Dr M M Pandey, DDG (Engg.), ICAR; Dr H S Gupta, Director, IARI; Er Amar Singh, President, ISAE; Dr T B S Rajput and Dr. D V K Samuel, Convener and Co-Convener, respectively, of the 44th annual convention of ISAE, other dignitaries on dais, members of ISAE and participants to this important convention, special invitees, friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen !
I am delighted to be with you this morning and happy to see the participants, who have come from different parts of the country. I am particularly pleased to learn that today’s deliberations would focus on Engineering Interventions to Meet Food Security.
Friends, India is the second most populous country in the world with a population of 1150 million. The population is expected to exceed 1400 million by 2020. Over 70% of the people of India live in rural areas, with about 52% still depending on agriculture for their livelihood. In other words, the biggest challenge before the agriculture sector of India is to meet the growing demand for food to feed her ever burgeoning population. Since Independence, there has been more than fourfold increase in grain production in the country due to introduction of improved technology packages and practices.
Irrigated agriculture will face numerous challenges in the coming decades including: dwindling water supplies due to competing water users, contamination of water supplies, low water use efficiencies; lack of adequate water storage capacity and climate change impacts. Climate change may lead to a warmer climate, more frequent, severe and prolonged droughts and floods. Institutions will face growing societal pressure to ensure that food production is undertaken within a framework that includes protection of adjoining sensitive eco systems. Irrigation being a major consumer of water, low efficiencies obtained in the irrigation sector is a cause of concern. Some of the reasons for low efficiencies are deficiencies in water delivery system, inequitable delivery of water to the fields and inefficient water management. Research and development and capacity building will be at the heart of the irrigation and water management innovations agenda. There will have to be significant investment in the training of engineers, scientists, extension agents and irrigators.
Another major constraint to the pace of agricultural mechanization in India is the large variability in power availability, from 0.60 kW/ha in Orissa to 3.5 kW/ha in Punjab. There is a strong linear relationship between power available and agricultural productivity. The Agricultural Engineers have designed and developed a number of precision-and-energy saving farm machines, which have been successfully demonstrated. Some machines like zero-till seed drill, rotavator, pumping sets, threshers, and combine harvesters are widely adopted by the farmers. Improved agricultural tools and equipment are estimated to contribute to food and agricultural production in India.
India has a big network of agricultural machinery manufacturers. The total annual investment in farm machines and in agro-processing/post-harvest equipment was estimated to be Rs. 50,000 crores. Healthy growth in tractors has resulted in corresponding growth in implement manufacturing, and with the support of research and liberalization policies, the manufacturing sector got a big boost. Tractor powered combine harvester, costing only 25-30 per cent of the self-propelled combine, is a significant innovation by manufacturers of Punjab. We have to go a long way as, at present, the estimated mechanization levels of various farm operations are: 40 per cent for tillage, 30 per cent for seeding/planting, 37 per cent for irrigation, and 48 per cent for threshing of wheat, 5 per cent for threshing of rest of crops, and 35 per cent for plant protection.
Having said that, I wish to outline some core areas, which we need to work with. Mechanization of rice, sugarcane, cotton, potato and horticultural crops, greenhouses, covered cultivation, animal and fish production are new emerging areas, which need greater attention. Some promising technologies have been successfully tested and their benefits have been demonstrated. Self-propelled rice planter, widely adopted in Kerala, saved 90 per cent in labour and 40 per cent in operation cost. Zero till drill saved 70-80 per cent of diesel and rupees 2,500 – 3,000 per hectare in cultivation cost. These technologies need to be demonstrated extensively for their adoption. As energy and water are becoming scarce, technologies using less energy, less water and conserving soil moisture will become popular in years to come. Some of the prominent technologies are zero till drill, strip till drill, raised-bed planter, laser leveler, drip and sprinkler irrigation and fertigation. In addition to moisture conservation technologies particularly for rainfed areas, there is a need to popularize technology for simultaneous application of aqueous fertilizer along with the seed (aqua ferti seed drill).
Mechanization in horticulture, particularly in cultivation of vegetables, is yet to pick up. Innovations in designs of green and poly-houses, handling of products and environmental control, including mechanized cultivation, assume greater significance. Mechanization in sugarcane cultivation with the use of specific machinery, particularly sugarcane harvesters, needs to be given emphasis. Mechanization of hill agriculture and small farms by introducing light and low-cost power-tools and machinery to improve timeliness of field operations is necessary.
The organized sector is entering in agri-business, especially in post-harvest operations such as processing, value addition and marketing. Among others, the rise of supermarkets and retail food chain is a unique example which is linking producers and consumers. These are revolutionizing the retail food trade. The advantages are: (i) reduction in post harvest losses and wastes, (ii) assurance of food quality and food safety, (iii) improvement in marketing efficiency and minimization of overheads, and (iv) provision of more employment opportunities to women through post harvest operations such as cleaning, grading, packaging, etc. In developing countries, consumer pays 3 – 4 times the farm-gate price for agro-produce whereas in an organized retail market consumers pay only 1.5 – 3.0 times the farm-gate price for basic food by eliminating the middleman, who takes away most of the profit and leaves very little with the farmer.
Fisheries have emerged as an important sector with great potential to ensure food, livelihood and nutritional security. In order to make agriculture more lucrative, the ICAR is devising ways and means to supplement family income and employment in rural areas. A pond-based farming technology has been developed for waterlogged areas that can enhance net water productivity and net returns in rice.
Development of bio-fuels, especially from agricultural residues, needs urgent attention. A large amount of biomass is produced every year but the consumable portion forms only a fraction of the whole – be it plant or animal produce. It is estimated that about 150 million tonnes of surplus biomass would be available for conversion into fuel. Briquetting, solid-state fermentation, gasification, pyrolysis, etc., are a host of technologies that are available today to efficiently convert the available surplus biomass into solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. Therefore, proper management of these wastes and their subsequent disposal are essential. Fish farming is another important sector that generates considerable quantities of waste. The second major waste material in the fisheries sector is from seafood processing. The agricultural byproducts could be converted into very useful products, and at times main products, adding to the income and reducing the negative impact on environment. It is going to be a multi-disciplinary team effort to effectively utilize the bio-resource. However, the contribution from agricultural & biological engineers in this endeavor is going to be critical.
Quality human resource is a key input in all aspects of agriculture for making it technology-led and entrepreneurship-driven. The ICAR is implementing a comprehensive accreditation system to ensure quality of education, strengthening of infrastructure and faculty improvement in State Agricultural Universities. I am sure, this would provide for the much needed opportunity for our students to go overseas for Master’s and Doctoral degree programmes and also for foreign students to pursue higher studies in our agricultural universities. While the need for more agricultural engineers in near future would be felt, it is important that the agricultural engineering education imparts them the desired capabilities and confidence for overall success.
I wish you all the very best in your endeavours and hope that you will take all efforts to deliver, in magnitude and speed, what the country expects from you. I wish the 44th annual convention of ISAE all success, and hope that discussions and deliberations will help to devise strategies to tackle the problems that Indian agriculture is facing today.
It is with great pleasure that I inaugurate this convention.
Thank you!
