The life of the Indian farmer is indeed daunting. If farming itself was not hard enough, it has only become even more complex with the drastic change in the weather patterns. In between the cycle of floods and droughts has also come the El Nino effect that has created havoc to the cropping pattern.
There are already signs that the normal sowing cycles of kharif crops, especially oilseeds and pulses, have yet again been disturbed due to delayed arrival of the monsoon along with deficit in rainfall. Although the rainfall deficit has shrunk to 18 per cent from 43 per cent in July, all hopes are pinned on the August rains for India’s major summer crops such as rice, soyabean, cane and cotton.
A more worrisome feature under these circumstances is that farmers tend to switch crops in order to survive the season, thus disturbing the balance. Another reason to worry is the uneven rainfall distribution. While the sowing window is open till early-August and coverage is likely to improve as the monsoon progresses, the distribution will be the key to determining crop output.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the foundation day of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, summarised the challenges that farmers face today in one phrase: “
To combat the changing weather patterns, farmers need to grow crops in a shorter period. There are many examples in rice hybrids that have reduced the harvesting cycle from 90-100 days to around 80-85 days with good yield and plant stand.
With the advent of the private sector, there has been an assortment of hybrids that can withstand climate changes and grow throughout the year in sub-tropical or temperate conditions.
There are vegetable hybrids such as cauliflower, capsicum, hot pepper, tomato, sweet corn that can either withstand various stresses or extreme climate conditions and have reduced the growing cycle by almost 10-15 days. Advancements in research have enabled a fruit like watermelon to be grown in all seasons.
Many innovative water-efficient technologies, drought-tolerant seeds, crop protection products and optimised irrigation systems are available today. There are corn hybrids that use moisture more efficiently to give higher yields on drought-stressed land.
There are herbicides that reduce the need for ploughing and improving soil’s ability to absorb water, protecting it against erosion and water run-off. It is important to look at biotechnology also in this context. T
he GM technology, while introduced in crops, helps fight the various stresses that affect growth and addresses them. The herbicide tolerant technology addresses weeds that compete with the plant for sunlight, nutrients and water. The GM technology addresses pests that affect plant productivity. There are others that address various climatic stresses like moisture, drought etc.
Combined with the advancements in the private sector, according to official reports, there are also currently 5,365 agricultural scientists working in different capacities in Indian Council of Agricultural Research and its institutes including Indian Agricultural Research Institute.
Last year itself, scientists developed several technologies in the field of water harvesting, resource conservation technologies, integrated water and nutrient management, micro-irrigation, integrated farming system models, including agroforestry interventions, efficient cropping systems etc to enhance crop productivity in the country, including dry land areas.
The Government has also devised a scheme under National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture, where about 25,000 farmers have been trained on climate-resilient agricultural practices/technologies. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research have also established 638 Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the country for technology application through assessment, refinement and demonstrations of technology/products under different agro-ecosystems to facilitate faster adoption of technologies developed by the National Agricultural Research System.
The need of the hour is to create an environment where the capabilities of the public and the private sectors can be harnessed to its full potential.
There is also a need to look at any technology adoption including biotechnology not just from the point of food security but as a tool that is essential for the very survival of the farmers.
We are already faced with the situation where it is becoming difficult to motivate the existing farmers to continue farming and it is only going to be difficult in future if we do not equip them with the requisite technologies to break away from the cycle of El Nino, floods and droughts.
The public and the private sector need to come together to make available the entire tool-box from genetics to chemistry and other technologies for the farming community.
(The writer is Vice-President, Commercial Acceptance and Public Policy, South Asia, Syngenta. Views expressed are personal.)