Posted on June 7, 2011.
Agriculture in India: Issues and Challenges Agriculture in India: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Bheenaveni Ramaiah -
- Department of Sociology,
Osmania University -
- Hyderabad - 07.
"Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy" - said Mahatma Gandhi five decades ago. Even today, when we enter the new millennium, the situation remains the same, with almost all the economy is sustained by agriculture, which is the mainstay of the villages. Not only the economy but also each of us looks to agriculture for our sustenance too.
Importance of Agriculture:
Although agriculture contributes only 21% of India's GDP, its importance in the economic, social and political development goes well beyond this indicator. Rural areas are still home to almost 72 per cent of India's 1.1 billion people, many of them are poor. Most rural poor depend on rainfed agriculture and forests for their livelihoods vulnerable.
The sharp increase in food grain production during the green revolution in India in the 1970s helped the country achieve self-sufficiency in food grains and stave off the threat of famine. Intensification of agriculture in the years 1970-1980 have seen an increased demand for rural labor has raised rural wages and, with lower food prices, reduction of rural poverty.
Sustained, although much slower agricultural growth in the 1990s to reduce rural poverty to 26.3 percent in 1999/00. Since then, however, the slowdown in agricultural growth has become a major cause of concern. rice yields in India are one third of China and about half of those in Vietnam and Indonesia. With the exception of sugar cane, potatoes and tea, the same is true for most other agricultural products.
The Government of India accords high priority on reducing poverty by increasing agricultural productivity. However, a vigorous policy makers will need to depart from the existing system of subsidies that is more sustainable basis for building a solid foundation for a highly productive, internationally competitive and diversified agricultural sector.
Issues and Challenges
Here the challenge is considering the implementation of technology at different levels in the global community. The need of the hour is not the application of technology, but the adoption of appropriate technology that would depend on the particular level of the global community. In India, farming practices are too random and non-scientific and therefore require a little forethought before implementing any new technology.
Applications of agricultural inputs at uniform rates across the field regardless of field variation in soil fertility and crop did not yield desirable results in terms of crop yield. Managing variability in the field of soil fertility and crop to improve crop production and minimize environmental impact at the heart of precision agriculture.
Thus, information on the spatial variability of soil fertility status and condition of crops is a prerequisite for the adoption of precision agriculture. Space technology, including Global Positioning System (GPS) and GIS promises obtaining good information about soil characteristics and crop yields, and allows monitoring seasonally variable soil and crop characteristics, the soil moisture, namely, crop-phenology, growth, evapotranspiration, nutrient deficiency, crop disease and weed and insect infestations, which in turn helps to optimize inputs and maximizing crop yields and incomes. Although widely adopted in developed countries, adoption of precision farming in India is yet to take firm ground, chiefly because of its unique model of land ownership, poor infrastructure, lack of inclination of farmers to take risks, socio-economic and demographic.
Factors contributing to the decline of Agric.
