Dr.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY

2018-2019

ECONOMICS

Project on
Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic
Impact

SUBMITTED BY: UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

Hariank Gupta Dr. Mitali Tiwari
Enrollment No: 180101053 Assistant Professor (Economics)
Sec: A Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya
B.A. LL.B. (Hons), Semester-I National Law University
 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to use this opportunity to extend my heartiest gratitude to all the people who

have helped me develop this project.

First and foremost, I would thank my Economics professor, Dr. Mitali Tiwari, who has been

constantly supporting me, guiding me and helping me with all my queries and difficulties

regarding this project since its fledgling stage. Without his enthusiasm, inspiration, and

efforts to explain even the toughest of jargons in the most lucid manner, the successful

inception of this project would have been a Herculean task.

Next, I would like thank the librarians of Dr. Madhu Limaye library for helping me find the

correct resources for my research and for helping me enrich my knowledge.

Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to my batch mates and seniors for providing me

some unique ideas and insights which helped me make this project even better.

I know that despite my sincerest efforts some discrepancies might have crept in, I hope and

believe that I would be pardoned for the same.

Thanking You

Hariank Gupta

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN OF STUDY........................................................................................4

BACKGROUND .........................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS...........................................................................................................4
OBJECTIVES...............................................................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................5
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION .....................................................................................5
CHAPTERIZATION ............................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….……………....6
LITERATURE REVIEW……………………….……………………………………….8
PROBLEMS & ISSUES OF THIS SECTOR……………………………………………9
GOVERNMENT POLICIES……………………………………………………………12
ALLIED INDUSTRIES (IMPACT ON ECONOMY)………………………………….16
REVOLUTIONS………………………………………………………………………..22
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................25
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................26

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN OF STUDY

BACKGROUND :
Agriculture is the traditionally central sector of economy of the world still even today’s
developed world 60% of the world’s population depend on the agriculture for survival.
Farming and united divisions are thought to be the pillar of Indian economy. The players of
the main pillars of Indian Economy – the farmers occupy the most important place in our
society because they ensure the livelihood of the whole society in real sense they are the food
giver. The main reason been
1. The farmers produce the most basic goods for human livelihood .
2. The farmers provide social stability through his hard work as a basic paradigm sector
for the total structure of the economy. He is bound to work in the validity of the
weather condition as the validity of the weather vagaries of the monsoon because
Indian agriculture is gamble of monsoon.
In India Agriculture plays a vital role in our economy. Nearly 55% of the population is
employed in this sector . It contributes 17.4% to the country Gross Value Added to feed
the taming Millions of the country. Government is taking several steps for the sustainable
development and steady progress of this sector.
When we talk of agriculture we have to consider all the Gamut engrossed such as
 Horticulture
 Animal Husbandry
 Forestry
 And other allied industry like Dairy, Poultry, Fishing, Piggeries etc.

We can divide the progress of Indian agriculture in 3 phases :-

1. Pre Independence Era (British Exploitation Phase )
2. Post Independence

RESEARCH QUESTIONS :

1. What does this sector encompasses ?

2. What are the growth dimensions & scope of agriculture sector?
3. How the boom in technology (mechanical, IT & biotechnology etc.) has changed the
face of this sector?
4. How the development in this sector has made a sea change in the social status of the
farmers with an unexpected growth in their life standard?
5. How the six time growth in this sector proved effective to an overall momentum in
Indian Economy?

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

OBJECTIVES:

1. To analyze the needs and importance of Agricultural & Allied Industry

in India.
2. To study the Shortcomings of the current Agricultural & Allied Industry
in India.
3. To suggest ways of Reorientation of Agricultural & Allied Industry
in India.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :

Understanding and estimating exhibiting scenario of the Indian agriculture and allied
industries by giving through available literature ( Books, Journals, articles , internet sources.)
Analyzing and evaluating the SECONDARY DATA keeping in view the diverse opinions of
agronomist.
Visualizing the central Economic problems & work out their solution.
Interaction with some stake holders of this sector.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION :

1. Analysis of the central problems of this sector in the light of the data available.
2. Among the different options choosing the best method for growth of this sector.
3. Keeping in view the different programs launched by the government so that the outcome
may prove as a handbook to the beneficiary farmers and other stakeholders.

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

CHAPTERISATION

INTRODUCTION :

Agriculture is the traditionally central sector of the economy of the world as still 60% of the
world’s population depend on agriculture for survival. Farming and united divisions are
thought to be the pillar of Indian economy. The players of the main pillars of the Indian
economy – the farmers occupy the most important place in our society because they ensure
the livelihood of the whole society as in real sense they are the food giver. The main reason
been
 The farmers produce the most basic goods for human livelihood.
 The farmers provide social stability through his hard work as a basic paradigm sector
for the total structure of the economy. He is bound to work in the validity of the weather
condition as the validity of the weather vagaries of the monsoon because Indian
agriculture is gamble of monsoon.
India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products.
India's fruit production has grown faster than vegetables, making it the second
largest fruit producer in the world. India's horticulture output, comprising fruits,
vegetables and spices, is estimated to be 283.4 million tones (MT) in 2015-16 after
the third advanced estimate. It ranks third in farm and agriculture outputs.
Agricultural export constitutes 10 per cent of the country’s exports and is the
fourth-largest principal exported commodity. Nearly 55 percent of the population is
engaged in agriculture and allied activities (census 2011) and it contributes 17.4
percent to the country’s gross value added.
The agro industry in India is divided into several sub segments such as canned,
dairy, processed, frozen food to fisheries, meat, poultry, and food grains etc.

Indian agriculture can be divided into 2 phases ie.

i. Pre Independence Era (British Exploitation phase) –
During the pre- British era, a major part of India’s population was dependent on
agriculture. The farming technologies and irrigation facilities were not satisfactory.
However, agriculture in villages was self- sustaining and independent. The Britishers
were keen on establishing a monopoly in India. They saw India as a means to drive their
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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

home country towards a state of unmatched power. Colonisers drew out every ounce of
Indian resource and every drop of Indian blood for their selfish motives. Agriculture
performance in the interwar period (1918-1939) was dismal. From 1891 to 1946, the
annual growth rate of all crop output was 0.4%, and food-grain output was practically
stagnant. There were significant, however, nonfood crops doing better than food crops.
Among food crops, by far the most important source of stagnation was rise. Bengal had
below – average growth rates in both food and non food growth output, whereas Punjab
and Madras were the least stagnant regions. In the interwar period, population growth
accelerated while food per head. The crisis was most acute in Bengal, where food output
declined at an annual rate of about 0.7% from 1921 to 1946, when population grew at an
annual rate of about 1%. The bad impact on agriculture of India were because of the
Britishers introduced a new class of landlords called Zamindars who regarded land as
their private property and aimed at obtaining maximum monetary gains out of it. The
farmers were forced to produce cash crops to feed the industries in England, the new
revenue systems led to peasant indebtedness and commercialization of agriculture etc.
ii. Post Independence Era – Since independence India has made much progress in
agriculture. Indian agriculture, which grew at the rate of about 1 percent per annum
during the fifty years before Independence, has grown at the rate of about 2.6 percent per
annum in the post-Independence era. Expansion of area was the main source of growth in
the period of fifties and sixties after that the contribution of increased land area under
agricultural production has declined over time and increase in productivity became the
main source of growth in agricultural production. Another important facet of progress in
agriculture is its success in eradicating of its dependence on imported food grains. Indian
agriculture has progressed not only in output and yield terms but the structural changes
have also contributed. All these developments in Indian agriculture are contributed by a
series of steps initiated by Indian Government.

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

LITERATURE REVIEW :

A brief review of research work related to Agriculture and Allied industries in India is
discussed below :-
U K. Srivastava’s study, “Agro-Processing Industries: Potential, Constraints and Task
Ahead” analysed the profile and trends in the growth of agro-processing industries and
identified constraints of agro-processing industries. The study identifies constraints like
inadequacy and suitability of raw materials, under utilization of the existing capacity,
obsolete processing technology and consequent suboptimal yields, energy over utilization,
lack of scale economies in production, increased market costs, larger expenditure on market
development, high rate of interest on working capital from commercial bank and high tax on
processed products.

Many research institutions in India like Indian Council of Agricultural Research have
conducted research on technical aspects of agro-processing. R.P. Kachru in his study on
“Agro-Processing Industries in India: Growth, Status and Prospects” provided a summary of
the growth history of the sector , recent trends vis-avis crop-wise status of agro processing
industrialization and problems, export trends analysis and thrust areas for future for achieving
greater role of this sector in the national economy. The study further states that the
performance of agro-processing industry is not satisfactory and is suffering from problems of
marketing, finance, technology, productivity, raw material and points out the need to develop
separate support system for agro-processing industry.

Vasant P. Gandhi and Gyanendra Mani, in their study, “Agro-Processing for Development
and Exports: The Importance and Pattern of Value Addition from Food Processing” attempt
to analyze the magnitudes, variation and pattern in the value addition in the food processing
industries using data from annual survey of industries. The study finds that net value addition
from food processing industry over the total value of input is high and grown during the
period of the study. The study concludes that information on value addition of agro-
processing industries in different sectors will be of immense help in designing investment
portfolio for the development of agro-processing industries for domestic markets and exports.

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

B.D. Dhawan’s study of “Location of Agro-Processing Industries – Case Study of Fruits and
Vegetables” has examined the location of fruit and vegetable processing industries in India.
He observes in the study that most of the fruit and vegetable processing industries are located
in big cities with population over one lakh.

Sanjay Sinha and Sauabh Sinha’s study of “Small Scale Fruit and Vegetable Processing
Industries” has traced the growth of industry, analyzed constraints and opportunities, discuss
the prospects for the growth and assesses the future of the industry. They have identified the
constraints as poor horticultural base, a weak production system, market limitations,
consumer preferences and government policies.

PROBLEMS AND ISSUES :

 Dependency on Monsoon- A major portion of the country’s crop area is completely

dependent on Monsoon rains as they’re not equipped with methods of manual irrigation.
Simply speaking, the Indian economy gains due to good Monsoon rains in the country.
On the other hand, weak Monsoon rains result in crop failure which affects the economy
in a negative manner due to lower production. Later on, this translates into price-rise, low
industrial output, and other issues. Normal Monsoon rains keep a check on food inflation
due to the availability of food produce. However, in a situation of drought, prices soar
significantly. Not only do the prices increase drastically but the cost of living also tends to
reach a new high. Also, if poor Monsoon results in less crop output, the country may even
need to import. More than anything else, the failure of Monsoon has a huge impact on the
life of the Indian farmer. Most Indian farmers rely on good crop produce during Monsoon
to earn their living and in order to overcome debts incurred. Further agriculture isn’t the
only sector which is affected by the performance of Monsoon. In fact, as many as a dozen
sectors depend on Monsoon, either directly or indirectly like in the drought-induced
period food deficit lengthens, farmers will have to start selling livestock, transport and
draft animals, such as oxen and donkeys, as well as breeding stock to meet the family’s
financial needs.

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

 Population pressure on limited land resources – Overpopulation has become the

biggest threat to the global environment through the loss of ecosystem services and global
warming, has led to the emergence of new parasites and re-emergence of parasites
previously considered to be ‘under control’ by creating the conditions for parasite growth
and is responsible for 80% of tropical deforestation. When the population increases then
the people will do intensive farming which leads to
a) killing beneficial insects for land and plants like assassin bugs, Damsel bug, Earwig,
Green lacewing, Ichneumon wasp, Lady bugs, Mealybug destroyer, Minute pirate
bug, Soldier beetle, Syrphid fly, Tachinid fly, Trichogramma wasp etc.
b) degradation & depletion of soil as people may continuously use the land for farming
which would take out the necessary nutrients and minerals from the soil. Fertilizers
can also be used, which may fulfill the basic need of soil i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium etc. but excessive usage of fertilizers may result in contamination of
surface water and groundwater.
c) Increased susceptibility to flooding as to get more and more land area under
agricultural land people will cut down large trees (which prevents the flow of water)
d) Causes the genetic erosion of crops and livestock species around the world and
decreases biodiversity and natural habitat.

 Lack of modern machinery and innovation - In spite of the large scale

mechanisation of agriculture in some parts of the country, most of the agricultural
operations in larger parts are carried on by human hand using simple and conventional
tools and implements like wooden plough, sickle, etc. Little or no use of machines is
made in ploughing, sowing, irrigating, thinning and pruning, weeding, harvesting
threshing and transporting the crops. This is specially the case with small and marginal
farmers. It results in huge wastage of human labour and in low yields per capita labour
force. There is urgent need to mechanise the agricultural operations so that wastage of
labour force is avoided and farming is made convenient and efficient. Agricultural
implements and machinery are a crucial input for efficient and timely agricultural
operations, facilitating multiple cropping and thereby increasing production. In India
negligible technology are used in allied industries like in fishery, biogas production
vermicomposting, horticulture etc. Now over days the mechanisation has increased in
dairy industry due to increasing demand of dairy products (AMUL has made much

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

improvement like Geographic Information System, Cyber stores, Enterprise-wide

Integrated Application Systems etc.)

 Inadequate storage facilities- Storage facilities in the rural areas are either totally
absent or grossly inadequate. Under such conditions the farmers are compelled to sell
their produce immediately after the harvest at the prevailing market prices which are
bound to be low. Such distress sale deprives the farmers of their legitimate income. The
Parse Committee estimated the post-harvest losses at 9.3 per cent of which nearly 6.6 per
cent occurred due to poor storage conditions alone. Scientific storage is, therefore, very
essential to avoid losses and to benefit the farmers and the consumers alike. Many rural
houses don’t have fridges to store dairy products due to which milk and other products
decay. Meats are not stored in airtight containers which leads to wastage of it in large
quantities.

 Inadequate Transport - One of the main handicaps with Indian agriculture is the
lack of cheap and efficient means of transportation. Even at present there are lakhs of
villages which are not well connected with main roads or with market centres. Most roads
in the rural areas are Kutcha (bullock- cart roads) and become useless in the rainy season.
Under these circumstances the farmers cannot carry their produce to the main market and
are forced to sell it in the local market at low price. Linking each village by metalled road
is a gigantic task and it needs huge sums of money to complete this task. The dairy
products are not reached to the consumers on time making it rotten. The fastest way of
shipping is by air but it is very costly which is not affordable for transporting small
quantity of goods. Waterways is also not successful as most of the agricultural area is
land locked, though there are rivers connecting these areas but the ferry system is not
prevalent in India.

 Scarcity of Capital- Agriculture is an important industry and like all other industries
it also requires capital. The role of capital input is becoming more and more important
with the advancement of farm technology. Since the agriculturists’ capital is locked up in
his lands and stocks, he is obliged to borrow money for stimulating the tempo of
agricultural production. The main suppliers of money to the farmer are the money-

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

lenders, traders and commission agents who charge high rate of interest and purchase the
agricultural produce at very low price. All India Rural Credit Survey Committee showed
that in 1950-51 the share of money lenders stood at as high as 68.6 per cent of the total
rural credit and in 1975-76 their share declined to 43 per cent of the credit needs of the
farmers.

 Chain fragmentation of land holding- Since in India a rural family have many
children because of there perspective that having many children would be helping hand in
there work due to which the land is distributed among all the children during the time of
partition and this chain grows on causing more and more pressure on the agricultural
land.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES :

 National Policy for farmers- Government of India approved the National Policy for
Farmers (NPF) in 2007. The Policy provisions inter-alia, include asset reforms of land,
water, livestock, fisheries, and bio-resources; support services and inputs like application
of frontier technologies; agricultural biodiversity systems; supply of good quality of seeds
and disease free planting material, improving soil fertility and health, and integrated pest
management systems; support systems for women like crèches, child care centers,
nutrition, health and training; timely, adequate, and easy reach of institutional credit at
reasonable interest rates, and farmer-friendly insurance instruments; use of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) and setting up of farmers schools to revitalize
agricultural extension; effective implementation of MSP across the country, development
of agricultural market infrastructure, and rural non-farm employment initiatives for farm
households; integrated approach for rural energy, etc. Many of the provisions of the NPF
are being operationalized through various schemes and programs which are
implemented by different central government departments and ministries.

 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) – This crop Insurance scheme is in line
with the One Nation – One Scheme theme. It replaces the existing two schemes national
Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS. This scheme provides
uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by
farmers will be only 5%. The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and
balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the
farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities. There is no upper limit on
Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the
Government. Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in
low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to cap the government outgo on
the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim
against full sum insured without any reduction.
Some objectives of PMFBY are :-
a) To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of
failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
b) To stabilize the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
c) To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
d) To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.1

 National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development – A new

restructured scheme namely, National programme for Bovine Breeding and dairy
development (NPBBDD), was launched in 2014 by merging three Dairy Development
schemes of Intensive Dairy Development Programme (IDDP), Strengthening
Infrastructure for Quality and Clean Milk Production (SIQ and CMP) and Assistance to
Cooperative (A to C) and National Programme for cattle And Buffalo Breeding. The
scheme has two components (a) National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB); (b)
National Programme for Dairy Development(NDD). The NPBB will focus on extension
of field AI Net work through MAITRI ( Multi Purpose AI Technician in Rural India) and
to encourage conversation and development of recognized indigenous breeds of the
country. The NPDD will focus on creating infrastructure related to production,
procurement, processing and marketing of milk and milk products by the State
Implementing Agency (SIA), State Milk Marketing Federations/ District Cooperative
Milk Producers Union and manpower development activities including training of milk
producers associated to dairy cooperative societies.2

1
http://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/agri-insurance/pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana
2
India year Book
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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

 Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme – Dairy Entrepreneurship Development

Scheme was launched in September,2010 with the objective for promotion of private
investment in dairy sector to increase the milk production and helping in poverty
reduction through self employment opportunities. This scheme is being implemented
through NABARD which provides financial assistance to commercially bankable projects
with loans from commercial, cooperative, urban and rural banks with a back ended capital
subsidy of 25 percent of the project cost to the beneficiaries of general category and
33.33% of the project cost to SC and ST beneficiaries. The scheme is being continued
with certain modifications and a budget provision of Rs. 1400 crore during 12th Plan.
Since its inception, an amount of Rs. 842.92 crore has been disbursed by NABARD as
back ended capital subsidy to the beneficiaries.

 National Policy on Marine Fishery –

National Policy on Marine Fisheries was launched recently by the Department
of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. The aim of this policy is to ensure the
health and ecological intergrity of the marine living resources of India’s EEZ through
sustainable harvests. The overall strategy would be based on seven pillars, namely
sustainable development, socio-economic upliftment of fishers, principle of subsidiarity,
partnership, inter-generation equity, gender justice and precautionary approach. The
policy would be in line with the FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries on
conservation, development and management of fisheries. Some of the Provisions of this
policy are (i) Monitoring Control and Surveillance (ii) Integrated approach on fisheries
management (iii) Commercializing Fisheries. The policy if well implemented would
promote SDG Goal 14 of conserving and sustainably using Oceans, Seas and Marine
resources for Sustainable development. It would also help in boosting the primary sector
of our economy and improve its growth rate Challenges. Women SHGs would be
promoted in the women dominated post harvest sector of fisheries.3
 National Policy on Biofuel – In order to promote biofuels in the country, a National
Policy on Biofuels was made by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy during the year
2009. Globally, biofuels have caught the attention in last decade and it is imperative to
keep up with the pace of developments in the field of biofuels. The Policy categorises
biofuels as "Basic Biofuels" viz. First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel and

3
http://motiveacademy.in/upsc/national-policy-marine-fisheries-2017/
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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

"Advanced Biofuels" - Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to
drop-in fuels, Third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG etc. to enable extension of
appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category. Some expected benefits
of this policy are (i) Reduce import dependencies (ii) Cleaner Environment (iii) Health
Benefits (iv) Employment Generation (v) Additional Income to Farmers.4

 National Livestock Policy – The National Livestock Policy, 2013 has been formulated to have
a policy framework for improving productivity of the livestock sector in a sustainable manner
while protecting the environment, preserving animal bio-diversity, ensuring bio-security and
farmers livelihood. The aims and objective of National Livestock Policy are
a) Support the existing low input production systems for improving productivity and
income so as to improve socio-economic status of a vast majority of our livestock
producers, most of which are women and small farmers.
b) Improve the productivity of livestock and poultry by promoting and disseminating the
technologies developed by the research systems.
c) Promote conservation of bio-diversity; conservation and genetic improvement of
important indigenous breeds of livestock and poultry in the country
d) support, livestock production, processing, value addition and marketing in the sector.5
e) Ensure transmission and application of improved technology and management
practices to the doorstep of the farmers and the entrepreneurs.

 National Livestock Mission – Since 2014 -2015 and 2015-2016, National Livestock
Mission (NLM) is being implemented with the objectives of sustainable development of
livestock sector, focusing on improving the availability of quality feed and fodder, risk
coverage, effective extension, skill development, improved credit and organization of
livestock farmers/ rearers, etc. The other objectives are development of small ruminants,
piggery and poultry, there are programmes for strengthening the state farms in terms of
modernization, automation and biosecurity to enable production of improved breed of
goats, sheep, pigs and stocks of low-input technology chicken. Further, the productivity
enhancement component provides for supporting BPL families to encourage rearing of
backyard poultry and community- led breed improvement programmes.
The Sub-Mission on livestock development are

4
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx
5
http://dahd.nic.in/sites/default/filess/NLP%202013%20Final11.pdf
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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

a. Sheep and Goat Development

b. Central Sheep Breeding Farm
c. Conservation of Threatened Breeds
d. Integrated Development of small Ruminants and Rabbits
e. Meat and Pig Development

ALLIED INDUSTRIES (IMPACT ON ECONOMY) :

Horticulture

Livestock Dairy

Biogas Allied Poultry

Production
Industries

Fishery and
Vermiculture
Aquaculture

Mushroom
Cultivation

1. Horticulture-

Horticulture forms an integral and important component in the economy of a nation.

Horticultural crops constitute a significant segment of the total agricultural production of a
country. The percentage share of horticulture output in agriculture is more than 33 per cent.
The importance of horticulture can be substantiated by its benefits like high export value,
high per unit area yield, high returns per unit area, best utilization of wasteland, provision of
raw materials for industries, whole engagement by a grower/laborer, production of more
food energy per unit area than that of field crops, better use of undulating lands, and
stabilization of women’s empowerment by providing employment opportunities through
processing, floriculture, seed production, mushroom cultivation, nursery preparation, etc.
Flower harvesting, nursery maintenance, hybrid seed production and tissue culture,
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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

propagation of fruits and flowers, and food processing are highly remunerative employment
options for women in rural areas.
Under the purview of agriculture and allied activities, the share of plan outlay for
horticulture, which was 3.9 per cent during Ninth Plan, has increased to 4.6 per cent during
the Twelfth Plan. India has witnessed voluminous increase in horticulture production over
the last few years. Significant progress has been made I area expansion resulting in higher
production. Over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 2.7 per cent per
annum and annual production increased by 7.0 per cent. During 2013-14, the production of
horticulture crops was about 283.5 million tones from an area of 24.2 million hectares. Out
of the six categories e.g., Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, Aromatic plants, Spices and
Plantation Crops, the highest annual growth of 9.5 per cent is seen in fruit production during
2013-14.

2. Dairy-

Demand of milk in the country is expected to reach upto 150 million tones by the
end of year 2016-2017 and upto 210 million tones by 2021-22. The dairy sector has
grown substantially over the years. As a result of prudent policy intervention, India
ranks first among the world’s milk producing nations, achieving an annual output of
145 million tones (provisional) during the year 2014-15 as compared to 137.68
million tones during 2013-14 recording a growth of 5.32 per cent. The anticipated
milk production milk production in the country for the year 2015-16 is about 148
million tones. This represents a sustained growth in the availability of milk and
milk products for growing population.

Dairying has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural
families and has assumed the most important role in providing employment and
income generating opportunities particularly for women and marginal farmers. The
per capita availability of milk was at a level of 302 grams per day during the year
2013-14, which was more than the world average of 294 grams per day.

3. Poultry-

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

Poultry is one of the fastest growing segments of the agricultural sector in India
today. While the production of agricultural crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5 to 2
percent per annum, that of eggs and broilers has been rising at a rate of 8 to 10
percent per annum. As a result, India is now the world's fifth largest egg producer
and the eighteenth largest producer of broilers. Driving this expansion are a
combination of factors - growth in per capita income, a growing urban population
and falling real poultry prices. Table eggs and broiler meat are the major end
products of the poultry sector in India. Presently production of eggs is estimated to
number about 37 billion, that of broilers 895 million, and that of poultry meat
735,000 tonnes.
The growth of the poultry sector in India is also marked by an increase in the size of the
poultry farm. In earlier years broiler farms had produced on average a few hundred birds
(200-500 chicks) per cycle. Today units with fewer than 5,000 birds are becoming rare, and
units with 5,000 to 50,000 birds per week cycle are common. Similarly, in layer farms, units
with a flock size of 10,000 to 50,000 birds have become common. Small units are probably
finding themselves at a disadvantage because of high feed and transport costs, expensive
vaccines, and veterinary care services and the non-availability of credit. Some small units are
reported to be shifting from layer to broiler production because output in broiler units can be
realized in six weeks.

4. Fishery & Aquaculture-

India is the second largest producer of fish in the world contributing 5.68 per cent
of global fish production. It is also a major producer of fish through aquaculture and
ranks second in the world after china. Fishery is one of the most promising sector of
agriculture and allied industry in India, with an overall growth rate of 6% projected
during 12th Five Year Plan.

India is blessed with vast aquatic resources with a rich diversity of fish fauna for
sustainable utilization. Our country is recognized to harbor about 2200 species of
fish, which accounted for about 11% of all fish species reported globally. About
24.7% of our fish species live in warm fresh water; 3.3% in cold water; 6.5% in
estuaries and the rest 65.5% in the sea.

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Harvesting of marine fisheries resources in the country warrants strong emphasis on

invoking technological innovations as well as management paradigms that reconcile
livelihood issues with concerns on resource conservation. Global production of fish
from marine capture fisheries in the last decade has stagnated gradually and many
stocks have been either over-exploited or have reached there maximum sustainable
needs.6

5. Mushroom Cultivation-

The global mushroom industry has expanded very rapidly in the last two decades by
the addition of newer types of mushrooms for commercial cultivation. However,
mushroom as a vegetable is yet to find regular place among the Indian consumers.
Despite of favourable agro-climate, abundance of agro wastes, relatively low-cost
labour and a rich fungal biodiversity, India has witnessed a lukewarm response in
its growth. At present, the total mushroom production in India is approximately
0.13 million tons. From 2010-2017, the mushroom industry in India has registered
an average growth rate of 4.3% per annum. Out of the total mushroom produced,
white button mushroom share is 73% followed by oyster mushroom (16%), paddy
straw mushroom (7%) and milky mushroom (3%). By considering the production
statistics, the spawn demand in India is estimated about 8000-10000 tons per
annum. Majority of this commercial spawn to the growers is being supplied by the
private units and the contribution of public sector organizations in spawn supply
was limited to 10% only.

6. Vermiculture-

Vermicomposting is the process by which worms are used to convert organic

materials (usually wastes) into a humus-like material known as vermicomposting.
The goal is to process the material as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Earthworms consume biomass and excrete it in digested form called worm casts.
Worm casts are popularly called as Black gold. The casts are rich in nutrients,
growth promoting substances, beneficial soil micro flora and having properties of

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

inhibiting pathogenic microbes. Vermicomposting is stable, fine granular organic

manure, which enriches soil quality by improving its physicochemical and
biological properties. It is highly useful in raising seedlings and for crop production.
Vermicomposting is becoming popular as a major component of organic farming
system.
Vermiculture is the culture of earthworms. The goal is to continually increase the
number of worms in order to obtain a sustainable harvest. The worms are either
used to expand a vermicomposting operation or sold to consumers who use them for
the same or other purposes. 7

7. Biogas Production –

Biogas is primarily Methane and Carbon dioxide. It may have small amounts

of hydrogen sulphide moisture and siloxanes. The gases methane, hydrogen
and carbon monoxide can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy
release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for any heating purpose,
such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas
into electricity and heat.
A family type biogas plant generates biogas from organic substances such as cattle
–dung, and other bio-degradable materials such as biomass from farms, gardens,
kitchens and night soil wastes etc. The process of biogas generation is called
anaerobic digestion (AD). The following are the benefits of the Biogas technology
 It provides clean gaseous fuel for cooking and lighting.
 Chemical fertilizers can be done away with since the digested slurry obtained from the
biogas plants can be used as enriched bio-manure.
 It is good for the climate and for sanitation problems since toilets can be linked directly
with biogas plants.

In India, the estimates for the production of biogas is about 20757 lakh cubic meters in 2014-
15. This is equivalent to 6.6 crore domestic LPG cylinders. This is equivalent to 5% of the
total LPG consumption in the country today. Within states, Maharashtra tops the production
with 3578 lakh cubic meters while Andhra Pradesh comes next with 2165 lakh cubic meters.

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

8. Livestock –

Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce labor and

commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to
refer solely to those that are bred for consumption, while other times it refers only to farmed
ruminants, such as cattle and goats.
Livestock plays an important role in Indian economy. About 20.5 million people depend
upon livestock for their livelihood. Livestock contributed 16% to the income of small farm
households as against an average of 14% for all rural households. Livestock provides
livelihood to two-third of rural community. It also provides employment to about 8.8 % of
the population in India. India has vast livestock resources. Livestock sector contributes 4.11%
GDP and 25.6% of total Agriculture GDP.
India is world’s highest livestock owner at about 512.05 million:
 First in the buffalo population in the world i.e. 105.3 million
 Second in the population of cattle and goats – 140.5 million
 Second largest poultry market in the world in the world – production of 63 billion eggs
and 649 million poultry meat.
 Third in the population of sheep – 72 million
 Fifth in the population of ducks and chicken
 Tenth in camel population in the world.
Livestock is highly essential for Human Beings as it contributes in many ways like –
a) Food: The livestock provides food items such as Milk, Meat and Eggs for human
consumption. It is producing about 165.4 million tones of milk in a year (2016-17). Similarly
it is producing about 88.14 billions of eggs, 8.89 million tonnes of meat in a year. The value
of output of livestock sector at current prices was Rs 8,11,847 crores in 2015-16.
b) Fibre and skins: The livestock also contributes to the production of wool, hair, hides, and
pelts. Leather is the most important product which has a very high export potential. India is
producing about 43.5 million Kg of wool per annum.
c) Dung and other animal waste materials: Dung and other animal wastes serve as very good
farm yard manure and the value of it is worth several crores of rupees. In addition it is also
used as fuel (bio gas, dung cakes), and for construction as poor man’s cement (dung).

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d) Storage: Livestock are considered as “moving banks” because of their potentiality to dispose

off during emergencies. They serve as capital and in cases of landless agricultural labourers
many time it is the only capital resource they possess.
e) Weed control: Livestock are also used as Biological control of brush, plants and weeds.
f) Cultural: Livestock offer security to the owners and also add to their self esteem especially
when they are owning prized animals such as pedigreed bulls, dogs and high yielding cows/
buffaloes etc.
g) Sports / recreation: People also use the animals like cocks, rams, bulls etc for competition and
sports. Despite ban on these animal competitions the cock fights, ram fights and bull fights
(jalli kattu) are quite common during festive seasons.8

MAJOR REVOLUTIONS :

Revolutions in India marked the beginning of a completely new era in various socio-
economic fields like agriculture, petroleum etc. Most of the time these revolutions were
concerned with only one particular field and through these revolutions that particular field
grew exponentially by creation of multitude new opportunities and openings.
Some major revolutions in India are :-

Green Revolution -
Green Revolution refers to a significant increase in the volume of agricultural production and
productivity through adoption of better quality seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
insecticides and assured irrigation facilities during a short period of time. Green Revolution
was started by Norman Borlaug, which leveraged agricultural research and technology to
increase the agricultural productivity in developing world. The concept of green revolution in
India was given by Dr. MS Swaminathan. During mid-sixties this HYV technology was
adopted in the Indian agriculture to boost up production of food grains.
This programme was first known as Intensive Agricultural Development Programme (IADP).
The IADP was modified in the year 1964-65 and a new scheme Intensive Agricultural Area
Programme (IAAP) was implemented. The basic ingredients of the new strategy are:

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 Agriculture & Allied Industry And its Socio Economic Impact

(i) High Yielding Variety seeds - They are seeds of better quality and produce a bit more than
the normal seeds. They have more immune system to fight with insects and other diseases.
HYV seeds need very less irrigation care
(ii) Chemical fertilizers - It is any inorganic material of wholly or partially synthetic origin
that is added to the soil to sustain plant growth.
(iii) Pesticides - Pesticides are chemical compounds that are used to kill pests, including
insects, rodents, fungi and unwanted plants (weeds). Pesticides are used in public health to
kill vectors of disease, such as mosquitoes, and in agriculture, to kill pests that damage crops.
(iv) Insecticides- They are the substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and
larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively.
The programme has been considerably modified with the passage of time and now the dry
areas and the hilly areas have now been covered under the new agricultural strategy.

Blue Revolution –

The term “blue revolution’ is used to describe the adoption of a package of methods by which
fish production has been increased substantially in India since independence. The term was
coined after the success of the Green Revolution which signified enormous increase in grain
output. Dr. Hiralal Chaudhuri and Dr. Arun Krishnsnan are known as Father of Blue
revolution.
During the past few decades the marine fisheries production has increased manifold through
successive stages, mainly due to the adoption of synthetic fibres in lieu of natural fibres in
gear fabrication, introduction of mechanical trawlers, adoption of techniques like mass
harvesting gear, the purse seine in the fishing grounds of south-west coastal region in the
1980s, mechanisation of country-made crafts and the subsequent application of innovative
gears on a wide scale.

There has been an increase in the total fish production from 0.75 million tonnes in 1950-51 to
6.8 million tonnes in 2006-07 at the end of the Tenth Plan. However, production has
fluctuated over the years.

Pink Revolution-
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Pink revolution refers to the modernasation of meat and poultry processing sector.
Modernization refers to the specialization, mechanization and industralisation is necessary for
Indian entities to keep up with global standards. Also, adoption and development of mass
production capabilities will help the industry be more productible. There is especially
immense scope for development of domestic market. A sizeable number of Indians still prefer
to buy meat at the local shop or from the wet market instead of standarised market meat.
Additionally, in light of the increasing threat of zoonotic diseases, it is important for Indfian
to maintain or build top notch facilities so that exports from India do not get banned by other
countries.

White Revolution –

Operation Flood, launched in 1970, was a project of India's National Dairy Development

Board (NDDB), which was the world's biggest dairy development program. It transformed
India from a milk-deficient nation into the world's largest milk producer, surpassing the USA
in 1998,with about 17 percent of global output in 2010–11. In 30 years it doubled milk
available per person, and made dairy farming India’s largest self-sustainable rural
employment generator. It was launched to help farmers direct their own development, placing
control of the resources they create in their own hands. All this was achieved not merely by
mass production, but by production by the masses; the process has been called the white
revolution.

The Anand Pattern Experience at AMUL a single, cooperative dairy, was the engine behind
the success of the program, Vereghese Kurien the chairman and founder of Amul, was named
the chairman of NDDB by the then Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri. Kurien gave
the necessary thrust using his professional management skills to the program, and is
recognized as its architect.

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It created a national milk grid linking producers throughout India with consumers in over 700
towns and cities, reducing seasonal and regional price variations while ensuring that the
producer gets a major share of the price consumers pay, by cutting out middlemen. The
bedrock of Operation Flood has been village milk producers' co-operatives, which procure
milk and provide inputs and services, making modern management and technology available
to members

CONCLUSION

However, agriculture’s future in India is moving forward. The administration additionally

changed for the current year. In the Union Budget for 2014–2015. These measures look good
for the agribusiness division. The measures will give it the force that has been absent for
quite a few years. When benefit expands, it might likewise open up venture open doors for
household and remote organizations.

In order to address the main constraints affecting the development of the national and
regional seed supplies that are mentioned here, the region requires integrated efforts by all
national and international stakeholders and institutions involved in seed supply and plant
genetic resource management. On practical issues, lessons learned by some countries could
be shared with other countries; e.g. on how to progress with the transition or how to
recognize the most immediate needs of farmers. Appropriate policies should also be
established, at various levels, in order to facilitate seed investment and development in the
region.

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In country like India there is not enough transport facilities for the farmers. Transport
facilities should be improved to facilitate the farmers to produce new inputs and enable them
to sell their products in markets, villages should be linked with mandies. It would help to
raise their income which in turn stimulates the farmer’s interest to adopt better farm
technology with sufficient income. In a bid to guide and advise the farmers regarding the
adoption of new technology arrangements should be made for agricultural education and
extension services. It should assist the farmers to take proper crop-care leading to increase in
crop productivity. Crop productivity depends not only on the quality of input but also on the
irrigation facilities. Therefore, canals, tube wells should be constructed to provide better
irrigation facilities for the security of crops. Extensive flood control measures should be
adopted to prevent the devastation caused by floods.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. India Year Book 2017

2. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/agriculture-role-on-indian-economy-2151-
6219-1000176.php?aid=62176
3. http://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/livestock/role-of-livestock-in-indian-economy
4. http://www.fadr.msu.ru/rodale/agsieve/txt/vol7/art3.html
5. http://dahd.nic.in/sites/default/filess/NLP%202013%20Final11.pdf
6. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx
7. http://motiveacademy.in/upsc/national-policy-marine-fisheries-2017/

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