Agriculture

UNIT 1 AGRICULTURE

Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Importance of Agriculture in Development
1.3 Performance of Agriculture
1.4 Major Issues in Agricultural development
1.5 Sustainable Agriculture
1.6 Global Food Crisis
1.7 Agricultural Development in India
1.8 Let Us Sum Up
1.9 References and Selected Readings
1.10 Check Your Progress -Possible Answers

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Agriculture contributes a large share of national output and employs majority of
labour force in most developing countries. It plays an important role in
development. Productivity gains in agriculture have a positive impact on the
overall development of an economy. This unit discusses the importance of
agriculture in the development of an economy and the major issues in the
development of agriculture. Green Revolution has played an important role in
moving India from the status of dependency to self sufficiency and even surplus.
This unit discusses the various aspects as well as the critics of Green Revolution.
We will also be familiarized with the concept of sustainable agriculture.
After reading this unit, you will be able to
• explain the importance of agriculture in the development of an economy.
• discuss the major issues in the development of agriculture.
• narrate the process and problems of agricultural development in india
• explain the concepts of sustainable agriculture
• discuss the causes and remedies of the current food crisis at national and
global level

1.2 IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE IN

DEVELOPMENT
Agriculture is vital to the development because of the fact that a large percentage
of world’s population live in rural areas and depend directly or indirectly on
agriculture. Agriculture is an engine of growth, and productivity gains in
agriculture would have a positive impact on overall development of the economy.
The classical economists believe that agricultural progress contributes to greater
productivity. Greater productivity and output further lead to economic
development. Meier (1995) has noted four different ways of how agriculture can
contribute to development. Those are as follows:
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Sectoral Issues in • By supplying foodstuffs and raw materials to other expanding sectors in the
Development-I
economy;
• By providing an “investable surplus” of savings and taxes to support
investment in other expanding sectors;
• By selling a “marketable surplus’ for cash, which will raise the demand of
the rural population for products of other expanding sector; and
• By relaxing the foreign exchange constraints, by earning foreign exchange
through exports or by saving foreign exchange through import substitution.
The old paradigm of development believes that an economy, to take-off, must
have productivity gain in agriculture. First, the surplus in agriculture sector will
not only raise farmer’s income and their demand for industrial product, but also
free some labour from the agriculture sector to be employed in industrial sector
and other activities. Second, increase in productivity in agriculture will also
improve food security of a nation. Third, the rise in agricultural productivity will
lead to the rise of industrial sector.
The problem arises in recent years, when many countries are experiencing an
increasing productivity but a declining share of agriculture in GDP. In other
words, the share of agriculture in GDP goes down in fast growing economies.
China and India are the two illustrious examples. Therefore, the new paradigm
sees agriculture not so much as a key sector of development. It considers that
agriculture development is a necessary but not sufficient condition for
development. Their view is much connected to globalization. For them old
paradigm is more applicable to close economy rather than to open economy. For
example, in Singapore, which is an open economy, agriculture has little to do
with the successful development of Singapore. Thus globalization and free trade
has affected the relationship between agriculture particularly in developing
countries and growing economies. Yet, agriculture has a critical role to play from
the point of view of food security, and still the food insecurity remains a key
issue in many developing nations. The World Development Report 2008 on
“Agriculture for Development” highlights that in much of the Sub-Saharan Africa,
agriculture is a strong option for spurring growth, overcoming poverty and
enhancing food security. In Asia, the focus of agriculture will be to generate
rural jobs by diversifying into labour-intensive, high-value agriculture linked to
a dynamic rural non-farm sector. The report considers that in the 21st century,
agriculture continues to be a fundamental instrument for sustainable development
and poverty reduction.
World Development Report-2008 addresses three main questions, which is critical
from the standpoint of agriculture and development. Those are:
i) What can agriculture do for development?
Agriculture has served as a basis for growth and reduced poverty in many
countries, but more countries could be benefited, if governments and donors
were to reverse years of policy neglect and remedy their underinvestment
and mis-investment in agriculture.

ii) What are effective instruments in using agriculture for development?

Top priorities are to increase the assets of poor households, make
smallholders and agriculture in general- more productive and create
6 opportunities in the rural non-farm economy that the rural poor can seize.
iii) How can agriculture-for-development agendas best be implemented? Agriculture

By designing policies and decision processes most suited to each country’s

economic and social conditions, by mobilizing political support, and by
improving the governance of agriculture.

The agriculture promotes development in the following ways:

i) Important economic activity: Agriculture is an important economic activity.
The promotion of public private partnership in agriculture has promoted
private investment in agriculture. Most of the private sector investors are
investing in agriculture, and contract farming promoted through the private
company is one of the illustrious examples of private investment in
agriculture. According to the World Development Report-2008, agriculture
based countries generate on an average 29 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP), and employ 65 percent of the labour force. Still in many developing
countries agriculture is the main source of livelihood.

ii) Food Security: Agriculture production is important for food security. It is a

major source of income of the rural people. Agriculture is one of the important
sector which has been fighting with the poverty and hunger in the developing
countries.

iii) Environmental Services: Agriculture is a good source of environmental

promotion. The judicious use of water sources, water harvesting, and
preserving bio-diversity would lead to environmental promotion. Therefore,
managing the connections between agriculture, natural resource
conservation, and environment must be an integral part of using agriculture
for development.

iv) Agriculture can reduce poverty and unemployment: Agriculture is playing

an important role in reducing poverty in both developed and developing
countries. In China, aggregate growth generating from agriculture is 3.5
times effective in reducing poverty than growth outside agriculture. In India
agriculturally advanced states have lesser percentage of population living
below the poverty line as compared to their counter parts. According to the
World Development Report 2008, in Ghana, rural households accounted
for a large share of a steep decline in poverty, partially induced by growth of
agriculture.

v) Agricultural Development Promotes Industrial Development: The

agricultural sector plays an important role in providing market for the
products of industrial sector. Thus the speed of industrial sector depends on
how rapidly agricultural income are rising. The rising income in the
agricultural sector will enable the rural people to buy not only agriculture
related technology but also the lighter industrial products like radios,
television, motorcycles, refrigerators, etc. Thus the development of
agriculture and industry are interrelated.

Dear learner, in this section we discussed about the importance of agriculture

in development. Now try and answer the following question in Check your
progress-1.

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Sectoral Issues in Check Your Progress 1
Development-I
Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) Explain briefly how agriculture promotes development of any economy.
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1.3 PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURE

The performance of agriculture as noted down in the World Development Report-
2008 are:
• From 1980-2004, the GDP of agriculture expanded globally by an average
of 2.4 percent a year, more than the population growth of 1.6 percent a year.
• Developing countries achieved much faster agricultural growth (2.6 percent
a year) than industrial countries (0.9 percent a year) in 1980-2004.
• Developing countries accounted for an impressive 79 percent of overall
agriculture growth during the period (1980-2004).
• The major contributor to growth of agriculture in Asian and developing
world in general was productivity gains rather than expansion of land devoted
to agriculture.
• Since the 1960s, rising cereal yields have been driven by widespread use of
irrigation, improved crop varieties and fertilizers.
• Livestock expansion has also contributed to the high agricultural growth
rates. Livestock is one the fastest growing sub-sectors in developing
countries, where it already accounted for a third of agricultural GDP.

1.3.1 Contribution of Agriculture to GDP, Workforce and

Income
While agriculture accounts for around 2% of GDP, and less than 4% of
employment in developed countries, its share in the GDP of low-income countries
is as high as 24%. Agriculture provides over 60% of total employment in South
Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Pal, 2006). Agriculture thus plays an extremely
important role in developing countries, in providing livelihood and rural
development. In most developing countries, agriculture is dominated by small
and marginal farmers who are engaged in subsistence farming. Agriculture plays
a major role in providing food security for the bottom level of the population.
Developing countries consider domestic self-sufficiency in foodgrain as an
important element of food security. For all these reasons, sustained growth in
agriculture is considered essential for ensuring food security and alleviating
poverty.
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Table 1.1: Region-wise Percentage of Adults Employed in Agriculture Agriculture

Sub South East Middle Europe & Central

Saharan Asia Asia & East & Central Africa &
Africa Pacific North Asia Carribean
Africa
MEN
Self Employed 56.6 33.1 46.8 24.6 8.5 38.4
Wage Earner 4.0 21.8 9.4 9.4 10.1 20.9
WOMEN
Self Employed 53.5 12.7 38.4 38.6 6.9 22.8
Wage Earner 1.4 11.4 5.7 1.0 5.4 2.3
Source: World Development Report 2008

Table 1.1 gives a clear picture of the adults employed in agriculture in different
parts of the world. The table shows that a large number of men and women in
different parts of the world and more specifically in the developing and less
developed countries are employed in agriculture. In all the regions except Middle
East and North Africa, more number of men are employed in agriculture as
compared to women.

In this section you have read about the performance of agriculture and its
contribution to the economy. Now try and answer the questions in Check your
progress-2.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit
1) Discuss the contribution of agriculture to the GDP of any economy.
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1.4 MAJOR ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT
Some of the major issues in agricultural development are discussed as under.
i) Land Issues
Indian agriculture is dominated by small and marginal holders. Such small
holdings are not only uneconomical but also the root cause of many
difficulties in the way of agricultural development. Unregistered cultivators,
tenants and tribal cultivators who do not have land titles face difficulties in
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Sectoral Issues in accessing institutional credit and other facilities. This calls for registration
Development-I
of actual cultivators, tenants and women cultivators on priority basis. There
is also a need to free the lease market to ensure availability of land for
cultivation to the marginal and small farmers. The land rights of tribals
should also be protected. There is ample scope for further redistribution of
land when waste and cultivable lands are taken into account. Considering
the fact that about 42 percent of the agricultural workers are female, the
future assignment of land should take women into consideration while
making land redistribution. Two major considerations for any land reform
are i) security of tenure for tenants for the period of contract and the right of
the land owner to resume land after the period of contract is over.

ii) Subsidies and Investment

Though subsidies are effective in pushing agricultural growth to a certain
extent, it is important to make sure that they do not become a permanent
feature of any economy. The availability of subsidized inputs during the
Green Revolution period has led to indiscriminate use of inputs. This in
turn has led to degradation of land, and water, adverse NPK ratio in soil,
wasteful use of water, soil salinity, pollution, excessive use of electricity,
etc. Moreover, the benefits of such subsidies have been reaped mainly by
the farmers of irrigated area leading to large regional disparities. The present
system of fertilizer subsidy is irrational, and has become counter-productive.
Fertilizer is sold at almost the same controlled price throughout the country.
However, because nitrogenous fertilizers are subsidized more than potassic
and phosphatic fertilizers, the subsidy tends to benefit more the crops and
regions which require higher use of nitrogenous fertilizer as compared to
the crops and regions which require higher application of potassic and
phosphatic fertilizers. The imbalance in the use of nitrogen–phosphorus–
potassium (NPK) brought about by distortions in price ratio in favour of
nitrogenous fertilizer is creating serious problem of soil degradation and
adversely affecting productivity.

The public investment in agriculture has declined in the past two decades
which in turn has slowed down the pace of technological change, adversely
affecting productivity. Since the early 1980s public investment in agriculture
has experienced a secular decline, while input subsidies (on fertilizers, power,
and canal irrigation) have been rising. In the early years of economic reforms,
an attempt was made to arrest and reverse these trends, but this effort could
not be sustained. As a result the gap between investments and subsidies
kept widening. Today input subsidies, together with food subsidies, amount
to roughly five to six times the public investment in agriculture.

iii) Irrigation and Water Management

Water is the main input in agriculture. India is endowed with abundant water
resources and the second largest irrigated area in the world, however, the
contribution of water towards productivity in agriculture is very low. To
cite a single example, cotton farmers in Tamil Nadu consume approximately
seven times as much water and generate about 1/5th the yield as their
counterparts using extensive cultivation and furrow irrigation methods in
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 California. That means that the productivity of each litre of water used for Agriculture
cotton cultivation in California is 35 times higher than in Tamil Nadu.

In India around 40 percent of the country’s cultivated area is irrigated. The

irrigation potential of the country has not been exploited fully. Rain-fed
areas constitute about 60 percent of the net sown area of the country. The
decline in the public investment in irrigation is an important reason for not
being able to use the irrigation potential to its full capacity. Capacity
utilization of ground water resources also depends on the availability of
electric power for pumping water. Rain-fed agriculture is characterized by
low productivity due to low input use. Majority of the rural poor live in the
rain-fed areas.

Considering the importance of water in farming, conservation of surface

and groundwater for appropriate recharging of groundwater has become
imperative.

iv) Agricultural Credit

Agricultural credit plays an important role in augmenting use of agricultural
law for cultivation, adoption of technology in agriculture and also use of
HYV seeds. Ironically, informal credit which is too costly to repay still
occupies an important place than the institutional credit. One of the reasons
for rural indebtedness and farmers suicide is credit from money lenders.

The public policies for agricultural credit should aim to reduce the role of informal
sector credit. Some of the problems in expanding credit in rural areas include
i) Narrowing of branch network in rural areas.
ii) Fall in credit deposit ratios in rural areas.
iii) Disproportionate decline in agricultural credit to vulnerable groups specially
small and marginal farmers.
iv) Political interference like loan wavers leading to sickness of some of the
formal credit institutions.

In India, a multiagency approach comprising of co-operative banks, scheduled

commercial banks and RRBs have been followed for supplying credit to
agricultural sector. The progress of agricultural credit system in terms of scale
and outreach of institutional framework for agricultural credit has been
commendable. After the nationalization of banks, the public sector banks have
made commendable progress in terms of putting in place a wide banking network
as the offices of public sector banks increased from 8262 in 1969 to 68355 in
2005. Another important achievement has been the decline in the role of non-
institutional sources in the disbursement of agricultural credit. The share of non-
institutional credit declined from around 93 percent in 1951 to 31 percent in
1991. However, figures in the beginning of this decade show that the share of
non-institutional credit has taken a reverse swing (Table 1.2).

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Sectoral Issues in Table 1.2: Source wise share of borrowings of cultivator households
Development-I
Sources of credit 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2002
Non-Institutional credit 92.7 81.3 68.3 36.8 30.6 38.9
i) Money Lenders 69.7 49.2 36.1 16.1 17.5 26.8
Institutional credit 7.3 18.7 31.7 63.2 66.3 61.1
i) Co-operative societies/Banks 3.3 2.6 22.0 29.8 23.6 30.2
ii) Commercial Banks 0.9 0.6 2.4 28.8 35.2 26.3
Unspecified - - - - 3.1 -
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: All India Debt and Investment Survey and NSSO

Inspite of the vast network of rural financial institutions, one of the major
impediments in the adoption of new technological practices, land improvements
and building up of irrigation and marketing infrastructure has been the inadequacy
of farm investment capital. Farmers in India seem to borrow short term credit to
maintain the continuity in agricultural operations.

The flow of investment credit to agriculture is constrained by host of factors

such as high transaction costs, structural deficiencies in the rural credit delivery
system, issues relating to credit worthiness, lack of collaterals in view of low
asset base of farmers, low volume of loans with associated higher risks, high
manpower requirements etc.,

Another cause of concern is the growing disparity in the credit disbursement

among marginal, small and large farmers. This may be mainly because the bankers
have a risk aversion tendency towards small and marginal farmers as compared
to large farmers, who are better placed in offering collaterals.

v) Risk and Insurance in Agriculture

Farmers are generally exposed to two types of risk – yield risk and price risk.
The yield risk is mainly attributed to the vagaries of nature and price risk is
owing to price volatility. In order to shield the farmers from either or both the
risks, agricultural insurance assumes significant importance. The importance of
Agricultural insurance is widely accepted all over the globe. In most economies
governments assume significant role towards protection of the farmers against
all type of risks. The private companies also have an important role in public
private partnership mode. As a business proposition, agricultural risk insurance
is associated with high loss ratios and hence subsidization plays a crucial role. It
is difficult, if not impossible, to ensure 100 percent coverage, either in terms of
farmers or area. In the case of Spain, for instance, subsidization is to the extent
of 45% of the programme and private insurance companies are made to work as
a group under a state-sponsored lead agency, so that the state can control pricing
of the product. Generally speaking, this is true even in the case of USA, where
formulation of risk insurance policy is essentially a responsibility of the individual
states.

The issue of introduction of crop insurance in India was taken up in 1947 and
homogenous area approach was favoured as a basis for implementation. In 1965,
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crop insurance bill was introduced and a model scheme was circulated which Agriculture
was not favoured by any of the states due to huge financial obligations. Later in
August 1971, the Expert Committee headed by Dharam Narain concluded that it
would not be advisable to introduce crop insurance in near future even on pilot
basis.

An all risk Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (CCIS) for major crops was
introduced in April 1985 and was linked to short term credit and implemented
on homogenous area approach. The AIC introduced Rainfall Insurance Scheme
in 27 districts of four states from Rabi 2004 season. The scheme was introduced
as a pilot programme in 20 rain gauge stations spread over Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The three options provided under this
scheme include Seasonal Rainfall Insurance, Rainfall Distribution Index and
Sowing Failure. This scheme anticipated shortfall in yield on account of deficit
rainfall.

Beginning 2003-04, we also see further development with the entry of some
private insurance companies. Though they are yet to make any visible impact on
the overall agricultural insurance scene in the country. ICICI–Lombard General
Insurance Company had introduced rainfall insurance, a move which was followed
by IFFCO- Tokio General Insurance Company with its “Baarish Bima”. For the
private sector insurance companies, with their primary business being in various
general insurance foray into agriculture risk insurance is experimental first time
business, and it is too early to comment on the effectiveness of their operations.

There are more schemes on the float that go beyond crop insurance .The Farm
Income Insurance Scheme (FIIS) was started during 2003-04 to provide income
protection to the farmers by integrating the mechanism of insuring yield and
market risk. Under this, the farmer’s income is intended to be insured by providing
minimum guaranteed income. Similarly, livestock insurance is provided by public
sector insurance companies for almost all livestock animals.

vi) Research and Extension

There is a large gap between the yields in the research station and the farmers
field. The yields of most of the crops have almost stagnated showing no or very
little increase over the years. This shows that the Indian agriculture has reached
a technology fatigue. There has not been any major breakthrough in yield
improvement specially because of the low allocation of funds to the Indian
agricultural research system. There is a need to reorganize the priorities in the
Indian agricultural research system by emphasizing on the needs of rainfed areas
which cover nearly 60 percent of cultivated area. Adequate priority should also
be given to emerging challenges particularly post harvest, marketing and
environmental conservation. Since private sector participation in agricultural
research is limited to profitable crops and enterprises taken up by resource rich
farmers, the public sector research has to increasingly address the problems facing
the resource poor farmers in the less-endowed regions. There is also a need to
have biotechnological research suited to different locations of the country.

vii) Diversification and Food Security

There has been diversification of Indian diets wherein, the hi-value products
have caught the fancy of the rapidly increasing middle-class population of the
country. Increase in per capita income, increasing urbanization, increasing number
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Sectoral Issues in of working women in urban India are largely responsible for diet diversification
Development-I
in India. There has been an increase in the per capita consumption of fruits and
vegetables and edible oils. Diversification does not mean just diversification in
agriculture related activities. Adequate importance should also be given to allied
activities like animal husbandry and fisheries. Not only does the livestock sector
contribute to more than 5 percent of the GDP but also engages many of the rural
women in major livestock related activities. Specifically in Indian context where
the ownership of livestock is more evenly distributed with landless labourers
and marginal farmers, the development of this sector is important for the balanced
development of the rural economy.
Recent trends that have raised concern regarding food security, farmers’ income,
and poverty are:
• Slowdown in growth.
• Widening economic disparities between irrigated and rain-fed areas.
• Increased vulnerability to world commodity price volatility following trade
liberalization. This had an adverse effect on agricultural economies of
regions growing crops such as cotton and oilseeds.
• Uneven and slow development of technology.
• Inefficient use of available technology and inputs.
• Lack of adequate incentives and appropriate institutions.
viii) Marketing
Since most of the farmers in most of the developing countries are small and
marginal farmers, the produce of individual farmers is in such small quantities
that it becomes difficult for them to market such small amounts. They also face
problems in getting inputs, credit and marketing. In such economies where small
scale agriculture is widespread, contract farming arrangements are particularly
useful. In India, contract farming is going on in several agricultural crops however,
it is not backed by an efficient legal system. There is a need to strengthen contract
farming arrangements to strengthen small farmers. To avoid any kind of
exploitation of the farmers, an effective legal mechanism needs to be in place.
The real challenge is to organize the small and marginal farmers for marketing
and linking them to more profitable high-value agriculture.

ix) Effect of Globalization on Agriculture

With the opening up of the economy, the domestic agriculture is subjected to
competition from products of other countries specially those of developed
countries where agriculture is highly subsidized. There have been many instances
in the recent past when the domestic prices of many commodities have gone
higher than the international prices. To compete in the international market, there
is a need to adopt both yield increasing and cost cutting technologies.

The ongoing negotiations on Agreement on Agriculture in the WTO provide the

developing countries with the opportunity to rectify some of the inadequacies in
the agreement. The developing countries are likely to benefit if the developed
countries reduce agricultural subsidies. The overall trade distorting subsidies
given by the developed countries need to be reduced to provide a level playing
ground to all the countries.
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x) Agribusiness Agriculture

Agriculture in the basic sense of produce of the field is hardly remunerative to

the farmer. In other words, agricultural operations must now mark a shift in
approach from being merely a field harvesting of crops to local mandi disposal
operations to demand driven activity with an increased focused on processing
and value addition. Value addition is to be created through diversification of use
of produce and emphasis on quality production. Bold measures now need to be
taken to encourage agri business and industries based on agricultural produce so
that producer gains significantly in returns. Any activity related to or associated
with agriculture operations, before, during and after crop production is agri
business and includes-

The input sector: Input suppliers play a major role in the production of food
and fiber, and the sector is currently recognized as a major phase of agribusiness.
Agricultural input provides production agriculturalists with the feed, seed,
fertilizer, credit, machinery, fuel, chemicals, and various other things that they
need to operate.

The output sector: The output sector includes all agribusinesses and individuals
that handle agricultural products from the farm to the final consumer. This includes
agribusinesses involved in buying, transporting, storing, warehousing, grading,
sorting, processing, assembling, packing, selling, merchandising, insuring,
regulating, inspecting, communicating, advertising, and financing.

The agri-service sector: The agri-service sector of the agriculture industry is

concerned with researching new and better ways to produce and market food
and to protect food producers and consumers, and with providing special,
customized services to all the other phases of agriculture. Public agencies have
played a dominant role in the agri-services area, but private agencies are rapidly
increasing their offerings of farm services.

Agribusiness is responding to the strong consumer demand for high-value

commodities, processed products and pre-prepared foods. There is in fact
expansion of demand for farm products. It provides new opportunities to farmers
for value addition, while agro-processing firms provide them with crucial inputs
and services and also cover a part of their risk. If properly used and understood,
it should turn out to be bonanza for the farmers. Investment is flowing thick in
agribusiness, and agribusiness and super market retail boom is a new mantra.
Many companies have already invested billions either directly or through local
partnerships. There is likelihood of agribusiness firms with all their managerial
abilities, finding new ways to use the demand opportunities. However, fears are
being expressed that, by virtue of their capital and scale operations, these firms
may space out small traders, processors and retailers. In this context, two most
important issues today relate to (a) expansion of organized retail segment, and
(b) entry of global players in the retail sector.

xi) Agriculture and Climate Change

The unimpeded growth of greenhouse gas emissions is raising the earth’s
temperature. The consequences include melting glaciers, more precipitation, more
and more extreme weather events, and shifting seasons. The accelerating pace of
climate change, combined with global population and income growth, threatens
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Sectoral Issues in food security everywhere. Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change.
Development-I
Higher temperatures eventually reduce yields of desirable crops while encouraging
weed and pest proliferation. Changes in precipitation patterns increase the
likelihood of short-run crop failures and long-run production declines. Although
there will be gains in some crops in some regions of the world, the overall impacts
of climate change on agriculture are expected to be negative, threatening global
food security. Populations in the developing world, which are already vulnerable
and food insecure, are likely to be the most seriously affected. The results of an
analysis by IFPRI, 2009 suggest that agriculture and human well-being will be
negatively affected by climate change:
• In developing countries, climate change will cause yield declines for the
most important crops. South Asia will be particularly hard hit.
• Climate change will have varying effects on irrigated yields across regions,
but irrigated yields for all crops in South Asia will experience large declines.
• Climate change will result in additional price increases for the most important
agricultural crops–rice, wheat, maize, and soybeans. Higher feed prices will
result in higher meat prices. As a result, climate change will reduce the
growth in meat consumption slightly and cause a more substantial fall in
cereals consumption.
• Calorie availability in 2050 will not only be lower than in the no–climate-
change scenario—it will actually decline relative to 2000 levels throughout
the developing world.
• By 2050, the decline in calorie availability will increase child malnutrition
by 20 percent relative to a world with no climate change. Climate change
will eliminate much of the improvement in child malnourishment levels
that would occur with no climate change.
• Thus, aggressive agricultural productivity investments of US$7.1–7.3 billion
are needed to raise calorie consumption enough to offset the negative impacts
of climate change on the health and well-being of children.

In this section we discussed about the major issues in agricultural development.

Now, try and answer the following questions in Check Your Progress 3.

Check Your Progress 3

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) What is the role of subsidies and investment in the agricultural growth of
any country?
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2) What are the types of risks faced by farmers? How can the farmers avert Agriculture
these risks?
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1.5 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

1.5.1 Meaning Sustainable Agriculture
Several definitions have been formulated to describe sustainable agriculture.
However, these are often tailored to fit specified circumstances. Some of the
definitions are as follows:
Sustainable agriculture is a way of farming that can be carried out for generations
to come. This long term approach to agriculture combines efficient production
with the wise stewardship of the earth’s resources.
A sustainable agriculture is one that, over the long term, enhances environmental
quality and the resource base on which agriculture depends; provides for basic
human food and fiber needs; is economically viable; and enhances the quality of
life for farmers and society as a whole.
After reading these two definitions, it is important to know various characteristics
of sustainable agriculture.

1.5.2 Characteristics of Sustainable Agriculture

By the definitions of sustainable agriculture, a farm that emphasizes short run
profit but sacrifices environmental quality would not be sustainable in the long
run. From the other perspective, pursuing environmental quality without ensuring
viability of short-run returns also would be unsustainable.
• Meet human needs with a safe, high-quality, and affordable supply of food
and fiber;
• Provide access for everyone to nutritious, healthful and affordable food,
while ensuring a safe and secure supply of food;
• Produce quality food while preserving open space, abundant wildlife, and
other forms of biodiversity;
• Protect the natural resource base and prevent the degradation of air, soil and
water quality, while using natural biological cycles and controls;

1.5.3 Components of Sustainable Agriculture

• Use of resistant cultivars.
• Management of soil to maximize biological activity.
• Establishment of conditions to attract natural pest control agents, such as
the use of certain flowering plants to attract parasitic and predatory wasps.
17
Sectoral Issues in • Use of insect traps for monitoring and even controlling pests.
Development-I
• Management of the ground cover and field borders to promote the predators
and parasites of pests.
• Release of specific biological control agents.
• Use of low-toxic biodegradable/ botanical pesticides.

1.5.4 Sustainable Agriculture vs. Organic Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture should not be confused with organic farming as both are
very different form each other. Sustainable agriculture means not only the
withdrawal of synthetic chemicals, hybrid-genetically modified seeds and heavy
agricultural implements; it also tries to simulate the conditions found in nature.
Sustainable agriculture involves intercropping, use of farmyard manure and
remnants, mulching and application of integrated pest management. If this is
followed then there is no reason why agriculture cannot be an economically
viable activity in addition to being environmentally sustainable.

1.5.5 Inclusive Agriculture

Inclusive agriculture means promotion of agriculture in those areas among those
farmers who have been grossly excluded from the agricultural incentives,
subsidies and similar other benefits. The focus of inclusive agriculture would
largely be on:
• Promotion of agriculture in dry land and hilly and sub-mountainous and
desert zones.
• Small, marginal and landless agricultural labourers who really take care of
agriculture but hardly enjoy the benefit.
• Role of women in agriculture as a cultivator, entrepreneur, extension agent
and farm labourers.
• Incentives to all kind of agriculture both food crops and cash crops; livestock
sector, fruits and vegetables and horticulture activities.
• Access to credit from the organized institutions and marketing facilities for
the farmers in disadvantaged conditions and areas.
Government of India (2007) has also emphasized that the growth to be all
inclusive, the agricultural strategy must focus on the 85 percent of farmers who
are marginal, increasingly female and who find it difficult to access inputs, credits
and extension or to market their output.

Check Your Progress 4

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) What do you understand by organic agriculture?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
18
 Agriculture
1.6 GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
Long time neglect of agricultural sector has led to the current food crisis which
has affected both the rich and the poor alike. Food shortages have affected billions
of people all over the world especially the poor in the developing countries.
Some call it to be the result of the market oriented and liberalising policies adopted
by choice or compulsion by most of the countries. These policies have either
neglected agriculture for over a decade or led to shift in global prices which in
turn have led to a major shift in the cropping pattern in most of the countries.
Agriculture in developed countries is highly subsidised. Due to opening up of
markets, the cultivators of the developing countries have to compete with the
cheap imports from the developed countries.

IMF data shows more than 40 percent rise in global food prices since 2007.The
increase has been mainly in essential foodgrains. In 2007, the global prices of
wheat increased by 77 percent and rice prices increased by 20 percent. In 2008,
wheat prices have been highly volatile, whereas rice prices soared up by nearly
150 percent in the first quarter of 2008. The price of corn which is a staple food
in Latin America more than doubled in the past 2 years. The prices of other food
items like vegetable, meat and edible oils have also gone very high.

The impact of rising food prices has been more pronounced in the developing
and less developed countries where a major share of family budget is spent on
food items. There have even been food riots in many countries. World Bank
estimates that such high food prices could lead to more than 100 million people
in low income countries to slip to deeper poverty.

Let us now look at the reasons which have led to such sudden rise in prices of
essential food items. Though the rise in prices may look sudden, but it has been
a result of long term and continuous neglect of agriculture sector world over.
The explanation endorsed by the then Bush Administration is that the spurt in
food prices is essentially demand driven due to several years of rapid economic
growth, rising income and therefore growing demand for food in India and China.
However five major factors which have played a crucial role in rise in world
food prices are as follows:

i) Energy is an important input in agriculture especially in cultivation and

transportation of food. The rising prices of oils have hence affected the
agricultural costs both directly and indirectly.

ii) Due to high dependence on OECD countries for oil and other petroleum
products and because of the rising oil prices, the governments in many
countries have promoted bio-fuels as an alternative to petroleum. This has
led to shift in cropping pattern of many countries in favour of bio-fuels. In
2006, US diverted its 20 percent area under maize production, Brazil used
half of its sugarcane production and EU used a large part of its vegetable
oilseed production to make bio-fuel. According to IMF, ethanol production
using corn in US has been the major reason for at least half of the increase
in corn output since 2006.

iii) Policy neglect of agriculture over the past two decades, the world over has
also been one of the major reasons for food shortages and rising prices.
19
Sectoral Issues in There has been a lack of public investment in agriculture and agricultural
Development-I
research. There has also been a shift from traditionally grown food crops to
cash crops. Besides, increasing urbanization also leaves less land for
agriculture.

iv) Climate change in almost all parts of the world has also caused poor harvest
due to increased draughts, floods, cyclones, tsunamis etc.

v) Changes in market structures wherein a small number of agribusiness

companies increasingly control all aspects of cultivation and distribution
result in producers not getting the benefits of price increase. Public holdings
of stocks have also generally reduced. This has reduced the capacity of public
intervention to prevent speculative activities.

1.7 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

The post independence marked a turning point for agriculture in India. The
agricultural growth rate, which was less than 0.5 percent per annum during the
period 1904-05 to 1944-45, recorded an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent during
1949-50 to 1983-84. The land reform and the green revolution are the two main
strategies that helped to augment agricultural development in India. The
agricultural scholars have divided agricultural development phases into periods
ie. 1950-51 and 1966-67 and that between 1967-68 and 1983-84 and have
charecterised these as the land reform strategies adopted during the mid fifties
and the green revolution strategy adopted since the mid-sixties. These two
strategies of agricultural development are discussed below:

1.7.1 Land Reforms

During British colonization, land ownership and land use patterns were changed
to make it easier for the British to buy land at low prices for mines, plantations
etc. The British did not introduce this system to India, but they popularised it.
With the introduction of the land tax under the Permanent Settlement Act 1793,
the British popularized the ‘zamindari’ system (where landowners collect tax
from the peasants) at the cost of the ‘jajmani’ system (where everybody shares
the land).

At independence, ownership and control of land was highly concentrated in a

few landlords whose main intention was to get maximum rent from their tenants.
Under this arrangement, the tenant farmer had little economic motivation to
develop farmland for increased production (because they would not make any
money out of it). At the same time, the landlord wasn’t particularly concerned
about improving the economic condition of the farmers (because the landowner
would lose money). As a result, agricultural productivity suffered and the tenants’
situation deteriorated.

In the years immediately following India’s independence, land ownership was

recognised as crucially important. India was extremely poor, and in order to try
and abolish poverty, progress was needed on two fronts: high productivity and
sharing equally. The most important event in the agricultural history of India is
the land reforms enacted and implemented during the mid-fifties. The objectives
of land reform are:
20
i) Reordering agrarian relations to achieve social equity. Agriculture

ii) Curtailing exploitation and enlargement of land base of the rural poor; and
iii) Increase agricultural productivity.
Major issues covered in land reforms are
i) Abolition of intermediaries
ii) Settlement and regulation of tenancy
iii) Regulation of size of holdings.
A historical background of land reforms in India is given as under:
At the time of independence, there existed three types of proprietary land tenures
in the country. The term land tenure is used to refer to the terms and conditions
on which land is held and used.

i) Abolition of Intermediaries
a) The Zamindari or Landlord Tenure: Under this system, the land was
held by a person who was responsible for the payment of land revenue.
Landlords never cultivated the land they owned and rented them out to the
cultivators. In this system between the actual state and the tiller there grew
an intermediary who was interested in the land only to the extent of extraction
of exorbitant rent.

b) Ryotwari System: Under this system, the responsibility of paying land

revenue to the Government was of the cultivator himself and there was no
intermediary between him and the state. The ryot had full right regarding
sale, transfer and leasing of land and could not be evicted from the land as
long as he pays the land revenue. But the settlement of land revenue under
ryotwari system was done on a temporary basis and were periodic, after 20,
30 or 40 years.

c) The Mahalwari or The Joint Village Tenure: Under this system, the village
communities held the village lands commonly and it was joint responsibility
of these communities to make payments of the land revenue.

Thus the overall system of collection of revenue was based on exploitation.

The British government snatched away whatever surplus above the minimum
subsistence the cultivator produced. The latter were forced to lead a wretched
life of slavery and deprivation. Under the above-mentioned systems the
practice of cultivation by tenants became widely prevalent. These tenants
were also exploited in a number of ways. It was basically to stop the
exploitation of the actual tillers of the soil and pass on the ownership of the
land to them that land reforms introduced in the post-independence period
in India.

ii) Settlement and Regulation of Tenancy

a) Measures of Tenancy Reforms: The legislation for abolition of
intermediaries was aimed at providing land to the tiller but it did not put an
end to the problem of tenancy. Measures taken to minimize the evils of
tenancy cultivation and to safeguard the interest of the tenants are as follows

21
Sectoral Issues in b) Regulation of rents: during the pre-independence period, rents were fixed
Development-I
either by the custom or were the result of the market forces of demand and
supply. Supply of land being fixed, the demand of land rowing with an
increasing population, there has been a continuous tendency for rents to
rise. It was, therefore, imperative that rents should be fixed by enacting
legislation. The rates of rent prevalent were one half of the produce or more.
Considering the return on investment in other sectors of economy, these
rents were excessive by any standard of social justice.

Consequently, the First and the Second five-year plan recommended that
rents should not exceed one fourth or one fifth of the gross produce. Various
states have passed necessary legislation regulating rents, but there were large
variations in the rents fixed in different states. In Gujarat, Maharashtra, and
Rajasthan, one-sixth of gross produce was fixed as maximum rent. In Assam,
Karnataka, Manipur and Tripura, maximum rents varied between one-fourth
to one-fifth of the gross produce. In Punjab, one-third of produce was
considered as fair rent, while in Tamil Nadu it was between 33.3 and 40
percent of the gross produce. In Andhra Pradesh one-fourth of the gross
produce for irrigated land and one-fifth in other cases had been fixed as
rent.

c) Security of Tenure: the security of tenure was aimed to provide some

incentives to tenants to make certain improvements of permanent nature on
the land they cultivate. Many states, therefore, enacted legislation providing
for the security of tenure so long as they continue paying the rent.

d) Right of Ownership of Tenants: A very important feature of the land reform

is the provision of the right of ownership of tenants. The Second plan
considered it very desirable to bring tenants in non-resumable area in direct
contact with the state. Earlier the right to purchase was optional to the tenants
but this did not prove to be effective. Thus, the third plan suggested the
optional clause to be removed and peasants be required to purchase land.
Legislation for this purpose was enacted in various states. For instance, in
West Bengal the tenants and sub-tenants were brought into direct relationship
with the state by the conferment of full ownership rights. In Punjab, the
right to purchase was optional. Legislation had been enacted in Gujarat,
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal and the Union Territories. Whereas in Assam, Jammu
and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu, no provisions existed even for an optional
right of purchase. While the state can facilitate the transfer of ownership
rights from the landlords to the tenants, no financial burden is imposed on
the state.

iii) Regulation of Size of Holdings

a) Consolidation of Holdings : Consolidation of fragmented agricultural land
holdings forms an integral part of the Land Reform Policy. Successive Five
Year Plans have accordingly been laying stress on consolidation of
fragmented land holdings for planned development of villages and increased
agricultural output. Consequently, many States enacted legislations and had
taken up the work relating to consolidation of land holdings. The States of
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab have achieved commendable success.
In Uttar Pradesh, even now, consolidation of land holdings is in operation
22
 in about 9000-10,000 villages. In other States, work was continued for some Agriculture
years but lost momentum thereafter.

Consolidation of holdings was also advocated to group together the numerous

tiny and scattered holdings of poor cultivators in order to form bigger tracts,
susceptible to more efficient management. Cooperative farming on these would
increase productivity and employment through economies of scale. The large,
economical units of consolidated land, it was opined, would mitigate the problem
of poor yield and enhance productivity through economies of scale and also
increase employment.
Other important reforms include:
i) Distribution of ceiling surplus land
ii) Distribution of Government wasteland and Bhoodan land
iii) Prevention of alienation and restoration of alienated tribal land
iv) Central Sector Scheme for Computerization of Land Records
v) Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Strengthening of Revenue Administration
and Updating of Land Records.

1.7.2 Green Revolution

The Green Revolution is a good example of a planned development initiative
that brings out all the essential features of the development process. The Green
Revolution is usually described as the introduction of hybrid varieties of wheat
and rice, but the adoption of hybrids alone is not sufficient to explain the
phenomenal achievements of the Green Revolution. Success was made possible
by a comprehensive and well-coordinated program involving multiple changes
in the way society managed the production of food.

The Green Revolution led to sizable increases in returns to land, and hence raised
farmers’ incomes. Moreover, with greater income to spend, new needs for farm
inputs, and milling and marketing services, farm families led a general increase
in demand for goods and services. This stimulated the rural non-farm economy,
which in turn grew and generated significant new income and employment of its
own. In India, the percentage of the rural population living below the poverty
line fluctuated between 50 and 65 percent before the mid-1960s but then declined
steadily to about one-third of the rural population by 1993. Research studies
show that much of this steady decline in poverty is attributable to agricultural
growth and associated declines in food prices. Big increases occurred in per
capita consumption of vegetable oils, fruits, vegetables, and livestock products
in Asia.

Major Factors behind the Success of Green Revolution

a) Mechanization of Farming: Intensive agriculture demands the use of diverse
machinery that saves the farmer time and labour. Farm mechanization means
use of various types of machines and other agricultural implements during
the production, transportation and processing of agricultural products.
Farmers in the countries adopted farm mechanization for fast growth of
agriculture, leading to increased production. This has helped to increase
cropping intensity, diversification of agriculture, better usage of available
irrigation facilities, timely sowing and harvesting and transportation of inputs
23
Sectoral Issues in to the fields. This has helped the farmers to get better prices for their products
Development-I
as they can easily access the nearest market outlets.

b) Adoption of High Yielding varieties: The adoption of HYVs occurred

quickly. By 1970, about 20 percent of the wheat area and 30 percent of the
rice area in developing countries were planted to HYVs, and by 1990, the
share had increased to about 70 percent for both crops. Yields of rice and
wheat virtually doubled. Higher yields and profitability also led farmers to
increase the area of rice and wheat they grew at the expense of other crops.
And with faster-growing varieties and irrigation, they grew more crops on
their land each year. These changes more than doubled cereal production in
Asia between 1970 and 1995, while population increased by 60 percent.
Instead of widespread famine, cereal and calorie availability per person
increased by nearly 30 percent, and wheat and rice became cheaper.

Achievements of Green Revolution in the Indian Economy

• Crop areas under high-yield varieties needed more water, more fertilizer,
more pesticides, fungicides and certain other chemicals. This spurred the
growth of the local manufacturing sector. Such industrial growth created
new jobs and contributed to the country’s GDP.

• The increase in irrigation created need for new dams to harness monsoon
water. The water stored was used to create hydro-electric power. This in
turn boosted industrial growth, created jobs and improved the quality of life
of the people in villages.

• India paid back all loans it had taken from the World Bank and its affiliates
for the purpose of the Green Revolution. This improved India’s
creditworthiness in the eyes of the lending agencies.

• Some developed countries, especially Canada, which were facing a shortage

in agricultural labour, were so impressed by the results of India’s Green
Revolution that they asked the Indian government to supply them with
farmers experienced in the methods of the Green Revolution. Many farmers
from Punjab and Haryana states in northern India were thus sent to Canada
where they settled (That’s why Canada today has many Punjabi-speaking
citizens of Indian origin). These people remitted part of their incomes to
their relatives in India.

• Prior to the launch of the Green Revolution, Indian agriculture was largely
based on subsistence-level farming which did not generate sufficient
production to meet the country’s food requirements. In the past this had led
to periodic food shortages and famines which were managed by huge imports
from abroad. Green Revolution was an attempt to break out of this condition
and increase food production to make the country self-sufficient.

1.7.3 Rainbow Revolution

Technology led development in agriculture have made India self sufficient in
foodgrains and a leading producer of several commodities in the world. The
Green revolution in crops, Yellow revolution in oilseeds, white revolution in
milk production, blue revolution in fish production and golden revolution in
horticulture improved the status of Indian agriculture. Rainbow revolution
24
encompassing an all round growth in production of foodgrains, edible oil, fruits, Agriculture
vegetables and animal and fish products and evergreen revolution in agriculture
through diversified agriculture, precision farming, resource conservation and
value addition to provide in real sense the required food, nutrition and
environmental security are the hopes of future.

In this section you read about the agricultural development in India. Now answer
the following question in Check your Progress 5.

Check Your Progress 5

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) What are the major factors that led to the success of Green Revolution?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
2) Write short note on Rainbow Revolution.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

1.8 LET US SUM UP

Agriculture plays an important role in providing food and livelihood security to
majority of the population in the developing countries. Agriculture was seen as a
low productivity, traditional sector that only passively contributed to development
by providing food and employment. The importance of agriculture is expected
to decline as development advances. In India there has been a continuous decline
in the contribution of agriculture to the GDP but there has not been a
commensurate decline in the share of workforce which has been a cause of
concern. Some of the problems typical to Indian agriculture include small
holdings, low yield, high regional disparities and rise in food prices. Although
Green Revolution led to a sizeable increase in the returns to land, the ill effects
of the revolution have faced up in the form of excessive use of inputs leading to
soil degradation, depletion of groundwater table and increasing regional
disparities. Continuous policy neglect of agriculture has led to rising food prices,
increasing indebtedness of farmers and other such effects. This calls for a policy
shift in favour of the agricultural sector which is still a major contributor of
livelihood security of majority of the population in India.
25
Sectoral Issues in
Development-I 1.9 REFERENCES AND SELECTED READINGS
Acharya, S.S. (2007), Agribusiness in India: Some Facts and Emerging Issues,
Agricultural Economics Research Review, Vol. 20 pp 409-424.

Chand, R., S.S. Raju and L.M. Pande(2007), Growth Crisis in Agriculture:
Severity and Opions at National and State Levels, Economic and Political Weekly,
Vol.42, No.26.

Dev, S.M. (2008), Challenges for Revival of Indian Agriculture, 1st Professor
Dayanath Jha Memorial Lecture delivered at NCAP, New Delhi

IFPRI (2009), Climate Change – Impact on Agriculture and Costs of Adaptation,

Food Policy Report, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington
D.C.

Meir, M.G. (1995), Leading Issues in Economic Development, Oxford University

Press, New York, Sixth Edition

Pal, P. (2006), Why Developing Countries Need Special Products And Special
Safeguard Mechanisms, Working Paper, CENTAD, New Delhi.

World Bank, World Development Report, 2008, World Bank, New York, 2008

1.10 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1

1) Agriculture promotes development of an economy by

• By supplying foodstuffs and raw materials to other expanding sectors
in the economy;
• By providing an “investable surplus” of savings and taxes to support
investment in another expanding sectors;
• By selling for cash a “marketable surplus’ that will raise the demand of
the rural population for products of other expanding sector;
• By relaxing the foreign exchange constraints, by earning foreign
exchange through exports or by saving foreign exchange through import
substitution.
Check Your Progress 2

1) While agriculture accounts for around 2% of GDP, and less than 4% of

employment in developed countries, its share in the GDP of low-income
countries is as high as 24%. Agriculture provides over 60% of total
employment in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture thus plays
an extremely important role in developing countries, in providing livelihood
and rural development. In most developing countries, agriculture is
dominated by small and marginal farmers who are engaged in subsistence
farming. Agriculture plays a major role in providing food security for the
bottom level of the population. Developing countries consider domestic
26
 self-sufficiency in foodgrain as an important element of food security. For Agriculture
all these reasons, sustained growth in agriculture is considered essential for
ensuring food security and alleviating poverty.

Check Your Progress 3

1) Though subsidies are effective in pushing agricultural growth to a certain

extent, it is important to make sure that they do not become a permanent
feature of any economy. The availability of subsidized inputs during the
Green Revolution period has led to indiscriminate use of inputs. The public
investment in agriculture has declined in the past two decades which in turn
has slowed down the pace of technological change, adversely affecting
productivity. Since the early 1980s public investment in agriculture has
experienced a secular decline, while input subsidies (on fertilizers, power,
and canal irrigation) have been rising.

2) Farmers are generally exposed to two types of risk – yield risk and price
risk. The yield risk is mainly attributed to the vagaries of nature and price
risk is owing to price volatility. In order to shield the farmers from either or
both the risks, agricultural insurance assumes significant importance. The
importance of Agricultural insurance is widely accepted all over the globe.
In most economies governments assume significant role towards protection
of the farmers against all type of risks.

Check Your Progress 4

1) Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils,
ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and
cycles adapted to local conditions rather than use of inputs with adverse
effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to
benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationship and a good
quality of life for all involved.

Check Your Progress 5

1) Mechanization of farming and adoption of high yielding varieties are the

major factors that have led to the success of Green Revolution in India. For
details refer section 2.6

2) Rainbow revolution encompases an all round growth in production of

foodgrains, edible oil, fruits, vegetables and animal and fish products.

27