Technology missions The Indian government has launched various technology missions in agriculture from time to time, mainly as Centrally Sponsored Sponsored th Schemes (CSCs). New missions in the 1 plan (!1"!1#) are as follows$ National Food Security Mission: %ims to increase production of rice (to 1!mt), wheat (to &mt), pulses (to 'mt), and coarse cereals (to mt) National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture: Covers micro irrigation, rain"fed area a rea development, organic farming, soil management, and land use survey, with special focus on resource resource conservation, and ecient use of water National Mission on oilseeds and oil palm: *ilseeds include seeds li+e sunower, rapeseed, mustard etc. India is one of the -iggest oilseeds importer, grower, and user in the world ('th largest). *ilseeds account for 1 of /C%, and 1! of value of all agricultural commodities commodities in India. /lo-ally, India accounts for a-out # of total production, production, and 1! of total consumption. Total Total annual demand is huge, around around 10"1&mt. %nnual production production is only a-out #mt, so a su-stantial portion of this is met through imports (a-out 0 of total demand). %lso, domestic demand has -een rising at a-out per annum, whereas domestic production has only -een increasing at a-out " per annum. 2S3 has had little relevance for oilseeds. 2oreover, very little procurement procurement of oilseeds is done, the emphasis of the country4s food management system -eing on paddy and wheat in which case the 2S3 has -een ade5uate over the years. The mission aims at correcting correcting this situation -y increasing increasing the production of oilseeds to a-out 1!mt -y !1# (end of 1th plan) •
National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology: %ims Technology: %ims to restructure restructure and strengthen agricultural e6tension to ena-le delivery of appropriate technology and improved agronomic practices to farmers.
This is envisaged to -e achieved -y a 7udicious mi6 of e6tensive e6tensive physical outreach and interactive methods of information information dissemination, use of ICT, popularisation of modern and appropriate appropriate technologies, capacity -uilding and institution strengthening strengthening to
promote mechanisation, availa-ility of 5uality seeds, plant protection etc. and encourage aggregation of 8armers into Interest /roups (8I/s) to form 8armer 3roducer *rganisations (83*s) National Horticulture Mission: India is the nd largest producer of fruits and vegeta-les in the world9 horticultural crops and products use : of the /C%, -ut provide a-out 0 of the total value of farm products in India. ;owever, the productivity (yield per unit area) remains fairly low. National ;orticulture 2ission was launched in !!0"! to promote holistic growth of the horticulture sector through an area -ased regionally di
sheries, and a5uaculture National Mission on Food Processing: The food"processing sector has -een growing at an average rate of over & per cent over the past 0 years. India lags the world in the food" processing sector, as a result of which of fruits and vegeta-les worth nearly ?s '',!!! crore are lost annually due to lac+ of proper infrastructure and facilities. The mission aims at decentrali@ation of implementation of relevant schemes to State level. The mission aims at organi@ing the unorgani@ed food processors, including Self";elp /roups, to help them reap advantages of 2ission initiatives, and ensuring advantages of programmesAschemesAinstitutionsAinfrastructure of N283 reach 2icro and Small Bnterprises on preferential -asis. er ingredients for industrial use
Economics of animal rearing "ead: 1. http$AAwww.downtoearth.org.inAcontentAgoat"gam-le . % recent article in usiness Standard said that chic+en prices have gone up very much this year, -ecause of the heat wave. %ndhra and Telangana account for a-out a third of the country4s poultry production, and they have -een strongly hit -y the heat wave. Individual Level (not the best thing to use in exam)
Bstimates say that a-out A'th of the actual >nancial spending on self"employment schemes of -oth the union and state governments in India is spent on >nancing animal hus-andry related activities. ;owever, at an individual level, a simple cost"-ene>t e6ercise can -e done to determine whether animal rearing is a productive, sustaina-le activity. The cost of a cow yielding an average 1! litres of mil+ or a -u
;owever, cattle are a good storage of value. The mar+et for cattle is very li5uid, there-y ma+ing it very easy to dispose them o< and raise money at short notice. Cattle are, therefore, a good investment not so much for generating regular income, -ut as a fungi-le store of value for the farmer. They are at -est only a supplementary economic activity for poor households. (Update numbers- cost of milk given to farmers is about Rs. 30-40 today. Cost of cattle would also ave gone up. !ust take te analysis framework from tis discussion" and not te numbers#. #mportant article about current falling dairy prices: http$AAindiane6press.comAarticleA-usinessAcommoditiesAcrashing" mil+"prices"worldwide"is"latest"farmer"worry"at"homeA
Macro level: Bstimates show that the $alue of output from li$estoc% and &sheries together is about '()*+, the total $alue of output
from agriculture and allied sectors- and they account for a-out ' of the total /=3. The total output worth is higher than that of foodgrains. Changing food ha-its will only serve towards increasing the importance on this sector to the national economy. %nimal hus-andry sector provides large self"employment opportunities, and provides livelihood support to a-out Ard of the rural population. %nimals provide nutrient"rich food products, draught power, dung as organic manure and domestic fuel, hides D s+in, and are a regular source of cash income for rural households. They are a natural capital, which can -e easily reproduced to act as a living -an+ with ot Sources of >nancing • • •
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#ndia is the .orld/s largest producer of mil%- second largest producer of &sh- and a leading exporter of beef0 The challenges facing the dairy sector are given -elow$ Small herd si@e and poor productivity ($ndia as a uge population of low milk producing cattle% likewise" te meat yield of most species is &0-'0 lower tan te world average. There remains a huge gap between the potential and the realized yields in Indian livestock # Inade5uate -udgetary allocation Eac+ of e5uity with crop production Inade5uate availa-ility of credit 3oor access to organi@ed mar+ets =e>ciency of vaccines and vaccination set"up 2a7ority of gra@ing lands are either degraded or encroached =iversion of feed D fodd •
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