Basic Issues in Agriculture

 Agriculture Sector is changing the socio-economic environments of the population due to liberalization and globalization  About 75% people are living in rural areas and are still dependent on Agriculture. About 43% of India’s geographical area is used for agricultural activity  Agriculture continues to play a major role in Indian Economy Indian Agriculture

  Provides about 65% of the livelihood   Accounts for 27% of GDP   Contributes 21% of Total Exports, and Supplies Raw materials to Industries   Growth Rate in production - 5.7%  mt  Food grains production – mt

India’s position in world Agriculture Rank Rank  Total Area Seventh  Irrigated Area First  Population Second  Economically Active population Second  Total Cereals Third  Wheat Second  Rice Second  Coarse grains Fourth  Total Pulses First  Oil Seeds Second  Fruits and Vegetables Second  Implements (Tractors) Third  Milk First  Live Stock (castles, Buffaloes) First

Agricultural Resources   Total Geographical Area (TGA) M.H   Potential for Biological Production M.H   Net Sown Area (NSA)- 143 M.H   Net Irrigated Area - 56 M.H   Area threatened by land degradation - 50% of TGA   Drought-prone Area- 190 M.H

Mile Stones in Agricultural Development  Green Revolution (1968)  Ever-Green Revolution (1996)  Blue Revolution (water, fish)  White Revolution (Milk)  Yellow Revolution (flower, edible)  Bio-Technology Revolution  ICT Revolution

Development of Indian Agriculture : Basic Issues   Revitalization of Cooperative Institutions   Improving Rural Credits   Research, Education & Extension   Human Resources Development   Trade & Export Promotion   Land Reforms   Enabling Environment for higher Agricultural Growth

The thrust areas:   Diversification of Agriculture   Inter-cropping   Micro Management   Water Management   Organic Farming   Agri-Clinics and Agri-business Centres   Bio-Technology

Efforts on Policies, strategies and Frameworks   National Agriculture Policy (2000)   National Seeds policy (2002)   Cooperative Policy   Agricultural Price policy   Agricultural Extension Framework (2001)   WTO/GATT agreement (1994) In addition to, various working groups, taskforces, mid-term appraisals and plan schemes (~68) In addition to, various working groups, taskforces, mid-term appraisals and plan schemes (~68) (for further details (for further details

Reports   Agriculture Credit, Cooperation and Crop   Horticulture Development including Spices Aromatic and Medicinal Plants and Plantation Crops Agriculture Infrastructure/Warehousing/Rural Godowns/Marketing/Post Harvest Management, Processing and Cold Storage, Trade and Export Promotion.   Crop Husbandry, Demand and Supply Projections and Agricultural Inputs Agriculture Research and Education   Animal Husbandry & Dairying   Agriculture Statistics   Watershed Development, Rainfed Farming and Natural Resources Management   |Agriculture Development in Eastern and North-Eastern India   Agriculture and Allied Sectors   Organic and Biodynamic Farming (for further details

Technologies for Sustainable Agricultural Development  Biotechnology  Pre & post harvesting technology  Energy saving technology  Environment protection technology  Information and Communication technology  GIS & RS technology  Internet/Intranet Technology

Fusion of Technologies for Sustainable Development - A Synergy of Multiple Disciplines  Database Technology  Internet/Intranet Technology  GIS and Remote Sensing  Image Processing  GPS  Artificial Intelligence  Modeling

The beginning: (e-readiness) IT led Agricultural Development The beginning: (e-readiness)  A two day conference (ISDA-1995 ) was held to assess IT Infrastructure and empowerment needs for IT led development in Agriculture Sector (one of the major recommendations was about 3% of the agriculture budget should be spent on Informatics Development)  IT Plan for Agriculture Sector (AGRISNET) was submitted to Ministry of Agriculture in 1997 to establish “Indian Agriculture on-line” and revised in 2000.

IT Applications for Agricultural Development Requires Inter-Sectoral Approach  Agricultural Research  Agro-Meteorology  Agricultural Marketing  Agricultural Engineering & Food Processing  Agricultural Extension and Transfer of Technology  Credit and Cooperation  Crop production & protection  Environment & Forest  Fertilisers and Manure  Fisheries  Irrigation and Drainage System  Livestock, Dairy Development & Animal Husbandry  Rural Development & Planning  Soil and Water Management  Watershed Development  Wasteland Development

IT plan for Agriculture   To strengthen IT in Agriculture and creation of Databases & Information Network for Agriculture Sector :-   The plan was divided into three schemes by DAC   Central Sector Schemes proposed   DAC Hqrs   Networking of DAC Field Units (DACNET)   State & District and Sub-District level (AGRISNET)

Present Status of IT Scheme (s) of DAC: Various Components emerging as one scheme:  IT apparatus in DAC Hqrs.  IT apparatus in the Field offices and Directorates of DAC (DACNET) Phase II  Development of Agricultural Informatics and Communication  Agricultural Resources Information System System  IT apparatus for States/UTs (AGRISNET) and  Agricultural Marketing Information Network (AGMARKNET) Phase II

Information Systems Requirement in Agriculture GIS/RS based Systems:  Soil and Land use  Watershed developments  Disaster management  Cropping systems  Agriculture Resources Information  Organic farming (bio-fertilisers)  Crop weather watch

Decision Support Systems  Integrated Nutrient Management  Integrated Pest Management  Demand-Supply Projections  Soil-Water balance  Credit Management  Inter-cropping systems  Bio-fertilizer management  Early Warning System

E-Commerce Applications   Agri-Business (Agri-clinics and Agri-Business Centres)   Agricultural Marketing   Agricultural Trade   Cooperatives   Horticulture (horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, aquaculture etc,. )   Organic farming   Agriculture Statistics

Ongoing ICT Projects of DAC   DACNET (dacnet.nic.in)   AGMARKNET (agmarknet.nic.in)agmarknet.nic.in   PPIN (cib/rc) (cibrc.nic.in)cibrc.nic.in   VISTARNET   AGRICULTURAL CENSUS   NADAMS (National Agricultural Drought Advisory and Management Systems)   HORTNET

Projects Under Pipeline:   AGRISNET   AgRIS (Resources Information System)   Development of Agricultural Informatics   DACNET (phase – II)   AGMARKNET (Phase – II)  Agricultural Census