13th July 2022 | Agriculture and Allied sectors: Trends in share of crop and allied sectors in GSDP; Distribution of land holdings; Trends in Irrigation; Problems of dry land Agriculture.

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By

Number of questions- Mains: 02, Prelims – 10

Mains Questions of the day:  

1. Analyse the need for structural reforms in Telangana’s Agriculture. 

Introduction:

Mention the present condition of Telangana’s Agriculture.

Body:

Analyse the need for the structural reforms of Telangana’s Agriculture for enhancing the both farmer’s income and agriculture production in Telangana. Mention measures in this regard. 

Conclusion:

  • Agriculture is a way of life, a tradition that has shaped the culture and economic life of the people of the state, and continues to employ around half of the workforce. 
  • Therefore, it will continue to be central to all strategies for planned socioeconomic development of the State.

Content: 

  • Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the Telangana economy and the better performance of this sector is vital for inclusive growth. 
  • The contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to the State’s Gross State Value Added (GSVA) has increased by 142 per cent from 2014 to 2020.
  • Telangana ranked third in the country in terms of percentage increase in growth rate of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). 
  • Telangana achieved the third highest percentage increase in GSDP value at current prices between 2014-15 and 2020-21.
  • In 2020-21, Telangana was the sixth highest contributor to the country’s GDP at current prices.
  • The resilience was led by the agriculture and allied sectors which grew around 18%.

Need for Structural Reforms

  • In agriculture value chain one of the weakest links is 
  • getting access to markets and 
  • to receive information on which crops to grow. 
  • With the increase in production, there are chances of supply demand shocks which in turn result in less remuneration for farmers.
  • Towards this, state government has initiated multiple strategies in terms of crop diversification through support for Oil Palm and other horticulture crops. 

Crop Diversification 

  • Sustainable agricultural growth in the state requires crop diversification. 
  • This will make farmer incomes more resilient to fluctuating prices and help them realise higher the farm incomes.
  • State government has emphasised on the importance of crop diversification and recommended crops like Ground nut, Sun flower, Sesamum, Bengal gram, Black gram etc.
  • In 2020-21, there was significantly greater crop diversification in some district of Telangana. 

Oil palm cultivation

  • Oil palm cultivation assumes significance for augmenting the indigenous availability of edible oil. 
  • State has the potential planting material, irrigation and proper management, oil palm has the potential to increase income of the farmers. 
  • Also oil palm produces 10 to 46 times more oil compared to other oilseed crops. 
  • Thus, it has enormous potential for cultivation. 
  • To attain self-sufficiency under oil palm in India, an additional area of is required. 
  • Telangana Stands 
  • 6th in Oil palm area, 
  • 1st in productivity and 
  • 1st in Oil Extraction Rate (OER). 
  • Around 11 Oil processing units are operating in the state at present. 
  • To augment the Oil Palm cultivation in the state, the Government of Telangana is providing a subsidy to oil palm farmers and Farmers can avail assistance on Micro/drip Irrigation. 
  • The main objective of extending subsidies to the farmers is to attract farmers to shift to oil palm cultivation.
  • To ensure the availability of the oil palm seedlings at the village level, the government decided to set up palm nurseries in coordination with the Forest Development Corporation, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development departments.

Organic Farming 

  • With an aim to promote sustainable agriculture, the state government initiated promotion of organic agriculture. 
  • There are two significant areas where organic systems have higher yields compared to conventional systems:
  • Under extremes climatic conditions and 
  • in smallholder systems. 
  • With around 88% farmers in the smallholder category, Telangana state has the potential to be a model for others to follow. 
  • Organic farming has advantages such as:
  • It has the potential to produce high quality food
  • enhance natural resource base and environment
  •  increase income and 
  • contribute to the wellbeing of the farmers.

2.Explain the Telangana Government’s initiatives for enhancing the farmer’s income. 

Introduction:

Mention the present condition of Telangana’s Agriculture.

Body:

Mention the steps that were taken by Telangana Government in various sectors for enhancing farmer’s income.

Conclusion:

  • Since the formation of the state, Telangana has made major strides in the Agriculture and Allied Sectors. 
  • Through policies of Telangana Government, the Government intends to increase the capacity to process the surplus produce from the agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, milk, and fisheries sectors.

Content:

  • The Doubling Farmers Income strategy of Government of India has recommended that, to increase farmer’s income, it is necessary for farmers to diversify into non-farm income as well as stress upon improving the necessity of livestock productivity. 
  • Animal Husbandry provides an additional income and employment to the farmers, especially during unpredictable weather patterns. 

Livestock sector:

  • Telangana state has given importance to the livestock sector and come up with schemes with an integrated outlook to support farmers and to develop the sector.
  • This led to growth in milk, eggs and meat production over the years and at all India level for the year 2019- 20, Telangana stands at 
  • 5th in meat production 
  • 3rd in egg production and 
  • 13th in milk production. 

Sheep Rearing and Development Programme (SRDP):

  • SRDP was introduced by the state government to develop the economic standards of the shepherd communities by supporting the traditional shepherd families with supply of (20+1) sheep with a unit cost of Rs.1.25 lakh, with a subsidy component of 75% and a total project outlay of Rs. 5,000 crores. 
  • From introduction of the program (2017) to till date, a total of 79.98 lakh sheep have been distributed to 3,80,878 members of Primary Sheep Breeder Cooperative Societies. 
  • Keeping the rise in cost of Sheep in the open market and also increase in transportation prices, in the Phase II of the SRDP program (2021-22 and 2022-23), the Government has enhanced the Unit cost from Rs.1,25,000/- to Rs.1,75,000/- with a beneficiary target of 3.5 lakhs. 
  • After the implementation of the scheme, the meat production in the state has seen a growth rate of 43.5% (in between 2016-17 to 2019-20) from 5.9 lakh tonnes to 8.5 lakh tonnes only behind Karnataka (with a growth rate of 45% in the same period). 

Dairy sector:

  • Dairy sector is an important way for farmers to increase their earnings and access to more nutritious food for their families.
  • To encourage farmers to take up dairying, the state government has introduced a scheme to provide Rs.4/- as incentive per litre of milk collected to the members of Cooperative dairies by directly crediting the amount to their bank accounts every month. 
  • An amount of Rs.343.00 Crore is spent on this Programme in between 2014-15 and 2020-21. Between 2014-15 and 2020-21, milk production has seen a growth of 37% (from 42 lakh tons in 2014-15 to 57.6 lakh tons in 2020-21. 
  • This has also led to an increase in per capita availability of milk from 321gm/day in 2015 to 410gms/day in 2020.

Fodder:

  • With 138.92 Lakh livestock units across the state, fodder plays a vital role in the production and green fodder is essential for high yielding dairy animals to enhance productivity. 
  • State government has stressed upon supply of fodder seed to motivate the farmers to cultivate and make available fodder locally. 
  • Accordingly, 797 MTs of fodder seed were supplied in 2020-21 with an output of approximately1.60 Lakh MT of dry fodder. 
  • An amount of Rs. 442.52 lakhs budget is indicated under Feed and Fodder Development programme during the year 2021-22. 

Poultry:

  • With an annual output of 1,586 crore eggs in 2020-21, Telangana stands 3rd in egg production in the country. 
  • To incentivize the sector, the state government is providing free power upto 200/unit to 5,894 poultry farms from 2015 onwards. 
  • As per the latest data from RBI, in the year 2019-20, with a contribution of 12.94%, to total egg production in the country, Telangana state is 3rd top contributor to the production of eggs. 

Aquaculture:

  • A fishery is one of the fast growing sectors generating income and employment in the state of Telangana. 
  • The sector plays an important role in the overall socio-economic development of fisher families in Telangana by providing nutrition & food security. 
  • Telangana is the only state where all suitable water bodies are stocked with adequate numbers of quality fish seed by providing 100% grant. 
  • To provide employment opportunities to women groups, 150 numbers of customised vehicles, designed for dual usage of raw fish sales and Ready-to-Eat fish food are being provided in GHMC limits.
  • For the welfare of the fisheries community, a group accident insurance scheme has also been launched by the state government from 2014-15. 

Prelims questions of the day:

1. Consider the following landholdings. 

  1. Small
  2. Marginal
  3. Medium
  4. Large

Arrange the above in increasing order based on the land holding pattern in Telangana? 

  1. 4-3-1-2
  2. 4-3-2-1
  3. 3-4-1-2
  4. 3-4-2-1

Answer: A

Explanation:

C:\Users\DIGITA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ksohtml15824\wps7.jpg

2.What is the percentage of land holdings by SCs in Telangana?

  1. 15%
  2. 12%
  3. 10%
  4. 22%

Answer: B

Explanation:

C:\Users\DIGITA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ksohtml15824\wps8.jpg

3.Consider the following:

  1. Cotton
  2. Paddy
  3. Redgram
  4. Soybean

Arrange the above in increasing order based on the % Of Gross Sown Area during 2020-21(Kharif)?

  1. 4-3-1-2
  2. 4-3-2-1
  3. 3-4-1-2
  4. 3-4-2-1

Answer: A

Explanation:

C:\Users\DIGITA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ksohtml15824\wps9.jpg

4.Which of the following district topped the District Level Cropping Intensity Index for 2019-20?

  1. Nirmal
  2. Suryapet
  3. Nizamabad
  4. Warangal Urban

Answer: C

Explanation:

C:\Users\DIGITA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ksohtml15824\wps10.jpg

5. Consider the following statements

  1. According to the estimates for 2019-20, Telangana produces around 19% of India’s Cotton
  2. According to the estimates for 2019-20, Telangana produces around 6% of India’s Paddy

Which of the above statements are correct?

  1. Only 1
  2. Only 2
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. None of the above

Answer: C

Explanation:

According to the estimates for 2019-20, Telangana produces around 19% of India’s Cotton and around 6% of the total rice produced in India.

6. In Telangana, how much percentage of the total Agriculture area is under Horticulture crops?

  1. 6.5%
  2. 5.4%
  3. 3.2%
  4. 4.3% 

Answer: B

Explanation:

The area under Horticulture in Telangana state is contributing 5.39% of the total Agriculture area (214.48 lakh acres), whereas the sector contributes 26% in terms of the value of the produce.

7. What is the Gross Irrigated area in Telangana during 2020-21?

  1. 113.27 Lakh Acres
  2. 136.86 Lakh Acres
  3. 126.86 Lakh Acres
  4. 123.27 Lakh Acres

Answer: B

Explanation:

C:\Users\DIGITA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ksohtml15824\wps11.jpg

8. Which district has recorded the highest diversification in District Level Crop Diversification Index for 2020-21?

  1. Nirmal
  2. Vikarabad
  3. Nizamabad
  4. Warangal Urban

Answer: A

Explanation:

C:\Users\DIGITA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ksohtml15824\wps12.jpg

9. Which of the following Agricultural Market Committees (AMC) has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Excellence award for the successful implementation of e-NAM in Telangana.

  1. Nirmal AMC
  2. Warangal AMC
  3. Medak AMC
  4. Nizamabad AMC

Answer: D

Explanation:

The AMC, Nizamabad has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Excellence award for the successful implementation of e-NAM.

10. Consider the following statements:

  1. Telangana stands 3rd in egg production in the country.
  2. Telangana stands 8th in fisheries production in the country.

Which of the above statements are correct?

  1. Only 1
  2. Only 2
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. None of the above

Answer: C

Explanation:

Both the statements are correct.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *