Strains on Indian agriculture
By R.N. Malik
THE economy of a country ultimately rests on sound agriculture base, mineral reserves and exploitation of renewable sources of energy.

Murrah buffalo best bet for export
By Suraj Bhan Dahiya
NUMERICALLY India possesses the largest cattle and buffalo population for any single country in the world. Paradoxically, while the number of livestock in the country is impressive, its impact is not reflected on our exports.

Excessive use of fertilisers harmful
By G.S. Dhillon
AGREED that fertilisers are indispensable for meeting the ever increasing foodgrain production targets, but their use in excessive doses poses a threat not only to soil health but also to the eco-system.

FARM OPERATIONS FOR DECEMBER

Strains on Indian agriculture
By R.N. Malik

THE economy of a country ultimately rests on sound agriculture base, mineral reserves and exploitation of renewable sources of energy. Agriculture is both an industry and a renewable resource. Therefore, it is the backbone of a country in general and India in particular because she is in the midst of a population explosion. It is the miracle of Green Revolution that India is continuing to be self-sufficient in food production so far.

This year India could not be infected from contagion simply because of record food production during 1997-98. But the sustainability of record food production seems to be shortlived because of some solid reasons that seem to defy solutions. The two adverse factors are:

A) Shrinking of size of arable land and population explosion:

If we look at the size of our towns and villages today and way back in 1973, we find hell of a difference. On an average, the expansion has gone four to five times the original size in 1973. If we look back 25 years still further i.e. 1948, the 1973 size was also five times greater. The expansion between 1948 to 1973 has been on the land lying unutilised between the “laldora” and the fields. But the expansion between 1973 and 1998 has been mostly on the cultivable land. This large-scale expansion was necessitated to house the extra population of 27 crore during 25 years. The consummation of agricultural land as a result of expansion of towns and villages comes about 0.05 acre per person. If the population increases by the same ratio, the reduction of agricultural land could be 1.25 crore acres or 20,000 square miles. This figure excludes the consumption of arable land by industrial estates and factories along the highways.

Now every government is of the considered opinion that the solution to the unemployment problem lies only in massive industrialisation. If the states go ahead, then cultivable land may be in short supply in the next few years. And don’t forget that India’s population in the next 25 years may be extra by at least 20 crore. This additional population will require an extra food production of 32 million tonnes.

If the trend is not reversed, the situation on the agricultural front may be very critical even in the next 10 years. Therefore the new mantra i.e. “from farms to factories with agriculture reaching a saturation point” may not augur well for the required level of food production in future.

B) Aggressive exploitation of agricultural land:

Because of the increasing population at 2 per cent per year during the past 50 years, the land holding per family has been reduced to two to five acres. The percentage of farmers having land holdings 10 to 20 acres may not be more than five. Therefore, the advantage derived from consolidation of land holdings to avoid fragmentation and sub-division has been nullified.

Accordingly each family is making aggressive use of the land for its subsistence. The farmer tries his best to take three crops a year and keep the land under cultivation round the year.

Earlier 90 per cent of the land was kept fallow during May and June. The land was exposed to the scorching sun. One ploughing of land during this period ensured the killing of pathogenic microbes, and insecticides were never used. Fifty per cent of the land was kept fallow up to October before sowing wheat. Allowing the land to lie fallow also made it to be used for cattle grazing. The cattle droppings replenished the organic matter into the soil.

Today a farmer not only tries to take three crops a year, but he has also selected the cash crops. The paddy crop gives him the maximum return i.e. Rs 12,000 to Rs 17,000 per acre followed by cotton and sugarcane. Therefore, 80 per cent of land is used for paddy cultivation.

Another factor for compulsive cultivation of paddy is that it is least vulnerable to pest diseases. The cultivation of paddy in tubewell-irrigated areas is harmful because it causes draw down of the water bearing strata. In canal-irrigated areas, paddy cultivation has ruined the land by creating waterlogging problem because of heavy irrigation requirement of this crop.

During June-July, the summer heat is just sufficient to evaporate the irrigation water. But in September or October even a single rainfall is sufficient to inundate and destroy the crop because the infiltration capacity of the soil is already lost due to heavy irrigation.

The biggest enemy of a farmer is waterlogging. Therefore, credit goes to Haryana to be the first state to realise the severity of this problem and formulate a Rs 1500-crore plan to grapple with this problem.

Another nagging problem in cultivation is the incidence of crop diseases at an epidemic level. This problem has come to the fore eversince farmers stopped the practice of allowing the land to lie fallow during May and June and abandoned the use of composted manure.

The organic manure contained predators which fed on pathogenic microbes. The cow dung is mostly used as fuel eversince inorganic fertilisers came into the market. Cotton has become most vulnerable to pest attacks followed by sugarcane. Therefore, farmers take a gamble when they go in for these two crops. The cotton crop was greatly affected in Punjab and Haryana in 1996. Waterlogging conditions further help in the growth of pests. Dryness in atmosphere is the only deterrent in the transmission of crop diseases.

There is another factor which creates strange conditions of crop destruction after the crop has been harvested. Farmers do not have a strategy to grow different crops in required proportion. For example, in 1977-78 farmers mostly went for sugarcane. It was a bumper crop. The sugar mills could not take even 50 per cent and many farmers had to burn the standing crop. Likewise in 1996 and 1997 farmers over cultivated tomato and the prices crashed to Re 1 per kg. Next year very few farmers sowed tomato crop. This year farmers neither grew tomato nor onion and went in for paddy. The result is that the prices of tomato and onion are skyrocketing and the price of paddy is crashing in spite of poor yield due to untimely rains. Next year, farmers may go in for onion and tomato and a glut in market is very much expected.

In this way, these factors have imposed severe strains on Indian agriculture and a lot of hard work is needed to keep an increasing level of food production in the coming years. If these trends are not to be reversed, then a proper strategy to increase seafood production is called for to feed the exploding population.

Murrah buffalo best bet for export
By Suraj Bhan Dahiya

NUMERICALLY India possesses the largest cattle and buffalo population for any single country in the world. Paradoxically, while the number of livestock in the country is impressive, its impact is not reflected on our exports. In an agro-based economy like that of ours, animal keeping should now be transformed into a systematic industry. There are eight well-defined breeds of buffalo and 25 breeds of cow whose quality of hardiness and disease resistance are well-known throughout the world. The better breed animals comprising hardly one-fourth of the total bovine population of India, however, are found mostly in the north-western dry areas of the country. Since these breeds have demonstrated good potentialities and are capable of high milk yield, they should be competed in global trade.

It is an acknowledged fact that the buffalo is a better converter of coarse feeds into fat-rich milk even under harsh agro-climatic situations. We have in the country the world’s best dairy type buffalo — the Murrah — capable of milk yields as high as 35 kg a day. The buffalo of Murrah breed, which is described as the “Asian tractor”, is in fact triple purpose animal — for milk, meat and work.

Remember two things: Murrah is the finest genetic material of buffalo in the world and our cows are low milk yielders in comparison to the cows of the leading dairy nations. If India is to enter the world livestock trade, our best bet would be the Murrah buffalo. This breed has beaten the best dairy cows of the world in performance. We must capitalise this distinct status and launch the Murrah buffalo as an export item. Globalisation of Murrah would ensure not only better returns to farmers but would also facilitate the much-needed capital formation in the rural sector. Murrah export assumes further significance as it will contribute towards employment generation, apart from diversification of overburdened agriculture.

Besides acquiring hard foreign currency, the Murrah export is deemed necessary to sustain the tempo of the farm sector as a whole. Above all, the export of this new item will pick up at a much faster pace than that of traditional items.

Under the present package of scientific breeding, the Murrah buffalo keeping is a commercially viable agro-based industry promising regular dividends to the individual breeder and multi-benefits to society at large.

Haryana is the home of Murrah buffalo. Here the Murrah buffalo keeping has a special role as its husbandry has been the way of life. Consequently, Haryana has the privilege of being known as the livestock mint of India. The state is now coming up as a market for producing export quality stock.

Haryana’s trade in milch animals outside the state lends undoubtedly a great economic fillip to rural breeders of Murrah buffalo. But surely this trade cannot and should not flourish at the loss of the state’s invaluable treasure in genetic material that goes with the parting of the chosen best. This issue has assumed considerable relevance, particularly in the light of the fact that these animals, removed each year from the country’s best breeding tracts to the big cities, are destined to be consigned to the slaughter house as soon as the days of their current lactation come to an end. During the sojourn in the cities, these milch animals are not bred. As such with their untimely end the nation is also deprived of the priceless progenies that could have otherwise born and perpetuated the lines.

The breed improvement programme is very expensive and a slow process. Millions of small owners and cattle are involved. With all complexities and constraints we have to take very harsh decision to ban Murrah buffalo slaughter. In this venture, we should profit from the experience and knowledge gained in the countries more advanced in animal husbandry. A modest beginning under the “Murrah conservation programme” has been made in Haryana to save this breed.

India resorted to cross-breeding in cows in the sixties by opening intensive cattle development projects. Much emphasis was laid on cattle development, ignoring the best indigenous genetic material of the Murrah breed. Of the total production of milk of India, about 53 per cent comes from buffaloes, 43 per cent from cows and 4 per cent from goats and sheep. It will also be interesting to look into 2x2 AXIS milk pricing formula adopted by dairy plants. For cow milk, the average fat varies from 3 to 5 per cent and for buffalo milk from 7.5 to 9 per cent. Under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, cow milk should have a minimum solids-not-fat content of 8.5 per cent, whilst in the milk of buffalo the SNF prescribed is 9 per cent. In economic terms, therefore, the rearing of buffalo is advantageous than cow keeping.

Considering the above facts, advanced dairy countries are studying the economics of Murrah buffalo keeping. During the past one year a US dairy firm had purchased Murrah buffaloes each yielding over 25 kg milk a day at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh each from Haryana. This shows that rich countries will soon switch over to Murrah husbandry.

Another apprehension is that like basmati rice they would also go in for the patents of Murrah breed of buffalo. The exotic cross-breeding in India is no more need of the day. It is desirable to use progeny tested bulls for taking up programme of Murrah breeding on a mass scale.

Excessive use of fertilisers harmful
By G.S. Dhillon

AGREED that fertilisers are indispensable for meeting the ever increasing foodgrain production targets, but their use in excessive doses poses a threat not only to soil health but also to the eco-system. Likely adverse impacts are on account of “eutophication” and increase of concentration of nitrogenous compounds in water resources and atmosphere.

Studies have shown that production and use of nitrogenous fertilisers are resulting in the destruction of “ozone layer”. Projections indicate that nitrous oxide (NOx) produced as a result of agricultural operations would at least be doubled within the next 50 years.

The presently obtained concentration level of nitrous oxide ranges from 43 to 58 ug/m3. During 1994-95 Punjab used 10.14 lakh tonnes of fertilisers in 42.02 lakh hectares (Ha) of cultivated area, which gives the average value of 241 kg/ha. The applied rate of fertilisers in the developed countries ranges from 100 to 200 kg/ha and so it can be seen that the amount used by Punjab is excessive.

The district-wise use of fertilisers in Punjab is Ludhiana (311 kg/ha), Patiala (309), Kapurthala (271), Fatehgarh Sahib (263), Ferozepore (262), Ropar (246), Jalandhar (238), Sangrur (237), Gurdaspur (224), Amritsar (224), Faridkot (223), Bathinda (216), Mansa (181) and Hoshiarpur (148).

The excessive concentrations of nitrates in water have been found to cause methemoglobinemia in infants through mother’s milk. The presence of nitrogen compound is a cause of concern because the resultant nitrogenous oxygen demand on the receiving water results in ammonia toxicity to fish. The presence of ammonia in water also results in an increased chlorination dose while making water fit for drinking and this would pose threat to human and animal health making use of the water so treated.

It is feared that if an appreciable amount of NOx finds entry into the stratosphere, the ozone layer would be depleted by an amount as large as 15 per cent.

The use of chemical nitrogen fertiliser in the world agriculture is estimated to increase four-fold by the year 2000 compared to its utilisation in 1974. But in Punjab its demand has increased at a greater rate and during 1994-95 it was six-fold compared to its utilisation in 1970-71. The excessive use poses serious danger to the environment. Only part of the nitrogen from the fertiliser added is gainfully utilised and considerable fraction of the same is lost to atmosphere or to the soil and water resources.

Studies show that when successive increments of nitrogen fertiliser are added to crop, less yield increase is realised from each increment and greater amount of nitrogen is lost.

For example in the case of maize, an initial 23 kg of nitrogen application brought a yield of 270 kg and the whole amount of nitrogen was removed from the soil by the crop plants. But when the application was doubled, the yield obtained was 1905 kg and 74 per cent of nitrogen was consumed. Even with the increase of fertiliser dose to four-fold, the yield obtained was 2540 kg and 50 per cent of the applied nitrogen was lost.

In the case of wheat, the first 60 kg of nitrogen improved the wheat yield from 3844 kg to 4230 kg per hectare. But when the input was increased from 180 kg to 240 kg/ha, the yield went up from 6651 kg to 6685 kg.

The application of first 60 kg of nitrogen led to an increase from 4900 to 6150 kg of paddy. However, when the fertiliser input was increased once again by 60 kg from 120 kg/ha, the yield went up from 7050 kg to 7300 kg.

The above data show that gross production can be increased using a fixed amount of nitrogen. If the nitrogen present is excessive, in addition to leaching into the soil, denitrification occurs in soil all the time which prevents high peak build-up in soil. The total amount of nitrogen, which a soil can make available to the plants, constitutes an important index of soil fertility.

Field tests in the paddy growing area have shown that in the ground water resource below there was a considerable increase of nitrates (eight-fold) compared to the normal amount of 5 mg/1.

Plants make most effective use of nitrogen when the environmental factors are most favourable for growth, which include good soil tilth, adequate moisture, improved and adopted variety of seeds, freedom from weeds, insects and disease, in addition to provision of correct amount of nutrients and organic matter.

For practical purposes, organic matter is the only material capable to tying up nitrogen against leaching into the soils. The low organic matter level of most cropped soils places a sharp limit on the nitrogen tie-up. High nitrogen in the soil with favourable moisture and temperature, causes rapid decomposition of its organic matter. A favourable balance of other plant nutrients is necessary for efficient utilisation of nitrogen by the plants.

Though new types of nitrogen fertilisers have been developed which release nitrogen at the rate required by the plant growth, yet such fertilisers are still too costly to be competitive. So biological sources of fertiliser, especially the micro-biological nitrogen fixation and compost need be further developed and made use of instead of chemical nitrogen fertilisers least in our quest for higher yields we end up poisoning our limited potable water resources and increasing the air pollution level.

Pulses: Give hoeing to gram and lentil to keep weeds under check. Give irrigation to the normal sown gram crop and to lentil after about one month of sowing.

Oilseeds: The harvesting toria should be completed to avoid losses owing to shattering. If the infestation of aphid is located in sarson and raya then spray the crops with 350 ml of Metasystox 25 EC/Rogor 30 EC/Thiodan 35 EC or 100 ml of Dimercron in 100 litres of water per acre.

Sugarcane: Save the crop from frost by applying irrigation around mid-December. Start harvesting (for mill purpose) early maturing (CoJ 64, CoJ 83 CoJ 211) varieties. Soon after the harvesting of early variety, burn the trash. Do not cover stubbles with cane trash.

Celery: Start transplanting celery seedlings 65-70 days old up to the end of December at a spacing of 45x25 cm. Apply light irrigation to the seed bed a day before uprooting the seedlings. Give a light irrigation after transplanting of seedlings. Apply 45 kg of urea and 35 kg of DAP at the time of sowing.

Vegetables

Potato: Restrict irrigation and later withheld completely so that the haulms wilt and fall over before the aphid build up. In the end of this month as soon as 20 aphid per 100 leaves build up, the haulms should be cut down. The crop should be left underground to allow the tubers to mature.

Onion: Transplant 4-6 weeks old seedlings of onion in the field. Large (10 to 15 cm) size and healthy seedlings give higher yields. Apply 20 tonnes of well-rotten farmyard manure together with 45 kg of urea, 125 kg of superphosphate and 35 kg muriate of potash before transplanting. For the control of weeds, spray Stomp 30 EC at the rate of one litre or Stomp 30 EC at 750 ml/acre plus one hoeing. The herbicides should be applied within a week after transplanting or after first irrigation.

Tomato: Complete transplanting of tomato seedlings in the first fortnight of this month. Provide sarkanda/kahi/rice straw to save the plants from frost. Dwarf tomato varieties can be saved from frost injury with 100 gauge thick white plastic bags of 35x25 cm size.

Radish, turnip and carrot: Marketing of roots of Asiatic varieties is to be continued. Stackling of radish and turnip of full growth and at the peak of edible stage are to be transplanted for seed multiplication. Before transplanting, apply 50 kg of CAN and 75 kg of superphosphate per acre. Keep lines 60 cm apart and plants at 45 cm.

Cauliflower: For seed multiplication, select the most ideal heads of the main season varieties and rouge out loose, ricy, leafy and otherwise undesirable heads. In case seed multiplication is to be done on a small scale, transplant the selected heads along with root system intact at the desired place.

Pea: Spray the crop with Indofil M 45 at 400g/acre in 200 litres of water by the end of December to control the rust. Leaf minor and aphid damage to the field pea can be checked by spraying 1125 ml Dimercron 85 WSC or 400 ml Rogor 30 EC in 80 litres of water per acre.

(Progressive Farming, PAU)