eChapters

India is an agrarian country where around 70% of the total population is engaged in farming activities. Agriculture and allied sectors are undoubtedly the largest livelihood provider of India, along with significant contribution towards the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Agricultural production has been raised dramatically in the recent past to feed our burgeoning population with the help of modern inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, mechanical devices for tilling, seeding and irrigating the crops. With the advancement of agro-inputs, incidence of various kinds of pests also increases that hugely threaten our food security.

1. Introduction

Country has vast network of 20 river basins with utilizable surface and groundwater resources of 1123 billion cubic meter (BCM). With the rising population, the per capita availability of water in India has declined from 5178 m³/year in 1951 to 1441 m³/year in 2015. About 60% of Indian population have per capita water availability close to or lower than the water scarcity threshold of 1000 m³/year. The per capita water availability will further decline to 1139 m³/year with increase in population. On the demand side, the gross water requirement for all users in India is expected to grow up to 1447 BCM in 2050 (CWC, 2010, GoI, 2015). With the massive financial investment by the governments and the farmers, net irrigated area in the country increased from 20.85 million hectare (Mha) in 1950-51 to 68.38 Mha in 2014-15 (DES, 2019). Although India is a world leader in irrigation infrastructure, still half of the total cropped area (51%) remains rainfed. Further, many studies have flagged sustainability and equity concerns in irrigation development in the country (Selvarajan and Roy, 2004;

Globally saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is cultivated in regions spanning from the Mediterranean in the west to Kashmir in the east. Countries like Iran, Spain, Italy, India, Greece, Turkey, Afghanistan, Morocco and Azerbaijan harbour suitable climatic and soil conditions required for its growth and harvesting (Mehdi and Reza, 2012). However, the crop is also cultivated on small scales inFrance, Switzerland, Israel, Pakistan, China, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Japan. Recently its cultivation has been introduced in non-traditional countries like Australia, New Zealand, USA, Argentina and Chile (Fernandez, 2004). Globally, about 85 thousand hectares of land is under saffron cultivation, giving a produce of 288 MT. Iran leads with 90 per cent of total global share for saffron production (Baghalian et al., 2010) and 70% of global export earning a revenue of US$ 51million. India’s global share is about 4.5 per cent in production followed by Greece (2.5%), Morocco (0.9%), Spain (0.8%), Italy and China (0.3% each), Afghanistan (0.2%) and Azerbaijan (0.06%).

Introduction

Agriculture sector has the most important role in Indian economy. Earlier, Indian farmers largely depend upon the human and animal power. But with time passage, implements viz. tractor and tractor driven have been introduced. During the last 10 years, It has been observed that the concept of farm mechanization and its importance has been well accepted and accordingly new farm implements/ equipments have been developed and commercialized. This has resulted in increase of productivity and production to feed the ever increasing population besides reduction in drudgery associated with farm operations. Farm mechanization has played a positive role in increasing employment in rural areas through generation of opportunities for operators, mechanics, salesmen etc. (Anonymous, 2018)

Introduction

India is often criticized for the negative externalities to the ecology due to the largest livestock population of the country. Thus inspite of the fact that the integrated farming system followed in the country contributes towards not only saving the resources and improving the environment. This study quantifies the positive environmental externalities associated with the livestock production in the context of integrated farming system of rainfed areas. It included land saving due to recycling of agricultural by-products as animal feed and also due to use of dung- cake as domestic fuel, saving of chemical fertilizers due to use of dung as manure and prevention of carbon dioxide emission due to use of animal energy in agriculture.

Biofertilizers are products that contain microorganisms essential for soil fertility and plant growth when added to the soil. Biofertilizers consist of microbes and living bacteria that promote the fertility of the soil and the growth of plants. Biofertilizers are known to play a number of vital roles in soil fertility, crop productivityand production in agriculture as they are eco-friendly and cannot at any cost replacechemical fertilizers that are indispensable for getting maximum crop yields. Increasing useof chemical fertilizers in agriculture make country self-dependent in food production but itdeteriorate environment and cause harmful impacts on living beings. 

Introduction

Seasonality in agriculture is a major determinant of poverty, food insecurity and hunger in areas having harvest only once or twice a year. Undiversified livelihoods survive on the crops that the households consume as food and sell for income. The risk being high, a single failed harvest can cause huge losses and can destitute a marginalized household with limited or no savings, increasing their dependence on borrowings leading to indebtedness later on. Punjab being one of the pioneer states in green revolution in country is facing lot of challenges due to monoculture i.e. paddy-wheat as the major crop rotation followed on 92% area of the state. The situation has led to serious repercussions in agriculture sector of the state along with social, financial, and ecological issues. 

Introduction

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. There are a number of sub sectors in the agricultural sector such as sericulture, floriculture and horticulture. Among those fields horticulture has played a dominant role in the total agricultural output throughout India. The world market has provided a good opportunity for the development of the fresh and the processed fruits industry of India. From the point of view of domestic market also, horticulture products have provided food items of nutritional value. Their cultivation has generated higher employment opportunities and higher returns to the farmers than the cereals and other agricultural cash crops (Singhal, 1995). Mango (Mangifera indica) is a stone fruit belonging to family Anacardiaceae. It is a most important fruit of India and known as the “king of tropical fruits”. Mango is cultivated in many tropical regions and distributed widely in the world. 

Conservation agriculture (CA) has potential to changes soil physical, chemical and biological soil quality parameters compared to conventional tillage (CT) systems. CA can also affect the functional diversity of soil microbes that essential for improved soil quality, crop production and many ecosystem services.

Conservation Agriculture is a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance (i.e. no tillage), maintenance of a permanent soil cover, and diversification of plant species. It enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production.

Three principles of Conservation Agriculture

Plant diseases create challenging problems in commercialagriculture and pose real economic threats to bothconventional and organic farming systems. Plantpathogens are difficult to manage for several reasons.First of all, plant pathogens are hard to identify becausethey are so small. The positive identification of apathogen often requires specialized equipment andtraining, and in some cases accurate diagnosis in thefield is difficult.Plant pathogens are constantly changing and mutating,resulting in new strains and new challenges togrowers. Disease management is complicated by the presenceof multiple types of pathogens. For any crop thegrower must deal with a variety of fungi, bacteria, viruses,and nematodes. This situation is even more complicatedfor organic crop production because they usuallyproduce a wide array of crops and are prohibitedfrom applying conventional synthetic fungicides.The world market continues to be extremely competitiveand continues to require that growers supplyhigh-quality, disease-free produce with an acceptableshelf life.

Irrigation

Irrigation means the watering of land to make it ready for agriculture. It is the process of application of water to crops through artificial channels to grow them. Water is vital for the growth of plants. And, there can be no plants or crops if they do not have access to water in some form. It is, thus, crucial to supply water to crops and plants in time as per their need. The supply of water to plants comes from various water resources. For example,

• Wells
• Ponds
• Lakes
• Canals
• Dams and Reservoirs

Importance of Irrigation

Irrigation is necessary for agriculture and farming.

Introduction

Mechanized agriculture is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanize the work of agriculture, greatly increasing farm worker productivity. The effective mechanization contributes to increase production in two major ways: firstly the timeliness of operation and secondly the good quality of work. The requirement of power for certain operations like seedbed preparation, cultivation and harvesting becomes so great that the existing human and animal power in the country appears to be inadequate. As a result, the operations are either partially done or sometimes completely neglected, resulting in low yield due to poor growth or untimely harvesting or both.

Introduction

Floriculture or flower farming is the study of growing and marketing flowers and foliage plants. Floriculture includes cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for direct sale or for use as raw materials in cosmetic and perfume industry and in the pharmaceutical sector. It also includes production of planting materials through seeds, cuttings, budding and grafting. In simpler terms floriculture can be defined as the art and knowledge of growing flowers to perfection. The persons associated with this field are called floriculturists.

Worldwide more than 140 countries are involved in commercial Floriculture. The leading flower producing country in the world is Netherlands and Germany is the biggest importer of flowers. Countries involved in the import of flowers are Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Japan while those involved in export are Colombia, Israel, Spain and Kenya. USA and Japan continue to be the highest consumers.

troduction

Indian economy depends on agriculture and the agriculture sector in India contributes about17 percent of country’s GDP and provides employment to approximately two third of the population (United Nation Development Programme Fact sheet 2011). India is the second most populous country in the world. With the increasing population, the cultivable land resource is shrinking day by day. To meet the food, fibre, fuel, fodder and other needs of the growing population, the productivity of agricultural land and soil health needs to be improved. Green Revolution ushered through use of modern agriculture technologies such as greater use of synthetic agrochemicals like fertilizers and pesticides, adoption of nutrient-responsive, high-yielding varieties of crops, greater exploitation of irrigation potentials, etc. undoubtedly has increased production and labour efficiency in the post-independence era and made our countries self-sufficient in food production. 

Pest

A pest is any animal or plant detrimental to crops, livestock and forestry. The term is also used of organisms that cause a nuisance, such as in the home. An older usage is of a deadly epidemic disease, specifically plague. In its broadest sense, a pest is a competitor of humanity, means disease causing microbes, plant devouring insects, macro-fauna like rats and moles, weeds, off type plants and even human beings are pests in perspective of plants.

IPM

IPM is a pest management system that in the context of associated environment and population dynamics, utilizes all the appropriate techniques to minimize the pest population levels below those causing economic injury. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) includes cultural Practices, Host Plant Residence, Mechanical control, Biological control, Use of Bio-pesticides, botanicals and Chemical control.

ntroduction

The marketing systems and post-harvest marketing infrastructure have not been able to keep pace with the growing production and marketable surplus. This has brought to the fore, the need for providing farmers with access to competitive markets with adequate infrastructure including cold chain logistics, to enable them to realise better prices on the one hand and providing nutritious food to consumers at stable and affordable prices on the other. With this objective in view, the Government of India on 13th November, 2013 approved the proposal of Department of Agriculture & Cooperation for continuation and integration of ongoing Central Sector Schemes as Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) during the XII Plan (2012-2017). The ISAM have the following five sub schemes: (i) Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) [the existing schemes of Grameen Bhandaran Yojana (GBY) and Development/Strengthening of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, Grading and Standardization (AMIGS) will be merged as AMI] (ii) Marketing Research and Information Network (MRIN) (iii) Strengthening of Agmark Grading Facilities (SAGF), (iv) 

Introduction

The quest for data and analysis of the economics of zoonoses control is now in its fifth decade: The World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board having passed a resolution, recommending that a group of experts meet and discuss the subject and commission some pilot studies. (a) The health economics recognised as a sub-discipline of economics (b), the cost–benefit analysis established a notion for long enough to merit the writing of a survey article (c) and the difficulties of putting a monetary value on human life (d) the alternative non-monetary approaches being developed. The development of veterinary or animal health economics, partly spurred on by the gathering of experts initiated by that same WHO resolution. The International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics held its first meeting marking the formal launching of the fraternity.

1. Introduction

Uttarakhand is extremely vulnerableto climate-related changes due to its varied geography and rich glacier mass. The relationship between climate change and agriculture is not a new phenomenon. In the last 50 years, there has been a lot of academic focus on dealing with climate change issues in agriculture. Climate change is believed to affect agriculture by inducing changes in farmer’s behaviour, quantity, quality, cost of production, changes in production, consumption, prices & trade patterns; changes in market responses at global & local levels and these changes not only depend on the domestic and international adaptive capacity their economic impacts also vary by region, by sector, and by stakeholders’ groups. Climate change is a major global environmental problem and also an issue of great concern to all countries, irrespective of their size or level of development. It is established that adverse impacts are likely from increased frequency of extreme weather, floods & droughts, and submergence of coastal areas due to sea level rise and extreme climate variability. It is considered that mountain regions are vulnerable to climate change & it will have direct impacts on livelihoods as most of the economic & livelihood sectors are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Introduction

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58 per cent of Indian population. Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture, forestry and fishing was estimated at Rs. 19.48 lakh crore in FY2020. Growth in GVA in agriculture and allied sectors stood at 4 per cent in FY2020. Share of agriculture and allied sectors in gross value added (GVA) in Indian economy at current prices stood at 17.8 per cent in FY20. Consumer spending in India will return to growth in 2021 post pandemic-led contraction, expanding by as much as 6.6 per cent (Anonymous, 2021). Total food grains production for 2020-21 is set at a record 298.30 million tonnes (MT), comprising 149.92 MT in Kharif season and 148.40 MT during Rabi season. In 2019-20, production was 291.95 MT, against the target of 291.10 MT (Anonymous, 2020b).

Introduction

Agriculture is one of the most important sector of the Indian economy Indian agriculture sector accounts for 18 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides employment to 50 per cent of its workforce India is the world’s largest producer of wheat, rice, pulses and spices product and second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world The food grains production for the year 2019-2020 (291 95 million tonnes) as compared to the previous year 2018-2019 (285 21 million tonnes) was higher by 6 74 million tonnes (Anonymous, 2020).

Currently, India is Asia’s largest pesticide manufacturer, and ranks twelfth in the world for pesticide use (Abhilash and Singh, 2009) Conventional agricultural practices have a major impact on the environment Some of the issues related to agriculture are climate change, soil depletion, deforestation, pollution, irrigation problems and waste Excessive use of fertilizers such as urea, nitrogen and pesticides has affected air, water, and soil quality 

Introduction

Being a global agricultural powerhouse, agriculture sector’s importance in India’s economy goes well beyond imagination. As, our nation have second-largest agricultural land in the world, with around 60% rural Indian households making their living from agriculture. In India, the agriculture sector employs half of country’s growing population and rest of the population is greatly dependent on the farmers for subsistence. It has been the primary sector of India serving people from times immemorial till now.

Budget experts of India have estimated the agricultural growth rate to be near to 3.9 per cent in FY 2022-23, surpassing the 2021-22 growth rate of 3.6 percent approximately. The government of India’s priority shall continue on doubling farmers’ income by 2022-23 and becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

Introduction

Organic farming is an inclusive system of producing high-quality products through such processes which have the least impairment on the environment, humans, plants, or animal health. Thus, the term in its essence concentrates on sustainability in the farm management practices and food production system. Chopra et al. (2013) in their study defined organic farming as a management & ecological production system that not only promotes biodiversity but also benefits biological cycles and soil nutrition activities. It focuses on minimal use of pesticides and encourages those farm practices that restore balance, and increase ecological harmony. 

The Himalayas, which cover 594 400 km2, run for about 2 500 km from west to east, between Nanga Parbat (8126 m) in the west and Namcha Barwa (7756 m) in the east with three parallel ranges namely The Great or Inner Himalayas, The Lesser Himalaya or Himachal and TheShiwaliks (Fig.1).The fish species distribution in the Himalayan streams depends on the flow rate, nature and substratum, water temperature, and the availability of food.This region has a dense net of rivers and streams, as well as numerous lakes, manmade reservoirs, floodplains and swamps, man-made ponds and irrigation canals of cold-water character. These water resources have a diverse fish fauna that support the livelihoods of rural communities within the region. They also provide various opportunities for development of cold-water fisheries and aquaculture.

Introduction

Agriculture is the foundation of India’s economy, as it provides food to people, feed to cattle, raw materials to primary and secondary industries, contributes upto 19 percent of GDP and employs 54.6 percent of the workforce (Kirti and Prasad, 2016). Due to diverse soil and climate conditions, vast varieties of crops such as cereals, pulses, spices , millets, oilseeds, flowers and fruits are being grown in India. Among these crops grown, India is among the leading producers of pulses, cereals and spices in the world (Mishra et al., 2021). India is the fourth largest oilseed economy in the world. Among oilseeds, there are nine crops that are the primary sources of oils in the country, out of which seven are edible oils (soybean, rapeseed-mustard , groundnut, sunflower, sesame, niger and safflower) and two are non-edible (linseed and castor).

Introduction

There are forty different edible oilseeds which can be used for edible and non-edible purposes. Out of which nine oilseeds are extensively used for edible and non edible purposes. The oilseeds such as groundnut (peanut), sunflower, sesame, soybean, rapeseed-mustard, niger and safflower are generally used for edible purposes and castor and linseed are used for non-edible purposes. Plants are the main source for 71 percent of edible oil. Some oil crops such as groundnut (peanut) and sesame can be used directly as food and edible oil, but others are mainly processed to obtain oil, and oil cake or meal (Hetje, 1989). The oil crops are grown all over the world (Girish Kumar, 2012). Area under cultivation of edible oilseeds in 2020 was 27.14 million hectares. The total production was 33.22 million tonnes with the productivity i.e. yield per hectare of 1025 kilogram per hectare in India (Ministry of Statistics). India is the world’s largest importer of edible oil (Santosha, et. al., 2017) and the import of edible oil in 2020 was 93.37 million tonnes.

Introduction

India is an agricultural economy and the agriculture sector contributes 18.40 per cent to the Indian Gross Domestic Product (National Accounts Statistics, 2020-21). It is considered to be a major sector for its contribution to the Indian GDP. Agriculture is the source of income for 65 per cent population of the country. This sector is becoming innately insecure due to several reasons such as production, lack of financial resources, climate conditions and personal attitude of the young generation towards agriculture. It is right to say that agriculture is the “Gamble of Monsoon’’ because lack of precipitation can lead to drought and excessive precipitation can leads to floods.

Biodiversity

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the scientific term for the variety of life on Earth. It refers not just to species but also to ecosystems and differences in genes within a single species. Everywhere on the planet, species live together and depend on one another. Every living thing, including man, is involved in these complex networks of interdependent relationships, which are called ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems clean our water, purify our air, maintain our soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients and provide us with food. They provide raw materials and resources for medicines and other purposes. They are at the foundation of all civilisation and sustain our economies. It’s that simple: we could not live without these “ecosystem services”. They are what we call our natural capital.

Introduction

Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy and it is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. Agriculture engages 54.6% of the total workforce (Census 2011) and contributes about 17% to the country’s Gross Value Added (Current price 2015-16, 2011-12 series). 90.2 million (57.8%) out of an estimated 156.1 million of rural households were agricultural households during 2013. The total agricultural workers (cultivators + agricultural labourers) increased from 97.2 million in 1951 to 263 million in 2011. According to the Agriculture Census 2015-16, the average size of landholding is 1.08 hectares and has been decreasing over the years in India. 85% small and marginal farmer’s holdings are less than 2 ha. In 2015-16, the average yearly earning at current prices of a small and marginal farmer was Rs 80,000.00.In 2016-17, the NABARD Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) reported that the average monthly earning of an Agricultural Household was Rs. 8931.00. Of this, cultivation accounted for only 35% and the rest was from other sources including wage labour (34%).

Introduction

India has moved from an era of chronic food deficit during 1960s to food self-sufficiency and surplus in some sectors, because of the massive national efforts made to generate appropriate technologies, policy support and infrastructure development. Agriculture will remain central to India’s economic security, which in turn, depends largely on scientific developments and interventions made in the area. As the largest private enterprise (130 million farm families) of India, the share of agriculture in GDP increased to 19.9% (2020-21). This sector engages around 54% of the workforce. Hence, it is critical to visualize interventions to facilitate growth in agriculture and allied sectors to enable its GDP contribution commensurate with involved workforce. While the annual food grain production has increased from about 50.83 m tonnes in 1950-51 to over 305.44 m tones at present. The horticultural production has increased from 96.56 m tonnes to 329.80 m tonnes during the same period through science-led research interventions and development. The animal and fish sectors have

The Preamble of the Indian Constitution promises to all citizens of India social and economic justice apart from political justice and also equality of status and opportunity¹. Although every citizen in India who is more than eighteen years of age, including farmers and agricultural workers have got political justice in as much as they have a right to vote and also contest in elections to the State Legislative Assembly and to the Houses of Parliament, we have not been able to give them social and economic justice, and equality of status and opportunity mainly because they continue to earn income, which are not enough to take care of the essential needs of the family such as food, clothing, shelter, education, health, recreation etc. When the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India on November 26th 1949, agricultural land was owned by Zamindars and big landlords, and most of the agriculturists were working on their land either as tenants or as agricultural workers. Consequently, most of the citizens of rural India did not own agricultural land and had very little earnings either as tenants or as agricultural workers. 

Introduction

Eastern India comprises of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam plains, Bihar, and eastern Uttar Pradesh with a total geographical area (GA) of 71.84 million ha with highest in Odisha (15.57 million ha) and lowest in Assam (7.84 million ha) (Bhatt et al., 2016). Net cultivated area in the region is 31.21 million ha (about 44% of GA) with a cropping intensity of 150%. The total food grain production from the region is 86.71 million tonnes (31.51% of the total production). Eastern region is having population of 406 million (33.6 % of total) with the density of 567 person/sq km, which is much higher than national density i.e., 382. 

Background: Indian Agriculture

The share of agriculture in GDP of India has increased from 17.8% in 2019-20 to 19.9% in 2020-21 (Economic Survey, 2020-21). According to fourth advanced estimate, the food grain production in the country in 2019-20 was 296.65 million tonnes. In spite of lower contribution to GDP than industries and services sector, a trend that is expected in the development process of any economy, agriculture yet forms the backbone of development. An average Indian still spends almost half of his/her total expenditure on food, while roughly half of India’s work force is still engaged in agriculture for its livelihood. While agriculture’s share in India’s economy has progressively declined due to the high growth rates of the industrial and services sectors, the sector’s importance in India’s economic and social fabric goes well beyond this indicator. First, nearly three-quarters of India’s families depend on rural incomes. 

Introduction

Natural resources support livelihood of a large section of India’s population, despite its steady declining share in the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and, in all probability these will continue to play the dominant role even in future. Interaction of several factors in the global climate change scenario has markedly limited the capability of natural resources and thereby threatened livelihood of small holders throughout the world. Factors like agriculture production crisis, fresh water unavailability, energy crisis, deforestation; degradation, wide pandemic, active climate change effects and continuous rise of input cost of farming create threats to the livelihood of millions and it has become imperative to collectively understand the complexities and challenges in natural resource conservation and management.

Introduction

‘Infrastructure’ connotes physical assets. The meaning may differ based on the sector under which the term is in use. More often, it has been used to describe the public as-sets that facilitate production. Historically, Lewis (1955) included public utilities, ports, water supply and electricity as infrastructure, whereas Hirschman (1958) outlined four conditions that characterise infrastructure or social overhead capital: the services provided to facilitate or are basic to economic activity; the services are usually public goods because of economic externalities; these services cannot be imported; these investments tend to be indivisible or ‘lumpy’. 

Introduction

Green revolution played a major role in making several counties self reliant in food production. But modern agriculture has degraded natural resources and made agriculture unsustainable. People are getting enough food, but the food is unsafe. Land, water and air have become polluted. People are suffering from the serious diseases like cancer. An alternate version of agriculture or organic farming that is necessity of the day. People are becoming health conscious day by day. There is good demand for Indian organic food in several countries. Niche areas exist for organic farming in several states of India. The Govt of India has launched several programs to promote organic farming.

Introduction

The Eastern India Region comprising of Eastern UP (8.67 Mha), Bihar (9.41 Mha), Jharkhand (7.97 Mha), West Bengal (8.87 Mha), Assam (7.84 Mha), Odisha (15.57 Mha), and Chhattisgarh (13.51 Mha) occupies about 21.8% of the country’s geographical area. Endowed with plenty of natural resources, the Eastern Region of India states has not yet been able to harness its potential adequately in terms of improving agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement. Of the total geographical area of 71.84 M ha, the net cultivated area in the region is 31.21 Mha with a cropping intensity of 150%. The total food grain production from the region is 86.71 million tonnes (31.5% of the total production of India) during 2016-17. There is a large gap between potential and productivity of major field crops, livestock, fisheries, etc. in the region.

Introduction

The eastern states of India comprising of Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and eastern Uttar Pradesh occupy about 21.85% geographical area and supports 34% human and 31% livestock population of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of economy in these states, since 83% population living in rural areas depends on it for their sustenance. The region has about 2.73 M ha of total area under reservoirs, ponds, tanks, lakes, brackish water, etc. besides 15046 km length of rivers and canals constituting about 18 percent of country’s utilizable water resources. The average rainfall in eastern region varies from 1091 to 2477 mm with a regional average of 1526 mm, which is sufficient and substantial for growing a variety of crops. However, the irrigated area in the region is 39% as against 45%, the national average.

Introduction

The tribal population comprising 705 tribal communities spread over various states of India contributes 8.6 % of total India’s population (Census 2011). Their culture, traditions and practices interpenetrate almost all the aspects of Indian culture and civilisation. From the Aryan, Dravidian to the Indo-Tibetan languages, Indian tribal culture has also seen a tremendous merging of cultures within its own people. Some of these communities share similarities and yet are diverse in their religious and traditional beliefs. Some are prominent worshippers of the Hindu deities while others follow the path of the Christian missionaries. Animism and all forms of pagan worship are still prevalent in these communities. The societies by which these tribal communities survive are very patriarchal in their outlook although some tribal communities have gradually inherited the modern forms of society where each one is respected for his or her own set of views and beliefs. India’s tribal population is over-dependent on agriculture and forest related livelihood sources. 

Introduction

In free India’s tryst with destiny, achieving survival and sustenance through agriculture, was not only an option but an imperative. This led to the remark of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to say in 1947, “everything else can wait but not agriculture.” Green Revolution was indeed one of the major achievements of India in the post independence period. We no longer experience famines, where millions of people were starved to death in the pre independence period. But we still have over 200 million children, women and men who go to bed each night partially hungry. Access to clean drinking water and balanced diet remains a far cry despite substantial Govt expenditure in large number of programmes launched by the Centre and all the States. According to Niti Ayog, the country is far behind in reaching to the objectives of UN millennium development goal of reducing the incidence of hunger and maternal and foetal under- nutrition. 

Agriculture and its allied sectors support the livelihood of a large section of India’s population and these ultimately play a pivotal role in life. National Agricultural policy describes predetermined goals, objectives and pathways set by the national government for the purpose of achieving a specified outcome, for the benefit of the society and the nations’ economy at large. Effective policies are the best beginnings for driving effective programs that deliver to the people. The best policies are those that take a realistic view of our context, needs, priorities and future challenges. Government initiated economic reforms in 1991, which involved deregulation, reduced government participation in economic activities, and liberalization. Much of the reforms did not affect the agriculture sector. But agriculture was affected indirectly by devaluation of the exchange rate, liberalization of external trade. T

India is an agriculture based country where more than half of the population depends upon agriculture. Agriculture is a primary source of livelihood for about 58% of the population of the country. Indian agriculture sector contributes about 17% of Indian’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provide employment to 50% of the country workforce (DES, 2019). The diverse ecohabitat of the Himalayan region of the country hosts a wide range of plant diversity as well as crop diversity on which native people rely for their food and nutritional security. The hilly regions of the country are potential source of agriculture production having diversified weather conditions comprises of temperate and subtropical climatic conditions and covers about 35% of total geographical area of the country. As far as agriculture is concern, agriculture marketing has been an important aspect of rural population as it provides essential links between farm producers and consumers.

Extended Summary

Kiwifruit is recent crop introduction tohorticulture practices in Mid-Himalayan statesin India such as, Himachal Pradesh and J&K in the North-West and Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland in the North-Eastern Himalayas.Over past few years this fruit has attainedimmense popularity and among consumers due to its nutritional value, while also it has gained appeal among small and marginal farmers owing to its high benefit-cost ratio,particularly through Hi-Tech cultivation techniques.

Kiwifruit,also known as Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia chinensis Patch) is believed to have originated in China,although it gained popularity in New Zealand. In India, Kiwi was first introduced in Lal Bagh at Bengaluru,however,it was soon observed that the fruit could be cultivated well only inthe semi-temperate climate of Himachal Pradesh, around1963.

The dairy sector plays a key role in ending poverty, especially for rural communities. Nearly one billion people earn their livelihood from dairy. Dairy has an important role to end hunger, achieve food security and improve the nutritional value of diets in a sustainable manner. Dairy products contribute to good health and wellbeing at all stages of life. Its nutrient-rich pack ensures a nourished and healthy population. Dairy has been linked to protection against non- communicable diseases. The Indian context for Dairying is an economic symbiosis of crop and cattle population. Livestock plays a pivotal role in the economy; animal husbandry is the most important economic activity in rural areas. The dairy sector today provides eighty million farm households with the triple benefits of nutritive food, supplementary income and productive employment for family labour, mainly for women. 

What is Artificial Intelligence

‘Artificial’ is taken to mean a property of a human-made machine. ‘Intelligence’ will be that when something is able to perform a new action or change its state to achieve the optimal response it could perform given external inputs. This term is coined by- John McCarthy (American computer and cognitive scientist) during 1956 So, AI is basically a machine able to mimic human intelligence by having the ability to predict, classify, learn, plan, reason and perceive.

AI is an emerging technology in the field of agriculture. AI-based equipment and machines, has taken today’s agriculture system to a different level. This technology has enhanced crop production and improved real-time monitoring, harvesting, processing and marketing . The latest technologies of automated systems using agricultural robots and drones have made a tremendous contribution in the agro-based sector. Various hi-tech computer-based systems are designed to determine various important parameters like weed detection, yield detection and crop quality and many other techniques.

Introduction

According to the definition provided by Merriam-Webster, the potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a starchy, tuberous herbaceous annual that only lasts for one growing season and is a member of the Solanaceae family. The potato, also known as the king of vegetables, is grown for its edible tubers and is the fourth largest food crop in the world after maize, wheat, and rice. It is a staple food in many parts of the world and accounts for about 2% of the world’s dietary energy supply (“Potato Pro,” 2020). It was thought that the domestication of the potato began in southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia between 8000 and 5000 BC, which is roughly 7,500–10,000 years ago (Spooner et al. 2005). Potatoes range in size, shape, color, starch content and flavor.

Introduction

Main stay of Indian floriculture is to grow traditional loose flowers mostly for worship, personal adornment and traditional decorations. With the evolving culture of ‘saying it with flowers’ the cut flowers sector made significant inroads in recent times. Today the traditional flowers are grown in area of 2.48 lakh hectare producing 16.58 lakh tonnes of loose flower and 4.84 lakh cut flowers (NHB 2015). India also has significant proportion of trade in potted flowering plants, ornamentals foliage plants for landscaping, turf grasses, cut foliage, dry flowers, specialty flowers, annual flower seeds and fillers. India exported floricultural produce worth Rs. 450 core (APEDA 2016) that comprises fresh cut flowers (to Europe, Japan, Australia, and Middle East, USA), loose flowers (for expatriate Indians in the Gulf and Europe), cut foliage (to Europe), dry flowers (to USA, Europe, Japan, Russia, and Australia) and potted plants (Middle East) besides seeds and planting material. The major market for domestic flowers is in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. With limited infrastructure the amount of trade that takes place in the major markets varies from season to season.

Introduction

Flowers provide opportunity to convert them into exquisite value added products directly from fresh flowers like garland, bouquet , flower arrangements or after drying the flowers making different dried flowers products like pot pourri, wreath, painted gourds or after processing like rose water, gulkand,gulroban,perfume, essential oil, insects repellants, cosmetics etc. Beside this a number of pigments like xanthophylls, carotenoids, luteins, anthocyanins etc. which have neutraceutical properties and pharmaceuticals compounds are also prepared from flowers. The value addition results in more acceptable quality products for the domestic and export market and hence ensure high premium to the producers.

Introduction

Nursery is a place where seedlings, cuttings and grafts are raised with care before transplanting.

Advantage of Raising Seedlings in Nursery

1. It is very convenient to look after the tender seedlings
2. It is easy to protect the seedlings from pests and diseases
3. Economy of land usage (duration in the main field is reduced)
4. Valuable and very small seeds can be raised effectively without any wastage
5. Uniform crop stand in the main field can be maintained by selecting healthy, uniform and vigorous seedlings in the nursery itself.

Organic farming is getting more and more popular as a farm practice. Although most agricultural land is still processed through conventional farming, the demand for organic agriculture and organic crops is constantly increasing. Organic farming is defined in a variety of ways. The majority of them argue that synthetically manufactured fertilisers and pesticides are not allowed in organic farming. This is right; yet, organic farming encompasses much more. Organic farming is founded on unique qualities as a wholly natural and sustainable farm management technique. To put it another way, organic farming is both an agricultural practise and a philosophy of cooperating with nature.

Introduction

Information and communications technologies (ICT) is defined as a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share or exchange information. These technological tools and resources include mobile phones, computers, the internet (website, blogs, emails), live broadcasting technologies (radio, television and webcasting), recorded broadcasting technologies (podcasting, audio and video players, and storage devices) and telephony.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculture can act as a driving force in the development process. It facilitates marketing decisions, directs the competitive process and simplifies marketing mechanisms. Accuracy, Availability, Applicability and Analysis are the four ‘A’’s of marketing information; a farmer may decide how much to produce, when and where to sell and a trader may expand trade (Behera, 2015).