WE THE PEOPLE
With 60 percent dependence on Agriculture, India cannot be compared with USA’s 0.7 percent Agri-dependence
Hence Agriculture-oriented states including J&K must innovate new methods to increase food production to meet growing demand of population
By: Dr G.M. Wani
Srinagar: India with 1.09 billion people and 60% of them dependent on agriculture can not be compared with USA, which has merely 339 million people and only 0.7 of them dependent or agriculture. Therefore,s the past trend of aping USA or USA models of agricultural development won’t help. We have to innovate new ways and means conducive to our agrarian conditions and available resource to increase our food production for growing population in future.
We will need a change in the mechanism of technology dissemination thus a reformation model for extension education in India is proposed. More than 50% of our practicing farmers are women who are not exposed to technology new or old, thus a system of their capacity building and skill up-gradation shall have to be focused Agricultural and allied technologies tested and available in India have been the replications of commercial farming ventures of the West. We must blame our policy planners for this vulnerable state de-affairs. They professed chemical farming when we were world leaders of organics in the past century when whole world faced the ill-effects of chemical farming. We are busy in advocating our forgotten options which luckily are still existing in deep and incommunicable pockets of our country called backward pockets. Our research needs a change from individual crop or commodity farming research to mixed farming approaches.
The chemical fertilizers are to be replaced by use of agricultural waste materials, plant residues, aquatic weeds, left out materials, post harvest wastes, green manure, rainy season over grown vegetation, or abundant vegetation, green weeds, city drains, human excreta, animal manure, forest wastes, agriculture left out substances, bio-mass, bio-fertilizers, stall wastes & even pigeon beats etc.
Nutrient cycling system has to be evolved first by analyzing soil status of each agro-climatic zone. The integrated nutrient management system has to be evolved.
A new, refined, Govt-agri policy is needed. New Institutional support system, excellent marketing networks are to be proposed. For efficient land use, we must wed traditional wisdom with improved technology, farmers training and profitable end products. We should advocate use of information technology to increase profits from overall farming, cropping and animal aquaculture etc. Besides analysis of available data on processing, production and its documentation for use in project preparation and policy formulation is a basic necessity. A new sensitive laboratory facility is envisioned for input and output quality assessment. Agriculture of today does not mean more production at environment cost but efficient and economic production with environmental safeguards.
“Our 65% employment base is agriculture & its allied sectors like livestock. We need in future food and environment security. Employment generation through agro-based industry. Economic, balanced and hygienic food with original taste and flavours. We are in a phase of cultural and economic transit. This transformation process brings new livelihood options, new production & utilization system and changed life styles & cultural habits,” said a group of experts.
USDA’s national Arboretum of Washington DC A 444 acre arboretum dropped pesticide use by 75% during 1992-96. They call it new land scope pest Management (NL PM). It was simple spot spraying i.e spray right where it is needed, i.e on diseased twig or branch or plant and only if it is needed. This shift from blanket spraying to selected sprays saved 75% of pesticide cost: other saving was through reduced labour cost and eco-risk factors. We need safe equipments and labour health monitoring and analysis of data.
Another area, which needs attention, is use of less toxic pesticides. We call them bio-rational pesticides. They reduce cost by 12-32% and consist of Horticulture oils insecticidal soaps, insect growth regulators and predators.
Use of remote sensing and Global positioning system is needed......(To be continued)
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