Page 45 - Abhivruddhi

Introduction
Agriculture is high volume low cost industry. However, the toughness
and flexibility of the farming community under unpredictable adversities
made agriculture the only sector which last year (2020-21) showed a
positive growth (3.4 %), when other sectors did not fare sufficiently well.
According to the Economic Survey 2020-21, the share of agriculture in
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reached almost 20%. While share of
agriculture in Gross Value Added (GVA) of India is around 17-18%.
About 58% of Indian population has agriculture as the primary source
of livelihood. Now it is necessary to change our views as “rural livelihood
sector” to a “modern business establishment”. The next few sections will
discuss how can the share of agriculture (allied industries like dairy,
fishery, poultry, etc. are not included) be increased eventually to become
a major part of the five trillion-dollar economy mission of India by 2024.

How to increase the production in agriculture?
In general, cooperative agriculture for small size holding farmers,
adequate irrigation facility, necessary and sufficient initial finance
(support from banks is crucial), avoidance of unorganised sectors which
produce spurious products and most importantly knowledge-based
agricultural practices are necessary.
To increase as well as to improve agriculture production, many different
tools, techniques and approaches can be implemented. For instance,
methods to develop new varieties of the crop plant for the resistance
to pest and pathogens and to combat with abiotic (temperature, salts)
stresses, fertilizer and pesticide formulations for rapid action and slow
release for a long duration, tools for aerial sprays (drone technology), and
ultralow volume sprays can contribute significantly.
The applications of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in huge volumes
is a major concern for the environment, the restrictions can be brought
forth by early detection of pests and pathogens. Alternately, removal
or degradation of “toxic” chemical residues using microorganisms
(bioremediation) can also be achieved. Indeed, the Integrated Nutrition
and Pest Management (INPM) can be possible by introducing biopesticides
and biofertilizers to minimize toxic residues in the produce.
Minimize the crop yield losses. World- wide crop yield losses due to
pest and pathogens is between 10% and 40%. For example, yield losses
in wheat are 10 – 28%, for rice 25-41%, while for maize 20-41%, for
potato 8 -21%, and for soybean 11- 32%. In India, overall figures are 30-

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