Agriculture Booster

Re-imaging agriculture through the lens of food processing industry The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the criticality of food security and food surplus management in the current policy space. To this end, policy steps in the agriculture sector in recent years have shifted their orientation from sustenance to marketing. However, the sector is still exposed to … Read more

Central coordinating system vital to handle paddy stubble: Study   Main Issue India needs a central coordinating mechanism for paddy stubble management and crop diversification with adequate resources, clear assignment of responsibilities between national and sub-national agencies to counter the ill-effects of crop stubble burning during Covid-19 pandemic. This has been recommended by a study conducted by … Read more

Agriculture Economy : New investment needs incentives, not only ease of doing business     The Union Acts on agricultural markets (a state domain until now) are aimed to create one nation-one market and provide choice to farmers for selling their produce for better price besides attracting private investment in the agricultural markets.   The … Read more

Commercialization of Agriculture   Commercialization of agriculture  means production of agricultural crops for sale in the market, rather than for family consumption. For marketization of agricultural products thus ‘surplus’ of production over consumption is required. But agriculture at that time was merely of the subsistence type. It had not been a consequence of conscious response … Read more

Apiculture Apiculture is the science of beekeeping. Humans have collected honey from wild bee hives for more than 8,000 years, as shown in Mesolithic rock paintings dating from 6000 B. C. E. By 2500 B. C. E. , Egyptians were keeping bees in artificial hives. Hives exploit the honeybees’ natural tendency to build nests in … Read more

Grading and Standardization of Agricultural Products Standardization and grading are the first steps in the value-chains of an agricultural produce as it travels in a market channel to the consumer. Price of a produce has to be commensurate with quality, the assessment of which depends on a responsive system of grading and standardization. Hence, it … Read more

Water use efficiency in relation to crop production Land and water scarcity are major constraints to the production of food required to meet the quantitative and qualitative shifts of the world’s demand in the mid-twenty-first century. Whereas land and water availability are constrained on a global scale, there are important regional and crop-specific differences that … Read more

Trends in Food production and consumption in India Production trends Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihoods in India. 70 percent of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal. In 2017-18, total food grain production was estimated at … Read more

National Agricultural Research System India has built up a fairly advanced agricultural research system. The Indian NARS is one of the largest systems in the world. The effective functioning of this system, in close association with education and extension systems, has greatly contributed to the rapid growth of agriculture after independence. After independence, the research … Read more

 ADMINISTERED PRICES INCLUDING MSP AND PROCUREMENT PRICES Historical context The emergence of agricultural Price Policy in India was in the backdrop of food scarcity and price fluctuations provoked by drought, floods and international prices for exports and imports. This policy in general was directed towards ensuring reasonable food prices for consumers by providing … Read more