eChapters

Abstract

Entrepreneurship essentially involves economic and dynamic activities, risk- assuming and idea generation that help in developing, organising and managing a business opportunity for profits. Entrepreneurship in agriculture is not merely confined to farm activities but also involves activities interlinked and interdependent with core and peripheral agricultural activities. Impediments in the pathway of agricultural entrepreneurship in West Bengal are characterised by fragmented landholding, low financial resources and thereby debt stickiness & dependence on short-term agricultural loan. Though disbursements of short-term credit have increased substantially, the rate of increase is low. For most farmers, insurance for financial or crop crisis is unheard or have hardly any implication. The paper tries to explain the performance of various agricultural insurance schemes in terms of coverage and the benefits being delivered in India and in West Bengal. The paper analyses whether the recipients consider the schemes as an effective risk mitigation tool or merely a habit of credit-dependence in West Bengal through a diffusion model. The paper concludes with the focus on possible entrepreneurial opportunities that may offer more customised agri-insurance policies, where regional disparities could be considered and individual interests be given little more importance.

Abstract

Packaging industry is considered to be one of the world’s largest industrial sectors. In the past few years, food processing has undergone several paradigm changes with respect to production, distribution, storage, processing and retailing. This increasing dynamism in the food industry, while on one hand placing a lot of challenges on the packaging industries, is on the other hand opening up opportunities for entrepreneurs to foray into food processing and also packaging industries and develop appropriate solutions in response to the needs of the market and environment. This study aims at exploring the state of packaging industry and packaging technologies in developing countries, with special emphasis on India, against the backdrop of increasing concern for prevention of food losses and therefore highlighting the need for new innovative ideas for food packaging. The authors posit that customer awareness about safety of processed food has given rise to tremendous possibilities of entrepreneurship opportunities in the area of safe and hygiene packaging. However market preferences, state reputations and cost benefit analysis play major roles in packaging of processed food products.

Abstract

More than one-third of food is lost or wasted in post-harvest operations in India. Decreasing the post-harvest losses (PHL) may be a sustainable solution to increasing food availability and improving farmers’livelihoods. As per Associated Chambers of Commerce of India, India loses approximately US$ 14.33 billion annually on account of PHL (ASSOCHAM, 2017). The objective of this study is to analyse the agricultural wastes that are produced in the value chain for a modern trade retailer, identify their causes, and discuss methods for minimising field wastages. A case study approach has been used to depict the agricultural value chain (vegetable segment). A field visit was conducted to a farmland and a privately operated Collection Center in Barasat area of West Bengal. The author discusses solutions towards minimising harvest wastages in the farm by focusing on waste reduction. Post-harvest wastages beyond the farm can be reduced by undertaking measures that focus on waste management. Going forward, adoption of technologies by farmers may lessen inefficiencies such as wastages and improve their income. Further scope for research lies in exploring joint interventions by private players, government agencies, non-profit organisations and entrepreneurs through public-private partnership models or through development of clusters for creating sustainable value chains and achieving greater profitability.

Abstract

Access to reliable and affordable irrigation is one of the most important enablers to increase agricultural productivity and income for farmers. An innovative Manual Axis Tracking Solar Pump model and its utility in providing affordable irrigation has been discussed in this paper. The proposed Manual Axis Tracking Solar Pump can increase output on an average 8%-12% more than fixed panel and is much cheaper than automated tracking. This paper deliberates upon the technical features that make the Manual Axis Tracking Solar Pump an advantage over its nearest competitor, the diesel pump. Government of India has already introduced various subsidy-based solar pump schemes and most of them are not popular because of low discharge issue. The low discharge issue can be solved by this proposed optimum tilt-based Manual Tracking Solar Pump, whose sustainable market penetration is suggested through various strategies in the paper, supported by case studies. The proposed entrepreneurship model not only opens a new era of agricultural business but also helps to reduce the GHG emissions.

Abstract

Sustainable development and success in any field, agriculture being one of them, goes hand in hand with Innovation. To tackle the current growing problems in the agricultural sector, and long-term sustainability of the agri-ecosystem, agricultural innovations are needed that might bring new products or processes or open up new markets, thereby optimising the use of the limited resources to attain maximum benefits. The authors discuss innovation from the perspective of two dimensions: Technology and Market to illustrate four different kinds of innovation - incremental, architectural, radial and descriptive. This paper deals with the concept of innovation in agricultural field [referred to as agri-innovation] using illustrations of two innovative products namely Dragon Fruit and Water Hyacinth, both of which have significant role in the agri-ecosystem of India. The introduction of Dragon Fruit in a new market is illustrated as an agri-innovation. Efforts by state and private sector of introducing Dragon Fruit, a popular production in South & South East Asia to Indian markets are an example of Architectural Innovation. Also the most common weed Water Hyacinth is considered to be used in news forms so that it can be modified as a new product for a new market. The paper thus documents the suitability of these innovative agri-products in the current Indian market scenario.

Abstract

The upsurge in global population rates has triggered a significant escalation in food demand across the world. This is accompanied by urbanisation and a pressing need for sustainable agriculture. In this context vertical cultivation of plants as well as breeding of livestock on vertically inclined surfaces, such as in skyscrapers and other high-rise buildings in urban regions has gained prominence. The dynamics of urban agriculture is captured through the case study of Urbagrow Aquaponics, an urban, aquaponic, soil-free, food garden based in Kolkata. The garden exhibits an assortment of aquaponic systems for growing a variety of vegetables as well as the tilapia and catfish. The systems make use of less water, require less work in man-hours and can grow vegetables in greater density than a traditional soil based food growing endeavour. A feasibility study has been conducted to explore the potential of scaling such a venture across myriad other high-rise buildings across Indian cities.

Abstract

This chapter will look at the major reasons why farmers in India are unable to take advantage of Agricultural profession as a mode of generating income and suggest ways to change this by employing new technologies. Agriculture has basic processes which require identifying the season for planting the seeds at the right time, watering the plants to the required level, undertaking maintenance for the different plants and then finally harvesting at the right time to ensure that the effort that has been put into the agricultural process results in useful output. In business terms the output when it is valued in terms of money, should enable the farming business to sell their output at a certain price that will enable them to pay off the money that has been used for setting up the crop for that cycle. This chapter will underscore the valuable contribution of remote sensing data in farming to enhance operational decisions. We will look at how low-cost technologies can be implemented into the existing agricultural extension activities and help farmers make better decisions that will enable them to be more business oriented. It is envisaged that incorporating high technology-based data into simple to understand terminology willhelp reduce the burden on farmers. This is due to the lack of knowledge but also due to the low volume of information that is possible to be fed to the farmers through the agriculture extension network in the country. However, due to the varied nature of farming in India it is difficult for extension officers to specialise but concentrate their efforts on widely utilised crops in an area. The following figure below explains in simple terms how the cycle of activities occur in a farmer’s world and where business decisions are taken that will have an impact on the profitability.

2.1 Some Useful Formulas Related to Farm Power

1.1 Some Useful Formulas Related to Farm Machinery

Climate change mitigation is urgent, and adaptation to climate change is crucial, particularly in agriculture, where food security is at stake. The gases contributing to the greenhouse effect mainly include carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄). These gases have varying global warming potentials, which can be expressed in CO₂ equivalents.

Agriculture, currently responsible for 2030% of global greenhouse gas emissions (counting direct and indirect agricultural emissions), can however contribute to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. The main mitigation potential lies in the capacity of agricultural soils to sequester CO₂ through building organic matter. This potential can be realized by employing sustainable agricultural practices, such as those commonly found within organic farming systems. Examples of these practices are the use of organic fertilizers and crop rotations including legume leys and cover crops. Mitigation is also achieved in organic agriculture through the avoidance of open biomass burning, and the avoidance of synthetic fertilizers, the production of which causes emissions from fossil fuel use.

Organic agriculture is associated with higher carbon sequestration as many organic practices help to improve soilquality and carbon sequestration. The most common organic practices that increase soil organic carbon are the use of organic fertilizers (such as the composted waste products from livestock husbandry), crop rotation involving legumes and the planting of cover crops.

Organic farming offers several ways to mitigate climate change when compared to conventional agriculture:

Primarily, organic farming, through its key practices of organic fertiliser use and crop rotations with forage legumes, tends to increase soil organic carbon levels resulting in carbon sequestration.This contributes to climate change mitigation, as it absorbs CO₂ from the atmosphere and stores the additional carbon in the soil. However, depending on soil type and climatic conditions, this process usually comes to a halt after some decades, when soil organic carbon levels have reached a new equilibrium and soils arethus saturated with respect to organic carboncontents. Furthermore, this storage of organiccarbon is reversible and the carbon can again be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when switching to unsustainable practices.

Regeneration capacity of the soil is enhanced with the sowing of MVS which provides ideal condition for regeneration. It creates green cover / dry leaf cover in the top soil (35-40 cm height) which will facilitate the multiplication of inoculated beneficial microbes in the soil.

Multi Varietal seeds sowing techniques

MVS contains seeds of three to four crops belonging to each category viz., cereals, pulses oilseeds, nitrogen fixing green manures and spices and condiments. The seeds of above crops may be mixed in different proportion based on their growth habit and seasonal requirement. For example in the summer the following mixture can be practiced with each of 1-1.5 kg each.

Optimal quality organic produce that combines the desired textural properties, sensory shelf-life, and nutritional content results from the careful implementation of recommended production inputs and practices, careful handling at harvest, and appropriate postharvest handling and storage. This section will focus on an overview of general postharvest handling considerations unique to the marketing of registered or certified organic produce.

Maturity index for fruits and vegetables

The principles dictating at which stage of maturity a fruit or vegetable should be harvested are crucial to its subsequent storage and marketable life and quality. Post-harvest physiologists distinguish three stages in the life span of fruits and vegetables: maturation, ripening and senescence. Maturation is indicative of the fruit being ready for harvest. At this point, the edible part of the fruit or vegetable is fully developed in size, although it may not be ready for immediate consumption. Ripening follows or overlaps maturation, rendering the produce edible, as indicated by taste. Senescence is the last stage, characterized by natural degradation of the fruit or vegetable, as in loss of texture, flavour, etc. (senescence ends at the death of the tissue of the fruit). Some typical maturity indexes are described in following sections.

In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. Requirements vary from country to country, and generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping organic certification ensures:

• Avoidance of synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. Fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc) and genetically modified organisms;
• Use of farmland that has been free from chemicals for a number of years (often, three or more);
• Keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail);
• Maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products and
• Undergoing periodical on-site inspections.

In some countries, certification is overseen by the government, and commercial use of the term organic is legally restricted. Certified organic producers are also subject to the same agricultural, food safety and other government regulations that apply to non-certified producers.

Farming system approach addresses itself to each of the farmer enterprises; inter relationship among enterprises and between the farm and environment. Thus farming system research has the objective of increasing productivity of various enterprises in the farm. Farming system approach introduces a change in farming technique for high production from a farm as a whole with the integration of all the enterprises. The farm produce other than the economic products for which the crop is grown can be better utilized for productive purposes in the farming system approach. A judicious mix of cropping system with associated enterprises like dairy, poultry, piggery, fishery, sericulture etc. suited to the given agro-climatic conditions and socio economic status of farmers would bring prosperity to the farmer.

Combination of Integrated farming system (IFS) along with organic farming so called integrated organic farming system (IOFS)appear to be the possible solution to the continuous increase of demand for food production, stability of income and improvement of nutrition for the small and marginal farmers with limited resources. Integration of different enterprises with crop activity as base will provide ways to recycle products and waste materials of one component as input through another linked component and reduce the cost of production of the products which will finally raise the total income of the farm. This becomes quite essential as crop cultivation is subjected to a high degree of risk and provides only seasonal, irregular and uncertain income and employment to the farmers. With a view to mitigate the risk and uncertainty in agriculture, IOFS serves as an informal insurance.

Production of agricultural crops, vary in response to changes of the seasons. In the recent period stable income of agricultural crops has become unstable. Redressing these by integrating crops with agro-based industries like livestock farming is essential. An integrated organic farming system applies the concept of “Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture” (LEISA) and this system develops the livestock business and the crop business in one location or area using local resources to optimize inputs. Designing a farming system to tie together principles of sustainability and productivity is complex. Organic farmers must consider how the various components of their system - rotations, pest and weed management, and soil health - will maintain both productivity and profitability. This section outlines the major principles incorporated into organic farming systems.

Organic farming is a crop production method respecting the rules of the nature, targeted to produce nutritive, healthy and pollution free food. It maximizes the use of on -farm resources and minimizes the use of off – farm inputs.

The general guidelines on organic production of crops are prepared based on National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) launched by Government of India. These guidelines enable the growers to attain more or less the same level of the productivity of conventional farming within a few years and at the same time maintain the fertility of the soil and protect the ecological balance.

Agricultural scientists and policy makers have understood that continuation of modern agriculture might lead to severe ecological and economic problems. We are also convinced that modern agriculture may not be able to meet the requirements of the ever increasing population in the future. So, we are searching for alternative technologies. Several alternatives have been proposed such as low external input agriculture, sustainable agriculture, organic farming, biodynamic farming etc. However, they require, some times little or considerable external inputs whose availability may be uncertain in future.

Hence for the developing countries, the other alternative viz., traditional methods have special advantages over modern agricultural techniques. Also the capital and technological skill requirements in the use of traditional technologies are generally low and their adoption often requires little restructure of the traditional societies. The traditional technologies are nothing but indigenous technical knowledge. By adopting such indigenous knowledge, our ancestors did not face any problem of large-scale pest out break or economic crisis unlike the today’s farmers.

From an ecological perspective all organisms are part of nature, irrespective of what they do. To a farmer, all organisms that reduce the yields of their crops are considered pests, diseases or weeds. Insects, birds or other animals are also pests whenever they cause damage to crops or stored produce. Fungi, bacteria and viruses are also recognized as disease causing organisms when they lead to conditions that interrupt or modify the vital functions of growing plants or stored produce. All unwanted plants that grow within crops and compete with them for nutrients, water and sunlight are considered weeds. Such plants can also be hosts for pests and diseases.Presence of these organisms in crop fields is not a problem until their numbers increase beyond a level where they attack, and cause substantial reductionin field crop yields or quality of harvested and stored produce.

The organic approach to plant pest, plant disease and weed management makes reference to the four principles of organic agriculture: the principle of health, the principle of ecology, the principle of fairness, and the principle of care. Generally, organic farmers aim at sustaining and enhancing the health of their soils, plants, animals, humankind and—in the widest sense—the planet. The health of individuals and communities cannot be separated fromthe health of ecosystems. Therefore, by providing healthy soils and a diversified natural environment, farmers are able to produce healthy crops that foster the health of animals and people.

Healthy plants are also able to resist and tolerate physiological disruption and damage from disease-causing organisms and pests. Thus, organic farmers aim at optimizing the growing conditions for their crops to make them strong and competitive. At the same time they encourage natural control mechanisms to prevent pests, diseases and weeds to develop in a way that they cannot damage the crops. They, therefore, give priority to preventive measures to prevent and limit the spread of infections, instead of relying on direct control measures. Direct control measures are mainly applied when pathogens have already developed.

Soil is a living system and soil fertility is the key to agricultural productivity. Any input that destroys this living system and undermines soil health basically undermines the agricultural productivity. The maintenance of the fertility of soil is the primary step in any permanent system of agriculture.

Fertile land and sufficient water are vital for sustaining agriculture and livelihoods. Fertility of a soil is defined by its ability to provide all essential nutrients in adequate quantities and in the proper balance for the growth of plants – independent of direct application of nutrients – when other growth factors like light, temperature and water are favorable. This ability does not depend on the nutrient content of the soil only, but on its efficiency in transforming nutrients within the farm’s nutrient circle.

In transformation of nutrients soil organisms play a key role. They break down biomass from crop residues, green manures and mulch and contribute to build up of soil organic matter, including humus, the soil’s most important nutrient reservoir. They also play an essential role in transferring nutrients from the soil organic matter to the mineral stage, which is available to plants. Soil organisms also protect plants from disease and make the soil crumbly.

A fertile soil is easy to work, absorbs rainwater well, and is robust against siltation and erosion. It filters rain water and supplies us with clean drinking water. It neutralizes (buffers) acids, which pass through contaminated air to the soil surface, and decomposes pollutants such as pesticides rapidly. And last but not least a fertile soil is an efficient storage for nutrients and CO₂. In this way a fertile soil prevents the eutrophication of rivers, lakes and oceans and contributes to the reduction of global warming.

In the context of biological agriculture soil fertility is thus primarily the result of biological processes, not of chemical nutrients. A fertile soil is in active exchange with the plants, restructures itself and is capable of regeneration. The biological properties can be observed in the soil’s conversion activity, in the presence and the visible traces of the organisms in it. The communities of microorganisms are robust and active at the right moment. In the self-regulating ecological equilibrium animals, plants and microorganisms all work for each other.

It is the responsibility of farmers to understand soil ecology to the point that they can create or restore the conditions for a robust balance in the soil. If a soil does not regularly bring good yields, farmers should investigate the reasons for it.

The increasing awareness of the deleterious effects of indiscriminate use of artificial inputs in agriculture such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides hasled to the adoption of organic farming as an alternative method for conventional farming. Farmers are adopting organic farming due to the advantages like,

• It is self-sustaining and socially and ecologically superior over the conventional farming.
• It makes use of cost effective management practices involving the use of farm inputs produced within the farm.
• It is less expensive.
• It is environment friendly as there is no pollution of soil and water.
• It enriches the soil and the local ecology.
• The produce is free of contamination from chemical residues has better taste, flavour and nutritional value.
• Seeds have more vitality and are good for successive generations.
• Growing markets for safe food

The word biodiversity refers to the variety of living organisms (flora and fauna). Biodiversity or Biological diversity is defined as the variability among all living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and ecological complexes of which they are part. Wilson, 1988 defined ‘Biological diversity’ or ‘biodiversity’ as that part of nature which includes the differences in genes among the individuals of a species, the variety and richness of all the plant and animal species at different scales in space i.e. local, regional, country wise and global, andvarious types of ecosystems- both terrestrial and aquatic-within a defined area.

The diversity of agro-ecosystems

Biological diversity deals with the degree of nature’s variety in the biosphere. This variety can be observed at three levels i.e., genetic, species and ecosystem.

a) Genetic Diversity

Genetic diversity refers to the variation at the level of individual genes. Tremendous amount of genetic diversity exists within individual species. This genetic variability is responsible for the different characters in species. Genetic diversity is the raw material from which new species arise through evolution. Today, the genetic diversity is made use to breed new crop varieties, disease resistant crops.

Organic producers, on the other hand, are looking for varieties that are suited to their local climatic and soil conditions and are not susceptible to disease and pest attack. Research has shown that in general these characteristics are more likely to be found in the older native cultivars. For example, conventional wheat grown in an organic system will have reduced protein content, whereas the selection of a variety suitable for the particular growing conditions will provide higher protein, and thus higher baking quality wheat to be grown. Research has also indicated that yields and disease resistance are better in native cultivars as opposed to modern varieties for vegetables (tomato, cucumber and melon) grown in an organic system.