AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
Rajnath
Singh*
An appreciable pace
of research has taken place in all sectors of agriculture including
crops, horticulture, natural resource management, livestock, fisheries
and agricultural engineering. The technology-led developments
in agriculture have made India self-sufficient in foodgrains and
a leading producer of several commodities in the world. The green
revolution in crops, yellow revolution in oilseeds, white revolution
in milk production, blue revolution in fish production and a golden
revolution in horticulture bear an ample testimony to the contributions
of agricultural research and development efforts undertaken in
the country.
India has received
worldwide acclaim in the field of agricultural research and education.
The National Agricultural Research System (NARS), with the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as an apex body, has been
striving for a holistic development of agriculture at the national
level by planning, promoting, conducting and co-ordinating research,
extension and education on all aspects of agriculture including
animal sciences and fisheries for ensuring the optimal utilization
of land, water, plant and animal genetic resources for sustainable
agricultural development.
The Council undertakes
research on fundamental and applied aspects in traditional and
frontier areas to offer solutions to problems relating to conservation
and management of resources, productivity improvement and health
management of crops, animals and fisheries, post-harvest technology
and value addition. This helps in developing new technologies
in agriculture and allied sectors. The Council with its headquarters
at New Delhi has a vast network of institutes all over the country
consisting of 49 institutes including 5 National Institutes with
4 having Deemed University status, 5 National Bureaux, 33 National
Research Centres, 11 Project Directorates and 78 All-India Co-ordinated
Research Projects. Besides, it coordinates agricultural education
in the country through a network of 34 State Agricultural Universities,
1 Central Agricultural University, 3 Academic Universities and
5 Deemed Universities.
All activities
under the transfer of technology programme of the Council have
been integrated with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and the mandate
enlarged to perform the function of on-farm testing and research,
long-term vocational training, in-service training of grass-root
level functionaries and frontline demonstrations. A network of
344 KVKs has so far been established in our country. A strong
back-up support is provided through 8 Trainers’ Training Centres
to these KVKs by updating knowledge of the KVK trainers in the
advancements made in research. To strengthen research extension
efforts, implementation of Institution-Village Linkage Programme
(IVLP) at 70 centres in the country, establishment of 40 Agricultural
Technology Information Centres (ATIC), strengthening of 53 Zonal
Agricultural Research Stations (ZARS) to take up the additional
functions of KVK, and Strengthening of Directorate of Extension
of State Agricultural Universities and Zonal Units have been recently
undertaken under the National Agricultural Technology Project
(NATP).
The Council aids,
promotes and coordinates agricultural education programmes at
the national level. The educational programmes are carried out
through its network of universities. In addition to these, 4 National
Institutes of the Council, viz., Indian Agricultural Research
Institute (IARI), Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI),
National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), and Central Institute
of Fisheries Education (CIFE) have been granted the status of
deemed university. These institutes offer post-graduate degree
programmes besides undertaking research in their respective areas.
Achievements
The agriculture
research system has significantly contributed to productivity
growth in almost all the sectors of agriculture. For instance
with reference to 1950, the productivity gains are nearly 3.3
times in foodgrains, 1.6 times in fruits, 2.1 times in vegetables,
5.6 times in fish (aquaculture), 1.8 times in milk and 6.4 times
in eggs. Development of about 3200 high yielding improved varieties
of different crops and their production technologies and preservation
of 2.2 lakh germplasm accessions of agri-horticultural crops and
their wild relatives for future use in breeding programmes, are
some remarkable achievements of the National Agricultural Research
System. It is also revealing to note that the modern technologies
have contributed to saving of the area, other resources and in
increasing revenues and exports. For instance, modern varieties
of rice saved nearly 39 million hectare and the wheat varieties
37 million hectare area.
Research in livestock
and poultry sector has provided more options for increased income
generation. The fisheries sector is also growing at an incremental
pace, with an annual production of 5.9 million tonnes. Along with
the livestock and poultry sector, it also contributes significantly
to domestic nutritional security and rural development.
Research for
development of farming implements has helped to make agricultural
operations modern and less labour-intensive apart from saving
the operational cost.
The programme
on frontline demonstrations of improved production technologies,
on-farm demonstrations of integrated nutrient and pest management,
and a variety of training programmes involving farmers have shown
encouraging results by successfully demonstrating the potential
of new and improved technologies.
Keeping India
Vision 2020 in view, each ICAR institution has formulated its
Perspective Plan document, 2020. Adopting a bottom up approach,
ICAR has also formulated its Vision 2020 document which has laid
a broad road map for the next 20 years. ICAR scientists and peers
have strived hard to set up a demand-driven research and development
agenda.
The gains from
green revolution were not only consolidated but also several new
grounds were broken for attaining new gains. Technological improvements
were made in several non-traditional crops like soyabean, new
crop seasons were explored in rabi maize, rabi sorghum, summer
groundnut and summer pearl millet. Hybrid breeding approach was
extended to rice, safflower, castor, pigeon pea and mustard. Increased
yields and stability were achieved through shifting away from
kharif season production to rabi season production. Diversification
covering fruits and vegetables, flowers, animal enterprises, poultry,
fish and agro-forestry are also emphasised aiming at golden revolution.
All these efforts added to defending the gains of green revolution,
extending the gains to new areas and making new gains in several
important areas contributing to accelerated agricultural transformation.
Growing Demand
Notwithstanding
the phenomenal success in agriculture, increasing population and
per capita income demand higher production and productivity levels.
The annual increase in demand by the end of the 10th Five Year
Plan will be 2.6 million tonnes in rice, 2.2 million tonnes in
wheat, 1.6 million tonnes in pulses, 4.2 million tonnes in fruits,
2.5 million tonnes in vegetables, 7.8 million tonnes in milk and
0.6 million tones in fish. The 10th Plan fixes a target growth
rate of 4 per cent in agriculture which in itself is challenging,
keeping in view the achieved growth rate of 1.95 per cent in food
production during the IX Plan.
After attaining
self-sufficiency in food, concerns on increasing factor productivity,
improving resource efficiency and economic access to food combined
with better nutrition, health and shelter became important which
were addressed through diversification of agriculture. At this
point of time, natural resource management problems became critical,
leading to plateauing of yield and, therefore, conservation of
natural resources such as soil, water and genetic wealth. The
concerns of global competitiveness and system’s sustainability
became critical around 2000 which are now receiving priority attention.
The eight-fold current concerns of the ICAR include –input use
efficiency and consequent reduction in cost of cultivation; diversification
of agriculture while conserving natural resource base; rainfed
agriculture; post-harvest management; sustainability, equity and
gender issues; motivated and creative human resource; easy access
and quick disposal of information and building a culture of trust
and sense of belonging among scientists, farmers, extension workers,
young entrepreneurs and NGOs. Thus, the concerns are evolving
and the system is responding well. The contributions of technology
in particular have been unique.
Technology
Led-Prospective Agricultural Growth
Indian agriculture
is passing through many challenges following increasing demands
of foodgrains, growing competition among nations for export of
value-added quality produce, rising cost of production and dwindling
sources of water. But they offer new opportunities for quality
improvement, value-added products development, processing and
enhancing the shelf life of agri-products through which India
can compete with the rest of the world. New technologies like
biotechnology, hybrid technology and bio-informatics will have
their imprint on our success for meeting the challenges of food
security and sustainability.
The six new initiatives
of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education during
the Xth Plan, are – Network Project on organic farming, Impact
of Climate Change on Agricultural Productivity, Networking on
Transgenics, National Bureau of Indian Veterinary Type Culture,
Network on Biosystematics of Insects and National Research Centre
for Agricultural Extension. Rainbow revolution encompassing an
all-round growth in the production of foodgrains, edible oils,
fruits, vegetables and animal and fish products and evergreen
revolution in agriculture through diversified agriculture, precision
farming, resource conservation and value addition to provide in
real sense, the required food, nutrition and environmental security
are the hopes of the future. (PIB Features)
*Union
Agriculture Minister
