FATER Academy of India

Opportunities and Challenges of Farm Mechanization in India for Improved Farm Productivity and Sustainability*

By

Prof. (Dr.) B. S. Bisht

Former Vice Chancellor,

G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (India) and

President, FATER Academy of India

Contact: bsbisht@gmail.com

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Farm mechanization has been one of the most important interventions responsible for improving farm productivity in India. However, it is also considered to be directly and indirectly responsible for increased order of air and water pollution, lowering of water table, and compaction of soil bed. The paper critically examines various issues concerning farm mechanization in India and draws conclusions for developing sustainable strategy for future

India succeeded in becoming food surplus after about six decades post independence. So much so that free and plentiful ration could be made available at door steps of its millions of residents during Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. The credit goes to scientists, technologists, political leadership, farmers, farm input supply sector, finance sector and improved infrastructure. Farm productivity depends upon quality of inputs, timeliness of operations, weather conditions, and management. Among inputs that contribute improved productivity in agricultural sector include: high yielding varieties of seeds, better soil condition, irrigation facility, adequate plant nutrients, better inter-culture operations, weeds control, control of insect pests, protection from hail storms, heavy rains, heavy winds, timely harvesting, proper on-farm handling and safe storage. Other operations that also become important include: primary processing at farm level, excess moisture removal, cleaning, grading of the produce, primary packaging/ bagging, storage (including cold storage for perishables) and transport facility from farm to market places and processing/ value addition infrastructure. A number of researchers have tried to develop mathematical simulation models for yield prediction during 1970s. Individually the impact of HYV, irrigation, pest control, weather conditions etc. has also been studied in great details all over the world. Cost economics for produce is being extensively used for deciding crop insurance in cases of disasters and fixing of minimum support price.

The paper deals with impact of mechanization of farm operations in India on production and productivity of major crops namely rice, wheat, sugarcane, pulses and oilseeds. It discusses the growth of farm machinery sector in India specifically farm tractors, irrigation pumps, insect pests control machinery, harvesting and threshing machinery. India started manufacturing farm tractors indigenously in the year 1965. By the year 2020, it was ranking number one in the world in tractor production with about 0.9 million tractor units produced annually. Similar growth has been observed in manufacturing of other farm machines such as Harvester Combines from 500 units in 1980-81 to 7,000-8000 units in the year 2020. Thus overall power availability to agricultural sector has increased from 0.1 kWh/ha in the year 1960 to 2.23 kWh/ha by 2020-21. Increase in productivity of food grains has been 0.522 t/ha in the year 1950-51 to 2.325 t/ha in 2020. The returns on investment have been impressive. The state policy interventions now include: subsidies on purchase of farm machinery, easy bank loans, establishment of farm machinery custom hiring centres, electricity subsidy to operate irrigation pumps, threshers and other machines, crop insurance and minimum support price.

Irrespective of these, there have been several problems. These include depleting water table in highly mechanized regions, soil compaction, burning of wheat and rice straw, pollution in water bodies on account of insecticides and pesticides, methane production from rice fields etc. The constraints in improving productivity also include small size of farms, low rate of seed replacement, low investment capacity of farmers, most farms still dependent on human labour, low automation in marketing operations, and lack of awareness on improved technologies among most farmers etc. In future, the areas that are likely to gain momentum may include large scale adoption of small tools and machinery, solar energy powered machinery, mechanization of horticultural crops, sugarcane mechanization, large scale value addition, nutraceutical products, diversion from food grains (mainly rice) to high value cash crops, mechanization of hill agriculture, plantation crops, spices and condiments, tea, coffee, medicinal and aromatic crops, dairy. poultry and fisheries. Further developments in agricultural mechanization are likely to include artificial intelligence, robotics, effluent treatment at farm level, use of drones, IoT, big data analytics, composite and intelligent materials, greater use of sensors, biotechnological interventions and so on.

·*Paper for presentation at the International Conference on “Challenges and Threats - Post Pandemic Developments Concerned with Agriculture” jointly organized by FATER Academy of India, Mizoram Central University (India), Institute of Agrarian Economics, Ukraine, Association of Researchers of Thailand, and University of Management & Economics, Kampong Cham, Cambodia on 12 September, 2021.