India 2020 Part 8

through DNA markers.

Develop feed and feed quality standards for cattle consistent with the breed and yield.

Food, Agriculture and processing Issues & Vision Action required immediately Up gradation of crop residues and other biodegradable wastes for use as cattle feed.

Development of highyield fodder seeds.

Create awareness about veterinary drugs and antibiotics.

Create awareness about hygiene standards for housing cattle.

Poor quality of milk Initiate innovative programmers processing leading to for training formers on hygienic higher losses is the present methods of collection of milk.

status this situation can be Ensure availability of funds for changed very rapidly. usage of bulk farm coolers / alternative technologies for longer life of raw milk.

Lack of availability of Fund research on use of non uninterrupted power in the conventional energy sources milk production / processing for primary processing.

belt is a major hindrance. Review use of the LP system as Technologies solutions are a preservation technique of raw milk.

immediately available.

Mediumterm Action: MILK Medium and longterm Programmer for up gradation of vision for cattle management quality of s.e.m.e.n and availability is to preferably treat them of proven bulls.

with care as they are the Design breeding policies according foundations of our wealth. to agroclimatic zones.

Development of transgenic animals.

Issues & Vision Action required immediately Examine use of Rumen bacteria for improved feed adsorption Lack of proper treatment Disseminate use of technology for of effluent leading to processing effluent into byproducts

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environmental hazards needs for smallscale industries.

urgent attention and in the medium term we can envision them to be pollutionfree.

Shortterm Action: FRUITS & VEGETABLES High level of postharvest Ensuring timely harvesting by losses of about 30 percent educating growers regarding is a great national loss and proper maturity indices for especially to the poor growers. harvesting.

This can be brought down Training and education to substantially.

farmers to promote use of proper postharvest treatment such as vapor heat treatment, surface coating etc., at farm level.

Integrated approach to Providing financial a.s.sistance to R&D promote Indian inst.i.tutes to initiate programmers for horticulture products is developing products with characteristics/ needed and can inaugurate quality suited for specific markets.

a major boom in the Educating the farmers and encouraging business.

them to grow these varieties by entering into buyback agreements, etc. (for fresh fruits and vegetables).

Food, Agriculture and Processing Issues & Vision Action required immediately Disseminate information about specific characteristics of products desired by consumers in the target markets for Indian industry (for fresh and processed products).

Mediumterm Action: FRUIT & VEGETABLES Low yield has to become Promote use of techniques such as a thing of the past. This is tissue culture, grafting ,etc at farm possible with continual level through effective extension technological inputs. programmers .

High level of harvest, post Development of road infrastructure.

Harvest losses to be brought to Financial a.s.sistance to cooperative acceptable levels in the and private inst.i.tutions to develop the medium term by using a cold chain infrastructure, CA/MA( multi p.r.o.nged approach. (controlled atmosphere / modified atmosphere) storage and transportation

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facilities.

Continue promoting the processing of Fruits and vegetables at farm level to Reduce wastage by educating the Farmers and providing desired Financial a.s.sistance.

Long term Action: FRUIT&VEGETABLES Nonavailability of good continue to provide financial support Quality raw material for to R&D inst.i.tutes to initiate Processing will become an programmers for Issue in the medium ISSUE&VISION ACTION REQUIRED.

IMMEDIATELY.

and long term as the food development of new varieties processing industry grows of fruits and vegetables with and consumers become characteristic suited for more discriminatory .It is processing and promoting possible to meet they're these varieties among farmers requirement by entering into buyback agreements, etc. It is possible to develop high quality Indian varieties if we focus on our efforts instead of relying on foreign companies.

Source: TIFAC vision reports on AgroFood processing.

The authors have often done presentations of these ideas, especially the core technologies which are required to realize the vision. They are given in figure 4.1,4.2 and4.3. More than the precise numbers, one should look at the possible growth expressed by the numbers.

The figures on the left hand side give a rough idea of the volume of business in the sector in rupee terms, for the year1995 estimates of current losses a.s.sociated industries (in engineering, packaging, etc.) The right hand side is the vision for 2020 for these businesses, with losses, etc. shown at present day price levels. The middle portion lists some key core technologies required to realize the vision. These are given in the central box and central to building the agroprocessing industry in India.

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Some of the requirements are very simple: educating our People in hygienic practices showing them successes achieved elsewhere, through better practices that have borne fruit, for example, so that they can adopt these too. Our telecommunications and s.p.a.ce technologies are well established. Let these be deployed in a major efforts. Incidentally, it could become a major service industry and help boost rural economies. The other technologies are relatively simple: Standardized chilled containers, or containers with controlled

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or modified atmosphere to help preserve products, better packaging and so on.

These finding were presented to a highpowered scientific body. It was explained to them that while they may not appear prosperity to millions. The scientists were touched and affirmed that they would have to take an interest in such matters as well.

It is difficult to capture this vision and action in a few words or one or two catchy slogans. However, to focus on crucial issues, we have attempted to list a few important items below: .

India to aim to be a major player in the world in the agricultural sector and a leading exporter grains and other agricproducts.

Easters India to become a major producer of wheat.

Riceproducing areas to use hybrid seeds on a large scale.

Central India to be made a center of vegetables, fruits, pulses and coa.r.s.e grains.

More emphasis on tuberous crops.

Water as a national resourcewater management as the key to agricultural prosperity.

Core postharvest technologies to be mastered and disseminated.

Steps to educate farmers about what is happening elsewhere, if need be by providing them the opportunity to travel, and use of s.p.a.ce technologies to facilitate interaction and encourage farmers to ask questions and share experiences.

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How does one express the vision for agricultural prosperity, describe a vision which uses all the advantages of agroclimate and natural resources, with the use of right and continuous doses of modern technology? The vision naturally includes the fact that for all Indians the availability of food and worrying about where the next meal is coming from will no longer be a prime concern. They will have food in plenty compared to their situation today.

A vision for total production or per capita consumption or export figure alone does not comprise the totality of what we envisage. The action taken to realize it is just as important. Achieving these projections is not at all impossible. Investments are not difficult. But there is a lot of work hard, synchronization of policies, administrative support and actual fieldwork which includes taking people and farmers into confidence and reaching the benefits of technologies to them that is required.

I have often been questioned by people from diverse walks of life as to the actual realization of the vision. Scientists, technologists, managers or administrators ask, 'In your vision for agriculture, how do we place specific targets? Can we organize a programmer like the missile programmer?' school and college students ask, 'sir, can we launch India into agricultural prosperity as you have done for national security with Aging?'

I explain the ideas in different ways. These are addressed in a later chapter. Generally, the answer is on these lines: 'A vision is not a project report or a plan target. It is an articulation of the desired end results in broader terms. For example, a vision for India in the 1980s was to have independent strengths in designing, developing, manufacturing and launching various missiles best suited to our strategic requirements. With the successful launch of SLV3, with the strengths of DRDO and other potential strengths, such a vision was a realizable one, though difficult when looked at from the perspective of the '80s.

But to define individual project, their interlink ages and the teams required to implement such projects successfully took considerable work from many dedicated persons. Many years were spent in focusing on specific work packages.

'Tasks involved in executing the vision for agricultural and agrofood processing will be equally and in fact more complex. The vision will have to be packaged in a large

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number of viable, focused projects. Many of them will be executed by private individuals or groups out of their conviction and risks by them. A small group of people can be in touch with all of them to make an overall a.s.sessment of the direction in which we are going. If there are problems due to policy or perhaps adverse external environment conditions (drought or pest or hailstorms or a slump in the export market, for the farmers and entrepreneurs, so that they do not lose their will to pursue the harder tasks ahead.

'That is how a nation can realize its vision. If we tie ourselves into knots over everyday problems and project that att.i.tude over 365 days, 730 days or 10,000 days, that cannot be bigger things, but just take care that it is not impossible. At the time of articulating the vision, however, it should appear nearly impossible!'

so we have before us a whole range of simple technologies, a large set of needed organizational efforts and information exchange programmers, and above all a goal to attain food security for our country in a permanent and sustainable manner. These efforts will usher in great prosperity to a large number of people in rural areas and small towns, through employment and wealth creation. Also for speedy economic growth, these are excellent avenues as the return on the invested capital is much higher and can be achieved in a short period. It is not like chasing the moon the moon should come to us!

These are some issues related to connecting hundreds of thousands of these new agricultural centers to the market place this can be achieved by rural connectivity through roads and telephones. We address these issues in a later chapter.

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CHAPTER 5.

Materials and the Future We will dig many mines, And take out gold and other things, And go eight directions to sell these, And bring home many things.

Subrahmanya Bharathi Agricultural products come from biological resource. Other (nonliving) natural resource give us energy (e.g. petroleum and natural gas), chemicals for daily use (e.g.

salt), and various metallic products (e.g. steel, copper). If we were to pause for a moment to thing about the growth of human civilization, we would find that the pace of social and economic growth has been closely linked to the proficiency with which people have been able to use and shape materials. Today this proficiency has become the bedrock of a country's development. Lightweight highperformance materials and alloys have helped us in building aircraft, satellite, launch vehicles and missiles. Our houses are full of modern materials: stainless steel vessels, shaving blades with special coatings, special nonsticking and slowheating frying pans plastic and fibre gla.s.s products. Musical instruments and audiovisual equipment, include television, depend crucially on certain advanced materials.

What happens when somebody breaks a bone? Many implants to replace the broken bines are made of modern materials like t.i.tanium the catheters used to save patients with blocked blood vessels are made of special metallic wires coated with plastic material. Many biomaterials are also now emerging.