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Agricultural Diversification: Needs, Benefits and Types

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Agricultural Diversification means changing cropping pattern or shifting the agricultural workforce into other non-agricultural activities.

The process of diversification involves diversifying an economy’s revenue sources away from a single source and towards an ever-increasing range of industries and markets. It has historically been used as a strategy to encourage positive economic development and growth. Diversification into other industries is essential because it would give residents of communities long-term alternatives for a living while retaining ecological balance. The creation and distribution of economic resilience measurements, strategies, and tools benefit from diversification by encouraging the exchange of experiences and opportunities. 

Need for Diversification

  • Every economic activity has a workforce absorption limit beyond which not only potential is underutilised but also productivity stops growing. For example, Agriculture sector diversification will offer individuals choices to make ends meet in addition to reducing agricultural risk.
  • The majority of agricultural operations flourish throughout the Kharif and Rabi Seasons. Those that rely solely on agriculture do not earn enough to feed themselves for the rest of the year. Furthermore, in locations with inadequate irrigation, even the Rabi Season does not provide consistent revenue. People in these situations, look for other ways to generate money.
  • During agricultural production, a farmer may face several kinds of adversities and climatic vagaries such as unpredictable rainfall, stone hail, drought, flood, and so on. Issues like post-harvest losses, storage, and a lack of accessible effective marketing are worsening the situation. Human-wildlife or human-crops conflict, forest fires, monoculture, plant disease and infestation, migration, and youth reluctance to agriculture are all fresh obstacles.
  • For more than five decades, Indian agriculture has faced serious issues due to a rise in input costs to increase production. However, production proportionates to input maintains for a period of time before plateauing and then gradually declining in many cases.
  • Farmers have been utilising the common government-promoted Green Revolution cropping pattern rice-wheat-rice to increase production for a long time. Following the same cropping plan over a longer period of time has extracted specific nutrients from the soil, resulting in soil deficiency in those nutrients as well as a drop in soil microfauna population. 
    In the agricultural rhizosphere, the microfaunal population is responsible for nutrient mobilisation and absorption.

The reduction of the soil’s microfaunal population is an important issue because without them the soil’s ability to self-perpetuate and its ecology for crop production are lost. The mono-cropping patterns also affect the efficiency of resource utilisation. Furthermore, mono-cropping patterns are more likely to be attacked by the same sorts of insects and pests which are controlled by pouring insecticides and pesticides into the crop.

As a result, there is a need for diversification to focus on related activities, non-farm employment, and other developing sources of income because the agriculture sector is already overcrowded, and a large section of the growing labour population must seek other work in non-farm industries.

Benefits of Diversification

Most of the agricultural employment activities take place in Kharif Season. Therefore, during the Rabi Season, it becomes difficult for the farmers to find some gainful employment opportunities in the areas which lack adequate irrigation facilities. Therefore, it becomes essential for the farmers to diversify into other sectors to:

  • Provide supplementary employment which is gainful for them.
  • Enable them to earn higher level income, and 
  • Enable the rural people in overcoming poverty and other troubles.

Types of Diversification 

Types of Diversification

 

1. Diversification of Crop Production

This represents a change in cropping patterns which implies a shift in the proportion of an area committed to different crop production. In simple terms, it means shifting the cropping system from a single-cropping system to a multi-cropping system The diversification involves shifting the cropping pattern from food grains to cash crops. The basic aim of the diversification of crop production is the promotion of a shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming. In India, there is still a dominance of subsistence farming in the agriculture sector and for the cropping system, the farmers give more importance to cereals such as rice, wheat, maize, etc. 

With the help of a multi-cropping system, the farmers can reduce their dependency on one or two crops as with this system they can now grow a wide variety of crops. Therefore, it is essential to encourage the farmers in growing a wide variety of crops as it will also increase their income in return. Besides, with the diversification of crop production, the risk in farming caused by the price fluctuations in crops can be minimised, along with a reduction in the risk happening because of the failure of monsoon.

2. Diversification of Productive Activities

The necessity of the hour is diversification through worker shifts towards different channels of production. It can be met by directing workers towards either agriculture-related activities or non-farm activities. Employment in non-farm activities can help in providing alternate avenues of sustainable livelihood to the farmers and in increasing their income level. 

There are several segments in non-farm activities. Some of these segments have dynamic linkages permitting healthy growth, while the other segments are in subsistence and low productivity propositions. Some of the dynamic sub-sectors consist of food processing industries, agro-processing industries, tourism, etc. Also, the sectors which have the potential but lack infrastructure and proper support consist of traditional household-based industries such as crafts, pottery, handlooms, etc.

Non-Farm Areas of Employment

Non-Farm Areas of Employment

 

1. Animal Husbandry 

Animal Husbandry or Livestock Farming is a branch of agriculture that is concerned with breeding, rearing, and caring for farm animals. Livestock refers to the domesticated animals that are raised for the production of labour and commodities such as goats, cattle, etc. These animals are usually raised in an agricultural set-up. Examples of widely held species under livestock farming include goats, cattle, and fowls (goose, duck, etc.). India owns one of the world’s largest livestock populations.

Livestock farming increases economic stability, food security, transportation, fuel, and nutrition for the family without interfering with other food-producing activities. Today, the livestock sector alone provides alternative livelihood options for more than 70 million small and marginal farmers as well as landless labourers. A considerable number of women work in the livestock sector as well. Poultry accounts for the greatest percentage (61%) followed by others. Other animals that live on the lower rung include camels, asses, horses, ponies, and mules. In the year 2019, India had about 303 million cattle, including 110 million buffaloes.

Distribution of Poultry and Livestock in India

 

2. Dairying

Dairying is a branch of agriculture which includes breeding, raising, and utilisation of dairy animals to produce milk and other different dairy products processed from it. In simple terms, dairying means the business of producing, storing, and distributing milk and milk products. The Indian dairy sector has performed admirably during the previous three decades. India ranks first in milk production in the world due to the successful implementation of Operation Flood. Milk production in India has increased from 17 million tonnes (1950-51) to 102.6 million tonnes (2006-07), to 165.4 million tonnes (2016-17), and to 198.4 million tonnes (2019-20).

Operation Flood or White Revolution is the movement for a massive increase in the production of milk in India. It was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970 under the guidance of the chairman (at that time), Dr Verghese Kurien. The basic aim of this programme was the creation of a nationwide milk grid. 

Under the Operation Flood system, based on different grades, all the milk produced is pooled by the farmers which is then processed and marketed to the urban areas/centres with the help of cooperatives. For the marketed processed milk the farmers are assured a fair price and income. Gujrat successfully and efficiently implemented milk cooperatives. The major milk-producing states include Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab. Besides, some of the emerging productive sectors which are becoming essential for diversification are eggs, meat, wool, and various by-products.

3. Fisheries

Fisheries is the occupation in which people are devoted to catch, process, or sell fish and other aquatic animals. The fishery sector plays an essential role in the socio-economic development of the country.  Fisheries development in India has progressed significantly as a result of progressive increases in budgetary allocations and the introduction of new technology in fisheries and aquaculture.

The water body is regarded as a ‘mother’ or a ‘provider’ by the fishing community. Water bodies such as the sea, oceans, rivers, lakes, natural aquatic ponds, streams, and so on are therefore essential and life-giving source for the fishing community. Currently, inland fish production accounts for approximately 65% of total fish production, with the remaining 35% coming from the marine sector (sea and oceans).

The fishing sector is a growing diversification alternative. It accounts for around 0.9% of the total GDP. The economic growth of the fisheries sector may be attributed to active investment and budgetary allocations in its favour. Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are the biggest fish-producing states. The participation of women in fishing is not active, but 60% of the workforce of fishing in export marketing and 40% of the workforce in internal marketing are women. Therefore, it is essential to increase the credit facilities for fisherwomen in the form of Self-Help Groups and Cooperatives, so that they can meet their working capital requirements for marketing. 

Besides, some of the major problems faced by fisher-worker poor families include Low per capital earnings, Widespread underemployment, Indebtness, High illiteracy rate, and Absence of mobility of labour to other sectors. 

4. Horticulture 

Horticulture is the science or art of cultivation of fruits, vegetables, flowers, tuber crops, spices and plantation crops, and medicinal and aromatic plants. With a diverse climate and soil conditions, India has adopted the cultivation of a wide range of horticulture crops. These crops play an important role in supplying food and nutrition, as well as solving job difficulties. India has adopted horticulture because one can find varying soil and climatic conditions here. Therefore, horticulture is an essential sector for potential diversification and value addition to agriculture.

The horticulture industry accounts for almost one-third of agricultural output and 6% of India’s GDP. India is the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables and has emerged as a global leader in the production of several fruits, including mangoes, bananas, coconuts, cashew nuts, and a number of spices. Many farmers’ economic conditions have improved and horticulture has become a method of improving life for many underprivileged groups. Flower harvesting nursery care, hybrid seed production and tissue culture, fruit and flower propagation, and food processing are all lucrative jobs for women in rural regions.

Golden Revolution is the period in which the production of horticulture products such as fruits, vegetables, etc., showed a tremendous rise. The Father of the Golden Revolution in India is Nipakh Tutej. In India, the time period between 1991 to 2003 is the Golden Revolution period. During this time period, there was a rapid growth in the production of various horticulture crops like flowers, fruits, vegetables, etc. This revolution made India a world leader in the production of coconut, spices, bananas, and mangoes.

5. Information Technology

Information Technology (IT) is a branch of engineering that deals with the use of computers and telecommunications for retrieving, storing, and transmitting information. Many of the sectors of the Indian economy have been revolutionised because of Information Technology. With the help of appropriate information and different software tools, to prevent or reduce the chances of an emergency, the government of India has been able to successfully predict the areas of food insecurity and vulnerability. Besides, as the IT sector circulates information regarding emerging technologies and their applications, prices, soil conditions and weather conditions for growing different crops, etc., it has positively affected the agricultural sector.

Information Technology acts as a great tool to release creative potential and knowledge embedded in society. Also, the IT sector has the potential to generate employment in the rural areas. Therefore, the major objective behind increasing the role of the IT sector is to make every village a knowledge centre and a place which provides a sustainable option for livelihood and employment. 



Last Updated : 15 May, 2023
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