Division where it is being sent, etc., know
the time taken in dealing with the grievance, enable review of pending grievances
to study problem prone areas and suggest remedial measures for prevention
g. Ability to fix time limits for disposal of work relating to public grievances and
generate automated alerts if these time limits are crossed
h. Online acknowledgement generation of each grievance petition, indicating the
name, designation and telephone number of the official who is processing the case,
the time frame in which a reply will be sent
i. Village wise analysis of Farmers’ Grievances to understand their problems and
subsequent Redressal
It is suggested that the proposed Farmers’ Grievances Redressal Management System (F-
GRAM) may have the following software modules:
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The proposed F-GRAM will facilitate establishing a CRM system for the farming community
with the Government so as to mitigate their distress very effectively. Grievances Redressal
Portal (F-GRAM) will be equipped with Dash Board with Data Analytics and Text Analytics.
9.16 Annotation
Digital technology applications are envisaged for sustainable development of villages, as these
are intrinsically associated with agricultural activities. There had been many efforts to establish
“Village level Database” for micro level planning and decision support, and “Village level
Knowledge Management System” for preventing farmers’ distress. Farmers, land and natural
resources supported by the land, have intrinsic and dynamic relationship. Development of
Village and Development of Agriculture are, therefore, two sides of the same coin.
The first step in village digitalisation is building a farmers database, as recommended in Vol.
XIII of this Report.
There is tremendous spatial variability in farmland, and farmers need to understand the effects
that the spatial variability will have on their crops and livestock. Managing local knowledge
and blending it with modern Science and Technology offers a pathway ahead. Natural
Resources Management (NRM) for sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development, requires
fusion of technologies such as remote sensing technology, drone technology, sensor
technology, GIS technology, database technology, data analytics etc, for reducing
vulnerabilities associated with farming sector.
It is relevant to point out that there exists a complementarity relationship between information
technology and productivity (i.e. good communication system and information system
reinforces commitments to productivity). However, there is no comprehensive and up-to-date
Village Level Information System covering all villages in India.
Watershed development has been a trusted tool for the overall development of the village and
People living within a watershed area. The base line survey conducted to prepare
Comprehensive District Agricultural Plans (CDAPs), a mandatory requirement, had not been
utilised to build a comprehensive Computerized Databases with Spatial Decision Support
System (Spatial DSS) for farmer-centric solutions. This needs to be done on priority basis.
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Application of GIS Technology in Agriculture, throughout the world, has been playing an
increasingly important role in crop production throughout the world by helping farmers in
increasing production, reducing costs, and managing their land resources more efficiently. The
There has to be an integrated approach, at village level, among various ministries and
departments of the government to introduce holistic and comprehensive development in rural
India, village by village. The convergence of various sectoral programmes / schemes relating
to agricultural and rural development is essential at village level, to achieve desired impact at
farm and farmer’s level, through digilisation of schemes and programmes by adopting
Workflow Engine Technology.
The DFI committee proposes a Farmers Welfare DBT Portal, for a seamless integration and
inter-operability among various Central Government Ministries/Departments, State
Government Departments etc., so as to reach the welfare benefits to the intended farmers in
real time, and a Farmers’ Grievances Redressal Management System (F-GRAM).
Key Extracts
Need to institutionalise separate programmes viz., SAGY and AgRIS at village level,
for establishing “SMART VILLAGE.
Farmer Advisory Services based on Space Technology (Earth Observation System)
from Mahalanobis National Centre for Crop Forecasting (MNCFC) needs to start.
Disseminate regular production and sowing area updates for crops through Geo-
Portals of the DoSpace, to facilitate farmers to avoid over production.
Need to develop GIS based Decision Support System (DSS) using remote sensing
technology, for planning Watershed Development Projects, as envisaged in the
Guidelines for Watershed development Projects 2008;
Important to undertake collaborative Spatial DSS using geo-Informatics at Village
level, jointly by all Central Administrative Departments, S&T Organisations (ISRO,
DST-NRDMS, MeitY, NIC, etc.), and Academic and Research Institutions.
Establish Geospatial Information Nodes (GSN) at Panchayat level, for developing
Geospatial Information Infrastructure (GII) for agricultural domain, and also to
promote Geodata services in the framework of the Service-Oriented Architecture
(SoA) from lower level data nodes for better management and Updation of data sets;
Supplement, through acquisition of additional high resolution (farm level) data sets
in critical sub-sectors of Agriculture, to overcome the data gaps in developing
decision support systems.
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Chapter 10
Road Map for Modernising Agriculture
Scientific interventions must have clear outcomes that will modernise the agricultural sector. Scientific
practices and technologies are required to be translated into associated enterprise level utilities and
models. A technology should preferably be simple to use, replicable by many and easy to service. These
factors are key to economic viability and long term relevance to the scientific intervention.
Support by the government for start-ups that target agriculture can be structured in two ways.
The first can be an unencumbered and time limited support to strategically selected
technologies, such support being in the form of incubation fees, advisory and seed fund to
develop and test prototypes. Such support can also be at school and college levels, and
promotes innovation, at partial cost to the government, and be the first step in motivating the
eco-system. After the prototypes or pilots are tested, a second level selection, for scalability of
technology or of the outcome, can determine a second stage support mechanism.
At this stage, a spearheading fund can be assigned to each project for rolling out commercial
or non-commercial use, for a fixed time window. The projects so supported at this stage, can
allot a share of the equity. It can be expected that some projects will succeed and such equity
can be exited to close the support cycle. In fact, a two stage support mechanism can be utilised
for non-technology start-ups too, provided a suitable set of outcome parameters, that are
modelled on equitable growth, income sharing, farmers as stakeholders, etc. are formulated.
The DFI Committee proposes restructuring the Division of RKVY-RAFTAR in the DACFW
to manage Agricultural Investments & Enterprise promotion. Similarly, it has suggested
creation of such a Division in the Ministry’s sister departments, namely, DAHDF and DARE.
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(vi) Digitalised Integrated Land and Water Management System – Per Drop More
Crop as also ‘Per Resource Unit More Output
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xiv. Formulate, finalise Agricultural Drone Policy for collecting high resolution
imageries for agricultural risk management and mitigation, of UAVs by public and
private sector providers to support precision agriculture in India, by incorporating
appropriate clause in the Draft National Geo-Spatial Policy (May) 2016; and also
to facilitate Start-Ups to build high resolution imageries based advisory services
xv. Develop a national programme for Integrated Use of Space Technology in all
domains of agriculture
xvi. Replicate model projects such as Farm Beats of Microsoft, Digital Drip Irrigation
System Tool Box of Israel, ICRISAT Framework for Digital Agriculture
(Agricultural Value System and On-Farm Management) for Small and Marginal
Farmers; Netherlands Model of Farm Data Analytics; Ramthal Project of Jain
Irrigation Systems; New Zealand Model of “Digital tracking, reporting and
monitoring: Future of Our Fisheries”, suitable modifications may be effected
xvii. Establish Digitalised Access to agricultural credit and financial services, logistics
and warehousing
xviii. Build up Digitalised Agricultural Value Systems for 400 agricultural commodities
involving farming community (including one for kiwi fruit of Arunachal Pradesh)
xix. Establish Digitalised Agro-Marine Clusters and Agro-processing Clusters based
Value-Chain at Block level, under the PM Kisan Samapada Yojana (PMKSY)
xx. Undertake seamless integration of e-NAM with AGMARKNET Portal to enhance
transparency and reduce the Market Information Asymmetry in the Agricultural
Marketing System, and above all, to help in containing price volatility and
undertaking appropriate policy decisions
xxi. Upgrade 2G and 3G Networks to 5G Network in Rural India to operationalise
Digitalised Farming and its associated Workflow Process with IoT and Drones;
5G Bandwidth is very important for IoT Applications
xxii. Introduce Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) initiatives to Operationalise
“technologies for agriculture” which are being developed in a fragmented manner,
and are at various stages of development
xxiii. Create All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) in ICT in Agriculture in
ICAR, in which Engineering Colleges (4500 Engineering Colleges, NITs and IIITs
who teach Computer Science and Information Technology etc) may also be
included to undertake focussed research projects in the area of IoT, Big Data
Analytics AI, Space & geospatial Technology and Cloud Computing in the area of
Agriculture and Food Sciences - Sensor based Decision Support System for Soil
Micro Nutrients, IoT framework design, specialised sensor development, data
acquisition models, Algorithm design, Knowledge generation and site specific
decision support etc.
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inclusion of every farmer (small or big) in at least one supply chain model; Crop
care, credit, cold storages, warehouses, Inputs and mechanization etc. need to be
part of such development.
xxxv. Promote Start-Ups for Farm Management Services (On-Farm, Off-Farm & Non-
Farm)
xxxvi. Promote NASSCOM – IOT COE’s Model Framework for IOT/ICT Technology
Intervention for its scalability at Village level through CSR Initiatives
xxxvii. Operationalise Level-1 Level-2 Level-3 - Tiered Support System, in place, as
Technology Maintenance and Adoption for sustainability requires an effective
support system drastically
xxxviii. Establish Farm Knowledge Connectivity through Farm Services Centres (a subset
of Common Services Centres of Digital India Programme)
xxxix. Create a sound database of land records and data for developing an MIS for agro-
forestry for a transparent and non-controversial operational system
xl. Set up to convert “agricultural information” into an “Information Utility and
Asset” for the benefits of farming community.
a) National Centre for IT in Agriculture (NCITA)
b) Centres for IT in Agriculture in States/ UTs (SCITAs)
c) Centres of IT in Agriculture in Districts (DCITAs)
d) Centres for IT in Agriculture in Blocks (BCITA), especially in Rainfed Areas
and Tribal Areas
xli. Specify role and responsibilities for multiple agencies in implementation of DFI
as identified above
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use of technology in agriculture, and also adopted Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode for
timely delivery of extension services, credit and other inputs to small and marginal farmers.
Agriculture sector will remain an engine of broad based growth; (b) Ch7.55: the transformation
of agriculture and allied sector is imminent by way of appropriate policy interventions related
to prices, trade, adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture, increased focus on small, marginal and
women farmers; and (c) Ch 6.54: The cooperative federalism “technology” of the GST Council
that brings together the Centre and States could be promisingly deployed to further agricultural
reforms and durably raise farmers’ incomes.
The constitution of a Digital Agriculture Task Force to oversee the implementation of the
Digital Mission Mode Programmes, will greatly help in achieving the objectives of doubling
farmers’ income.
--- X---
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Annexures
Table-A.1: Mapping of the Ministries for Goals and Targets (as of August, 2017)
(http://www.niti.in)
SDG Ministries / Departments
SDG Description SDG Targets
# concerned
2 End hunger, 2.3 : By 2030, double the agricultural Agriculture,
achieve food productivity and the incomes of small-scale Cooperation &
security and food producers, particularly women, Farmers’ Welfare
improved indigenous peoples, family farmers, Chemicals &
nutrition and pastoralists and fishers, including through Fertilizers
promote
secure and equal access to land, other Tribal Affairs
productive resources and inputs,
sustainable knowledge, financial services, markets, and
agriculture opportunities for value addition and non-
farm employment;
2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food Agriculture,
production systems and implement Cooperation&
resilient agricultural practices that Farmers’ Welfare
increase productivity and production, that
help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen
capacity for adaptation to climate change,
extreme weather, drought, flooding and
other disasters, and that progressively
improve land and soil quality;
2.5: By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity Agriculture,
of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and Cooperation &
domesticated animals and their related wild Farmers’ Welfare
species, including through soundly Tribal Affairs
managed and diversified seed and plant
banks at the national, regional and
international levels, and promote access to
and fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the utilisation of genetic
resources and associated traditional
knowledge, as internationally agreed;
2.c: Adopt measures to ensure the proper Agriculture,
functioning of food commodity markets and Cooperation &
their derivatives and facilitate timely Farmers’ Welfare
access to market information, including on
food reserves, in order to help limit extreme
food price volatility;
6 Ensure 6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water Ministry of Water
availability and resources management at all levels, Resources
sustainable including through trans-boundary Ministry of Rural
management of cooperation as appropriate; Development &
water and Panchayat Raj
sanitation for all Agriculture,
Cooperation &
Farmers’ Welfare
Department of Land
Resources
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Table-A.2: SWOT Analysis was undertaken by (Moni & Saurabh Sharma, 2017)9
The Small and Marginal farmers, constituting about 85 per cent of the operational holdings of size (< 2
Ha.), are equipped with (a) progressively Mobile Communication Technology - Feature Phones and
Smart phones; (b) Traditional (Tacit) farming methods (knowledge); (c) taking farm level decision
based on past experience; (d) access to Extension only through neighbourhood Farmers; (e) Watch out
for effective Information Service delivery on Agro-met Advisory Services, Soil and Water Sample
Analysis (Farm Health) and Advisory Services on Management Salt affected Soils, etc. However, they
have the following problems/issues on hand:
The Large Scale Farmers, who constitute about < 1 per cent of Operational Holding Ownership, have
shown their progressive farming operational strengths in adoption of technology and access to
Extension System on demand, as follows: -
9 Moni. M and Saurabh Sharma (2017): “Situational Analysis on the needs of Farming Community – ICT
enabled Services” (unpublished), Centre for Agricultural Informatics & e-Governance Research Studies
(CARIS), Shobhit University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
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The Semi-Medium and Medium Scale Farmers, who constitute about 14 per cent of Operational
Holding Ownership, are having problems more or less same as Small and Marginal Scale Farmers. The
Challenges faced by the 99 per cent of the Farming Community (both Marginal, Small, Semi-medium
and Medium Scale farmers) are enumerated under categories viz., Investment & Risk Management;
Citizen Charter; Technology Solution; Capacity Building & Competency Development; Accessibility,
Authentication, Availability and Affordability Issues; and Information Security Issues, as given below:
B. Citizen Charter
1. Public Grievances Redressal and ICT enablement among farming community
(through Electronics Service Delivery Act 2011);
2. Identification of Vulnerable Farmers based on certain ground-level happening
criteria;
3. Action Plan (Short-Term, Medium-Term and Long-Term) for ICT for
Agriculture (ICT4Ag);
4. Development of Farm Level Decision Support System;
5. Trust worthy Input Dealers (fertiliser, seeds and Agro-chemicals etc.)
6. Site-Specific Quality Information service delivery in local languages
7. Overcoming Affordability, Digital Illiteracy, Language Barrier and Wages
issues;
8. “Unverified & Biased Information” Information Delivery in the form of
Advisories;
9. Trust worthy and targeted Extension System – both Public and Private
Extension Systems;
10. Market Linkages: Credible Value-Chain: end-to-end information service so as
to remove intermediaries;
11. Linkages with Agriculture & Food Processing Industries;
12. Compulsory Formation of FPOs / FPCs etc;
13. Crop Diversification.
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C. Technology Solution
1. Identification, access and integration with niche markets for achieving
sustainability;
2. Leveraging existing ICT in Agriculture (IT4Ag) by National Agricultural
Research System (NARS) – ICAR, Agricultural Universities/Colleges, KVKs,
ATMAs, Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs),
Public Sector Banks, PACS, CSCs, etc.;
3. Appropriate ICT infrastructure at grassroots level;
4. Provision of ICT enabled (predictive, preventive and reactive) Solutions /
Services to farmers;
5. Service Providers for the benefit of Farming Community and their
empanelment;
6. Multiple Platforms based One-Stop-Solution for Farming Community,
including Mobile Phones; One-Stop-Solution for Farmers
7. SMART Farming – SMART Irrigation, SMART Farm Health, etc;
8. Networking of Multiple Institutions for converged Village Level Service
Delivery for better ROI;
9. IT eco-system at local level for information exchange;
10. Operational efficiency for large scalability for Farming Community;
11. Access to electricity to power ICT devices (e.g. Mobile phones);
12. Operating Efficiency of Telecom Network Services (e.g. weak signal strength,
call drop issues, etc.)
13. Operational efficiency of Extension System built for MASSes (Scalability
Issues)
14. Technical Support - Farm Mechanisation, Integrated devices to recommend site
specific technologies with weather, soil moisture and water demand sensors; and
Space technologies like Remote Sensing and GIS;
15. Farm Health Management through Application of Technologies (e.g.
Drones(UAVs) to identify abiotic and biotic stresses of Plants)
16. Farm Automation - FARM ERP and Adoption of Precision farming:
SMART Water, SMART Weather, SMART Health, SMART Carbon, SMART
Nutrient, SMART Knowledge etc.
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G. StartUps
1. Need for StartUps in Farm Management Services;
2. Mostly into information sharing and e-Commerce Services;
3. Need for customised information service to Farmers;
4. Need to make awareness and operationalise Government Schemes which are
spread across the entire agri-supply Chain;
This survey also listed out possible opportunities on “Use of ICT, Extension, NGT” for mitigating
the Farmers’ Distress as given below:
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2. Operationalisation of Smart Village and Smart Farming – Micro level Planning (Sansad
Adarsh Gram Yojana and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana)
i.SMART Water
ii.SMART Weather
iii. SMART Health
iv. SMART Carbon
v. SMART Nutrient
vi. SMART Knowledge
vii. SMART Energy
viii. Site-Specific Technologies using Crop Modelling, Climate Change Modelling and
Economic Modelling, to increase farm outputs;
ix. e-Farmer
3. Establishment of BharatNet – eHighways to about 2.25 lakhs Gram Panchayats and further
up to 6.35 Lakh villages under Digital India Programme;
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iii. Enhanced and Sustained Use of ICT and NGT through and NGOs and
Farm Cooperatives;
iv. “Farm-Fit” Agro Advisory Services (AAS) in local languages;
v. Mobile Apps on Expert Systems / Warning Systems;
vi. Operationalisation of ICT enabled Farm Health Management System –
Plant Health, Soil Health (including salt affected soils), Water Health and
Animal Health;
vii. Creation of Site Specific Agriculture Technology Information Base;
viii. Agricultural Value Systems for each Commodity / Service (about 400
agricultural Commodities);
ix. Cost of Cultivation Calculator (CCC) for Farm Management;
x. Digitalisation of Farm / Farmers and Villages – Smart Village & Smart
Farming;
xi. Interoperable Web services enabled Portal;
xii. Digitalised Access to Agricultural Credit and Financial Services;
xiii. Converged Agricultural Schemes Delivery System;
xiv. Traceability in Agriculture Supply Chain (e.g. Participatory Guarantee
System (PGS) for India – Decentralised Organic Farming Certification
System);
xv. Extension Outreach and Adoption of GAP for producing quality Farm
produces
xvi. Market led Farm production (Demand – Supply) achieving economy of
scale and sustainability for farmers;
xvii. Result oriented ICT Platform to build trust with farmers;
xviii. Speech Recognition based Information retrieval to overcome digital
illiteracy issues;
7. Digital SMEs: Development of ICT enabled Value-Chain for Village Level Entrepreneurs
(VLEs). Online Value addition of agricultural produces to promote more income and more
market (Village Entrepreneurship);
8. CSR Programmes: Adoption of Villages by Corporate Houses for market linkage, retail
marketing and branding, as the large rural population is a big business opportunity for
Corporates to explore;
9. Hotbed for StartUps in ICT4Ag Sector, as Farming is a Knowledge System; Knowledge plays
a key role in information revolution; Creation of “Use Case of Technology” and making it
available to ICT StartUps in Agriculture;
10. Creating Database on data collected on Cost and Margin Studies through different channels
sanctioning Case studies projects; issues related to price Support Schemes & its
implementation at village level; problems faced by Small and Marginal farmers in absence of
such government support;
11. Information on Quality Assurance, Agencies involved in implementation of quality
assurance programme at producer’s level;
12. Formulation and Regulatory Support for National Agricultural Informatics Development
Plan, State Agricultural Informatics Development Plan, District Informatics Development Plan
and Village Agricultural Informatics Plan;
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This Survey has highlighted that ICT enabled Extension measures may face serious “threats” viz., (a)
Unsuitable ICT equipment, Outdated Infrastructure and short comings in Capacity Building and (b)
Misappropriation of ICT development funds and disruption of innovation priorities. There has been a
strong requirement to bridge the widening gap of human resources among rural youths to promote
Digital India Programme in Agricultural Sector which necessitates:
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