Submitted to – Prof. V. K.

Kaul

Solution and New Capabilities building for Agri-crisis in India

Presented By-
Misha Ahuja
Saurabh K. Sharma
Harshit Goel
Nikhil taneja
In the contemporary times, the Indian agricultural scenario is running far away
from the philosophy of “You reap what you sow”. The government’s data on almost
3 lakh farmer suicides in the last 20 years itself stands as a litmus test.
So, where we are going wrong?
This question may seem straightforward, but it encompasses many reasons, such
as

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Therefore, Indian agriculture is now in doldrums. And despite being a majority of the population (61.5%
as per agricultural census 2011) dependent on it, Indian agriculture hardly contributes to 7.68% of total
global agricultural output. It is for this reason only, despite India ranking second in overall agrarian
production next only to China, our country’s export basket hardly offers huge crop diversity and is still
lagged by subsistence production.
In order to deal with this menace, technology exchange
programme has been proposed as a vital solution.
The mutual benefit programs with agriculturally advanced
nations can really prove to be a game changer for Indian
agriculture, as it can have intended benefits:
1. It will bring the required innovation in our agriculture.
2. The transfer to modern methods and more efficient farm techniques can help
India, like Israeli water management in agriculture.
3. It would help India to move onto the aspect of profitability in agriculture than
productivity.
4. Improvement in economy on the scale of agriculture and its integration with
the global value chain, as China did.
But this remedy of transfer can only support India’s plan to a limited extent
For India’s vision to double its farmers’ income by 2022, will
need more than an external antidote.
Therefore, some intrinsic solutions can genuinely help India in
realising its agricultural potential:

1. Announcing a fair MSP (Minimum Support Price) for farmers.

2. Taking a different approach for irrigated farmlands and un-irrigated areas.
3. Focusing on Food Nutrition Policy.
4. Digitalising agriculture in a holistic value chain manner.
5. Strengthening the warehouse facilities and cold storage infrastructure.
6. Innovating the climate-smart agriculture technologies.
7. Development of allied sectors such as horticulture, fisheries etc.
8. Promoting organic farming and sustainable farming with more vigour.
Trans Gangetic Plains - Punjab & Haryana
● India’s green revolution heartland
● Practices rice-wheat rotation principal of cropping system
● 10 million hectares of land
● Trade and use wheat straw as basal, feed for dairy livestock
● Significant biomass production
● Bulk of combine harvested rice straw is burned in situ
Harvesting big data from farms to generate results about seed
varieties, income and the farmers’ technological capacity

As part of project, nations develop focused surveys in collaboration with FAO and World
Bank
Accumulation of data at such scale will enable the government to track progress
governments will receive technical support on implementing the surveys and using the data
that
Theworkers gather
end result will be a statistically representative database with precise geographic
information about rural farms that can be used to track trends and adjust government
Inoutreach
return, governments must commit to gradually increasing their own funding for the
efforts accordingly
programme, with the aim of taking complete ownership within a decade
According to World Bank, cost of such project for 4 Million farmers in Punjab, Haryana Belt
“Data
would be becomes
INR 1.48 Crore more valuable the longer you invest in it.”
An Ecosystem of farmers-Government-Research Institute
to tackle stubble burning

Blame Game between States of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi

Ploughing the rice straw back into the field as a natural fertilizer (paddy cultivation is
particularly nutrient intensive)
The government responded to this problem by doing something it loves to do - banning crop
Help the paddy farmers transition to a better, more sustainable style of farming
residue burning
Supplying paddy straw for generation of bio-energy
International Rice Research Institute, in association with government, research scholars and
BothA the
costban
of INR
and 2the
lakh crore is incurred
subsidy-grant by Delhi,
initiatives Haryana and
are ‘top-down’ Punjab on stubble
interventions, burning.
which are bound
farmers
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India as
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To put things in perspective, economic losses owing to exposure to air pollution from
Emphasis shouldinvolving
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compared to the the‘carrot-and-stick
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of income.of the Indian State

Philippines, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. These nations have implemented
such programs with excellent degree of success
 the concept of
connected smart
machines and sensors
integrated on farms to
make farming
processes data-driven
and data-enabled.

● Observation
● Diagnostics
● Decisions
● Implementation
Cycle of IOT enabled
farming
Sustainability Issues related to Agriculture in Trans
Gangetic Plains
● Present crop residue management practices are incompatible with year-round
mulch retention
● Rice-Wheat system deteriorates level of the groundwater table
● Ground Water Pollution
● Diverse Weed Flora
● R-W system is water-, capital- and energy-intensive, and become less
profitable as the availability of these resources diminished
● Deterioration of soil structure, declining underground water and lesser land
and water productivity which ultimately are threat
Immediate Solutions
1. Diverse rotations: rotation of crops changes the rhizosphere affected soil area
which replenished after some time. Thus, inclusion of maize in place of rice
increases the sustainability and productivity (land or water) of the rice–wheat
cropping sequence in the region.
2. Reduced till system: reduced or no tillage sequesters higher fractions of C
and ultimately improved the soil physical, chemical and biological properties
which in turn improve the soil quality.
3. Mulching: mulching helped in conservation of the soil moisture, regulates the
soil temperature and in all improves the water productivity.
Solutions recommended by Scientists (Long Run)
1. Zero Tillage
2. Laser Levelling
3. Irrigation based on soil matric potential
4. Bed planting
5. Direct Seeding
6. Mechanical Transplanting of rice
7. Crop Diversification

These technologies are site specific and before selecting any particular RCT for a
particular region, soil texture and agro-climatic conditions must be considered
Agriculture overview: Madhya Pradesh
● Madhya Pradesh, with its large area, enjoys diverse climatic and soil
conditions suitable for a broad range of agricultural products. Agriculture
sector in Madhya Pradesh forms the backbone of its economy.
● It contributes almost one-fourth of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP)
● It is the main source of employment for over 65 percent of the population and
constitutes about 60- 75 percent of the rural income.
● Major Crops grown are Wheat, Soyabean, Gram, Rice and Sugarcane.
● Gross cropped area is 2.38 lakh hectares.
Challenge 1: Size of land holdings
No. of cultivators (In lakh). 98.44

Of the above, Small/Marginal Farmers (In Lakh) 63.4

Average size of land holdings (Hectare) 1.78

Possible solutions:

● Forming Farmers Cooperatives: help farmers to consolidate their land holdings and make
technological developments application viable.
● Leasing Business Model: Agricultural tools and machinery can be leased instead of buying.
● Pilot public-private partnerships (PPPs): PPPs in developing infrastructure, which benefits rural
areas as well as the agriculture sector.
Challenge 2: Irrigation
Possible Solutions:
● Micro Farming: irrigation through drippers,
sprinklers, foggers and by other emitters on
surface or subsurface of the land. Use of AI-
enabled sensors to minimise wastage.
● National Mission on Micro Irrigation
(NMMI): India-Israel Agriculture Project,
Centre of Excellences were established in
various states which are helping the farming
fraternity in India to adopt the latest
technologies such as micro irrigation
systems.
Challenge 3: Finance
● On an average each farmer in M.P. is under a debt of Rs.16,128
● 40% of the loans in this ‘agricultural state’ are taken by farmers from non-governmental sources.
● As per the finance department gazette, MP is under a debt of Rs. 1,60,871.9 crores.

Possible Solutions:

● Contract Farming : State as well as Private sector.

● Cheap loans at 3-4% interest instead of Farm loan waivers.
● Pushing NBFCs and easing procedure for availing loans.
● Subsidies for purchasing seeds, manure and farm equipments.
● Encouraging private players: ITC has established E-chaupals (alternative grain markets) in M.P.
and technology is beginning to be used for controlling the markets. Crop rates are flashed from
minute to minute via internet at the E-chaupals, where ITC is buying off good quality grains from
farmers.
Possible Solution: Eradicating Middlemen
Krishhi connects Indian farmers directly to businesses across the country by taking complete control of the
supply chain. Each step is captured and monitored by our tech enabled rural management portal. Our
integrated services include:
Thank You