TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN

 Indian Agriculture

     Technological innovation has played a major role in increasing the supply of food and other agricultural products in India. From a meagre 55 million tonnes at the time of independence, food grain production increased to a record 308.65 million tonnes in the period between July 2020 and June 2021. India is now among the world's top 10 agricultural product exporters. 

     Soon after the severe Bengal famine in 1943, attempts were made to bring more land under cultivation to boost food production. However, programmes such as the Grow More Food Campaign were not very effective. The Integrated Production Programme was initiated in 1950. The most logical course of action back then was to bring more land under cultivation. This led to a steady increase in food production. 

     However, soon a new problem emerged. Soil fertility was affected, groundwater levels dropped and new pests and diseases emerged. Yield per unit of land began to steadily decline. At this point, the need for technology to boost yield per hectare became increasingly important. 

     Technological changes in agriculture took the form of a step-by-step process that began with the development of land, irrigation and other inputs. Later, high-yielding varieties (HYVS) of seeds were explored and an improved 'package of practices' came into existence. Finally, post-harvest and marketing aspects were explored. 

Laying the Path for the Green Revolution: From the 1950s onwards, a lot of emphasis was given to agriculture. The focus was placed on expanding irrigation, land reclamation and the domestic production of inorganic fertilisers. However, the yields of wheat and rice suffered. The reason was that improved varieties of wheat and rice tended to grow tall after a heavy dose of fertilisers. The stems were thin and at the time of maturity, the plants used to slump as they could not bear the weight of the grain. As a result, the immediate focus had to be to find a technology that could rectify this problem.

 The Green Revolution (1966 to 1990): US agronomist Norman E Borlaug (often called the Father of the Green Revolution), the director of the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program in Mexico, was successful in developing genetically modified wheat that was shorter and could respond better to high doses of fertilisers. India imported the dwarf variety. Indian scientists then developed high-yielding, pest-resistant dwarf wheat varieties by crossing the imported dwarf variety with local high-yielding varieties.

      India also actively participated developing and cooperated in new rice varieties. Numerous varieties were introduced with the help of the Central Rice Research Institute, the All-India Coordinated Rice Improvement Programme and various state agricultural universities. In 1966, high-yielding rice varieties were released for large-scale commercial cultivation all over India. Soon, high-yielding varieties of coarse cereals, including sorghum, bajra and maize, were also developed and made available for commercial cultivation during the late 1960s.

      This is how the Green Revolution began. The emergence of the agritech sector in India empowered many farmers to adopt new farming methods that boosted productivity and had a low environmental impact.

 The Growth of Digital Farming: It is estimated that by 2050, India will have an estimated population of 1.64 billion and will need 333 million tonnes of annual food production. Climate change is expected to reduce yields of major crops by 25%. Given these estimates, the advent of digital farming as an effective and efficient means of farming is a source of hope.