Thought for
the day
“Who seeks shall find.”
-
Sophocles
(Greek, 496-406BC)
Word of the
day
Roger (Interjection)
All right; Ok; message received and understood
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Shri Nārada Uvāca
Is it a good strategy for BJP to invoke history in all
their election rallies?
Food inflation conundrum III
After discussing with many farmers, agriculture scientists,
government officials, bankers & social workers working in rural areas and
agriculture related departments we discovered that small initiatives at village
and panchayat level could enhance agriculture productivity substantially. The
more complex reforms (land, labor, administrative, legal etc.) though highly
desirable are not necessary to achieve the initial productivity gains.
We witnessed one such initiative in Shahjahanpur district of
western UP, named after the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Case Study
Shahjahanpur is primarily an agriculture district. The district
has a population of over 3million with a literacy rate of over 60%. Over 70%
population is engaged in agriculture related activity. Sugarcane, potato and
mentha are main crops. Industrial landscape consist of Reliance power Rosa
thermal power plant, KRIBHCO fertilizer plant, Defence clothing factory, a
paper mill, some small sugar mills, couple of distilleries & some small
menthol mills.
A large majority of farmers are small, having land holding of
less than two hectare. Many marginal farmers have holding size of less than
10bigha (0.5 hectare). Electricity supply is restricted to 3-4hours a day. Land
is fertile and ground water level good at 15-20feet. Most large farmers have
leased out their land to landless farmers.
Most farmers rely on traditional agriculture techniques and manual
labor. The average cane productivity is 150-175qtl/acre and potato yield is
1000qtl/ acre. The average net earnings for a small to medium size farmer is
Rs35000. The official land price (circle rate for stamp duty purpose) is
Rs7,50,000/acre.
Last year, a couple of enterprising youth took initiative to
improve the farm productivity. They pursued around 70 farmers in 4 villages to
engage in collective farming and successfully aggregated a 450acres. They
engaged with the scientists of the Shahjahanpur Sugarcane Research Institute
and Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi and obtained know how for
improving productivity.
Improved potato seeds and cane saplings, solar power operated
pump sets (at 50% subsidy) and cooperation from banks for financing 5 tractors,
and 3 planters, and fencing of the farm to safeguard against wild animal raids
(primarily boars and neelgai) helped the yields to rise by 40-50% 300/qtl for
sugar cane and 1500qtl for potato.
A contract with a large processed food manufacturer meant 30%
better realization for potato crop. With all infrastructure in place, they
could take three crops in a year, along with mustard sown in between.
Since electricity supply usually comes for 3-4hours around
midnight, the group has created 3 artificial ponds to store water, with the
help of government subsidy. These ponds will also be also used as fish farms
and efficient channel for deploying fertilizer and fungicides.
The average yield for the farmers came to Rs75000/acre despite
damage due to excess rains. This may improve further as a part of the income is
invested back in further mechanization.
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