GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE

Technologies – Policies - Strategies

Presentation made to Ms. Isabel Guerrero,Country Director
World Bank, India
By P. Chengal Reddy, Secretary General, CIFA,

“Trade increases the wealth and glory of a country:

But its real strength and stamina are to be looked for
among the cultivators of the land”
- Lord Chatham

Hyderabad Address:-
Delhi Address:-
Flat # 209, Vijaya Towers, Shanthi Nagar,
8/32, South Patel Nagar, New Delhi -110 008
Hyderabad - 500 028, A.P. India
Tel : 011 39484754, 25842111
Tel: 91-40-23319643, 66665191, 23378046
Fax : 011 – 25842123
E-mail : Chengal_ifia@yahoo.com P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA,
E-mail : cifa_delhi@yahoo.com 1
Website: www.indianfarmers.org chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
Website: www.indianfarmers.org
 CUMULATIVE CAUSES FOR COMMITTING SUICIDES BY FARMERS

1
 Problems of Credit
 Costly Inputs / MRP Commencing Agriculture at the
 Non availability of Water / Electricity age of 18-20 Yrs.
 Adati dar / Commission Agents
 Low Prices / Failure of Extension
 Dependency on Rain
 Pest & Disease

2
Continuous & Persistent
 No Crop Insurance
 No Compensation for adulteration problems
 Exploitation
 Corruption
 Crop Failures

3
 Accumulated Debit
 Bank Loans Complicated Procedures
 Failure of Promises
 Private Loans – High Interest
 Institutional Failure
 Sale of Gold
 Mortgage of Land

4
 Reaching the peak of problems. Suicides at the age of
 Daughter’s Marriage – Son’s Education. 35-45 Yrs.
 Loan Recovery - R.R. Act.
 Loss of Social Status

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 2

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 PROBLEMS CONFRONTED BY FARMERS IN THEIR SOCIETY,
WITH OFFICIAL AND BUSINESS MAN
A

INDIVIDUAL PROBLEMS
 No respect in the Society
 No sufficient income – No guaranteed income
 No full time work
 No development / growth (Purchase of new lands, tractors, new
house, cycle,fan, phone etc.)
 Non-availability of quality inputs
 No extension – advice
 No regular water or electricity supply
 Heavy physical work
 No Mechanization
 No access market information
 No Health / Education facilities

B
C

GOVERNMENT RELATED

 Inconsistent agricultural policies

BUSINESS RELATED
 Adulterated, spurious seeds
 Low budget allocations by Central / State
and Pesticides.
 Political uncertainty
 Cheating in weighing.
 No decentralization of power
 Exploitation by Agents /
 Insufficient infrastructure
Middlemen / Commissions
 Lack of crop insurance
 Insufficient backward &
 Depending on Monsoon
forward linkage
 Restrictions and Controls
 Heavy interest on private
borrowing.
 Monopoly business activity
P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 3
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 Number of Departments to be Dealt by Farmers
DEPARTMENTS UNDER GOVT. OF INDIA DEPARTMENTS UNDER STATE GOVERNEMNT

Fertilizers Export/ Electricity

Crop Pricing Import
Insurance Policy
Animal
Husbandry
Procureme
Agriculture
nt Customs
FCI, CCI, Duties / Education
NAFED Excise
Taxes
Extension

Price Research
Fixation Irrigation
(MSP)

Co-
operatives
Infrastructure
Farm Farmers
Subsidies
/
Training
Assistance s
Credit Incentives Market
in Natural
(Banks) Calamities Yards Revenue
NABARD -
RBI

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 4

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 REDUCTION OF GOI INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE

S.No. PLAN TOTAL PLAN Agriculture & IRRIGATION Total

OUTLAY Allied Sectors investment
In PER CENT
1 First (51-56) 2378 354 455.1 34.0
2 Second(56-61) 4500 501 580.0 24.2
3 Third(61-66) 8577 1089 1101.2 25.5
4 Annual Plan(66-69) 6625 1107 1032.7 32.3
5 Fourth(69-74) 15779 2320 2577.7 31.0
6 Fifth 39426 4865 4224.4 23.1
7 Annual Plan(79-80) 12167 1997 3753.4 47.2
8 Sixth(80-85) 97500 5095 12315.6 18.5
9 Seventh(85-90) 180000 10525 19675.7 16.8
10 Annual Plan(90-92) 123120 77250 9569.3 13.7
11 Eighth(92-97) 434100 22467 36648.8 13.6
12 Ninth (97-02) 859200 42462 63681.6 12.4
13 Tenth(02-07) 1525639 58933 103315.0 10.6

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 5

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 Agriculture in India: a snapshot

S.N PLAN Total Productivity

investment 1950-51:50 million tons
(In PER CENT) 1996-97:198 million tons
1 1951-56 34.0 2001-02:212 million tons
2 1979-80 47.2
3 2002-07 10.6 World Rank in Production
Vegetables, Millets, Pulses, Tea
Total Cropped Area (Million Hectares) Rice, Wheat, Sugarcane,
200
Oilseeds
Cotton, Potato, Tobacco
150
112.53
Million Ha

123.27
Rainfed Fragmentation of land
100
Irrigated holdings; increase in marginal
50 and small land holdings from 9.5
62.47 75.41
million to 10.7 million between
0
1991 and 2001
P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 6
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 Agriculture in India: the future

Challenges
 Limited Extension Services
 Inadequate Infrastructure
 irrigation, cold storage.
 post-harvest facilities
 Market exploitation – middle man
 Market based productivity
 Reducing physical drudgery
 Reducing cost of production
 Nuxalisam - Migration
Opportunities
 Pro-agriculture policies
 Huge production base
 Huge consumer base
 Cheap raw material
 Agro-Climatic advantages
 Availablity of Technologies
 Investment by private sector
 Specialised native crops (Mango)

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 7

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE
Technologies – Policies - Strategies

There is No Culture - In -Agri-culture

Technologies – IT – BT – Space - Irradiation – Mechanization

 Marketing – Contract Farming – Forward Trading

 Policies – MSP – Crop Insurance – Ethanol Blending

Farmers Involvement –

Panchayat Raj Empowerment

Private Sector Involvment

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 8
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 Paddy Yield variations in States

Yield: National Average-1804 (Yield-Kg/Hectares)

Year -2002-03 (Page 45 of Agricultural Statistics 2004)(Area-Million Hectares)
Name of the State Cropped Area Yield
S.No.
Higher Yield States

1. Punjab 2.53 3510

2. Tamilnadu 1.70 3350
3. Haryana 0.91 2724

Lower Yield States

1. Madhya Pradesh 1.45 620

2. Chhattisgarh 3.64 702
3. Orissa 4.27 759

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 9

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 PADDY: Andhra Pradesh State average yield – 3,111 (Kgs/Hectares)
Area in hectares
Year -2004-05(Page 109 & 128 of Statistical Abstract A.P – 2006)

Name of the District Cropped Area Yield

S.No.
Higher Yield Districts

1. West Godavari 4,19,996 3928

2. East Godavari 3,87,424 3897
3. Kurnool 73,523 3377

Lower Yield Districts

1. Adilabad 39,621 1587

2. Vishakapatnam 97,808 1682
3. Medak 62,461 1993

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 10

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
Wheat Yield variation in States - 2002-2003

Million Millions Kg /
Hactors tonnes Hectars
Sl.N Name of the Producti
Area Yield
o. State on
1 Punjab 3.38 14.18 4200
2 Haryana 2.27 9.19 4053
Madhya
3 3.08 4.29 1392
Pradesh
4 Jharkhand 0.06 0.10 1625

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 11

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 International Comparisons of Yiled Selected Commodities 2004-05
Rice / Paddy Wheat Maize
Egypt 9.8 China 4.25 U.S.A 9.15
Indian 2.9 France 7.58 France 7.56
Japan 6.42 India 2.71 India 1.18
6.69
Myanmar 2.43 Iran 2.06 Germany
2.1
Korea 6.73 Pakistan 2.37 Philippines 4.9
Thailand 2.63 U.K 7.77 China
U.S.A 7.83 Australia 1.64
World 3.96 World 2.87 World 3.38
Cotton Major Oil Seeds
China 11.10 Argentina 2.51
U.S.A 9.58 Brazil 2.48
Uzbekistan 7.98 China 2.05
India 4.64 India 0.86
Brazil 10.96 Germany 4.07
Pakistan 7.60 U.S.A 2.61
Nigeria 1.04
World 7.33 World 1.86
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation
P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 12
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 Per hectare Fertilizer Consumption of N.P.K. Fertilizers
during 2004-05 and 2005-06 (in Kg.) (Based on 2004-05
Provisional Gross Cropped Area)
S.No. State 2004-05 2005-06
1 Punjab 210.06 194.56
2 Tamilnadu 183.67 159.07
3 Andhra Pradesh 203.61 158.57
4 Bihar 152.32 99.78
5 Madhya Pradesh 47.13 53.42
6 Rajasthan 36.29 31.33

P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 13

chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 ISSUES OF PESTS & DISEASES

1) Crop losses due to pests and diseases – 50,000/- crores

2)Average use of pesticides.
Japan 10.70 Kg.Ha
Europe 3.00 Kg.Ha
USA 4.5 Kg.Ha
India 0.480 Kg. Ha
3) NO. of pesticides used
USA 755
EU 600
Pakistan 495
India 175
4) Yield losses caused by Pest in different crops
Cotton 30-50%
Rice 25-60%
Vegetables 15-40%
Pulses 20-75%
Sugarcane 15-30%
5) 46% of farmers use pesticides in India.
6) Pesticides market in India 4300 corers.
7) Excise on pesticides 16%. P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 14
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
 Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA)
An apex organization representing Indian farmers

Goals
 Empowering farmers for effective participation in decision making.
 To reduce economic gap between farmers and other sectors.
 Develop global competitiveness of Indian Farmers.

Membership on 23 States of India

 It consists of State Level Farmers Federations, Cooperatives,
Commodity Associations / Committees / Council, of cotton, wheat,
paddy, sugarcane, Pulses, Commercial Crops and others.

Essential Roles of CIFA

 Strengthening farmers’ skills through HRD training business etc.,
 To sharpen farmers negotiating and advocacy powers.
 Be able to participate in and influence policies in Parliament.
 Establishing backward andP. forward linkage
Chengal Reddy, CIFA, with industry & research. 15
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in
Thank you
P. Chengal Reddy, CIFA, 16
chengal_ifia@yahoo.co.in