Scaling scan for sustainable and intensified agricultural production in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

In the recent times the number of farm holdings in Andhra Pradesh has increased amidst the decrease in net sown area resulting in reduction of average holding size from 1.06 ha to 0.94 ha. The organization of the already existing unemployed along with the returned migrant labour into cultivation co-operatives or farmer producer organizations, provision of training in production of agricultural and allied agricultural products, linking these activities with already existing government programmes and schemes could be the action plan to achieve sustainable and comprehensive food and nutritional security in addition to create additional employment opportunities in the rural areas. The scaling scan, a tool developed by PPP Lab and the International maize and wheat improvement center (CIMMYT) in 2017 was used to identify the critical areas that need attention for sustained and intensified agricultural production in Andhra Pradesh. The results revealed that value chain, finance, collaboration, leader ship and management are the scaling ingredients that scored less than three requiring overcoming several challenges in the above areas to reach the ambition of sustainable and intensified agricultural production in the state of Andhra Pradesh.