EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT INDIAN AGRICULTURE IS WRONG
Contrary to popular perception, Indian agriculture sector has been outperforming the much-discussed services and manufacturing sectors. We are now the worlds second-largest agriculture producer, thanks to a combination of natural and created strength.India is not only blessed with land, light, water and labour, Indian companies also produce everything required for agriculture, from seeds, fertilizers and irrigation equipment to farm machinery and plant health technologies.
Until 2000, Indian agricultural production was driven predominantly by food grains. Subsequent diversification into high-value crops (fruits and vegetables) and milk, aided by continuous improvements in communication, infrastructure and innovative techniques have transformed this into a dynamic enterprise. One thing is clear, Indian agriculture is no longer an underdog.
❝ Indian agriculture is no longer an underdog. Our agricultural production is far above that of the United States, which once supplied food grains to India to tide over our domestic food shortage.❞ TOP 10 Facts you Need to know About Indian Agriculture..
Second most populated country with a population of 1.27 billion.
Seventh largest country in the world with an area of 3.288 million sq kms.
Coastline spread over 7,500 kms.
22 major languages and 415 dialects.
World’s largest producer of milk, pulses and jute
India is the world’s third largest economy worth $ 2.1 trillion after the US and China.
Second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruit and cotton.
These are some of the amazing facts about India. The last fact as you can see is related to Agriculture. Now this fact might make you believe that Agriculture in India is doing pretty well. But at the ground level, things are different.
7 Facts about Indian Agriculture
Decrease in Agriculture GDP
Organic agricultural export market drives greening of agriculture
Pesticide use increased more than 100%
Bio-fertilizer production is the future
Warehousing capacity Increased
Per capita water availability decreased by 70%
Not all harmful pesticides are banned
1) Decrease in Agriculture GDP
GDP From Agriculture in India decreased to 4759.48 INR Billion in the first quarter of 2018 from 5666.82 INR Billion in the fourth quarter of 2017.
It averaged 4052.74 INR Billion from 2011 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 5666.82 INR Billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 and a record low of 2690.74 INR Billion in the third quarter of 2011.
Histogram displaying Agriculture GDP variation in India
Agriculture & Allied sectors which used to contribute 19 percent of GDP in 2004–05 has come down to 14 percent in 2011–12 at 2004–05 prices, according to government data. The percentage has been declining gradually with the passing of years.
From 19 percent in 2004–05, the percentage share of agriculture & allied sectors in GDP dropped to 18.3 percent in 2005–06 and then to 17.4 percent in 2006–07.
It further dropped to 16.8 percent in 2007–08 and 15.8 percent in 2008–09 before reaching 14 percent in 2011–12, the data showed.
But, capital investment in the sector has shown improvement. As per official figures, Gross Capital Formation (GCF) investment in agriculture sector (at 2004–05 prices) has increased from Rs 69,148 crore in 2004–05 to Rs 1,30,907 crore in 2010–11.
Besides, the agriculture sector has shown an average growth rate of 3.3 percent annually in the Eleventh Five Year Plan period ending March 31, 2012 as compared to 2.4 percent per annum during the Tenth Plan.
Food grain production has also shown an increase from 217.28 million tonnes in 2006–07 to 257.44 million tonnes in 2011–12.
2) Organic Agricultural Export Market drives Greening of Agriculture
Organic agricultural export market is one of the major drivers of greening of agriculture in India. The current production of organic crops is around 14,000 tons (2003).
Out of this production, tea and rice contributes around 24% each, fruits and vegetables combine makes 17% of this total production. From India around 11,925 tons of organic product is exported, that makes around 85% of total organic crop production.
Info-graphic displaying major organic products exported in India
Major export market for Indian producers are Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, and USA. Estimated quantity of various products that are exported from India in 2002 is shown.
This shows that around 3000 tons of tea was exported and in quantity term it was the highest, next major exports are rice (2500 tons), fruits & vegetables (1800 tons), cotton (1200 tons) and wheat (1150 tons).
3) Pesticide Use Increased More than 100%
A major input for Indian agriculture is use of various pesticides, like insecticides, weedicides, fungicides, rodenticides etc. As the cropping pattern is becoming more intensive use of these pesticides is also increasing.
Consumption of insecticide in agriculture has been increased more than 100% from 1971 to 1994–95. For instance, insecticide consumption in India, which was to the tune of 22013 tonnes has increased to 51755 tonnes by 1994–95.
Histogram displaying the consumption of pesticides in India
Consumption of all of these pesticides in same duration has increased more than two times, that is from 24305 tonnes to 61357 tonnes.
As a consequence of adoption of bio intensive Integrated Pest Management Program in various crops, the consumption of chemical pesticide has come down from 66.36 thousand MT during 1994–95 to 43.59 thousand MT during 2001–02 with a reduction of 27.69%.
One of the consequences of indiscriminate use of pesticide is the adverse health impact on society in general and vulnerable population like children in particular. Some of the well-known health effects of pesticide exposure include acute poisoning, cancer, neurological effects and reproductive and developmental harm.
The major causes of concern in this respect are bio -accumulation of pesticides and the prolonged time period that it takes to express the negative health consequences.
4) Bio-fertilizer Production is the Future
For year 2000, proposed production target for bio-fertilizer was 39,165 Mt, which was only 4.8% of the total estimated demand. But the actual production and the distribution of bio fertilizers are below the targeted. This shows the huge gap between potential market demand and production and also provides an opportunity for bio-fertilizer producers.
Info-graphic displaying Fertilizer Production in India
The total production of bio-fertilizer in India in 1992–93 was 2005.0 tons and it has increased to 8010.1 tons by 1998–99. Similarly the consumption/distribution of bio-fertilizer has also increased 1600.01 tons to 6700.27 tons during the same time period.
But the growth rate in installed bio-fertilizer capacity is comparatively more stable than the growth rate in total production, consumption & distribution of bio-fertilizers. The total production of bio-fertilizers growth rate had reduced to 12.75% during 1998–99 from 53.82% in 1993–94 and during same period the growth rate of consumption & distribution had reduced to 6.43% from 82.15