cropcare and doubling farmers' income myths, … · need for study on understanding myths and...

CROPCARE AND DOUBLING FARMERS' INCOME

MYTHS, CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD

Centre for Environment & AgricultureKnowledge Partner

Centre for Environment & Agriculture

Knowledge Partner

Need for study on understanding myths and realities of Indian Agriculture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Myths vs Realities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Myth 1: Indian Agriculture is on a permanent decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Myth 2: Indian agriculture is food-grains centric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Myth 3: Declining size of Indian farm land leads to low production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Myth 4: Indian Agriculture is heavily dependant on rainfall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Myth 5: Organic farming can drive sustainability of Indian Agriculture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Myth 6: Organic food is chemical free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Myth 7: Crop protection chemicals are used excessively in India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Myth 8: Crop protection chemicals lead to severe imbalance of aquatic ecosystem . . . . . . . 21

Myth 9: Use of Crop protection chemicals has increased cancer cases in India . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Myth 10: Farmers' suicides are rampant in Indian Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Myth 11: Fruits & Vegetables are injected with colouring chemicals and animal harmones 28

Support required from the Government, Media and the Citizen of the Nation! . . . . . . . . . . 29

Overview of Indian Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Indian agriculture � The Growth Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Focus on Digitization to boost agriculture growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Farmer Success Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Acknowlegement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

About TSMG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

TableofContents


Knowledge Partner

TableofFigures

Figure 1: Trend of Agriculture Production and its contribution to GDP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Figure 2: India's international trade of agriculture production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Figure 3: Workforce in Agriculture: India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Figure 4: Changing composition of Indian Thali (meal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 5: Composition of per capita food intake by type of food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 6: Agriculture production: Food grains vs Horticulture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 7: Share of small and marginal farmers growing food grains and fruits & vegetables . . . . . . . 7

Figure 8: Fish, Milk, Eggs and Meat Production in India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Figure 9: Share of agriculture landholding by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 10: India's land holding and agriculture production trend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 11: Agriculture production vs Rainfall de�cit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 12: Global precipitation levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 13: Percentage of Agri land under Organic Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Figure 14: Pesticide residues in Organic Vegetables, 2014-15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 15: Agricultural Output and Spend on Crop protection chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Figure 16: Per hectare usage of crop protection chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Figure 17:Crop protection chemical Residues in Indian Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Figure 18: Crop protection chemical residue in Agriculture commodities: Global comparison. . . . 20

Figure 19: India's �sh production (million tonnes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Figure 20: State wise growth in �sheries production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Figure 21: Pesticide Residues above MRL in Fish, 2014-15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Figure 22: Cancer Incidences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Figure 23: Anatomy of suicide deaths in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Figure 24: Inherent Strengths in Indian Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Figure 25: Digitization of Indian agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Need for study on understanding myths and realities of Indian Agriculture

Beyond the numerous cultures that our Indian society follows, there is one culture which may not be practised by every Indian, but certainly lies in the mind and in the hearts of each citizen of the country and that is 'Agriculture'. Yes, we call it culture and not just another sector that contributes to our national income, or a sector that is a source of our foreign trade; but a culture that has deep rooted in�uence on political, cultural and our social lives. Our festivals and customs are in�uenced by agriculture. Indian agriculture thus is not just a source of livelihood, but a way of life.

It is often said that agriculture needs to be the top most priority because the government and the nation would both fail to succeed if agriculture is not successful. Therefore to further augment the process of Indian agriculture, it is critical to understand what the ground reality is, what the pain points are and the things we are unaware of.

Talking about awareness, let's take a glance at Indian agriculture. It is 2nd largest in the world by output and has been growing consistently over decades. It has propelled India to food su�ciency from a state of dependency immediately after Independence. The sector and the farmers have made immense contributions to bring prosperity to the nation, but are yet looked down. A lawyer wants his son to become a lawyer, a doctor wants his son to become a doctor and so on. But is this really the case for a farmer? Does he really want his son to be a farmer? Even farmer's children shy away from the prospect of becoming a farmer themselves and this is mainly due to the perceived negative image. In popular perception, Indian agriculture is considered a laggard. Most of us are not aware that in the total agricultural production, India ranks second in the world and it is numero uno in many important agricultural produces.

The grandfather of Brenda Schoepp (Inspirational speaker) once told her that, "Once in our life we need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher but every day, three times a day, we need a farmer." And though we may not be aware of the needs and requirements of the farmer; but a farmer is very well aware of ours and our society's needs. So does this not kindle a thought in our heads about knowing and addressing the gap that exists in perception of Indian agriculture among Indian citizens? But instead, in reality, the gaps are further being fuelled by propagation of several myths about Indian agriculture. There are several myths about the agriculture sector such as its being ine�cient and on a continuous decline, impact of agrochemicals usage on humans, animals and environment along with the injection of fruits and vegetables with colouring chemicals etc. While some of these claims may have some merit, the degree or veracity of these implications needs further validation.

With this report, we aim to delve deep into the "myths" about Indian agriculture and critique these myths by facts and �gures. We aim to establish Indian agriculture in positive light and provide reasons for Indian citizens to feel proud of Indian agriculture as he/she does for the other sectors.

[ 1 ]


Knowledge Partner


Knowledge Partner

[ 2 ]

With the growth of Indian Agriculture, there also has been growth in myths and misconceptions about it. There are several myths ranging from sustainability of Indian agriculture to poor productivity, from harmful impact of crop protection chemicals to water pollution. These myths and misconceptions lure us to believe that agriculture is losing its shine; in spite of the fact that sector is vibrant and growing. And holding onto to such misconceptions would mean nothing but being in denial.

There is an urgent need to project Indian agriculture and products in positive light. Because, though agriculture receives attention and �scal support from the government, it falls short, especially in branding Indian agriculture. Thus, as there have been programs for Manufacturing (Make in India for Industry), there is a need to initiate programs highlighting Indian Agriculture. But before that, it is important to address the misconceptions, and thus in this report, we will be highlighting the various myths, present facts to debunk them and help establish the ground reality.

Myths vs Realities


Knowledge Partner

[ 3 ]

Agriculture and its contribution to GDPThe Indian Agricultural production has increased in the last 11 years from 87 USD Bn in 2004-05 to 322 USD Bn in 2015-16 (based on current 2004-05 prices, refer �g.1). Contribution of agriculture to Indian GDP is 17%, thus Agriculture remains a strong contributor to Indian economy. Also, agriculture has a multiplier e�ect on the economy, where in it leads to overall development by being an important raw material source to the non-agriculture sectors of the economy.

Figure 1: Trend of Agriculture Production and its contribution to GDPSource: RBI Database, UN FAO Stat, Tata Strategic analysis

Hence, agricultural contribution as a percentage of GDP may not be the right measure to infer the progress it has made over the years. Given this background, can we still say that agriculture is declining?

India's position in agriculture exports For India, exports are critical as it in�uences our economic growth, employment and balance of payments. Apart from contribution to Indian GDP, agriculture is also one of the key contributors to exports earnings.

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

18.0

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

13.0

12.0

17.416.8 17.0 16.9

17.3

Indi

an A

gric

ultu

ral p

rodu

ctio

n(U

SD B

n.)

FY05 FY08 FY14 FY16FY11

32229320312987

Agricultureproduction(USD (Billion)

Indian Agricontri toGDP (%)

Myth 1:

Indian Agriculture is on a permanent decline

nd India ranks 2 in the world in agriculture production

th th India's world rank in services and industry sector is 11 & 12 respectively Indian agriculture production has increased from 87 USD Bn to 322 USD Bn in the last

11 years (12.6 % annual growth rate) th

Globally India ranks 8 in the agricultural exports

Do You Know


Knowledge Partner

[ 4 ]

India is among the leading exporters of agricultural products globally. Total agricultural exports from India have grown at 21% per annum from USD 17 Bn in FY11 to reach USD 36 Bn in FY15.(refer �g.2).

Figure 2: India's international trade of agriculture production Source: IASRI, Tata Strategic Research

Net earnings from agricultural exports have been comparable to that of services over last few years. In 2014, net exports from agriculture were USD 16 Bn and that from commercial services were USD 9 Bn, according to data accessed from WTO.

Contribution towards employment Indian agriculture plays a pivotal role in providing employment in India. India had a total workforce of 482 million as of 2011-12 census reporting. Of that, 263 million people were part of the agricultural workforce (refer �g. 3).

Figure 3: Workforce in Agriculture: India Source: Census 2011, Tata Strategic Research

By improving the annual agriculture income, a vast majority of the country's population can move out of poverty. Not just this, agriculture is a key source of employment (80% of women workforce is employed in agriculture) for women in India with women participation higher than that in the manufacturing and services sectors. There have also been various programmes like the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) that focuses on increased access of women farmers to productive land, inputs, credit, information and technology. This leads to increased levels of skills and performance of women in agriculture and overall empowerment of women farmers.

FY91 FY96 FY06 FY11FY01 FY150.19

0.91 1.86 3.318.65

17.76

0.933.14 4.41

7.57

17.08

36.84

Import (USD Bn) Export (USD Bn)

FarmWorkers

Total (in millions) % of Total Workers

Total Rural Urban Total Rural Urban

Cultivators

Agricultural Labourers

Total farm workers

119

144

263

115

137

252

4

7

11

25

30

55

25

28

53

1

1

2


Knowledge Partner

Also, with our economy expected to become the 3rd largest economy in the world by 2030, accompanied by a rise in urbanization levels, there will be changes seen in the dietary patterns. Population growth in India is declining and will thus only play a small role in growing consumption. However, with growing income levels, a large share of population below poverty line is expected to move out of it and spend more on food. This is expected to create a huge demand for Indian agriculture domestically.

Apart from increase in demand, the composition of the Indian food intake per thali is changing. Hence now we see less dependence on Cereals and more focus on Fruits & Vegetables, Milk and other forms of protein. This trend is expected to continue in the coming decades with growth of income levels and change in dietary patterns. This will create a diverse set of demand for Indian Agriculture.

Figure 4: Changing composition of Indian Thali (meal)Source: IASRI, Tata Strategic Research

With reference to �gure 4, we can say that change in dietary needs or a potential "change in thali" paves the way for a larger and a newer market for agricultural produce. With strong demand in the next few years driven by growing income and changes in dietary pattern, Indian agriculture will continue to exhibit strong growth of agriculture in absolute terms.

"Everything you have heard about Indian Agriculture is wrong. Contrary to popular perception, India's agricultural sector has been outperforming the much-discussed services and manufacturing sectors. We are now the world's second largest agriculture producer, thanks to a combination of natural and created strengths: India is not only blessed with abundant land, light, water and labour, Indian companies also produce everything required for agriculture, from seeds, fertilizers and irrigation equipment to farm machinery and post harvest technologies" � Rajju Shro�, Chairman, UPL

[ 5 ]


Knowledge Partner

[ 6 ]

Food grains vs Horticulture-Indian scenario When one thinks of Agriculture the �rst picture that comes to mind is the farmlands with the crops of wheat or rice all around. And surprisingly very few imagine of farms with blooming �owers or juicy fruits or other farming practices such as dairy, �sh farming etc. But one needs to understand the fact that Indian agriculture is very di�erent from monocultures (focused on one crop) that typically prevail in the western part of the world. Agriculture in India is well known to produce a large variety of crops besides food grains. Not only that, it is also a leading producer in most of them.

Figure 5 can help one appreciate the fact that how the food consumption pattern has changed over the past few years. And there has been growth in non-cereal crops. This therefore indicates that India is no more food grain centric country

Figure 5: Composition of per capita food intake by type of food Source: IASRI, Tata Strategic Research

The Green Revolution, that drove India towards self-su�ciency, was primarily driven by food grains, especially wheat. Food grains remained a key component of Indian agriculture over decades. As a result, Indian citizens believe that Indian agriculture is food grain centric. But thanks

Myth 2:

Indian Agriculture is food grain centric

Indian agriculture is multifaceted, with horticulture and animal husbandry contributing to over 60% of India's agricultural GDP

nd rd India is largest milk producer, 2 largest in vegetables & fruits and �sh production, 3

largest in egg and poultry production in the world Horticulture & livestock production engage a large share of small and marginal

farmers and thus play a critical role in economy.

Do You Know

NonCereals

35%Cereals

65%

NonCereals

42% Cereals58%


Knowledge Partner

[ 7 ]

to our diversity in soil type, climates, geographies, cultures, we see diverse production in di�erent regions. Thus, we don't follow a monoculture. Small farmers also grow multiple crops to address these diverse demands.

India has been in the forefront of horticulture production which has consistently exceeded food grain production in FY 11 to FY 15 period. Of the total, vegetables and fruits together comprise 91% of the total horticulture production in India. In the last 3 years, production of horticulture crops has outpaced that of food grain crops. Horticulture crop production has grown at a 4% CAGR over FY 11 to FY15 while food grains production has grown at a 1% CAGR over the same period. Horticulture has become a bright spot in Indian agriculture and India has become the 2nd largest producer of horticulture products in the world, after China.

Figure 6 shows the trend of the food grain and horticulture production, and depicts how horticulture has been on the rise from FY 91 to FY 15.

Figure 6: Agriculture production: Food grains vs Horticulture Source: ICAR, Tata Strategic Research

Better access to irrigation has been the key driving factor for the success of horticulture in India. For instance, for tomatoes & potatoes, which are the major horticulture crops, out of the total land under cultivation for these two vegetables, nearly 70% of the area is irrigated for tomatoes and 86% for potatoes. In comparison, only 50% of the areas under food grain have access to irrigation. Barring wheat, which is an irrigated crop, irrigation access varies from 16% for pulses to 59% for rice.

Figure 7: Share of small and marginal farmers growing food grains and fruits & vegetables Source: Agriculture Census 2010-11

Foodgrain (in MMT) Horticulture (in MMT)

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

176196

209

244284252

240

182

145127

FY 91 FY 01 FY 06 FY 15FY 11

83%

Food grains

87%

Vegetables

91%

Fruits


Knowledge Partner

[ 8 ]

As depicted in �gure 7; share of small and marginal farmers is high in horticulture production. Horticulture is helpful in improving the life of small and marginal farmers in terms of providing quick access to market. Horticulture results in faster cash generation, as the produce can be sold in the market on daily basis, which, in case of food grains is not possible. Besides this, Indian farm sizes have been declining over the last few decades and a large number of farmers own small and marginal farms. Such farms can leverage horticulture as against food grains, which need large farms to achieve scale. This leads us to the fact that small farmers (who are poor in terms of resource availability) have gained from the growth in horticulture and are deriving a sustainable livelihood in the process (Refer to success story 2 in the addendum section).

Diversity of Agriculture production India's diverse climate ensures production of all varieties of fresh fruits & vegetables. India has become a very important player on the global market, especially for rice, jute, cotton and sugar. In India, Uttar Pradesh leads in Fruits and Vegetables production, Tamil Nadu leads in Flowers and Plantation production, Madhya Pradesh leads in Aromatics and Medicinal crop production and Rajasthan leads in Spices production. In addition to these products, India has also become a sizeable exporter of rice, vegetable sap (guar gum), soya bean, maize, and wheat, as well as a diverse range of other products. In agriculture allied activities as well, India stands 1st in terms of milk production and 3rd in terms of egg production.

Apart from horticulture, India has performed phenomenally well in �sheries production and livestock rearing too (refer �g.8). In the last �ve years, �sh production has grown at healthy 6.2% per annum. Marine and freshwater catch �shing combined with aquaculture �sh farming is a rapidly growing industry in India. Fish as food, both from �sh farms and catch �sheries, o�er India one of the easiest and fastest ways to address malnutrition and food security.

Figure 8: Fish, Milk, Eggs and Meat Production in India Source: IASRI, Tata Strategic Research

103

69

93

63

45

22

51

23

76

112

56

43

82

122

63

48

90

132

70

59

104

146

79

67

FY05 FY07 FY09 FY11 FY13 FY15

Fish (lakh tonnes) Milk (Million tonnes) Eggs (billions) Meat (lakh tonnes)


Knowledge Partner

[ 9 ]

Livestock plays an important role in the economy of farmers. The farmers in India maintain a mixed farming system i.e. a combination of crop and livestock where the output of one �eld becomes the input of another, thereby realize the resource e�ciency. With an estimated production of 146 million tonnes in 2014-15, India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. Per capita availability of milk has reached 322 grams per day during the year 2014-15, which is more than the world average of 294 grams per day. Similarly, in the case of meat, egg, wool and �sh production, substantial progress has been achieved.

"As misconstrued, Indian agriculture is not only about food grains. Farmers over the past few years have opted to grow fruits and vegetables in their farms. Livestock rearing and poultry farming have also become common features in today's farms in the country. This surfacing of horticulture and animal husbandry as the new jewels of Indian agriculture can largely be attributed to the fact that they are strong contributors to income earned by a farmer along with faster cash generation." � Nana Gangal, Farmer � Karjat


Knowledge Partner

[ 10 ]

China and India with majority of their small and marginal holding lands are 1st and 2nd in the world agriculture production respectively.

The aggregate output/ha/year in small farms is higher on account of multiple cropping intensity, diverse output (crop + livestock) and round the year availability of family labour.

Yield per acre per crop is not an e�ective measure of Indian farm productivity (Since Indian agriculture does not follow monoculture like the other western nations)

Do You Know

Myth 3:Declining Size of Indian farm land leads tolow production

In India, the total number of operational farm holdings was 138.4 million with average size of 1.13 ha. Of the total holdings, 85% are in marginal and small farm categories of less than 2 ha. These small farms, though operating only on 44% of land under cultivation, are the main providers of food and nutritional security to the nation, but have limited access to technology, inputs, credit, capital and markets.

Figure 9: Share of agriculture landholding by size Source: FAO, 2013

Figure 9 shows the share of agriculture landholding by size. There exists a perception that there is an inverse relationship between farm size and productivity. Thus, it is believed that Indian farms are ine�cient in terms of productivity. However, if we look globally, the share of small and marginal farms is 84% as compared to India's 82%. In fact, China has an average farm size of 0.65 ha which is even lower than that in India. Despite the lower farm sizes, both India and China are

China0.65

India1.13

Avg. Land-holding

(ha)World

NA

< 1ha

1-2 ha

2-5 ha

>5 ha

72%

12%

10%6%

0%2% 5%

93%

63%

19%

14%

6%


Knowledge Partner

[ 11 ]

the top 2 agriculture producers in the world. As per �gure 10, though the average landholdings have been on a continuous decline; the agriculture production has grown. This is indicative of the fact that production per hectare has been constantly rising.

Figure 10: India's land holding and agriculture production trend Source: Agriculture Outlook, NCAER

Primary reason why Indian farms are considered ine�cient is because, yield for a crop is low in India vis-à-vis global counterparts. However there exists a signi�cant di�erence in structure of Indian agriculture and Western agriculture. Large farmers globally follow monoculture and are dependent on yields of that particular crop only. As a result, yield/ha is a relevant parameter for measuring their productivity. On the other hand, Indian agriculture is more holistic with farmers growing multiple crops in the same farm in one season. At the same time, farmer uses the same set of land for other allied agriculture activities such as managing livestock (mainly cattle and a small �ock of poultry), using agri-waste as manure and agri-leftover as feed to animals. Hence, productivity of Indian farms needs to be evaluated holistically, considering output from multiple crops and allied activities such as milk production, �sheries production and livestock. Yield as a measure may not be a relevant metric for measuring productivity of Indian farms and should not be considered as a tool to show Indian farms as unproductive.

500450400350300250200150100

500

FY 91 FY 01 FY 11 FY 15

303 341 484

1.15 1.13

536

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0

Avg

Lan

dhol

ding

(ha)

Agr

icul

ture

Pro

duct

ion

MM

T

Agriculture Production (Food grain + Horticulture in MMT)Avg land holdings (in ha)

1.331.55


Knowledge Partner

[ 12 ]

Indian agriculture is monsoon resilient thanks to major share of horticulture and livestock production that are round the year activity

Land under irrigation in India is the maximum in the world (91 million hectare)

Do You Know

Myth 4:

Indian Agriculture is heavily dependent on rainfall

Financial year 10, 13 & 15 observed below-average rainfall in India. Indian agriculture growth did not slow down signi�cantly even in those drought years. The monsoon does not have a high correlation with food in�ation with over 40% of food costs increases being explained by higher per capita incomes, rather than rainfall.

Figure 11: Agriculture production vs Rainfall de�cit Source: Bloomberg, IASRI, Tata Strategic Research

It is clearly evident from �gure 11 that agriculture production in India has been increasing over the years despite wide rainfall variation. Delayed or de�cient monsoon has not led to disaster on the food front over last few years. Indian agriculture used to be dependent on monsoon in the past when crop cultivation was con�ned to the monsoons, mainly for food grains with very little horticulture and animal husbandry.

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

10

5

0

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15

% ra

infa

ll de

�cit

Food

gra

in, h

ortic

ultu

re a

nd m

ilkpr

oduc

tion

(mill

ion

Tonn

es)

Food grains, horticulture, milk (mn tonnes) Rainfall De�cit


Knowledge Partner

[ 13 ]

Figure 12: Global precipitation levels Source: World Bank data, Tata Strategic Research

Annual precipitation levels in India are much higher than some of the other countries such as France, USA, China and Australia. Clearly, low rainfall cannot be cited as a reason for low agricultural productivity in India because countries with lower precipitation such as the US and China are among the top agriculture producers in the world. Instead, channelling rain water into irrigation systems should be the focus and hence some of the developed countries, despite lower rainfall are able to conserve the right amount of water requirement for agricultural produce.

Irrigated agricultural area was only 23 million hectares in India in 1951. It now exceeds 70 million hectares, making India the number one country in terms of irrigated land area. Further, the top food grains (wheat) and horticulture products are well irrigated and are thus able to better absorb shock of a weak monsoon year. For example, wheat is highly irrigated with ~70% of wheat land under irrigation. 59% of rice/paddy �elds are irrigated. At the same time, 8 top horticulture crops also have high level of irrigation. Thus with improvement in irrigation facilities there has been reduction in dependence on monsoon.

0 500 1000 1500 2000

Pakistan

Australia

China

USA

France

India

Brazil

"While it is true that there are certain drought prone areas in the country, overall precipitation in India is higher than many countries. Several crops are dependent on regular water supply; however, regular rainfall may not be a prerequisite to grow crops. It is important to construct farm ponds and employ water conservation and harvesting techniques in the regular scheme of activities. Certain crops like tamarind and awala do not even require a constant source of water." � Dr. Ratnakar Dhotre, Agriculture Expert


Knowledge Partner

[ 14 ]

India and the world at large was following practically organic agriculture until 1950s. The organic agriculture is not, therefore, the state of art technology. Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and crop protection chemicals.

However, globally only 1.1% of the agricultural land is under organic agriculture. Two third of organic agricultural land grows grass to support livestock while the balance one third grows primary food for our direct consumption.

Figure 13: Percentage of Agri land under Organic Culture Source: FiBL-IFOAM The World of Organic Agriculture, Tata Strategic Research

Globally only 1.1% of the agricultural land is under organic agriculture 100% organic farms are not a sustainable model since there is a high requirement of

organic manure; whereas productivity is found to be much low Sikkim, which is claimed to be an entirely organic farming state, is heavily dependent

on other states to feed its population

Do You Know

Myth 5:Organic farming can drive sustainability ofIndian Agriculture

USA

0.60%

Brazil

0.20%

China

0.30%

Indonesia

0.20%

India

0.70%


Knowledge Partner

[ 15 ]

Organic farms have been found to have a crop yield 20% less than conventional farms, with other studies suggesting that the number would be as low as 50%. In India, the production in organic farming saw a decline from FY 11 to FY 14 from 3.8 million tonnes to 1.24 million tonnes respectively. In the last three years the production has seen a further drop of 70%. Nearly 90% of the produce obtained from organic farming is not exported. Organic farming also requires considerably more land, and with the current (and increasing) population, if all farms were to switch to organic methods overnight, food production would drop, rendering a large section of the population in want of food. Organic farming on a pan India scale throws many questions to answer on food security.

There is serious concern on the availability of natural manures and natural crop protection solution to sustain Indian agriculture. Typically, Farm Yard Manure (FYM) contains 0.5% nitrogen, Gobar gas contains 0.75% nitrogen and vermin compost contains 1-1.5% nitrogen. On the other hand, urea contains 46% nitrogen. This leads us to a very valid question of whether India has enough Farm Yard Manure to support organic farming in order to ensure enough nutrition to crops.

For certain crops that need a small amount of nitrogen for their development, such as legumes and pulses, organic farming may work to some extent. But replicating the same model for wheat and rice may be lead to issues of productivity and sustainability.

A surprising �nding is that the actual organic agriculture production data (commodity wise) is not easily available from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare or from various state governments. Another crucial aspect that has come to light is the fact that the o�cial data related to organic farming in India, is found to be doctored. For instance, an analysis of data produced by National Centre for Organic Farming (NCOF) on the progress of organic farming in India showcases an aberration in data. For example, in Delhi which has total geographical area of 1.48 lakh ha, over 1 lakh ha was brought under organic farming in 2011-12 (almost 70% of the total land), according to NCOF data. While area under organic farming rose starkly from 266 ha in 2010-11 to 1 lakh ha in 2011-12 in Delhi, production crashed from 2,172 tonnes in 2010-11 to 10 kg in 2011-12.

Sikkim has been touted to be a completely organic farming state in India. However, it is worthy of note that in the last two decades, Sikkim's population increased by 50% but its food grain production decreased by 30%. Further, Sikkim has the lowest productivity (5 tonnes/ha) in vegetables in India. If this model were adopted by other states as well, could it lead to a food crisis? Only time will tell.

"While there are advantages of organic farming, it takes minimum 5 years to reap bene�ts from an entirely organic farm. All types of Crops can be grown on organic farms. However, an organic farmer may face di�culties in maintaining production levels by employing a 100% organic route. Normal cultivation practices can be adopted by use of combination of Organic and inorganic fertilizers. And simultaneously reducing the use of inorganic fertilizers, chemical insecticides and pesticides in due course. In that regard, a crop wise assessment of crop protection chemicals usage vis-à-vis organic farming needs to be done to understand the crop requirements for good produce. Integrated farming could be looked at as an attractive option." � Prof. Ramesh Khadse, Agriculture Expert


Knowledge Partner

[ 16 ]

Crop protection chemical residues have been found in vegetable samples of organic produce

The notion of nutritional superiority provided by organic produce is debatable

Do You Know

Myth 6:

Organic food is chemical free

Organic farming is di�erent from conventional farming not because of the non-usage of crop protection chemicals, but the origin of those crop protection chemicals. Just like Ayurveda, which is a treatment method adopted with natural ingredients, organic farming uses crop protection chemicals of natural origin, whereas conventional farming tends to use synthetically produced crop protection chemicals, much like Allopathic medicines which may use synthetically produced medicines.

Number of Organic produce detected with chemical pesticides:

Figure 14: Pesticide residues in Organic Vegetables, 2014-15 Source: All India Co-ordinated Programme on Crop protection chemical Residues, DAC, Delhi

Centres Sample Analysed Sample with detected residues Anand 8 2 Hyderabad 32 8 Kalyani 31 9 Solan 30 0 Bangalore 20 3 Lucknow 30 1 Gurgaon 30 0 Vellayani 30 1 Rahuri 30 2 Ahmedabad 20 1 NPQS Delhi 7 0 Ludhiana 44 6 PC Cell Delhi 40 13 Chennai 22 4 Combatore 31 0 Grand Total 405 50 (12.3%)


Knowledge Partner

[ 17 ]

As per the All India Network Project on Crop protection chemical residues, vegetable samples (405 samples) were collected from organic outlets across the country; from which 50 samples (12.3%) had measurable crop protection chemical residue. Hence, an oblivious customer going shopping may need to be sure while taking pride in purchasing organic food which is claimed and/or believed to be chemical free.

Organic produce is considered to be healthier and more nutritious compared to non-organic food. In 2010, an independent research group in the UK conducted a meta-analysis of over 100 articles that compared conventional and organic produce over 50 years, and found no evidence for di�erences in nutritional content for over 15 nutrients. A study conducted by Stanford University, USA, in 2012, reviewed many previously conducted studies comparing organic and conventionally grown food. The study found little evidence that organic foods are more nutritious. The study came to the same conclusion about organic meat products. It is noted that freshly picked produce (organic or non-organic) have high nutrient content. So the longer the agri-produce is kept in a store shelf or home refrigerator, the more nutrients will be lost, regardless of how it was grown. Further, no particular evidence of the nutritional content falling with the use of crop protection chemicals was found. On the contrary, some experts feel that food from organic farms can be prone to bacterial contamination since they do not use crop protection chemicals and put crops at greater risk of contamination from the bacteria in the farm manure. This risk was manifested to the world when an E. coli outbreak (which killed over 30 people) in Germany in 2011 was found to be linked to organically grown bean sprout.

There are no diagnostic techniques available as of now to distinguish products from di�erent farming systems. The perceived belief that organic products are good for health is fetching them premium prices. It may well be a fact that hawkers may sell anything and everything as organically produced to unsuspecting buyers at higher prices resulting in outright cheating.

In India, Agricultural Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Ministry of Commerce is the controlling body for organic certi�cation for exports. Till date there are no domestic standards for organic produce within India. Further, the certi�cation process in India is very expensive, for an ordinary farmer to a�ord. This sometimes may lead to the usage of crop protection chemicals to enhance productivity and yet sell their produce under the bracket of organic farm produce. While this is not a regular feature across farms, but certain hardships faced by farmers may prompt them to do so.

"The sole purpose of venturing into organic farming is to minimize usage of crop protection chemicals since they are believed to be harmful to the environment. However, an expensive certi�cation is needed for branding a product to be organic, which has coerced a few organic farmers across the country to illegally resort to the usage of crop protection chemicals. So should we still blindly believe the claim that organic food is chemical free? Because not all that glitters is gold!" -Dr. C.D. Mayee, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of Audit Committee, AFC India Limited


Knowledge Partner

[ 18 ]

Global production of major crops has increased signi�cantly, largely driven by plant science innovations like pest control products. World population is increasing and the amount of land available remaining still, it is becoming increasingly important for farmers to be able to sustainably maximize the amount of food they are able to grow on the land that is currently being used for agriculture.

Figure 15: Agricultural Output and Spend on Crop protection chemicalsSource: All India Co-ordinated Programme on Crop protection chemical Residues, DAC, Delhi

India's spend on crop protection chemicals is less than 1% of total agricultural production in value terms; which is fraction of global counterparts

As per food samples analysed by certi�ed labs, 98% of them were found to be compliant within the crop protection chemical maximum residue limits (MRL)

Our food compliance with respect to residues is in line with global standards

Do You Know

Myth 7:Crop protection chemicals are usedexcessively in India

Brazil USA China India

Agri production (USD) per USD of pesticide spend Pesticide spend (USD bn)

10

31

9

13

8

2.5

126 126


Knowledge Partner

[ 19 ]

Upon comparison with other countries, India's spend on crop protection chemicals is USD 2.5 Bn, which is just 0.8% of the total agricultural production. This means that agriculture production in India and China per dollar spent on crop protection chemicals stands at USD 126, which is far higher than that in countries like the US, Japan and Brazil. Indian farmers are utilizing crop protection chemicals more e�ciently and are being able to generate agricultural produce in large quantities.

Figure 16: Per hectare usage of crop protection chemicals Source: World Bank Data

In recent years, there have been many reports claiming that Indian farmers use excessive crop protection chemicals. In reality, the claim may be questionable. As per data, India uses far less amount of crop protection chemicals compared to developed and even emerging economies. As depicted in the map, India's crop protection chemicals consumption is one of the lowest in the world at 0.4 kg per hectare compared to UK (2.8 kg/ha) and Japan (12.5 kg/ha). China - which has less arable land (106 million ha) compared to India (155 million ha), but has emerged as the leading food producer of the world � uses 17 kg of crop protection chemicals per ha. Also, here's the irony; on one hand we claim that Indian farmers lack funds and hence cannot buy modern inputs to support farming practices e�ectively, whereas on the other hand they are being blamed for using excessive agrochemicals. Small and marginal farmers, in fact �nd it di�cult to purchase these chemicals and hence many a time fail to protect their crops.

As depicted in �gure 17, 98% of the agricultural commodities (food grains, vegetables, fruits, milk) comply with the prescribed upper limits �xed for crop protection chemical residues. These samples have been taken from farms all over the country and have been tested in authorized labs.

UK

2.8 kg/ha

Germany

3.7 kg/ha

China

17.0 kg/ha

India

0.4 kg/ha

France

3.7 kg/ha

Japan

12.5 kg/ha


Knowledge Partner

[ 20 ]

"Environmentalists, traditionalists and wellness advisers seem to believe that pesticides are dispensable. They do not see them as crop protection chemicals. As per research, fewer fruit and vegetable samples in India were found to have residues above the maximum limit, than in the United Kingdom and Europe. Pesticides are like antibiotics. They are required to protect plants from pests and diseases and minimize harvest losses estimated at 20-30%. And like antibiotics they should be taken judiciously." � Dr. K.K. Sharma, Network Coordinator, Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Figure 17:Crop protection chemical Residues in Indian Agriculture Source: All India Co-ordinated Programme on Crop protection chemical Residues, DAC, Delhi

Also, India's compliant levels are in line with compliance standards globally. Only 2% of food samples tested had crop protection chemical residue above Maximum residue limit (MRL).

Figure 18: Crop protection chemical residue in Agriculture commodities: Global comparison Source: Monitoring of crop protection chemical residue report 2014-15, DAC, Ministry of Agriculture, PARA/PNCRC Brazil, CFIA Canada, US FDA, EFSA Europe, Tata Strategic Research

Figure 18 compares India's compliance status on chemical residues found in the agriculture commodities. There is bound to some residue in food using crop protection chemicals. However the extent of its presence and its impact on human health needs to be debated.

MRL are safety levels that de�ne maximum residue that can be found on agri-commodity after safe and authorized use of crop protection chemicals. This serves as a monitoring tool to ensure that good agricultural practices are followed and excessive crop protection chemicals are not used. It is important to note that food with residue above MRL doesn't necessarily mean food is unsafe as long as it doesn't exceed acceptable dose. MRL are usually set very low (1/100th) of Acceptable daily intake. So a person consuming food with slightly higher residue than MRL is not expected to contract any harmful e�ects over his/her lifetime. MRL violations need to be understood clearly. There would be instances of excessive usage in cases such as Spices or fruits; however the overall compliance level is good. In cases of excessive usage, there is a need to grow awareness among farmers on e�ective usage and time of applications.

Year Sample Analysed Samples above FSSAI MRL 2008-09 13,348 212 2009-10 14,225 155 2010-11 15,321 188 2011-12 16,948 303 2012-13 16,494 436 2013-14 16,790 509 2014-15 20,618 543 Total 113,744 2,345 (2.06%)

Country (year) Total number of sample analyzed % samples above MRL India (2014-15) 20,618 2.6 % Canada (2013-14) 18,000 1.8 % US (2013) 1,905 2.8 % EU (2013) 80,967 2.6 % Brazil 13,556 3.0 %


Knowledge Partner

[ 21 ]

Pure water is viewed as a privilege to modern society. Technology makes it possible to have clean, clear water readily available. However, the technology that makes this possible also creates stress on the very water resources that are now taken for granted. Clean water can be preserved through an understanding of the products and processes that endanger its availability. Crop protection chemicals represent only a portion of the contaminants introduced into our water systems that a�ect quality. However, the use of these products is under our control of farmers as responsible individual citizens.

Critics fear that crop protection chemicals harms quality of water surfaces. Several critics have left no stone unturned in calling crop protection chemicals "the leading source of pollution in the country" or the "greatest single threat to the nation's groundwater quality". But in trying to assess just how much blame agriculture should bear, and what we can reasonably do about it, one faces issues with lack of data.

It is widely claimed that increase in agriculture activity leads to deterioration of land and water bodies in the vicinity. Fish species are the most sensitive to water quality and pollution, and any increase in pollution will directly impact inland �sh production. Therefore, what we did is a litmus test to determine the impact of crop protection chemicals on aquatic bodies. And what was found was, the states that lead agricultural activities are also leading suppliers of inland �sh (refer �g.20). Flourishing aquaculture in Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Punjab (two of the India's leading states in agriculture production) questions the claim that intensive agriculture pollutes water. On the contrary, undivided AP has emerged as one of the leading inland �sh producing states

Fish are highly sensitive to water pollutants India is the second largest �sh producer in the world, which shows our soil water

ecosystem is not contaminated. Andhra Pradesh and Punjab despite being high users of pesticides are leaders in �sh

production

Do You Know

Myth 8:Crop protection chemicals lead to severeimbalance of aquatic ecosystem


Knowledge Partner

[ 22 ]

(accounting for 1.8 mt of the total 6.3 mt of inland �sh production in the country). Also, Punjab has the highest inland �sh productivity at 6,560 kg per acre of inland water area, which is far higher than that in other states in India.

Figure 19: India's �sh production (million tonnes) Source: Handbook of Fisheries statistics, IASRI data, Tata Strategic Analysis

As clearly evident from �gure 19, �sheries production in Indian has grown widely since 1970's. 2/3rd of the �sh production of India comes from inland sources. And if inland water is polluted large scale aquaculture is not possible. In India, Punjab has the highest productivity of �shes; Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of inland �sheries in India, the fastest growing state in inland �sheries production and also one of the largest consumers of crop protection chemicals in the country. Further, to corroborate the weak linkage between the impacts of crop protection chemicals run o� on inland �sheries, the following table demonstrates the increase in inland �sheries production in top states in the country over the past 5 years (refer �g.20).

Figure 20: State wise growth in �sheries production Source: Handbook �sheries statistics, Department of Animal Husbandry

The comparison between the numbers of �sh/ marine samples analysed and number of samples above FSSAI MRL during 2008 to 2015 is provided in �gure 21. Fish samples with residues higher than MRL has been negligible in past 7 years.

Year Marine Inland Total

1970-71 1.08 0.67 1.76

1980-81 1.55 0.89 2.42

1990-91 2.30 1.53 3.83

2000-01 2.81 2.85 5.65

2010-11 3.25 4.98 8.23

2013-14 3.43 6.13 9.57

2014-15 3.50 6.93 10.04

Inland �sheries (kT) 2011-12 2014-15 CAGR

Andhra Pradesh 1170 1754 14%

West Bengal 1290 1438 4%

Uttar Pradesh 428 494 5%

Bihar 344 480 12%

Odisha 267 307 5%


Knowledge Partner

[ 23 ]

Year Sample Analysed Samples above FSSAI MRL

2008-09 698 1

2009-10 689 0

2010-11 520 0

2011-12 494 1

2012-13 714 7

2013-14 776 6

2014-15 893 0

Total 4,784 15 (0.3%)

Figure 21: Pesticide Residues above MRL in Fish, 2014-15 Source: All India Co-ordinated Programme on Crop protection chemical Residues, DAC, Delhi

In addition, out of 1,921 surface water samples analysed in 2014-15, only 8 samples were detected with pesticide residues. And none of those 8 samples had residues above the FSSAI MRL for drinking water. This does not support the widespread belief that our water systems remain highly polluted with pesticides.

"Registered crop protection chemicals in India have a prede�ned degradation period. Even if some of these chemicals seep into surface water, they should degrade over time. Further, there is healthy inland �sh production in states like Andhra Pradesh which consume crop protection chemicals in large quantities. This leads us to question whether crop protection chemicals severely a�ect aquatic life." � Mr. P.S. Singh, Head-Chemicals, FICCI


Knowledge Partner

[ 24 ]

Crop protection chemicals usage is attributed to signi�cant increase in cancer incidence in India. There have been cases such as in Punjab's Malwa region, where high cancer rates were attributed to crop protection chemicals.

There is a train popularly called 'Cancer Train', which runs from Bhatinda to Bikaner. This train ferries large number of cancer patient for treatment at Regional cancer treatment centre in Rajasthan. It is argued that high usage of fertilizers and crop protection chemicals during the green revolution has contaminated ground waters and is leading to rise in cancer cases.

Several studies concluded that excessive presence of uranium and heavy metal in the ground water was the primary reason for cancer in the Malwa region of Punjab. A committee was constituted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, to �nd the source of uranium in water of Punjab, particularly in the Malwa region. BARC in their study pointed out that natural phenomenon were the primary cause behind presence of uranium in drinking water. There has been no conclusive evidence of crop protection chemicals causing cancer in the Malwa region.

Moreover, incidence of cancer across states is more or less the same in India and we do not see high incidence in major crop protection chemicals consuming states such as AP and Maharashtra. For instance, Sikkim, where crop protection chemicals consumption is negligible has the one of the highest incidence in India. Even at a global level, countries such as Singapore with no agriculture and hence no usage of crop protection chemicals, has high cancer incidence than India.

Group I list of WHO's International agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) contains 120 substance considered to be carcinogenic to human

Substances in the Group I list include: Processed red meat, Alcohol, Arecanut, Coal tar, Tobacco, X-ray etc.

Not a single agrochemical �gures in this list.

Do You Know

Myth 9 :Use of Crop protection chemicals hasincreased cancer cases in India

Pesticides. Carcinogenic?WHO has not listed any pesticide to be carcinogenic to humans (Group I)

International Agency for Research on Cancer


Knowledge Partner

[ 25 ]

Figure 22: Cancer Incidences Source: Punjab Govt Survey 2012 & International Agency for Research on Cancer. GLOBOCAN 2012, Estimated Cancer Incidences per 100,000 population

Besides looking at the comparison in �gure 22, one cannot overlook the probabilities of other factors that can be cancer causing. Some of the major carcinogenic agents which fall under Group 1 are Alcohol, Tobacco and Areca/betel nut which come in to human contact more often than crop protection chemicals. As a result, it is di�cult to pinpoint the most probable causes. As of the 31st March 2016, 272 crop protection chemicals were registered for use in India with CIBRC. Out of 272 chemicals, none of crop protection chemicals is classi�ed as Group 1 carcinogenic agent.

High Cancer in Punjab ?The True Picture...

Location Punjab India World U.S.A. Singapore

Cancer Incidence(per 100,000 people) 88 92.4 204.9 347.0 218.8

"The world knows that tobacco is the biggest contributor to cancer. Still there is a high level of social acceptance. Whereas, there is no known carcinogenic crop protection chemical used in Indian agriculture. So I don't see any reason why we should blame crop protection chemicals only for causing cancer" � Mr. Manish Panchal, Sr. Practice Head � Chemicals & SCM, Tata Strategic Management Group


Knowledge Partner

[ 26 ]

Suicides, whether by farmers or non-farmers deserve attention and understanding. More than 8 lakh people die from suicide in a year in the world (WHO) Suicide rate in Japan is among the highest : - 60% higher than the global average In India, farmers suicide account for less than 10 % of the total suicide

Do You Know

Myth 10 :Farmer suicides are rampant inIndian Agriculture

Figure 23: Anatomy of suicide deaths in IndiaSource: National Crime Records Bureau, 2016.

Year Total Suicides Non-Farmers Farmers

2004 113697 98156 18241 (84%) (16%)

2008 125017 108221 16796 (85.6%) (13%)

2012 135445 121691 13754 (89.8%) (10.2%)

2015 133623 121020 12603 (90.6%) (9.4%)


Knowledge Partner

[ 27 ]

India has seen moderate increase in number of suicide victims. In terms of share of profession, share of farmers suicide has decreased over the last few years from 16% in 2004 to 9.4% in 2015. Share of non-agri professions suicide victims is high (90.6%) in India. Within non-agri professions, housewives and daily wage earners are the largest group of suicide victims in India. The salaried and self-employed have high share of suicide victims despite comparatively low contribution to employment as compared to Indian Agriculture. The number of suicides by housewives was about 4 times that of farmers in 2014, yet housewife suicides seldom make the front page in newspapers, the way farmer suicides do.

"It is no secret that the much-emotionalized issue of farmers' suicides is nothing but a canard used to achieve diabolic designs; to show Indian agriculture in poor light worldwide and to adversely a�ect its growth" � Mr. S. Ganesan, Chairman (International Treaties Expert Committee)-Indian Chemical Council


Knowledge Partner

[ 28 ]

"Fruits and vegetables are injected with colouring chemicals and animal hormones (like oxytocin) post-harvest to make them look appealing at the market place". This is a common belief held among the public. However, based on research conducted by CENTEGRO, this claim is contentious and could also be termed as a hoax. Injecting liquid inside harvested fruits and vegetables has scienti�cally and mechanically been proven to be impossible as it would lead to altering the internal equilibrium of the fruits / vegetables."

The vascular system responsible for internal circulation in the plants will cease to be functional in harvested fruits and vegetables. So, even the trace level of the chemical dye placed inside the harvested fruits will not translocate and spread within the fruits and vegetables.

You may think it is possible to inject the chemical dye into the growing fruits. The answer is 'NO' as such saturated synthetic dye will harm the plants.

Nothing can be injected into the fruits post-harvest. This could be veri�ed by attempting to inject colour water into ripe unpeeled banana. The coloured water would immediately drip out from the point of injection.

Injecting liquid inside harvested fruits & vegetables is not possible at all, as it would lead to altering the internal equilibrium of fruits & vegetables

The animal hormone cannot and will not improve the size of fruits & vegetables overnight, as alleged

Do You Know

"India has in recent years emerged as the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. Success attracts rumours and envy- from the vested interests-to tarnish the image of Indian horticulture. The rumour that the Indian farmers inject colours into harvested fruits and vegetable is one such sinistrous attempt to make people shy away from desi fruits and vegetables. Just ignore the rumours and eat more and more of Indian fruits and vegetables for a healthy life" � Ms. Archana Nair, Governing Council member with Center for Environment and Agriculture

Myth 11:Fruits and Vegetables are injected withcolouring chemicals & animal hormones


Knowledge Partner

[ 29 ]

Support required from the Government,Media and the Citizen of the Nation!

Post-independence, undoubtedly there has been signi�cant evolution in the country's most vital sector that is agriculture. Immense progress has been made to achieve the nation's food security by bringing in a substantial increase in the agricultural production. And for anything that we know has come a long way, there have been cumulative e�orts put in by the nation's government, private companies, farmers, media and of course the citizens of the country. But most of these e�orts are directed towards addressing problems in parts. Also, most of these e�orts do not reach the last mile farmer. Considering these limitations, the government has identi�ed the major unmet-needs across the agri-value chain. It includes need for Crop speci�c advisory and Farm management services, Demand for Free Marketplace to buy and sell farm products and Need for higher adoption of digital technologies.

The government has been sincerely trying to put in or outlay in merchandizing and commercializing the sector. Some of the known plans and strategies of the Indian Government include Soil Health Card Scheme which is aimed at improving soil health and reducing input costs for the farmer; National e-Governance plan, which includes setting up of nationwide infrastructure such as CSC (Common Service Centre Schemes); Jan Dhan Yogna , that involves creation of credit guarantee fund, micro insurance, pension schemes like Swavalamban ; Digital India initiative, under which, e-kranti is an essential pillar with 44 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) at various stages of implementation.

But Oh! As we all know, it's never enough! Because at one moment we may kill ten disrupting issues; but the very next minute what we see is, there are ten other issues which will in no time be again the major issues and disrupt the sector again. Today, agriculture is witnessing radical changes and challenges at not just national but also at global level. With changing times, the consumer's preferences are also changing, demand for commodities is steeply rising, and breaking pro�ts are giving hard time to the overall sector. And besides responding to the long standing issues, one must also not turn away from the harsh realities. There is a growing competition for the use of resources like land and water on which agriculture is largely dependent. Water-table is lowering steeply in most of the irrigated areas; climate change is already exacerbating the situation, making agriculture more risky. Hence, we can now know for certain that more needs to be done.

Role of Government Government now needs to be more sensitive to the need of the farming community, especially of the smallholders and of the poor, living in the backward, fragile and marginal areas. Also, it needs to focus more on the commodities and areas where the private sector will be more reluctant to enter. Need for setting up a strategy framework to meet the challenges of rising demand for food, improving livelihood opportunities of farmers, and for ensuring sustainable farming and agricultural growth is essential. To do the same, R&D has to be strengthened so as to augment the farmer's income, generate employment opportunities, conserve natural resources, restrict imports, promote exports and increase value addition for higher and inclusive agricultural growth.

Creation of Agri sector focused programs/Initiatives: Government should focus on maintaining the share of agriculture contribution to overall GDP. An initiative needs to be


Knowledge Partner

[ 30 ]

designed on lines of 'Make in India' need to be developed in India to 'Grow in India'. The initiative should focus on driving improvement of agri technology and inputs.

Marketing of Indian agriculture products: India is a leading producer of wide spectrum of products. There is a signi�cant export opportunity with India still not in the top 5 exporters globally. Government needs to support agriculture by creating brand for certain agriculture products. We can draw inspiration from marketing of Kiwi fruit which is synonymous with New Zealand or Watches from Switzerland. Governments' support in marketing of Indian produce can go a long way in driving exports and improving lives of Indian farmers.

Focus on non-cereals sectors: With changing dietary patterns, it becomes even more critical for Indian government to drive segments such as Horticulture and Fisheries. By doing so, it can provide small and marginal farmers better access to cash.

R&D investments: An active agricultural invention-and innovation gamut would play a crucial role in addressing a number of supply-side obstructions and in harnessing numerous demand-side opportunities. The preconditions for making agriculture sector more remunerative and sustainable would be to evolve e�ective mechanisms for technology delivery and to enhance capacity of all stakeholders in the invention-innovation gamut.

Development of Public Private Partnership model: There also lies plenty of opportunities for a Public Private Partnership model, which could be one of the game changing solutions in the agricultural research and development and also for fostering relevant agro-enterprises and technology incubators. It could help to o�shoot the development of the food processing industry, which besides focusing on increasing the shelf life of the food, provides farm extension services, enhance price realization, cut out intermediaries and improve the supply chain through forward and backward linkages. It could also be partnerships where they protect the sector against the vagaries of nature. PPPs that help the agricultural sector deal with weather shocks, and allow farmers to minimize risk through insurance, can be a crucial helping hand. The Maharashtra government has already made a start with its Maharashtra Public-Private Partnership for Integrated Agriculture Development (PPPIAD) project. Under the aegis of this initiative, Maharashtra is developing integrated value chains for selected crops through PPPs and co-investment. PPPs like the Maharashtra project are the way to go for India's agricultural sector. They are proving to be an important step in renewing and rejuvenating rural economies and leading them to inclusive and sustainable growth.

Farmer education and training on usage of crop protection and other inputs: Crop protection usage is essential for food security. However to improve the compliance level on residues, government needs to work with Industry to create awareness on Good agricultural practices (GAP). GAP would ensure right dosage and timing of application, even further reducing the residue levels on food produced in India. Also at the same time, Government need to take actions against vendor supplying spurious crop protection chemicals. Even though the regulations are in place against these vendors, stronger enforcement can do a long way in improving usage of such chemicals.


Knowledge Partner

[ 31 ]

Role of Media Besides the core support from the government and institutions, media can come across to be very e�ective in addressing the certain loopholes in the agriculture community. The reporting on media is usually seen to be restricted to rising food prices, shortage of food or certain natural disasters. However the media can potentially play a much wider role so as to raise the pro�le of the entire agricultural community amongst the decision makers as well as the entire audience in general. It can be a powerful source for communicating not just the needs or shortfall but also success stories in the agriculture sector by being the voice of policy makers, researchers and the voice of the farmers. It can be a platform where it creates an opportunity for farmers to express themselves on air and hence participate in the decision making process. The media needs to be engaged more as a partner from the very beginning of the project and not just as invitee to events, seminars and openings as it plays a vital role in communicating the information to all the stakeholders.


Knowledge Partner

[ 32 ]

Addendum

Overview of Indian Agriculture Agriculture plays an important role in India's economy. Indian Agriculture and allied sectors (including agriculture, livestock, forestry and �shery) contribute nearly 14% of the GDP during 2013-14. It provides employment to over 54% of the Indian workforce. India's Agri GDP almost doubled in real terms in the last 15 years. India's agriculture revolution propelled India from being net importer of food grains in 1960s to a net exporter as of today. Indian agricultural exports amounted to nearly USD 36 billion in FY15 and is a key foreign exchange contributor.

This astonishing growth has been driven by inherent strengths of Indian agriculture. Large availability of land, labour and favourable climate makes India one of the most suitable countries for agriculture in the world.

Figure 24: Inherent Strengths in Indian Agriculture Source: Tata Strategic Research

Light

Land

LabourIrrigated Area

Agro-biodiversity

Unique Assets

Strengths

Family managed small land

holdings

Crop-livestock mixed

farming in multiple seaspms

Sunlight is available

throughout the year

India has the largest area in the world under agriculture

No other country cultivates as many crops as India does

India has the largest

irrigated land area in the

world (91 million.ha) Over 260 millio

n workers,

many of which work 7

days a week


Knowledge Partner

[ 33 ]

Indian agriculture has progressed rapidly over the years, especially in horticulture, where its production has surpassed food grains production in the last 3 years. Further, India is the world's largest milk producer, 3rd largest eggs producer and 6th largest meat producer in the world.

The progress in agriculture production in the past half century was driven by improvement in inputs such as irrigation (42% of total arable area), improvement in mechanization (3rd largest tractors market) and increased availability of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers (2nd largest market) and crop protection chemicals (One of the top 10 crop protection chemicals market).

In 1960s, India was dependent on agricultural imports for meeting local demand. India's growing population, along with concerns about national independence, security, and political stability, fuelled a need to be self-su�cient in food production. This led to a program of agricultural improvement called the Green Revolution, to a public distribution system, and to price supports for farmers. In the 1980s, despite three years of meagre rainfall and a drought in the middle of the decade, India managed to get along with very few food imports because of the growth in food-grain production and the development of a large bu�er stock against potential agricultural shortfalls.

By the early 1990s, India was self-su�cient in food-grain production. Agricultural production has kept pace with the food needs of the growing population as the result of increased yields in almost all crops, especially in cereals. Food grains and pulses accounted for two-thirds of agricultural production in the mid-1990s.


Knowledge Partner

[ 34 ]

Indian agriculture � The Growth Story

1. Population and income growth: India's per capita income rose by 7.4% to Rs 93,293 in 2015-16, compared to Rs 86,879 in the preceding �scal. The total agriculture land remains same but the demand is increasing steeply. With the rising level of income, per capita fat consumption is growing rapidly. Also, the composition of thali is changing with less focus on cereals and more focus on fruits & vegetables and other products. Additionally, India's per capita calorie, protein, and fat consumption remains signi�cantly below that of more developed countries. With rising per capita income and growing urbanization, demand for food products in India is expected to reach greater heights.

2. Increasing Export: India is the fastest growing exporter of agricultural products over a 10-year period. It has become one of the world's largest suppliers of rice, cotton, sugar and wheat. As more Indian farmers realise the bene�ts and participate in exporting crops to increase their earnings, it would boost the agriculture's contribution to the economy.

3. Favourable Demographics: In 2015, less than 13% of the population was over 55 years of age. 41% of the population was in the prime working-age category of 25�54 years old. And 29% of the population was 14 years and under, indicating that there is still plenty of labour in the pipeline. Agriculture is the livelihood of about 54% of India's working population. With favourable demographics, labour supply is going to be abundantly available to sustain agriculture.

4. Mechanization: Farm mechanization is an important element of modernization of agriculture. It not only enables e�cient utilization of various inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, plant protection chemicals and water for irrigation, but it also helps in poverty alleviation by making farming an attractive business. As farm mechanisation improves, productivity would improve. More produce would be available from same available land, thereby contributing to growth of agriculture. With continued demand for tractors and other power sources, the productivity of Indian agriculture is expected to grow.

5. Irrigation facilities: India uses a mix of traditional and re�ned methods of irrigation. India had been dependent on rainfall/monsoon for decades. However the dependence has been declining. Methods like drip irrigation, sprinklers, plasticulture can help to increase productivity while still using up less resource.

As per the 12th �ve year plan by the government of India, 100.8 lakh hectares of land is expected to adopt micro-irrigation methods with drip irrigation covering ~48 lakh hectares and sprinkler irrigation covering ~53 lakh hectares of area. This measure would insure farmers from vagaries of rain; improve the productivity of land while optimising the inputs.

6. Growing institutional credit: Institutional credit to agriculture in real terms has increased during the past four decades. The structure of credit outlets has witnessed a signi�cant change and commercial banks have emerged as the major source of institutional credit in recent years. The government of India has introduced various schemes like Kisan Credit Card Scheme to increase the in�ow of credit into agriculture; easily available cheap credit allows


Knowledge Partner

[ 35 ]

farmers to purchase their necessities to grow their crops sometimes even multiple rounds. These would enable farmers to invest in better quality inputs, manage the crops on the �eld and break the vicious cycle of money lenders exploitation. This would improve the productivity of the farmland as farmers would be able to exercise choice of producing right crops.

7. Increasing Minimum Support Price: The approval to increase MSPs is based on the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) which takes into account the cost of production, overall demand-supply, domestic and international prices, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the e�ect on the rest of the economy, besides ensuring rational utilization of production resources like land and water. MSPs with assurance of customers would insure farmers to invest in certain products which otherwise he/she wouldn't have experimented with, thereby improving the availability of products which are required nationally.

8. Government Initiatives: Given the importance of agriculture sector, the Government of India has taken several steps for its sustainable development. Steps have been taken to improve soil fertility on a sustainable basis through the soil health card scheme, to provide improved access to irrigation and enhanced water e�ciency through Pradhanmantri Gram Sinchai Yojana (PKVY), to support organic farming through PKVY and to support creation of a uni�ed national agriculture market to boost the incomes of farmers. Other key schemes are Krishi Vikas Yojana and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. These schemes are being taken to shape the right environment to make agriculture a pro�table enterprise and help achieve prosperity of farmers. All of these would boost productivity and improve contribution of agriculture to economy


Knowledge Partner

[ 36 ]

Focus on Digitization to boost agriculture growth

A new initiative of the Government of India is Digital India which was launched in 2014. It aims at ensuring that government services are made available to citizens without any or through less paperwork. The one thing which is the most useful for rural India is the setting up of an Online National Agriculture Trading market to help farmers of India and increase agricultural output.

Digital India program will help farmers in various ways including weather forecast to agriculture consultation. Government has launched several programmes like Digital Green and online agriculture markets. As depicted in the �gure, not only the government, but companies and start-ups as well have launched various schemes to support farm digitization.

Figure 25: Digitization of Indian agriculture Source: Tata Strategic Research

Companies provide customized information to farmers abroad. In India, few players operate in this domain

Largest pvt. project has ~10 million farmers in its database

GOI schemes are spread across the entire agri-supply chain

Apart from major programs like M-Kisan, Training Information System (TIS), Kisan Call Centre, Jan Dhan Yojana, it runs numerous other schemes to help farmers

In India, start-ups hae increased in the last 5 years in the agriculture technology sector

Most start-ups are into information sharing and e-commerce services

In the US and UK, unlike India, several start-ups are into farm management services

MNC's, Co-operativesand Indian Cos

GOI Initiatives

GOI Initiatives


Knowledge Partner

[ 37 ]

Success Story 1: Papaya Farmer in Solapur

Papaya is a tropical fruit, but it can also be grown in the mild sub-tropical regions of the country up to 1,000 m above the sea level. Temperature is one of the most important climatic factors determining the success of papaya cultivation. Night temperature below 120 - 140 C for several hours during winter season a�ects its growth and yield. It is also sensitive to strong wind, frost and water stagnation. Various types of soils are suitable for its cultivation, provided these are well drained and aerated. A rich, well-drained sandy loam soil is ideal for its cultivation.

Maharashtra is one of the important states for papaya cultivation in the country. Farmers in Maharashtra mainly cultivate "Taiwan Red Lady" variety. It provides high yield and bears both male and female �owers on the same plant. Therefore, planting male plants in addition to female plants in certain proportion is not necessary.

Ganpatrao Bananrao Goraekar is a farmer who belongs to Village Taoyari (Taluka, Barsi), district Sholapur, Maharashtra. Sholapur is dominated by rainfed areas with normal rainfall being 545 mm. Bajra, Arhar, Soybean are main crops in Kharif while Jowar is the main crop in Rabi. Mr. Goraekar has been growing these traditional crops. On the advice of his relative,

he started papaya cultivation. Upon technological support from his relative, within a year of planting the seedlings, he obtained a yield of 139 T/ha and made a pro�t of over Rs. 5 lakh per hectare.

He religiously adopted techniques of papaya cultivation such as preparing land in Dec 2007, drip irrigation in Jan 2008, planting seedlings in Feb 2008, drip fertigation in Mar 2008, fertilizer added in a ring around the plant in May 2008, along with regular doses of drip fertigation.

Weedings were done thrice. After three months, support was provided to each plant to prevent the plant falling due to high yield. Rainfall received during 2008 was less. Therefore, after planting in February 2008, up to May, a few hours of drip irrigation was provided. Because of very hot weather he had to practice furrow irrigation in May, 2008. Thereafter on the availability of water and plant need, he used both drip and furrow method of irrigation. Pest and disease problems were not serious.

In this region, while farmers have historically indulged in tradition farming and thus generated little pro�t, Mr. Goraekar made sound use of the conditions and with the right choice of product, got very high yields and sustainable pro�ts.

Farmer Success Stories


Knowledge Partner

[ 38 ]

and in spite of no initial support from any government department, the two housewives showed rare initiative and spirit to take up the cultivation of strawberry for commercial purposes.

The two friends along with their husbands started experimenting on a small plot of land. They initially bought some strawberries runners from a private �rm and started the cultivation which bore them good fruits. However, as the patch was out in open, most of their fruits got damaged by inclement weather.

The enthusiasm and e�ort taken by this high spirited duo was noticed by the Block technology Team constituted under ATMA (Agriculture Technology management Agency). The team then stepped in with advice and supported them to construct a poly house measuring 600 sq, ft. This resulted in a healthy produce of strawberries of more than 500 kg, which the friends sold with good pro�t margin.

Tekasangla and Arelna were now ready to spread their wings. They further consulted the experts and learned about the drip irrigation, mulching with paddy straw as well as the use of indigenous crop protection chemicals like neem for pest control. Looking forward to a healthy harvest, both the women are in the pink of �nancial health- strawberry pink.

This is the story of two friends, Tekasangla and Arelna, two women farmers from the village - Yisemyong in Nagaland. This inspiring story narrates the di�culties that these two friends encountered and how did they eventually succeeded by having the true �ghting spirit till the end.

Traditionally, in Nagaland, people cultivate food grains like rice, maize and beans, fruits like banana and citrus vegetables and other minor crops through the method of Jhum Cultivation. However, due to the changing demands from the market, there was seen shift to commercial farming of non-traditional crops like exotic vegetables, passion fruit, oranges, ginger and �owers like rose and lilium. And these initiatives were driven by the programmes launched by agriculture and horticulture department.

But the case of Tekasangla and Arelna was a little di�erent. Tekasangla was initially into �oriculture, but she had heard about the rising demand of strawberries from one of her buyers. And always up for something new and challenging, these two friends got together

Success Story 2: Strawberry Fields Forever


Knowledge Partner

[ 39 ]

Success Story 3: Integrated Farming in the Valley of Kashmir

The family received timely guidance and critical inputs to undertake integrate farming on scienti�c lines.

Gowhar established a poultry farm over an area of 0.1 hectare for which he has acquired help from the �sheries department. Looking his interest and dedication, SKUAST-Kashmir provided him poultry birds. Besides that, he further received support from the Department of Agriculture and Department of Horticulture for setting up two polyhouses and other inputs that helped him in o�-season vegetable cultivation and raise seedlings for early supply in the market. He also started growing lawn grasses and ornamental plants on a large scale, which had great demand in the area. KVK further supported Gowhar to market the produce in the surrounding areas.

The impact of such a determination and strong support from various departments helped Gowhar and his family to raise their income exponentially. Initially their income used to hover around Rs 23,000/- per annum. But with integration of poultry, �shery, �oriculture and agriculture income reached to the tune of Rs 2.77 lakh in year 2013. The current income of the family stands at Rs. 19 lakhs pa.

Besides the monetary gain, Gowhar is also looked at as a 'Role Model' among his fellow farmers. He also imparts training to the rural youth and acts as mentor to them and facilitates exposure visits to his farm.

The story of Shri Gowhar Ahmad Ganie, who is 28 yrs, narrates how determination, interest for looking out on newer opportunities and help from the regional departments helped him address all the hardships in farming.

Gowhar, who is from a small village named Bogun, in the south of Kashmir, has cultivable land of 0.35 hectares. He and his family used to cultivate only conventional crops like rice in Kharif and brown sarson in rabi season However the incomes generated out of the same were very low which prompted him and his brother Tariq Ahmad to look out for other options and meet the challenges of poor �nancial condition.

Being a part of various trainings, awareness camps and interactions with scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)-Kulagam, Gowhar was inspired to diversify into farming. The enthusiasm of the family including younger brothers and the women members opened new avenues for remunerative farming with technical backstopping on poultry, �shery, horticulture and �oriculture from KVK, Kulgam.


Knowledge Partner

[ 40 ]

Acknowledgement:

Centre for Environment and Agriculture (CENTEGRO) is a Mumbai based not for pro�t organization active in producing policy advocacy papers focused on improving India's farm economy. It's founded by leading industrialist Mr. Rajju Shro�. CENTEGRO research team include Mr. S. Ganesan and Ms. Archana Nair.

The continuous negative portrayal of Indian agriculture has led to many myths and misconceptions among people and policy makers as well. Empirical evidence, however, shows an entirely di�erent reality about Indian agriculture. This needs to be brought out to create the adequate level of awareness about the inherent strengths and achievements of Indian agriculture.

CENTEGRO, therefore, felt the need to develop data based report in association with TATA Strategic Management Group about Indian agriculture and farm economy. This report contains extensive data from public sources together with opinions from a few experts in the �eld of agriculture and our own independent research.

CENTEGRO Key People :

Research Team

Mr Rajju Shro� Chairman CENTEGRO

S. Ganesan VP Corporate A�airs

Mrs. Archana Nair Governing Council MemberCENTEGRO


Knowledge Partner

[ 41 ]

About TATA Strategic

Founded in 1991 as a division of Tata Industries Ltd, Tata Strategic Management Group is the largest Indian own management consulting �rm. It has a 50 member strong consulting team supported by a panel of domain experts. Tata Strategic has undertaken 500+ engagements, with over 100 clients, across countries and sectors.

It has a growing client base outside India with increasing presence outside the Tata Group. A majority of revenues now come from outside the group and more than 20% revenues from clients outside India.

Tata Strategic o�ers a comprehensive range of solutions covering Direction Setting, Driving Strategic Initiatives and Implementation Support

Our O�erings: We o�er End to End Solutions �with tangible Results / Bene�ts

TSMG Contacts

This report is co-authored by :Mr. Nihaal Jelkie ([email protected]) Ms. Naina Malani ([email protected])

Manish Panchal Sr. Practice Head- Chemicals, Energy Logistics [email protected]

Charu Kapoor Principal- Chemicals [email protected]

Strategy Revevue Enhancement

OperationalE�ciency Organization

Competitive Strategy: Entry/Growth

M & A Support New Biz Models Pro�t Enhancement

Competitive Strategy: Entry/Growth

M & A Support New Biz Models Pro�t Enhancement

Supply Chain Optimization

Workforce Productivity Throughput Service levels

Strategy - Culture Alignment

Change Management Family Governance Talent Management

Drive Implementation & Change to derive Bene�ts� Revenue � Pro�t � Cycle Time� Term sheet � Volume � Service level� Market Share � Key Milestones � Costs


Knowledge Partner

[ 42 ]

Disclaimer

The opinions contained in this report are based on the facts, assumptions, and representations stated herein. Tata Strategic's assessment and opinions are based on the facts and circumstances provided / collected during our meetings with related stakeholders and research from sources in public domain held to be reliable. If any of these facts, assumptions or representations are not entirely complete or accurate, the conclusions drawn therein could undergo material change and the incompleteness of inaccuracy could cause us to change our opinions. The assertions and conclusions are based on the information available at the time of preparing this presentation.

The procedures we carried out in performing the work that forms the basis of this presentation were not as to constitute an audit. As such, the content of this report should not be considered as providing the same level of assurance as an audit. TSMG disclaims all liability to any third party who may place reliance on this report and therefore does not assume responsibility for any loss or damage su�ered by any such third party in reliance thereon.


Knowledge Partner

[ 43 ]

References

1. ICAR Vision 2020 and Vision 2030

2. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Handbook (2015-16)

3. Horticulture Statistics at a Glance 2015, Department of Agriculture

4. Handbook on Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level, Department of Agriculture

5. Handbook on Fisheries Statistics, Department of Animal Husbandry

6. Past Tata Strategic Reports on Agriculture and Crop Protection Chemicals

7. List of Farmer Producer Organizations in Maharashtra

8. OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2015-2024

9. NCAER report on "An analysis of changing food consumption pattern in India"

10. World Bank, IMF, RBI, FAOSTAT databases

11. Annual Reports of National Project on Organic Farming

12. "Harvest of Hope" book published by Ministry of Agriculture

13. "Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic" book by Dennis Avery

14. UN Population Data

15. News articles and Magazines

16. Bloomberg report on agriculture de�cit in India

17. FIBL � Research Institute of Organic Agriculture reports

18. Indian council of medical research (ICMR) reports

19. National Crime Records Bureau report on Farmer Suicides

20. ICAR, Agricoop and IASRI reports

21. Studies:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-20/india-s-age-old-dependence-on-monsoon-rain-is-slowly-fading-away

http://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Markets/Food-consumption-in-India-will-double-by-2030

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/GzUIDPQXzktVDBEiE2ZPfI/Per-capita-nutrition-supply-in-India-among-the-lowest-in-the.html

http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/general-questions-answers/29042-organic-farming-india-myths-realities.html

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ieblbF2ISBwoUsCH0ZdHUK/Is-horticulture-the-bright-spot.html

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/296/5573/1694

http://www.plantbased-pixie.com/organic-myths-and-truths/

Indian AgricultureIndian AgricultureIndian AgricultureIndian agriculture has transformed in

recent years and is structurally di�erent, multifaceted and very robust.

A signi�cant part of Indian agricultural production now comes from horticulture and livestock sectors.

Horticulture (vegetables, fruits, �owers, etc) and livestock sectors (milk, �sh, eggs and meat) contribute to over 60% of India's agricultural GDP.

Consequently, the traditional divide between the kharif and the rabi season has disappeared.

Kanta Niwas, Madhu Park, 11th Road, Khar (W), Mumbai 400 052, India. Tel: +91 22 2646 8000 | Email: [email protected]


cropcare and doubling farmers' income myths, … · need for study on understanding myths and...

Documents