India Registers Boost In Agricultural Productivity

India Registers Boost In Agricultural Productivity

India has achieved record crop production this year. It has a harvest a record 264.4 million tonnes of grains in crops for this year ending June. This will ease pressure on the new government which may have to cope with irregular monsoon patterns due to El Nino. However, in more news for the agricultural sector and Indian consumers, the IMD has now predicted that monsoons will reach India on June 5 this year.

While predicting the pattern of rainfall in the year is a tough task, record output in wheat and rice are signaling that at least when it comes to productivity, the agricultural sector has scored gains. This is also a positive signal for fertilizer industries and agribusiness units which are looking to make gains this year.

Record output will tide over the new government while regulatory policies are being framed. Total rice output is going to hit 106.29 million tonnes in the current year, up from 105.24 million tonnes in the previous year. The output of wheat is likely to reach 95.85 million tonnes as against 93.61 million tonnes in the previous year.

Farmers in India face a lot of adverse conditions such as lack of adequate financing and poor irrigation systems. Apart from this, they also face problems such as vagaries of the monsoon which is subject to change. With the impact of global warming being felt across the world, it is no wonder that monsoons in India have been impacted as well.

The excessive amount of rainfall experienced in southern states is beyond the normal. Kerala has suffered huge amount of losses due to the incessant rainfall. Andhra Pradesh is facing the threat of floods. IMD has indicated that annual rains in India could hit Kerala around June 5. Though this is behind the normal arrival of the monsoons, the signal to the agricultural sector is largely positive if the large stockpiles are taken into account.

Monsoons account for the irrigation of nearly 50% of India's farmland. Record amounts of rice and wheat output production will lead to increases in stockpiles. This can prove to be a valuable buffer against El Nino. Specifically, noted scientists from around the world have cautioned Indian farmers about this phenomenon. This weather pattern is marked be the warming of the surface temperatures of the sea in the area around the Pacific Ocean and leads to droughts in Asia Pacific.

India has been facing the possibility of excessive swings in the patterns of rainfall across the region. Grain export restrictions were eased to enable India to emerge as the topmost rice exporter and key wheat supplier to the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries. But what is really needed at this juncture is that infrastructure and irrigation systems need to be in place so that the crop failure does not occur.

The Indian agricultural sector has been at the receiving end of inaction for successive governments now. Whether it is at the state or central level, irrigation systems need to be operational so that Indian farmers do not have to rely on uncertain monsoons every time. Another possible problem is that the phenomenon such as El Nino will become more common as global warming continues to take effect. So, governments need to be alert about taking steps to curb this environmental menace, besides providing adequate financing and irrigation facilities to the Indian farmer. Only then can successive years of high agricultural productivity become a reality.