Sweet Sweet Revolution

The country has for so long been tagged a status of ‘Krishi Pradhan’, and with the rise of New India, agriculture and allied activities as a sector too has strengthened which possesses scope of creating more jobs, better produce and MSPs, modern agri solutions, agro-startups growth and mega welfare schemes to support farmers and their produce. The efforts have resulted in pursual of many novel agricultural practices & methods across the country like organic farming, horticulture, poultry, dry farming etc. and have also led to record stats of exports and production. One such booming type of agricultural occupation is Apiculture, which is showing huge potential and global reach.

It is low-cost, includes the perfect ingredients for maintaining the ecological balance and has proved to be a factor of fortune for Indian farmers – It is ‘Sweet Revolution,’ a honeyed shot in the arm of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Government has been ambitiously promoting apiculture or ‘beekeeping’ for quite some time now and putting in great efforts to accelerate the production of quality honey in the country. Scaling-up of beekeeping is directly proportional to doubling farmers’ income, generating employment, ensuring food security, conservation of bees, and increase in crop productivity. For this, a dedicated amount of Rs. 500 crore has been allocated for the National Beekeeping & Honey Mission for three years (2020-21 to 2022-23).

India has made its reputation as one of the leading honey exporting countries in the World. Organic honey produced in India receives global attraction as the sweet success of India reaches major markets including Germany, USA, UK, Japan, France, Italy, Spain etc. India exported about 60,000 MT of natural honey worth Rs Rs. 716 crore (US $ 96.77 million) during 2020-21 with the United States, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bangladesh and Qatar being the major export destinations. Currently, more than 50% of the honey produced is being exported now allowing India to win 8th and 9th rank in the world in honey production and Export, respectively. India today has about 30 lakh bee colonies which produce 94.5 thousand MT of Honey. It provides employment to about 3 lakh rural people and has more of untapped potential of creating more jobs, given the efforts and endorsement continue.

Beekeeping has been one of the oldest activities in India. This makes it one of the leading honey markets in the world which have created intense competition in terms of innovation and cost. The honey market in India was worth Rs. 15,579 Million in 2018, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.9% during 2012-2018. Additionally, the demand for honey in India is augmenting on account of the growing consumer preference for natural and healthy alternatives of artificial sweeteners, rising awareness regarding the benefits of honey and increasing popularity of various honey flavors.

The northeast region with its abundant floral resources can be deemed an ideal geographic location for the promotion of the apiculture market. As per a piece published by Niti Ayog, The apiculture market is estimated to register a CAGR of 4.3% during the period 2020–25, with Asia–Pacific as the dominant producer. As per a report by IMARC, the Indian apiculture market size is expected to reach a value of Rs 33,128 million by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of nearly 12% by 2024.With such possibility of rising demand abroad, Indian states, especially the north-eastern regions, can become significant players to benefit from the furthering of the Sweet Revolution for income & employment generation for farm and non-farm households.

Status of Wheat & Edible Oils Stocks in India

From Railways, to manufacturing to digital and tech advancement, India has now introduced new norms and relaxation in almost all the sectors to increase growth figures. The country has for so long been tagged a status of ‘Krishi Pradhan’. Now, agriculture and allied activities as a sector too has strengthened with more jobs, better produce and MSPs, modern agri solutions, agro-startups growth and mega welfare schemes to support farmers and their produce. The efforts have resulted in pursual of many other types of agricultural practices & methods across the country like organic farming, horticulture, poultry, dry farming etc. and have also led to record stats of exports and production.

Today, India is in a much comfortable position, when it comes to having overall surplus availability of grains and stocks as they are expected to be higher than the minimum requirements for the next one year. It all becomes possible despite country’s wheat output looks likely to go down in 2022 because of a sharp and sudden rise in temperatures in mid-March, causing damage to crop yields especially in Punjab, Haryana and UP. Meanwhile, India- the world’s second largest producer of the grain has had five consecutive years of record harvests of wheat till 2021. Moreover, the edible oil prices too are likely to soften soon as the palm oil imports are expected to start very soon after a temporary ban by Indonesia.

Dispelling the concerns of potential shortage in surplus food availability, Sudhanshu Pandey, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), recently cleared the air conveying that after meeting the requirement of welfare schemes in the year ahead, on April 1, 2023, India would have stocks of 80 LMT of wheat, well above the minimum requirement of 75 LMT. Total Food-grains production during 2021-22 is higher by 25.35 million tonnes compared to total figures of last 5 years. Similarly, other items that witnessed higher production in last five years include Rice (higher by 11.49 mn tonnes), Nutri /coarse cereals (higher by 3.28 mn tonnes), pulses (higher by 3.14 mn tonnes), oilseeds (higher by 3.28 mn tonnes), and sugarcane (higher by a whopping 40.59 mn tonnes).

Wheat Production, however, is expected to be 1050 LMT, which is lower than the initial estimate of 1110 LMT in FY 23. Due to higher market prices, large quantity of wheat is being bought by traders at a higher rate than MSP (Minimum Support Price), which is good for the farmers. “This year due to an increase in market prices and higher demand by the private players both for the domestic as well as export purposes, the purchase by the government agency is less. But that goes in favour of the farmers as they are getting a good price for the wheat,” Sec Sudhanshu Pandey had said. Earlier, the farmers had no option but to sell to the government. Now, they are selling only that quantity of their produce to the government, which they are unable to sell in the private market at higher prices. Therefore, from that perspective, the government procurement has reduced.

The edible oil stocks are also sufficient in the country and after a temporary ban by Indonesia, the palm oil imports are expected to start soon and this would soften the edible oil prices in the country. Besides this, India has a surplus availability of rice as well. Government has directed that locally available stocks of rice will get distributed in the same state where they are getting consumed. So, this will help exporters with their requirement of rakes or movement within the country. It is going to help the exports and all commodities including food grains. Also, the moment the state is able to distribute the rice into the PDS system they become entitled to claim their subsidy. This is an added advantage to the states otherwise they have to maintain the stocks and bear the expenses and only after distribution do they become able to get reimbursement of their Food subsidy.

Data-Driven Rural Reset

Embracing the digital fueled transformation, technology is fast changing the face of the farmers and villages. From laying down the framework of ‘India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture – (IDEA)’, to involving AI, Machine Learning, Drones, Data Analytics in the agriculture industry, the centre’s policies are overcoming increasing demand and disruptive forces along with other issues.

“At the core of our good governance efforts in India’s villages is to leverage the power of technology for the welfare of people,” these are the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Jammu & Kashmir. Evidently, technology penetration in the Indian agriculture sector is happening at various levels starting from – policy interventions to digital innovations. For policy intervention, the proof in the pudding is the SVAMITVA scheme, in which nearly 36 Lakh Property cards have been prepared in 28,603 villages. Under Digital Innovation, the centre developed mActionSoft – a mobile-based solution to help in capturing photos with Geo-Tags. 2.52 lakh photographs of the assets have been uploaded by the Gram Panchayats for the activities taken under the fifteenth Finance Commission. Further, Towards leveraging technology in data management, MoPR conceptualized the application “AuditOnline” that not only facilitates the auditing of accounts but also provisions for maintaining digital audit records. This is definitely a big leap from Social Audits, a rigorous process that constitutes verifying the field realities with data in official documents and discussing the findings on a public platform such as Gram Sabha.

India’s fight against COVID-19 till now, has also established the importance of bringing data-driven strategies for COVID-19 management, especially in rural areas where the lack of information regarding COVID-19 management can severely constrain pandemic management. Rural India requires localized policy interventions to ensure the optimization of critical resources. With this idea in mind, the focus on technology again proved helpful as MoPR tactfully developed COVID19 DASHBOARD in collaboration with NIC that helped India monitor covid related policy implementation at the grassroots level.

Besides, the country is even in the process of developing Smart Vending Carts to be used by Vendors in rural areas. In fact, a Smart Vending E-Cart, designed by IIT Bombay, has been demonstrated and found to be quite appropriate for the use by vendors / small businesses in rural, peri-urban and farm sectors. With a call for ‘Meri Panchayat Mera Adhikaar – Jan Sevaayein Hamaare Dwaar’ the government has created a Citizen Charter document that rightly shifts focus to where it belongs – the Rural Citizenry. The government is also ensuring ‘ease of living’, financial inclusion and complete digitalisation, among other aspects. And this can rightly be achieved by putting ‘Data’ at the heart of all development goals.

From healthcare to education to finance and manufacturing; various sectors governing our economies, have become technology-driven. This also holds true for one of the oldest industries known to civilization – Agriculture.

Efforts towards Gram Rajya

Panchayats have a pivotal role to play in integrated rural development by focusing on the 17 SDGs which are subsumed under nine themes to ensure poverty-free, clean, healthy, child-friendly, and socially secured well-governed villages. Ministry of Panchayati Raj has introduced digital solutions like e-GramSwaraj for planning, budgeting and accounting of Panchayats, inspiring 2.38 lakh Gram Panchayats to adopt e-GramSwaraj. However, all Panchayats also need to be brought onto this platform to meet the digital mission of governance.In recent years, owing to the continuous efforts by the government, Panchayats have emerged as leaders, planners and policymakers at the grass-root level. This has enabled them to realize their national as well as global targets in the true spirit of the transition from ‘Local to Global’. It is also heartening to note here that India has achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in 2019, 11 years ahead of its actual timeline in 2030. Now Panchayats need to achieve complete sanitation and adopt waste management practices, converting waste to wealth. This will provide new confidence in rural economy. The government seems to be on target to provide clean drinking water to each household in the country by 2024, which would be a new milestone for the country as vast as India.

It is heartening that the increase in fund allocation to the rural local bodies from Rs.100 per capita per annum in the 10th Finance Commission has been raised to Rs.674 per capita per annum in the 15th Finance Commission, thanks to the growing focus of the present dispensation on the rural populace. Now Central Finance Commission funds are directly transferred to the bank accounts of Panchayats, leaving little or no scope for any diversion, dilution and deviation in the process. Similarly, now efforts are also being made to ensure that every grant meant for people should directly go to the eligible beneficiaries, and improve education, employment, water & other situations.

To further sensitize all stake holders in the process to give a boost to an all round development of the villages, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is celebrating its iconic week under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Governance Conference, ‘Sushasan – Sugamta se Sampanta’ was also organized today (12th April). Through such programmes, the government is ensuring that the Panchayati Raj institutions become the real instruments to carry out the programmes of rural development. In this endeavour, Governance is playing a significant role in making Panchayati Raj Institutions functional and efficient. With the rapid expansion of the economy and the growing awareness and assertion of rights by the populace, the need and demand for good governance has also increased in recent years. Today’s governance style is becoming more citizen-oriented, citizen-centric, citizen-friendly, ensuring dedication, responsiveness and accountability of both official and Elected Representatives, towards rural development.

‘Ram Rajya is incomplete without Gram Rajya’ , the significance of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous statement is being well-realised today with burgeoning efforts being taken by the government to improve governance at rural level with focus on providing villages (approx 6.5 lakh) with connectivity, education, employment opportunity and entertainment. With the Centre and State Governments together implementing various development programmes, good governance is critical not only for ensuring social inclusion in the Government Programmes, but also for establishing accountability. And Panchayati Raj institutions have a definite mandate for realization of goal towards improving the quality of life in rural areas.

Knowing the State of Indian Agriculture

From an economy struggling with short supply to turn into a net exporter of agri-products, occupying seventh position globally, India has come a long way. It is one of the top producers of cereals (wheat & rice), pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and marine fish. However, there are areas needing a lot of work for the nutritional security for harvesting the demographic dividend of the country. The country faces deficit of pulses & oilseeds. Though the availability of fruits & vegetables and milk & meat & fish has increased,but affordability is still a work in progress. No denial that a sea change has been witnessed in this domain and a look at working of key initiatives is must to understand the happenings and outlook.

PM-KISAN provides income support to small and marginal farmers, Krishi Bhagya Scheme empowers farmers to use modern technologies to yield more crops per drop of water, NMSA caters to key dimensions of ‘Water use efficiency’, ‘Nutrient Management’ and ‘Livelihood diversification’ through solutions of sustainable development, whereas PM Fasal Bima Yojana provides financial support to the farmers who suffer crop loss or damage. National Agriculture Market (eNAM) portal has been a huge success. The portal is a unified national market for agricultural commodities, a network of the existing APMC mandis. It makes better price discovery available now through transparent auction process based on quality of produce along with timely online payment.

“New India will be more prosperous if the farmers in the country are further empowered. I am happy that Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and other schemes related to agriculture are giving new strength to crores of farmers of the country,” said PM Modi while sharing details of the benefits of different schemes of the Central government for the farmers.

The government has launched many schemes in Agriculture sector that have been producing exceptional results. These include PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), launch of E-NAM, National Mission For Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Gramin Bhandaran Yojana, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Mrida Swastha Yojana, Livestock insurance Scheme, Scheme on Fisheries Training and Extension, etc.

These schemes have resulted in an unprecedented increase in Agricultural exports and production figures. India’s agri exports crossed USD 50 billion for the year 2021-22, notwithstanding logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic in the form of high freight rates, container shortages, etc. According to the DGCI&S data, exports of many agri items registered record growth including exports of rice, pulses, wheat, other cereals, dairy products, poultry products, sheep/goat meat, Fruits and vegetables, Floriculture, etc. Various initiatives taken by Centre through APEDA such as organizing B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product specific and general marketing campaigns by active involvement of Indian Embassies have helped as well. Major export destinations as per 2021-22 data are Bangladesh, UAE, Vietnam, USA, Nepal, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Egypt.

More than 300 outreach programmes in collaboration with state governments have been organised in the country, products matrix for 50 agricultural products which have good scope for expanding exports portfolios have also been created by the government and concerned authorities. Centre has also taken othe initiatives like promotion of geographical indications (GI), recognition of 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products to exporters, facilitating participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, organising national events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India etc. Government, through the aegis of APEDA also initiates registration of pack-houses for horticulture products for meeting the quality requirements of the international market. APEDA has adopted multiple world class technology and software in IT division such as Blockchain technology implemented in hortinet traceability, Farmer Connect Portal, Geographical Indications (GI) Promotion Portal, Mobile App, iTrack System, TraceNet, Organic Promotional Portal, Agriexchange App, and Cloud Migration etc.

This significant rise in agri-exports is seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to enhance farmers’ income through giving thrust on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products.

S.M.A.R.T. Agriculture in India

As the government welcomes modern tech-based agricultural solutions, including use of Kisan drones, Nano-technology based fertilizers, digitization of land records, and more to keep India’s agricultural growth trajectory robust, India has shifted to practices of what can be called ‘Smart Agriculture’ which has begun to transform the lives of Indian farmers.

The word SMART, when combined with ‘Agriculture’, deciphers a plethora of actions and practices that must be well adapted to by all the stakeholders of the agricultural sector, be it government, institutions, producers, sellers and every individual linked to the Agro-chain. One could smartly break the acronym (SMART) into Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based, which are key factors in deciding the fate of Agriculture and allied sectors.

By identifying the precise new technologies and working to acquire them for its agricultural requirements, India is being ‘Specific’. By building capacity and infrastructure to come up the farm, production and land records and create tools and schemes to make new ones, it is being ‘Measurable’. It has been ‘Attainable’ by ensuring and celebrating exports growth, record production, record organic exports growth, maintaining satisfying MSPs, timely and easy release of funds under various schemes like Kisan Samman Nidhi & others through DBT, opening up of 44.23 cr Jan Dhan Accounts, etc. India is also being ‘Relevant’ as it looks forward to solutions facilitating use of Kisan drones and convergence of AI & machine learning, blockchain technology, remote sensing-based tools and technologies with Agriculture. And all this is being done with a ‘Time-based’ approach, meeting deadlines.

Terming it as the future, PM Narendra Modi addressed a webinar on ‘Smart Agriculture’ calling on policymakers and stakeholders to begin the execution of the provisions discussed in the budget 2022-23 for the agriculture sector. PM Modi laid out seven ways which hold the potential to turn Indian agriculture smart enough. These include natural farming, use of modern technologies, Mission Oil Palm to reduce our dependence on import of edible oils, new logistical facilities for transportation of food-grains and other farm products, agriculture waste management, agriculture research and use of post offices in providing banking services to the farmers.

Over the past six years, farm outputs have seen an unprecedented growth registering new records, following the continuous impetus from the government through different plans. This oscillates in tandem with the goals that have been defined by it to double farmers’ income by 2022-23, promote farmers welfare and bring parity between earnings of farmers and those working in non-agricultural professions. The food grain production rose to 298 million tonnes in 2019-20, 311 million tonnes in 2020-21 and estimated 316 million tonnes in 2021-22. However, it vacillated before 2016-17, hovering between 245 million tonnes and 265 million tonnes.

Data-Driven Rural Development

“You see,” Gandhi began, “the centre of power now is in New Delhi, or in Calcutta and Bombay, in the big cities. I would have it distributed among the seven hundred thousand villages of India. That will mean that there is no power… nobody could deprive them of their assets. There will then be voluntary cooperation between these seven hundred thousand…,” These words of Mahatma Gandhi were noted by American journalist Louis Fischer in his book “A week with Gandhi” (4 to 10 June 1942).

We are told to be living in a global village and this terminology has come into existence because of the exponential rise in connectivity across the globe but how connected are villages of India? Not only this question is being answered but available modern technology is being utilized to connect and compound the growth of the Indian villages through a multi prong approach.

The Rural Connectivity GIS Data that has been made public by the Ministry for Rural Development today, is a classic example of this. Data for over 8 lakh rural facilities, 1 million+ habitations & 25 lakh kilometers of rural roads was collected & digitized using the GIS platform developed for the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). This information will now act as building blocks to further the planning and implementation of developmental projects in India’s rural areas. The initiative is being governed by PMGSY’s nodal agency NRIDA, which, apart from signing MoUs with three GIS firms, has collaborated with Gati Shakti with an objective to exchange the data for the better planning and implementation of both the schemes.

As all this government exclusive data so far gets released in public domain, it not only sets a momentum to take connectivity to an all new high but also presents scores of drive thru opportunities for startups, academia, governments, and civil societies to have a share and build on the data access. The data as big and nuanced as this is bound to bring a multi-sectoral spin in India’s technological rise, by acting as a catalyst for facilitating quick convergence of rural and urban Indian systems in terms of opening markets, augmenting startup ecosystem, pave way for more infrastructural projects, digital buying and delivery, e-commerce, targeted pickups, transportation, strengthening supply chains etc. The Rural Connectivity GIS data access will widen the spectrum of growth and expansion for seekers, entrepreneurs, administrative and governing bodies, at the same time contributing to the Self-reliant India campaign. Access to correct and comprehensive DATA is going to play a pivotal role in building systems, of the people, for the people, by the people of India.

Tractors and Drones for Agri-Innovations

In Union Budget 2022, the agriculture sector allocation has been increased by 4.4% to Rs 132,513.62 crore. From promoting chemical-free farming to funding agri-tech start-ups to digital services to farmers, the budget looked at taking agriculture on a sustained higher growth trajectory with a slew of innovative announcements.

The reform-oriented scheme- Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is being attributed to the sharp rise in the sale of tractors recently. This is a clear indication of deepening mechanisation of agriculture and rural economy and generates hope to double farmers’ income.

Drones have flown into Indian landscapes quite fast. In August 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation liberalised the drone use policy. This was followed by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare issuing the SOP for using drones to spray pesticides in agricultural, forest lands and non-cropped areas. In October 2021, India became the first-ever country to commercially produce and spray Nano Liquid Urea through Drone in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar. A drone subsidy proposal was also included later in the drone policy. It is through this clause that FPO’s can now receive a grant of up to 75% of the cost of an agriculture drone.

Innovative drone-powered solutions and government initiatives like the Svamitva scheme (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas), which is surveying inhabited Indian rural lands using drone technology are taking advantage of these measures. This will empower villagers with a “record of rights”, which may further assist them to fight off property disputes or make more enterprising decisions concerning their land.

As for crop assessment, drones can be peerless as they can provide high-resolution crop data which can help identify, warn & fix issues with the agricultural produce. Other uses include livestock Management, crop health and stress analysis, plant growth monitoring and treatment, scouting, precision farming, fertiliser spraying and more. High-tech aerial surveying drones have advanced sensors which procure precise data. Geo-tagging aerial images provide information that can result in lesser cost, improved crop yields and profitability.

Clearly, the increased public expenditure on infrastructure, agri-techs including ‘Kisan Drones’, crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients, other R&Ds, and FPOs is sure to create a multiplier impact on the growth and competitiveness of the agriculture sector in coming years.

 

Enigma of Adarsh Gram

“You see,” Gandhi began, “the centre of power now is in New Delhi, or in Calcutta and Bombay, in the big cities. I would have it distributed among the seven hundred thousand villages of India. That will mean that there is no power… nobody could deprive them of their assets. There will then be voluntary cooperation between these seven hundred thousand units, voluntary cooperation – not cooperation induced by Nazi methods. Voluntary cooperation will produce real freedom and a new order vastly superior to the new order in Soviet Russia…. a system like the one I have outlined to you did exist though it undoubtedly had its weakness, else it would not have succumbed before the Moghuls and the British. I would like to think that parts of it have survived, that the roots have survived despite the ravages of British rule. Those roots and the stock are waiting to sprout…” Mahatma Gandhi‘s these words were noted by American journalist Louis Fischer in his book “A week with Gandhi” (4 to 10 June 1942).

There have been many attempts to realise this vision of Mahatma Gandhi that Indian villages are empowered and model of development. There certainly is a need to audit why Member of Parliament Model Village Yojana has not been successful since its inception in 2014. On the other hand, PMAGY was started in 2009 but the work could begin only in 2014 and now once more, Prime Minister Adarsh Gram Yojana has set a target to develop 8,000 model villages in next six months. Further, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has determined to convert every scheduled caste majority village into a model village by 2025. As there are over 27,000 such villages, the work needs to be taken up on priority basis to achieve this target.

With monitorable indicators of villages provided with adequate sources of drinking water, villages with school creation, villages connected with all-weather road, and number of villages electrified, this programme is indeed the need of the hour to achieve Mahatma Gandhi‘s vision. Yet less than 20,000 villages have been covered so far under this Yojna. The slow progress highlights the need of much more aggressive redressal of implementation issues.

Why Members of Parliament, cutting across party lines, have not been able to develop model villages is a serious cause of concern. Perhaps a debate on this in the upcoming parliamentary session to find out the causes and resolve them would be a welcome step.