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  • Essay Composition – Indian Agriculture – For W.B.C.S. Examination.
    Posted on August 21st, 2019 in Weekly Essay Contest.
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    Essay Composition – Indian Agriculture – For W.B.C.S. Examination.

    প্রবন্ধ রচনা – ভারতীয় কৃষি – WBCS পরীক্ষা।

    Agriculture comprises of crop production, fruits and vegetable cultivation along with floriculture, livestock production, fisheries, agro-forestry and forestry. These are all productive activities. In India, agriculture contributes 30.3 per cent, at 1987-88 prices to the national income, employing more than seventy-five per cent of the population.Continue Reading Essay Composition – Indian Agriculture – For W.B.C.S. Examination.

    Economists, like T.W. Schult, John W. Mellor, Walter A. Lewis and others have proved that agriculture is the pre-cursor of economic development contributing to it in four-fold manners viz.; by supplying the wage goods to industrial workers, transferring surplus from agriculture to finance industrialization, utilizing the product of industry as inputs for agricultural sector, and transferring the surplus labour from agriculture to industrial jobs.

    This is only possible when the productivity of each input unit is high and production increases significantly. This objective can be fulfilled when there is a transfer of technology through farmer’s education and development of infrastructure.

    It is, therefore, necessary to have an inter-disciplinary approach to the total agricultural production through subsystem like research, extension, supply system, facilitating credit, and so on and so forth.

    According to, Lister Brown, in his book “Seeds of Changes”—A study of Green Revolution, “with an increase in the output of agricultural sector in the developing countries the problem of marketing would emerge.”

    Therefore, processing and marketing of the agriculture products has a significant role to play in boosting production, generation of employment and income for the farms and rural population resulting in proper rural development.

    Evidences are there that the Indian are adept to make the best uses of the resources at the existing technology but they are always deprived of their justified share from the sale of their produce in the middlemen dominated marketing system thus missing the take off stage in agriculture. The business side of agriculture has been grossly neglected.

    This has resulted in the poor and slow development of the farming enterprises with the consequences of low income and its allied evils. The common site in the villages is only arable farming with a couple of livestock both for draft purpose and milk production and stray fruit crops close to the farmers residence. There is hardly any mixed farming.

    Now, if agriculture sector has to make a leap into the globalization of the economy it need to be diversified. It means along with crop production there must be breeding of livestock for the market, keeping of milch animals whether large like cows and buffaloes or small animals like sheep or goat as well as meat animals like beriberi goat, pig, poultry, agro-forestry, forestry, fisheries.

    The time is ripe for the Indian farmers to get into the agri-business activities whether practicing specialized farming or farming diversification. Indian farmers should accept the challenges posed by the liberalization of the economy.

    In this way, the farmers would be able to maximize their income at the minimum cost and would give the satisfaction to the farm family but for this he has to prepare himself and be well equipped with the modern farming techniques and the market conditions and its trend. Farmers also need to be organized to press their demand for the infrastructure facilities within the current state of knowledge of farming.

    Agri-business is an off farm activity namely processing and marketing. It means that in addition to production of the farm produce farmers responsibility increases to process the output and sell them in the market either by himself or through the organization of cooperatives and through regulated markets.

    The agricultural policy in India categorically emphasise that agriculture should no more remain a subsistence economy but launch itself into business and, therefore, encourage cultivators to invest in their farm business which in fact necessities the creation of an economic environment to make the agriculture business sustainable in business terms and in the economic set up within and outside the country.

    In order to increase the efficiency of the farmers there is need for keeping the business flexible encouraging the farmers to invest in the outside farm business as well as allied businesses. In clear words, this means agri­business activity start on the farm. This was categorically hinted at the Uruguay meet.

    Included in the agri-business are the supply of inputs like seed, organic fertilizer, plant protection products. There is a large scope for the production of inputs indigenously like compost, oil cakes, plant protection products from neem and other plants having the insect replant qualities and fungus destroying properties.

    In addition to these there are other products which are to be processed to make it directly consumable such as processing of oil seeds into oil, preparation of dal (pulses), preparation of pickles, chutney, murabbas, jam, jellies and other products from the horticultural produces, processing of meat into various products, broiler, fish curing, tobacco curing etc. use of technology in processing of milk into relatively stable and value added products, this is called dairy technology.

    To encourage and sustain these activities appropriate infra-structured facilities should exist. The government of India is making efforts in this direction and even with the help of foreign investment the development of infrastructure is taking place.

    The green revolution necessitated the use of inputs produced in the out of farm industries to support high yielding varieties of seeds to get the best out of its potentials.

    With the degradation of environment, as it is believed to be caused by the profuse use of plant protection chemicals, fertilizers etc., now the attention of the policy makers is diverted towards sustainable agriculture to protect the environmental deprivation and to maintain the eco-balance. This demands extensive research activities.

    The new agricultural policy aims at sustained food and nutritional security, enhance income generation and enlarge employment opportunities in the rural areas. These objectives can be easily attained by enlarging the meaning of agri-business activities.

    The agri-business activities include the production of crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry and production of the inputs for the support of sustainable agricul­tural production like production of organic and bio-fertilizers, plant protection prod­ucts, feeds and fodder for the livestock, feeds for the fisheries etc.

    The development of agro-industries to process the agricultural produces. In addition to this, crop and livestock production and the processing of milk and meat should be conceptualized under the agri-business activities.

    Thus, agri-business must be inclusive of: crop and livestock production, processing of the crop and livestock products, preparation of inputs at the farm for farming use, and marketing of the farm produce. It means the total on farm and allied activities be included in agri-business.

    The twin areas under the agri-business viz., processing and the distributional activities having given high rating in the agricultural policy in India under the presumption that it will have a high potential for employment generation.

    The processing and distribution will not only boost the fanners’ income but also help getting rid of the middlemen who take the biggest bite out of the consumer’s rupee instead it would go to the farmer himself. The farmers will not only serve the domestic market but will have access to the international market having a big potential under the liberalization policy adopted by the country.

    India has a varied agro-climatic conditions ranging from temperate to tropical under which a variety of agricultural products are possible. Multiple cropping will keep the farmers busy round the year giving a continuous income from the farming activities ceteris paribus.

    Besides, arable farming there is a lot of scope for the production of horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, flowers. There are plantation crops such as cocoa, coconut, cashew, rubber, arecanut etc. having high export potentials. Currently, these crops are estimated to cover 13.6 million hectares yielding an annual output of 106 million tonnes which is the third highest output after Brazil and China.

    Production of about 33 million tonnes of fruits in 1992-93 brought India close to top rank currently enjoyed by Brazil as the world’s largest producer of fruits. Floriculture is a new area with a high potential for export. With the development of irrigation for which the present utilization is 76.3 million hectares with a potential of 85.0 million hectares in 1993-94′ the face of Indian agriculture would definitely change.

    Besides, these horticultural and floriculture products there is a great potential for fisheries and dairying industry. Poultry and small animals products will also find an important place in agri-business.

    Animal husbandry sector currently accounts for over 25 per cent of the gross value of agricultural output. India’s vast livestock population offers tremendous scope for meeting domestic demand for milk, egg, meat and wool, a source of employment and scope for inter-regional trade.

    The gross value of output from this sector is estimated at Rs. 58,000 crores in 1992-93 excluding output value of draft livestock. India ranks second in milk production having milk production to an extent of 60.2 million tonnes in 1992-93. Poultry is the most efficient converter of the low value food into high value nutritional food for human consumption in the short period of time.

    It is becoming vital component of farm economy providing additional income opportunity to the weaker section of the society. Egg production has increased 23,718 million in 1993-94.

    Fisheries play an important role in the economy generating employment for a large coastal population raising nutritional levels, augmenting food supplies and earning foreign exchange. Fish production in the country has been 46.8 lakh tonnes in 1993-94.

    Level of productivity and agri-business are closely related. Unfortunately, in India, the level of productivity is very low, for example, there is a big gap between the possibility and performance.

    China with approximately the same cultivable area, 140 million hectares, as India produces 392 million tonnes of food-grain from only 42 million hectares whereas India from 60 million hectares produces only 170 million tonnes, although per capita land availability is less as against India and also the percentage of land irrigated is less in China than in India.

    But there is always a silver lining under the dark cloud, thus we can see that the possibilities are endless and we do have climatic advantages for boosting output.

    In the post green revolution period India has made a mark in the production of food crops, plantation crops, poultry, cotton and oilseed cultivation. In addition to these evidence of emerging strength has been noted in the field of sericulture, marine and inland fisheries.

    As we have already mentioned India posses a variety of climatic conditions which gives us the comparative advantage in the production of fruits, vegetables, flowers, but these were neglected in the past and there is yet no record worth mentioning of their exports.

    The rich variety of medicinal plants and herbs when processed and marketed can help take care of the health of the Indian population, besides coming into on its own as the world’s pharmaceutical giant.

    India has realized the importance of agri-business. In his budget speech the finance minister, Dr. Man Mohan Singh, has mentioned to set up an Agri-Business Consortium with the hope that along with the production of more food there would be more productive jobs and higher income in rural areas. May it be a second agricultural revolution with an antidote of poverty and unemployment.

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