Foodgrain Production Research Articles

Methods Of Biologization Of Grain-Grass Crop Rotations And Their Influence On Fertility Of Soddy-Podzolic Soil Of The Forest Zone

On soddy-podzolic soils of the forest zone of the European part of Russia, grain-grass crop rotations are most common for the production of voluminous fodder, food and fodder grain [1,2]. In such crop rotations, the link of perennial grasses is the main factor in the reproduction of soil fertility and the production of high-quality voluminous fodder. Improvement of the grass-field link of such crop rotations based on the cultivation of new species and varieties is an urgent scientific and practical task [3,4,5].An important way to reduce the cost of reproduction of soil fertility in grain-grass crop rotations is the maximum use of plant residues, including straw and green manure crops, which makes it possible to exclude the use of organic fertilizers on certain arable land or, if necessary, to conduct a dung-free economy [6,7,8]. Improvement of the link of perennial grasses, saturation of crop rotations with legumes, maximum use of plant residues and green manure as organic fertilizers allows to reduce the cost of reproduction of soil fertility, to produce high-quality voluminous and concentrated feed [9,10].

Food Security Under The Era Of Climate Change Threat

Food Security Under The Era Of Climate Change Threat

An Economic Study on Koyambedu Market at Chennai - Some Issues

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. Nearly 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their daily livelihood directly or indirectly. In that, 20 per cent of the villagers now depend solely upon agricultural income for their livelihood directly. The agricultural produce sector has been one of the most important components of the Indian economy. Considerable progress has to be achieved in scaling new heights in the production of food grains, commercial crops like cotton, sugarcane, tea, fruits, vegetables and milk. The increasing trend of agricultural production has brought new challenges in terms of finding market for the marketed surplus. There is also a need to respond to the challenges and opportunities, that the global markets offer in the liberalized trade regime. The following are the specific objectives of the study. 1. To study the functioning of the agricultural marketing in general. 2. To know the different varieties of the vegetables produced and sold.

Agri-Environmental Sustainability of Indian Agriculture: A State Level Analysis

Improving economic viability of Indian agriculture is contingent upon agri-environmental sustainability (AES). Objective assessment of environmental costs of agriculture is lacking in India. Unless internalise environmental impacts of agriculture will be borne by the society at large, in terms of depletion and degradation of water resources, land degradation and emissions of greenhouse gases, etc. To assess AES of Indian agriculture, the present article builds a comprehensive agri-environmental sustainability index (AESI) based on 40 agri-environmental indicators. The study captures both spatial and temporal aspects of AES by covering 17 major Indian states over 24 years (1990–1991 to 2013–2014). The estimated AESI scores are validated with outcome indicators (e.g., groundwater depletion, depletion of soil nutrients). The results show that states having higher score in Sustainable Irrigation Index are facing lower fall in groundwater level and there are negative correlations across sub-indices of AESI and macronutrient deficiencies in soil. An inverse relationship between AESI scores and agricultural intensity (as measured by average productivity of foodgrains in kilograms per hectare) is also observed. The study comes out with policy suggestions which could help to attain AES of Indian agriculture.

Characteristics of Agricultural Lands, the Estimation of Yield of Grain and Leguminous Crops Varieties and Parameters of Their Adaptability in the Tyumen Region

The priority task of the agricultural sector of the Russian Federation is the production of food grain. The article describes the characteristics of agricultural lands for 2004-2018, the area of sowing and yield of the grain and leguminous crops for 2014-2018, as well as the assessment of yield and adaptive potential of the main varieties of the grain and leguminous crops for 2017-2019 in the Tyumen region. On average, in 2004-2018, the total area of agricultural lands amounted to 2352.6 thousand hectares, and the area of the field – 1119.1 thousand hectares. The time dynamics showed an increase of the total area of agricultural lands and a decrease of the area of the field. The area of sowing of the grain and leguminous crops averaged 689.4 thousand hectares in 2014-2018, and the average yield was 2.06 tons/ha. The leading grain crop is spring wheat. The average sowing area of spring wheat was 402.9 thousand hectares with an average yield of 1.95 tons/ha. The variability of grain and leguminous crops yield ranged from small to significant, while coefficient of yield stability ranged from 1.0 (winter wheat) to 5.3 (winter rye). The largest average yield of spring wheat was observed in the middle-early variety Tyumenskaya 25 (5.21 t/ha) and middle-season variety Aviada (5.00 t/ha), in the spring barley – Abalak (4.69 t/ha), in the oats – Foma (6.07 t/ha) and peas – Thomas (4.37 t/ha). In general, all varieties of grain and leguminous crops were characterized by low stress resistance, and their yield variability ranged from small to significant. The index of ecological plasticity of the majority of varieties was equal to and close to one, which characterizes them as plastic, i.e. the change in their yield fully corresponds to the change in growing conditions. The variety of spring wheat Tyumenskaya 25 was the best in terms of general adaptive ability (GAA = 0.20), the variety of spring barley – Abalak (GAA = 0.15), the variety of oats – Foma (GAA = 0.20) and the variety of peas – Thomas (GAA = 0.18). The variety of the spring barley Abalak (GAA = 0.15; Cv = 6.6%) and the pea variety Thomas (GAA = 0.18; Cv = 5.3%) were the best varieties combining a high level of general adaptive ability with a small yield variability.

Projected Food-grain Production and Yield in India: An Evidence from Statewise Panel Data Investigation during 1977-2014

Purpose : This study examines the impact of climatic change on food-grain production and yield using state-wise panel data during 1977-2014 in fifteen Indian states. Accordingly, it estimates the projected food-grain production and yield by the years of 2040, 2040, 2060, 2080 and 2100. Finally, it provides the effective practical and effective policy suggestions to reduce the climate change impact on food-grain farming based on existing studies. Research Method : Regression coefficients of food-grain production and yield with climatic and non-climatic factors are estimated using Cobb-Douglas production function model. Marginal impact analysis method is used to examine the projected food-grain production and yield. Findings : Empirical results infer that most climatic factors have a negative impact on food-grain production and yield in different weather seasons. Projected results are suggested that food-grain production is expected to be declined by 5.25%, 6.64%, 8.03% and 9.57% by 2040, 2060, 2080 and 2100 respectively. Food-grain yield is likely to be decreased by 1.05%, 1.96%, 2.87% and 5.07% by the aforesaid years. Research Limitations : This study could not capture impact of inter-states disparities in socio-economic condition of farmers, geographical conditions, agriculture policies and public spending on agriculture and rural development on food-grain production and yield. It also could not include factors such as solar radiation, sun intensity, wind speed and heat wave in empirical investigation. Originality/ Value : It compiles state-wise panel of food-grain production and yield as dependent variables, and climatic variables and non-climatic factors as explanatory variables during 1977-2014. It examines the projected food-grain production and yield.

Forecasting Foodgrains Production Using Arima Model and Neural Network

The time series is a set of values arranged in a specific order of time. Prediction and analysis of food grain is a vital role in agriculture statistics. The Agriculture Statistics System is very complete and provides data on a wide range of topics such as crop area and production, land use, irrigation, land holdings, agricultural prices and market intelligence, livestock, fisheries, forestry etc. Agricultural credit and subsidies also consider important supporting factors for agricultural growth. India is the world's largest producer of millets and second-largest producer of wheat, rice, and pulses. The present research work focused on production of food grains in India using time series data ranging from 1990- 91 to 2018-19. In this paper, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) for predicting foodgrains of India were compared. Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) were compared. The results were displayed numerically and graphically.

Livelihood diversification of irrigated and rainfed farmers a comparative study from drought affected Raichur district of Karnataka

Raichur is a district located under the northern dry zone of Karnataka where the economy mainly depends on agriculture for their livelihood. However, the district receives river water for irrigation; therefore, agriculture in the district is both under irrigated and rainfed conditions. The district is chronically affected by drought as it occurs every other year. The rainfall in the district is scanty and soil has got poor water holding capacity, as a result, there is a decrease in productivity of food grains, increase in poverty and desertification forcing the farmers to diversify their income-generating sources to have a sustainable livelihood. Livelihood diversification was examined using the primary data collected from 400 sampled respondents. Among 400, 200 were irrigated another 200 were rain-fed respondents. To understand the extent of diversification Simpson Diversification Index was used. The study results revealed that the average extent of diversification was more in rainfed respondents less found in irrigated respondents. But among irrigated respondents, the extent of diversification was found more in 2017 than in 2010. The diversification from on-farm to non-farming enterprises was increased in rainfed respondents. But diversification among the on-farm enterprises witnessed more in irrigated respondents. The research survey revealed that sugarcane was reported among irrigated farmers group. In 2017 migration was one of the popular income diversification strategies followed by both groups.

Production of strategic types of field crops in the Samara region in the context of economy digitalization

The digitalization of agriculture is connected with the increase in the efficiency and sustainability of its functioning. The paper studies the dynamics of indicators of the development of agricultural production in the Samara region. First of all, agriculture of the region is represented by crop production, the share of which in the total volume for a number of years has been over 60%. The basis of the regional crop production is the production of high quality food grains. Cereals are one of the most demanded items in the export of agricultural products. For the period from 2009 to 2020 the gross harvest of grain crops increased 1.6 times. The Samara region is one of the ten regions of the Russian Federation in terms of sunflower production. The gross harvest of sunflower, which serves as a raw material for the main export position of the region namely sunflower oil, has increased fivefold over the period. Digital technologies, the need to use which is determined by general trends in the development of the world economy, create new opportunities to increase the competitiveness of products and further develop the export potential not only of a particular region, but also of the country as a whole.

Controlled Traffic Farming: An Approach to Minimize Soil Compaction and Environmental Impact on Vegetable and Other Crops

Mechanized farming for vegetable production has evolved as an integral part of commercial agriculture during the past few decades. As a first step towards mechanized farming the use of tractors in Indian agriculture has increased by 528% during the period 1990–91 to 2018–19 from 0.15 to 0.8 million/year. Undoubtedly, use of such technologies has made vegetable as well as foodgrain production a profitable venture by easing land preparation, weed management and other intercultural operations, crop harvesting, etc. However, their continuous use in production fields has resulted in the substantial compaction of soil along the wheel lines of tractors and similar heavy machinery. Reports indicate a significant yield loss (13–73%) owing to soil compaction because it restricts root penetrance into the soil, limiting nutrient and water uptake by the plants, and also potential water stagnation, which can limit the normal activities of respiring roots leading to retarded plant growth and root diseases. In this context, control traffic farming (CTF), which aims to reduce the area affected by the operation of heavy machinery that otherwise lead to soil compaction, brings a substantial value to the current global focus of sustainable and precision farming. CTF attempts to restrict the spatial movement of machinery wheels to fewer operation lanes during and across production cycles for a long time and allows specifically the undisturbed areas of soil for crop production. Research confirms a significant improvement in crop yield in different crop production systems worldwide and reduction in methane emission due to soil absorption (372–2100%) compared to random traffic farming. In this article, we discuss the advantages of CTF in terms of root growth, nutrient mobilization and energy efficiency of the vegetable production system, and also argue on its scope in the Indian context, given the situation that no or only a few studies have been reported from the country.

Agricultural production efficiency of Indian states: Evidence from data envelopment analysis

AbstractThis paper aims to provide an analysis of the agricultural productivity of food grains across the states of India. Despite agriculture's diminishing role as a share of overall gross domestic product (GDP) in India, it plays a crucial role by providing a large proportion of jobs to the workforce. Acknowledging the central role of agriculture in the economy as well as the diversity between the states in terms of availability of resources, this study analyses the impact of various inputs like land area, fertilizers, electricity and labour use on the production efficiency of food grains at the state level from 2006 to 2017 using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). The results highlight the variation in the performance of states with five out of selected 20 states experiencing efficiency under the CCR model of DEA and nine out of 20 states being efficient under the BCC model of DEA. MPI results indicate that 11 out of 20 states have progressed in terms of MPI during the period under consideration. The paper highlights the possibility of increasing agricultural production with optimizing the inputs by focusing on efficient resource deployment and enhanced production management. The paper investigates the relationship between various agricultural inputs and food grain production efficiency using DEA and provides a way to improve on the allocation of these resources across various Indian states.

Implications of Food Price Shocks on Availability of Food: Evidences from the Indian Economy

In the backdrop of liberalized trade of agricultural commodity in post WTO regime, reform measures is reflected in the change of domestic prices vis-à-vis international prices of food articles. Physical availability of food is purposively selected as a food security indicator in this paper due to its conceptual linkages of food price movement and domestic food supply. A declining trend in the per capita availability of food grains in the post reform period suggests a net export of food grains. Government intervention in procurement and distribution of food grains helps in insulating the shock of food prices in post food crisis situation. Empirical evidences also suggest that there exists a bi-directional causality in between relative price and net export, or food grains production, or government procurement of foodgrains. A responsive change in foodgrains production, net imports, foodgrains procurement and change in the government stock is followed by food price shocks.

DETERMINANTS OF AGRICULTURAL FOOD GRAIN COMMODITY PRICES IN NIGERIA

The study analyzed the determinants of agricultural food grain commodity prices in Nigeria. Secondary data was used for the study and covered the period of 1981-2018. Data obtained was analyzed using regression techniques. The findings revealed that inflation, importation policy, oil prices, quantity consumed of maize, corruption, population, that quantity supplied of maize and time variable significantly influenced the prices of maize in Nigeria within the period under review. Inflation, importation policy, quantity consumed, corruption, government capital subsidy, population and time variable significantly influenced the price of wheat in Nigeria within the period under study. The results further disclosed that on aggregate level, inflation, importation policy, quantity consumed of grains, corruption, government capital subsidy, population, quantity supplied of grains and time variable significantly (P≤0.5) influenced the price of food grains in Nigeria within the period under review based on the specified model. The study therefore, recommended that government should put in place necessary strategies to curb the rate of corruption and ensure political stability in the country that favours food grain price regulation as well as ensure that the prices of food grains in Nigeria, especially that of wheat and maize are made affordable to consumers and that it encourages the farmers to remain in the production of food grains in Nigeria.

The effect of mineral fertilizers on the economic traits of the cultivated winter rye varieties in the Republic of Mari El

The current paper has presented the results obtained in the trials to study the productivity of four winter rye varieties. The trials carried out in 2015-2018 on the experimental plots of the Mari Research Institute, on sod-podzolic medium clay soil, in three-factor variant (varieties, basic fertilizing, nitrogen additional fertilizing). Mineral fertilizers had a positive effect on rye productivity increase, thereby reducing the cost of the produced grain and improving the profitability of its production. The best economic indicators in the production of food grain of the variety “Tatiana” were obtained on the option with double nitrogen fertilization (N 45 with the resumption of spring vegetation + N 15 in the earing phase), the net cost of a kilogram of grain was 3.72 rubles, the level of production profitability was 88%. When cultivating the variety “Moskovskaya 15”, grain with the lowest net cost of 3.99 rubles/kg with 75% of profitability was obtained in the variant with the introduction of N 15 in foliage spraying in the earing phase. On the same variant, the grain of the variety “Rada” was harvested with the same economic estimated indicators (3.27 rubles of net cost of a kilogram of grain and 114% of profitability). For the variety “Yantarnoye” the same option was the most profitable, where the net cost was 3.89 rubles/kg, the profitability was 96%. Over the years of research, the most economically profitable production of food grain (4.1-5.3 t/ha) was the cultivation of winter rye variety “Rada” against the background of natural soil fertility with the use of nitrogen additional fertilizing. The productivity of the variety “Rada” with the basic fertilizing “Azophoska” at a dose of 0.15 t/ha in variants with nitrogen additional fertilizing was on average 18% higher and varied from 4.8 to 6.6 t/ha, while the net cost of a kilogram of grain increased from 0 to 50 kopecks, or 1-14% compared to an unfavorable background.

Growth and Instability Analysis of India’s Food Grain Sector in the Post Liberalisation Period

Background: Having a population growing at an annual average rate of 1.2 per cent and more than half of its total size depend on primary sector for their livelihood, agricultural sector occupy significant role in the economy of India. The extent of area, production and productivity of food grains and their instability therefore attracts special attention. The present study thus analyses the performance of agricultural sector in India in terms of trend in growth and instability of area, production and productivity of food grain during the three decades of liberalisation. The specific objectives are (i) to examine the growth rate and instability in area, production and yield of food grains in India and (ii) to explain the decomposing changes in the variability of food grains production in India. Methods: In this field-laboratory investigation during 1990-91 to 2018-19, official secondary data has been utilized. Statistical tools like Least Square Growth Rate, Coefficient of Variation of area, production, and yield etc. have been applied for analysis. Result: The study highlighted that area under food grain cultivation remained almost stagnant. However, the overall food grain production registered growth rate of 2 per cent while the production instability was 15.88 per cent. The trend lines fitted to the production of foodgrains shows positive growth rate. The co-efficient of determination (R2) shows 87 percent for production and 92 percent for productivity which determines scope for further production for India. But in area it shows just 3.9 per cent. The result of the study shows that the production of food grains has increased with due instability during given the time period. It also calls for adopting alternate production technologies which will further improve the productivity of food grains to meet increasing demand from the growing population.

Remote Sensing for National Development: The Legacy of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was a great visionary, and we are celebrating his Centenary birth anniversary, this year. It was amazing to see, 50 years back, he had planned meticulously various possible remote sensing applications that materialised in the fields of weather and oceans, coastal zone management, geoscience, hydrology, forestry, land use and agriculture and contributed significantly towards national development. Not only that, he had thought about the kinds of sensors, processing and communicating technologies that would be required. He had stressed need for the domain expertise in different disciplines and collaboration with various stakeholders for developing various remote sensing-based products and services and their utilisation. The concept of the National Natural Resources Management System had born out this vision. Such approach has really paid rich dividends. Today, because of such approach, India is in forefront of operational utilisation of remote sensing data and provides weather services for farmers, potential fishery zone advisories to fishermen, accurate and reliable forecast on cyclones and droughts, groundwater targeting for drinking water, condition and status of forest and glaciers, annual forecast of production of major food grains, to name a few. The time is now appropriate to transform this world-class technology into a national system of remote sensing in collaboration with industries to provide operational services to not only users in India, but also all developing countries. Such approach will pave way in translating technology development into innovation for the benefit of all stakeholders. These benefits will help in improving particularly social and economic conditions of developing societies, and is the best way to pay tribute to him. In this article, the vision of Dr. Sarabhai vis-a-vis the status of utilisation of remote sensing in the country has been discussed.

Mulching Techniques to Conserve the Soil Water and Advance the Crop Production - A Review

The necessity to increase the production of food grains and enhances the quality of surrounding environment has leaded to find the materials to control or regulate the water and wind erosion. Mulching has become now a days an essential and decisive exercise in agricultural production. It lessens the application of herbicides and various chemical fertilizers, control the weeds and maintains the soil moisture and soil temperature. This article consists of the detail reviews of different research conducted on mulches and elaborate the opportunities that they resolving the problem in agriculture. The resources of water for agricultural operations have been inadequate over the years as a result of global warming and uneven or uncertain rainfall in the low rainfall zones of India. To alleviate the water scarcity in agriculture, mulching has a vital impact as a water conserving technique in rain-fed cropping. It is very important primarily for preserving the soil moisture, preventing evaporation of soil and governing the soil temperature, which affects the food production. India being an agricultural country should have a better admiration towards water conservation tactics. By now we are fighting from a great stress of water insufficiency. Each and every drop of water is important for us but inappropriately because of inattentiveness, we repeatedly waste gigantic volume of water in which 70 to 80 % is passed down for irrigation purpose. Mulching and micro- irrigation techniques can play a vital role in controlling the over and excessive irrigation. This practice assistance to prevent weed growth, increment soil moisture, reduce soil erosion, maintain soil temperature, augments soil structure, improves soil fertility and improvise soil biological regime. There are several categories of mulching which are organic mulching, inorganic mulching, natural mulching, synthetic mulching, surface mulching, upright mulching or vertical mulching, plastic mulching, rubber mulching, pebble or stone mulching, dust mulching, straw mulching, landscape fabric, live vegetative barriers etc. Mulching also shows some limitations beyond many advantages as it may harbor some insects, pests and diseases and also create some weed problems sometimes. The current analysis deals with argument of every single feature of mulching and it’s beneficiary effects.

R&D Investment and Agricultural Development-An Overview

The country has managed to fare well at the foodgrain production front with laudable growth but still ensuring food and nutritional security sustainably at an affordable rate to a teeming population is a major challenge. Ensuring sustainable food supply for this huge population is a daunting task and requires an emphasis on enhancing agricultural productivity. Though the solution seems simple it has its own share of setbacks viz., deteriorating natural resource base, declining total factor productivity, climate change, the spike in global prices, inadequate investment on agricultural R&D, etc. Public spending on agriculture is one of the key policy instruments of the government to promote growth and alleviate poverty in rural areas. Apart from various other spendings by the government on agriculture, the most integral investment is on Agricultural Research and Education which promotes various innovations and techniques that eventually enhance agricultural productivity. The country despite making huge progress in agricultural production still does not spend enough on agricultural research. The expenditure on agricultural research as a share of AgGDP fell slightly from 0.34 to 0.30 percent between 2000 and 2014. Increased R&D investments offer the possibilities to enhance the quantity and quality of agricultural outputs, control costs, increased income source, resilient to climate change, greater food security and better nutrition. The desired results of investment in R&D can only be achieved if concerted efforts are also made towards linking the farming community or ensuring the dissemination of these innovations at the grass-root level.

An Empirical Analysis on India’s Food Grain Cultivation, Production and Yield in Pre & Post Globalisation

Globalization is, directly and indirectly, contributing to its effect in all sectors of an economy. The agricultural sector is not exempted from the effect of change due to globalization as a component of the primary sector and a prime sector for human survival needs. The status of self-sufficient in the production of food grain will lead a nation to make a walk of pride among the other member globally. India is an agro-economy. In other words, agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. So the production of food grain and its cultivation and yield should be normally high to meet out the demand of a growing population. Also, with the implementation of a policy of globalization, there might be some change in cultivation, production, and yield of food grains in India. In this paper, an attempt was made to examine/ identify the change in area under cultivation, yield, and production by using the secondary sources of data from 1970 to 2017. The selected breakeven point of time was 1991-1992. The annual growth rate pictured the change in a particular point of time; the linear and quadratic model gave the growth over the period selected for the study, and dummy used regression model presented the difference in structural change. AGR results dominated by the negative growth rate; the linear growth model for production depicts that 3.6 percentage of tons of production will be move when a year moves upward. The area under cultivation is deteriorating in AGR, and other models used gave a weakness in explanatory level concerning time for the area under cultivation of food grain. Regarding the obtained results for yield reflect that a positive change exists after globalization, even though a reduction in area under cultivation.

Statistical analysis of food grains production in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu

The Present study was conducted to assess the status of foodgrains production in Madurai district. This study secondary data for the period 1997-98 to 2014-15 selected foodgrains area, production and yield were used. The results of growth rate indicate that rice crop and total cereals area and production showed negative growth during the study periods and yield shows positive growth rate. The similar trend occurs in the overall food grains area and production growth rate also negative and yield shows positive growth rate. Based on Instability analysis, selected cereals and overall foodgrains area, production and yield shows moderate and high instability.