Aatmanirbhar in agriculture

Context: Achieving “Aatma Nirbharta” in the agriculture sector. 

Why agriculture is to be focused: 

• Feeding India’s population: the food has to be produced at home to cater population of 1.37 billion.
• Avoiding “ship to mouth” situation: as we in the mid-1960s. 
• Avoiding the political cost of over-dependence on food aid. 

Performance of agriculture in Export: 

• India has been a net exporter of agri-produce since 1991 economic reform. 
• Over the year agri-exports have been sluggish and sliding (2013-14: trade surplus of $24.7 billion  ???? 2019- 20: Trade surplus at $11.2 billion). 

Export basket: The agri-export basket of 2019-20 gives a sense of “revealed comparative advantage” (Marine products: $6.7 billion, Rice: $6.4 billion, Spices: $3.6 billion, Buffalo meat: $3.2 billion, Sugar: $2.0 billion, Tea and coffee: $1.5 billion, etc.). 

• Problem with incentives of Rice and Sugar: 

• Power and fertiliser subsidies account for about 10-15% of the value of rice and sugar produced.
• India is a virtual exporter of water: leading to a faster depletion of groundwater.

• One kg of rice requires 3,500-5,000 liters of water for irrigation, and 
• One kg of sugar consumes about 2,000 liters of water. So the two crops are 

• Pollution: almost 75% of the nitrogen in urea is not absorbed by plants. It either evaporates into the environment or leaches into groundwater making it unfit for drinking. 

On agri-imports front: The biggest item is edible oils ($10 billion). 

Way forward: 

• Incentive for exports of high-value agri-produce like fruits and vegetables, spices, tea, and coffee, or even cotton, as we do for rice and sugar.