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Agricultural biotechnology or agri-tech involves the use of scientific tools and techniques, including genetic engineering, molecular markers, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue culture to modify living organisms used in agricultural fields. India has a dedicated department named Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology which looks after different types of genetic modification which can be helpful in farming practices. Biotechnology can help Indian farmers to combat present global and regional problems, such as global warming, erratic monsoon, and desertification, etc. by different ways and thus, increase their income.  Benefits of biotechnology to Indian farmers  • Most common problem which persists across India is of erratic monsoon. Biotechnology can be used to develop those varieties of crops which can withstand even extreme rainfall.  • Biotechnology has been successfully used to combat weed mena...

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was a civil engineer and statesman. He made contributions to several technical projects in his career in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra and Orissa. The Great KRS Dam was his excellent work instrumental in converting the barren lands into fertile grounds for farming. M.S. Swaminathan in the other hand is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls as “evergreen revolution.”  Following are the contributions of Sir M. Visvesvaraya in the fields of water engineering:  • He is best remembered for the instrumental role he played in the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam in 1924. This dam not only became the main source of water for irrigation for the nearby areas, but was also the main source of drinking water for several cities. • He had designed and patented a system of automatic weir wa...

The project aims to fulfil the watershed component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMSKY) to reduce surface runoff of rainwater, increase groundwater levels and ensure better water availability in rain fed areas. This will contribute to higher agricultural production even in water-stressed areas.  Impact of National Watershed Project in increasing agricultural production in water-stressed areas.  •It was launched for achieving the major objectives of the watershed component of the PMKSY and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop)  •It will bring about institutional changes in watershed and rain-fed agricultural management practices in India.  •It will help to build systems that ensure watershed programmes and rain-fed irrigation management practices are better focused, and more coordinated, and have quantifiable results.  •It will devise strategies for the sustainability of i...

IFS is a farming practice meant for all-round development of agriculture with animal husbandry and other occupations related to core agricultural practices. Integrated Farming System (IFS) is an interdependent, interrelated often interlocking production systems based on few crops, animals and related subsidiary enterprises in such a way that maximizes the utilization of nutrients of each system.  • The IFS approach has multiple objectives of sustainability, food security, farmer security and poverty reduction. It involves use of outputs of one enterprise component as inputs for other related enterprises wherever feasible, for example, cattle dung mixed with crop residues and farm waste can be converted into nutrient-rich vermi-compost.  • use of local resources, effective recycling of farm waste for productive purposes, community-led local systems for water conservation, organic farming, and developing a judicious mix of income-generating activities, such as dairy, poultry, fi...

India is among those countries which spend least on social sector services, such as health and education. The government spends only 2.3 % of GDP on health which is far before from the world’s average of 10.02%. Whereas in education sector, it is 3.4% against the world’s average of 4.815%.  This endangers India’s prospects which currently has the world’s largest young population to reap its demographic dividend by human capital formation. This further has led Indian society to divert its resources from food items to non-food items. Reasons behind divergence in relationship between Poverty and Hunger  • India is currently in the third stage of demographic transition with average life expectancy of 68.5 years. Life expectancy increased 61 years in 2001 to 67 years in 2011 and further to 68.5 years in 2019. Further, neonatal mortality, under five mortality and maternal mortality has also decreased considerably which indicates that citizens have considerably spent on health. ...

Farmers’ organisations refer to group of farmers who are organised to protect their own interests related to issues like minimum support price, subsidies, welfare schemes for farmers, etc.  Ex: Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, Sehkari Sangatan, Karnataka Raitha Sangha, etc..  Farmer’s organisations, being a pressure group, follows different types of protests to influence policy-makers:  (a) Lobbying: here they influence policy-makers by providing information about their demands and grievances. For example: Due to protests by Dairy Farmers, KMF increased the rate of milk by Rs. 2 per litre.  (b) Protests and rallies: here they mobilise huge number of farmers and conduct rallies on a large scale to let the people understand their demands.  For example: protests by farmers in Maharashtra last year to increase MSP rates, pension schemes for farmers, implementation of Swaminathan committee recommendations, etc.  (c) Satyagrahas and fast unto death protests: farmers norm...