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| Less than a fifth of the value of GDP as represented by agriculture and allied activities is shared by over half the population eking out a living in the farm sector. The actual performance of the farm sector in the last two Five-Year Plan periods has fallen far short of the target. Yet, the Planning Commission is hopeful of a four per cent farm growth in the Twelfth Plan duration.It is unclear if the growth goal represents a pious hope or if it has a strategic aspect (as yet unknown). The talk of a 4 per cent growth target is utterly unconvincing in the current context because nothing seems to have changed either in policymaking or in implementation. |
There are numerous programmes and schemes the Centre and various State governments come up with year after year. But implementation and outcomes have been far from satisfactory. For farm success, the Plan must include a system of continuous monitoring and evaluation, as well as accountability — that is conspicuous by its absence.
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Asserting that doubling the farm growth rate was essential for food security, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, recently drew up a mission statement recommending an increase in agriculture sector investment, expansion of area under irrigation, farm market reforms as well as remunerative prices and better quality inputs for farmers. These imperatives have been with us for long years; but now, robust demand conditions make supply-side issues appear more daunting. Ultimately, the Government must own responsibility for the present state of affairs, and it must repair the damage by demonstrating effective performance. B L 300610
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RELUCTANT FARM WORKFORCE
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Many of the programmes of ‘inclusive growth' are, in fact, promoting an ethos of addiction to free lunches, free medical treatment, and free education, not linked with any additional effort on enterprise.
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Today, the advancement of agriculture has been seriously stymied by a labour force that is entirely disinclined and reluctant to work in farms.
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| The Green Revolution became a success in India, thanks mainly to the peasantry's spirit of enterprise and hard work. If the UPA continues to put that spirit at a discount, block the advancement of frontier technologies and hamper sophisticated forms of agricultural marketing, it could lead to an actual deceleration in agriculture. India would lose an opportunity to attain an overall GDP rate of growth of 14-15 per cent, led by the agriculture engine. Sharad Joshi-B L 300610 |
Stunted child growth due to mal nutrition
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The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that 22% of India's population is undernourished. Child malnutrition is especially high, as National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3 ) data reveal that 48% of children under-five years suffered from low height-for-age (stunting ) and 42.5% from low weight-forage (underweight).
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IFPRI Study shows that there is a strong inverse relationship (coefficient correlation equals -0 .75) between the level of land productivity (or agri-performance ) and |
malnutrition across the states. |
Kerala and Punjab, which have almost the highest value of agri-output per hectare also have low levels of malnutrition, while a state like Madhya Pradesh is at the bottom of value of output, and no wonder it is also lowest in nutritional status (See graph above).
IFPRI research on 63 countries (during 1970-96 ) estimates that women's education accounted for 43% of the child malnutrition reduction during the period.
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Innovative solutions to address the nutrition problem are also necessary in the policy implementation front. For instance, to tackle the protein deficit, a more cost-effective and nutritious option is to use soya meal (which has 40% protein compared to 20-25 % in pulses), in food-based safety nets.
India has witnessed relatively high growth in soya crop — between 1981-82 and 2008-09 , production rose from 0.5 to 10.8 million tonnes — but most of the increased output has been used by the feed industry and exported. |
Data from the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) and National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) reveal only around 60-75 % of the protein requirement is met amongst people at the bottom 30% expenditure group, adolescents and pregnant /lactating women. Thus reconstituted soya flour can be sold through the public distribution system, as well as distributed in the mid-day meals scheme and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in cooked meals to enrich dietary intake. Ashok Gulati et al E T29 June 2010 |
| ANGRAU develops 19 new crop varieties |
| The Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) here has developed 19 new crop varieties, including rice, redgram, groundnut and sugarcane, which have high yielding potential. |
| “Different research institutions under the university have developed these 19 new crop (seeds) varieties including two hybrids which have been already released for this year, for the benefit of farmers,” the ANGRAU Director (Research). The new crop types include six rice varieties, three groundnut, three sugarcane, two cotton and one each of redgram, field bean, castor (hybrid), safflower and jatropha, BL 300610 |
| 67 lakh ha of land suffer from Soil Salinity |
| Data collected by the scientists of Karnal-based Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) with the help of satellite “Landsat” have indicated that nearly 67 lakh hectares of land suffers from various kinds of salt-related afflictions. The scientists have identified some 15 categories of soil salinity, depending on the nature of the salts, their pH value (measure of soil acidity or alkalinity) and other relevant factors. But, for practical purposes, the land affected by such salinity has broadly been categorised as either sodic (alkaline) or saline (acidic). |
| CSSRI has developed technologies for reclamation of saline lands by neutralising the salts present in them. It has simultaneously strived to genetically re-tailor the crops to enable them withstand soil salinity so that those farmers who cannot afford to invest in soil reclamation measures could grow salt tolerant varieties of crops for reaping good harvests. 14 salt tolerant varieties of crops like rice and wheat (staple cereals), mustard (oilseed) and gram (pulse) have been developed and passed on to the farmers for cultivation. These have spread fast and contributed immensely to increase crop yields and farm incomes. Increased availability of salt-tolerant seeds of rice and other crops will benefit more farmers. B S 290610 |
| Inflation up: consumer price index rose 13.91 per cent in May from a year earlier, marginally higher than April's annual rise of 13.33 per cent, government data showed on Wednesday. The consumer price index for industrial workers increased 2 points to 172 in May. India's annual wholesale inflation rose to 10.16 per cent in May, compared with 9.59 per cent rise in April and 1.38 percent a year ago. |
