ft11338_improving indian agriculture by usage by it

8/8/2019 FT11338_Improving Indian Agriculture by Usage by IT

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Application of IT in Agriculture

1 Great Lakes Institute of Management

APPLICATION OF IT IN

AGRICULTURE

FROM: NIKHIL GANDHI

ROLL NUMBER: FT 11338





Table of ContentsABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 4

GREEN REVOLUTION ......................................................................................................................... 7

Positives ........................................................................................................................................ 7

Shortcomings ................................................................................................................................ 7

IT IN AGRICULTURE............................................................................................................................ 8

Hardware ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Software ........................................................................................................................................ 9

Databases .................................................................................................................................. 9

Decision Support Systems .......................................................................................................... 9

Alliance & Cooperation Systems ................................................................................................ 9

Order Processing Systems ........................................................................................................ 10

Monitoring Systems ................................................................................................................. 10

Forecasting Systems ................................................................................................................ 11

Tracking & Tracing Mechanisms ............................................................................................... 12

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 12

References ...................................................................................................................................... 13





ABSTRACTAgriculture has been traditionally an agriculture dependent economy. For the past sixdecades, Indian agriculture has grown at around 2.7% year on year. Agriculture contributes toabout 18% of total Indian GDP & employs around 52% of countries total workforce 1.

Indian agriculture is the second largest in the world. With a total land of around 168 Millionhectares, India ranks second best to US. Out of the total land available, 60 Million hectares isunder proper irrigation facilities & the rest of it is dependent on monsoon for crop yield. TheUnited Nations estimates that with assured irrigation, India's food grains output can increaseSIX times within five years- enough to feed two planet Earths.

Few achievements of Indian agriculture are 2 –

India is the largest producer of wheat in the world India is the largest producer of Rice in the world

India is among the largest vegetable oil economies in the world India is the largest producer of Tea in the world India is the second largest producer of Fruits in the world India is the largest producer of Milk in the world India is the largest producer of Coffee in the world India is the largest producer of Cotton in the world

The paper will look at various aspects of Indian agriculture & the major improvements whichcan be brought by use of IT.

1 http://agricoop.nic.in/

2 www.wikipedia.org

http://agricoop.nic.in/



http://www.wikipedia.org/









INTRODUCTIONAccording to the World Bank statement of 2008, “Slow agricultural growth is a concern for policymakers as some two- thirds of India’s people depend on rural employment for a living.Current agricultural practices are sustainable neither economically nor environmentally &

India's traditional yields for lots of agricultural commodities are low. Poorly maintainedirrigation systems and severely lacking good extension services are among the factorsresponsible. Farmers' access to markets is hampered by poor roads, rudimentary marketinfrastructure, and excessive regulations .”

The major reasons of productivity losses in India are

India’s large subsidies to agricultural sector have left the sector craving for theproductivity enriching investments

The irrigation system’s in most parts of Ind ia are severely underdeveloped

Most of the farmers are illiterate or have very basic education which makes themaverse to changes & they stick to traditional methods of farming which are inefficientin more than one way for today’s scenario

Government policies about agriculture change from time to time according toforeseen political benefits which grossly ignores the goodwill of agriculture as asector

The average size of land holdings is very small (less than 20,000 m²) and is subject tofragmentation, due to land ceiling acts and in some cases, family disputes. Such smallholdings are often over-manned, resulting in disguised unemployment and lowproductivity of labour

Small land sizes limit the capacity of farmers to use advance technological devices

Indian Agricultural exports for the year 2009-2010 are as follows 3

3 http://tradejunction.apeda.com/indexp/monthexp.aspx

http://tradejunction.apeda.com/indexp/monthexp.aspx








India’s export partners are 4

4 http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/export-import.html

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Value

Value

http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/export-import.html








India went for Green Revolution 5 under able guidance of “Shri Gulzari Lal Nada”, “ShriLal Bahadur Shastri” & “Indira Gandhi”. It helped Indian agriculture grab a place onworld map.

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution_in_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution_in_India








GREEN REVOLUTIONIndia started taking strong steps towards self dependence in the field of food in the sixtiesdecade. The movement was headed by Dr. Norman Borlaug 6. The motive of this movementwas to introduce high yielding seeds to Indian farmers & use various methods of agricultural

productivity improvement like crop rotation, improved fertilizers, irrigation techniques etc.This resulted in continuous growth in agricultural production since 1965. The technique wasonce widely praised. But now-a-days, it has come under fire from various sectors forexcessive use of fertilizers, loss of land productivity, damaged food cycle & introduction of poisonous substances in food chain.

Positives High product yield per acre from 1965 to 1980 Introduction of high yielding varieties across India Increased profitability for the farmers

Self dependence achieved by India in food sector India became one of the major exporters of Agricultural products New & improved irrigation techniques improved the water usage to some extent

Shortcomings Uncontrolled usage of pesticides has lead to a severe drop in crop productivity The chemical, biological & radiation toxicity is rampant in Indian soil The ppm 7 proportion of fertilizer content in food is way above the WHO 8 average Extensive crop yields in some parts of India & a normal yield in some parts has lead

to income disparity in various sections of Indian Society The interstate disparities between various states due to uneven implementation lead to

loss of faith between states The high investments every year for fertilizers & pesticides may lead the farmer in

debt trap 9

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

7 Parts Per Million8

World Health Organization9 http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Debt_trap

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug



http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Debt_trap









IT IN AGRICULTUREIT in agriculture can be divided into two broad parts

1. Hardware2. Software

HardwareHardware 10 provided by constantly evolving technology has proved to be a boon for theIndian farmers. The touch screen monitors have made it possible to provide information tothe farmers living in remote parts of India. This has breached the barriers of language,information technology limitations & has made the whole process intuitive to the farmers.This has also eliminated the need for a learned person as a facilitator between the farmers &the technology which brings with it abundant information.

The cost effective & easy to carry digital cameras, handy cams, web cameras have made itpossible to teach the farmers an easy task. It has opened up the possibilities of teaching thefarmers about various farming techniques & shares other information in the form of videos. Ithas also widened the reach of farmers when it comes to meeting a farming expert. Farmerscan directly take the photos of crops & upload the same to discuss about various problemsfaced by them with the experts without the need of experts coming down to their fields forpersonal observation.

The advent in space technology has made it possible to predict the weather patterns. This hasproved immensely helpful to farmers who are completely dependent on monsoon for all the

irrigation needs of their farm. This has also helped the farmers in selecting a particular basketof crops for a particular year depending on the weather patterns.

The development in networking technology has made it possible to extend the reach of internet & telephones to the farms of villagers. This has helped the farmers in stayingconnected with the rest of the world, gather weather updates, find various irrigation patterns& view all the latest research finding in the comfort of their farms.

Sensors for tracking have helped farmers in keeping track of their farm growth. It has alsohelped in stopping the theft, illegal eating by animals etc. It has also led to an interesting

trend called as Joint Farming.11

This has increased their purchasing & bargaining power whenit comes to seeds, fertilizers, market value of the products. It also shields small farmers fromunexpected losses & financial burden due to the same. The concepts like organic farming &zero fertilizer farming can be effectively & efficiently implemented. It also frees up cash forexperimentation & usage of new technologies like improved tractors, farming equipments.

10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware

11 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/08/stories/2006050801830300.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware



http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/08/stories/2006050801830300.htm









IT has also helped in bringing the techniques like Precision Farming 12 which have workedwell in the western countries. The techniques of remote sensing using well developed satellitetechnologies, geographical information systems (GIS) and soil sciences are used to increasethe total agricultural output.

SoftwareThe software used for the growth in agricultural sector can be used for two major purposes.

A. Direct improvements to the yieldB. Educating the farmers about best practises

The software can be helpful in below mentioned ways

DatabasesThe databases will provide the farmers about the various rules & regulations in Indian as well

as international scenario. It will tell the farmers about the WTO13

regulations & the import – export rules of various countries. It will help the farmers in identifying various exportopportunities adding to their financial strength & they can add various crops to their portfoliofor earning better income. This will also give information platform for the farmers to sharecommon knowledgebase & gain valuable insights.

Decision Support SystemsIndian farmers have been traditionally risk averse & they love to stick to their traditionalmethods of cultivation. The decisions taken by them have huge financial implications forthem since missing a single season can mean beginning of a debt trap for farmers. India is

believed to have a traditional competitive advantage in the field of fruits, oil seeds, cotton andmilk products. Indian farmers can strengthen their portfolio of products by making riskydecisions if they can be assured by some system about the possible outcomes of theirdecisions with a certain level of confidence.

A cumulative data gathering supporting a decision support system (DSS) will go a long wayin ensuring that farmers have a platform where they can test their decisions. The farmers canthen go for implementing these decisions feeling confident about the outcome. This willsurely mean that farmers will go for varied set of crops & will build a competitive advantagein those areas.

Alliance & Cooperation SystemsThe concept of pooling in individual resources like land, labour, capital, equipments etc forthe purpose of Joint Farming can get a big boost if the alliance & cooperation systems arebuilt & are made available to interested farmers. This will remove the inherent suspicion thatsomeone is grabbing a major share & is cheating with the rest of the group.

12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_agriculture

13 http://www.wto.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_agriculture



http://www.wto.org/

http://www.wto.org/

http://www.wto.org/

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The systems will bring in the much requiredtransparency in the whole process of sharing. Thefarmers will be able to view the progress on a timelybasis & then can take appropriate decisions. It will

also help in bringing out the patterns in the field of Joint Farming which has remained a taboo in modernIndia. The analysis of this data will help in refiningthe process & making it better for the generations to

come.

This will require development of complicated IT systems which are to be supported by properbricks and mortar infrastructure and post harvest technologies, storage, etc. This will need abig capital inflow which can be surely taken out of government grants under variousschemes.

Order Processing SystemsFarmers can be helped a ton by development of a web enabled order processing application.Currently there are as much as 17 links in supply chain in Indian Agricultural Market 14 . This

simply means that the prices are inflated 17 times before theproducts can reach the end consumers. In this case, neitherthe consumers nor the producers (farmers) gain anything.This chain can be eliminated by a web application for orderplacement & processing.

The application can show the current market prices, stocksavailable with every farmer & its quality. The buyers (Supermarkets / malls / grocery shops) can then purchase directlyfrom the farmers. The common transportation system will

facilitate the flow of goods. This system will make sure that end consumers have fresh food,there is no illegal stocking for artificial price increases & the farmers will get their money’sworth. This system will require coordination between various government & non governmentbodies to ensure that all the gaps are plugged before a major damage is done.

Monitoring Systems

The domestic agricultural scene is now-a-days exposed tointernational fluctuations hence it is necessary to be vigilant toexternal shocks. Systems to monitor international marketstatus, international supply & demand scenario, macroeconomic factors, political disruptions are required to bedeveloped. Advance warning systems to alert the farmersshould be developed. It is absolutely necessary to promote themonitoring cells in all major institutions related to agriculture

14 http://agricoop.nic.in/








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and allied activities to maintain data, provide periodic analytical reports and raise advancealerts.

Forecasting SystemsSince India is majorly dependent on monsoon for its crop yield, tonnes of food grains gowaste because either there is no space to store extra production happening in a bumper yieldyear or the storage facilities are so far & so costly that they outweigh the benefits achievedfrom food storage. In India, 20 Million Tonnes or 1/10 th of the total harvest of food goeswaste in government shelters 15 . This food is more than enough to feed 325000 people.

To tackle this system, India needs to build a robust yield forecasting system which willconsider multiple environmental factors like El Nino 16 , Monsoon Cycles 17 etc on the yield invarious parts of the country. If India can predict the yield well before the actual season starts,the temporary shelters can be built, import-export policies can be tweaked to accommodatefor the yield variations. This will result in humungous cost savings for government which inturn can be passed on for research in the field of agriculture. This money can also be used tosubsidize the food made available to poor people.

15 http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-s-mountains-of-shame/Article1-525218.aspx

16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o-Southern_Oscillation

17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-s-mountains-of-shame/Article1-525218.aspx



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o-Southern_Oscillation



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon









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Tracking & Tracing MechanismsWith quality norms going sky high in recent years, it has become absolutely necessary totrack & trace the food consignments sent across. This helps in assessing the food qualitybeing sent & the food quality being received. This helps in plugging the gaps in food supplysystem. This can also help in guaranteeing the food safety & quality.

Tracking mechanisms can also help in increasing of the logistics operations. The supply chain& the associated logistics can be studied thoroughly & process improvements can be donewherever required. This will also help reduce the food losses happening due to excessivedelays leading to rotten food, theft, rodent problems etc.

ConclusionThe challenges are many in front of Indian food industry. These challenges have become a politicalagenda & they are not resolved in past 60+ years post independence. These challenges have posedserious threat to India in today’s world where water is not a commodity but is a scarcity. A worldwhere number of hungry people is going up every second & a world where deaths by malnutritionare becoming a common scenario.

India, being an IT giant can find solution to most of its problems by effective implementation of information technology. The willingness of Indian government & the farmers is the key to solution. If the farmers take the firm steps towards venturing into an IT enabled Indian agricultural, stronglybacked by Indian government, India can surely take on the world when it comes to food security &modern farming techniques.




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Referenceshttp://agricoop.nic.in/ www.wikipedia.org http://tradejunction.apeda.com/indexp/monthexp.aspx http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/export-import.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution_in_India http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Debt_trap http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/08/stories/2006050801830300.htm http://www.wto.org/ http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-s-mountains-of-shame/Article1-525218.aspx http://125.19.12.220/















http://www.wto.org/

http://www.wto.org/



http://125.19.12.220/

http://125.19.12.220/

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