Agricultural Productivity

Agricultural Productivity & Agricultural Efficiency are the two measures used to evaluate and compare levels of Agricultural Development and quality of agriculture

Agricultural efficiency

Agriculture efficiency can be calculated if all the components of agriculture i/p and o/p have numerical values and can be monetized. This requires the quantification of every component of agriculture.

Agricultural efficiency is the ratio of Agricultural output to Agricultural input

Why is it difficult to monetize efficiency?

• In agriculture, it is difficult to quantify and monetize the
  • land fertility,
  • organic inputs,
  • type of seeds,
  • water usage particularly rainwater.
• Subsistence Agriculture - The challenge is more for subsistence agriculture like that of India where the commercial transaction is limited both for output and input. Even farm labor is the extended family labor where there are no wages paid to quantify the labor input.
• Although agricultural efficiency is the best measure, it is rarely accurate.

Agricultural Productivity is the convenient measurement

It is a convenient alternative to Agricultural efficiency. Only certain aspects of input or output are depicted therefore its scope is restricted ascertaining the quality of Agricultural practice . Most common form is agricultural yeild /productivity is weight/unit area expressed as kg/hectare. Productivity is best comparable and is most relevant when the same type of crop is compared in the same system of Agricultural practice.

Relationship between Agricultural Productivity & Agricultural efficiency

• Both are not correlated positively always
• In conditions of favorable physical factors with good fertile soils adequate moisture availability increased efficiency would automatically mean increased productivity and the relation is positive
• In conditions of adverse physical factors where inputs are required like fertilizers pesticides irrigation better and costly seats high productivity will come at the cost of Agricultural efficiency hence increased productivity and doesn't always mean a good efficient desirable agricultural system it is important that there is moderation in productivity targets so that agricultural inputs like land and water are judicially used and not with high input management with the system ultimately become unsustainable

Agricultural modernization

One of the objectives of India's agricultural modernization is increasing agricultural productivity. But as a commitment to sustainable and ecologically friendly agriculture, input management should be managed such that efficiency is not compromised in the long run. India has a goodfertile land. so input intensity should be controlled and productivity optimised not maximized. For most crops if India can increase by another 30% we not only will achieve the target of managing domestic demand but also generate surplus for global agricultural trade.

Patterns of Agricultural Productivity in India

• Crop productivity for most crops and most regions of India is low the average productivity of India is less than half or even one third compared to the best productivity regions of the world
• Commercial cash crops -
  • sugarcane - best in the world
  • Cotton tea spices - fairly high
• the productivity of pulses millets oilseeds and lemon rice and weight is less than what can be expected in a developed agriculture
• Reasons for low productivity - Type of farming and agricultural practice
  • land fragmentation socio economic status of farmers recurrent drought problems institutional factors like land ownership landons feudal exploitative culture
• Most regions have high agricultural potential
• Human aspect - it is the lack of development of human aspect which is compromised the productivity in agriculture

Productivity patterns can be studied under the following three regions

1. Areas of high and very high productivity
   • Areas
     1. the Green Revolution belt Punjab Haryana Northern Rajasthan Western up
     2. Cauvery basin
     3. Kashmir Valley Horticulture floriculture Saffron culture
     4. areas of commercial plantation coffee and tea
     5. the new and non-crops that have been adopted for commercial Exports example kiwi, lemongrass, strawberry, tulips, floriculture, poultry, brackishwater aquaculture.
   • the higher and very high productivity regions have sustainable input management invariably at the cost of environmental degradation and pollution
2. areas of low and very low productivity
   1. areas that have
      1. limited agricultural resources,
      2. lower land fertility
      3. Limited water availability
      4. adverse Terrain
      5. extreme climatic conditions
   2. like Rajasthan's Marusthali desserts, hilly areas, plateau interiors, Ladakh region, coastal swamps and wetlands, Malwa, Bundelkhand, Kutch.
   3. marginal lands - such regions are marginal lands agriculture shouldn't be encouraged because it will come at the cost of ecological damage
   4. the best option is non-crop options like poultry, livestock, Forestry land use, even industry for better Employment generation.
   5. all these areas are a part of the dry-land region of India with recurring draught and crop failure and hence water management and watershed-based development should be the preferable step
3. areas a moderate productivity
   1. Most of India comes under moderate productivity regions
   2. Riverbanks, coastal region, plateau highlands that do not have serious limitation potential
   3. This region has on average good agricultural resources and agricultural potential.
   4. the limitations are to do with Limited agricultural infrastructure, institutional factors of land fragmentation, and history of Agricultural exploitation.
   5. agriculture is rain-fed and therefore monsoon dependency may be responsible for Limited Agricultural Development
   6. These areas can yield high productivity provided they are supported with enabling infrastructure and policies
   7. middle and lower Ganga Plains of UP and Bengal

Bringing green revolution to Eastern India

• To develop North Eastern plains
• Experiments like a system of rice intensification have been launched
• It tries to improve productivity using Limited water, organic fertilizers, and more ecologically sustainable agriculture.
• Paramparagat Krishi Yojana - revive the traditional system - organic fertilizer & vermicompost
• The green revolution that is being promoted for Eastern India is dramatically different from what was launched for western India from 1966 to 1967
• The focus is to improve productivity without the ecological damage as has been experimented in Punjab and Haryana

Cropping Intensity

• The measure of the quality of Agricultural practice
• The measure of the intensity of land use to put it quantitatively how much is the land frequently sown and harvested in a year
• Mathematically the ratio of gross area to net sown area expressed as a percentage

Increasing Cropping Intensity

• The technique for improving agricultural productivity
• Higher agricultural produce
• For Appropriate land management - because Land Fallowing is one of the main problems that result in soil erosion and eventually desertification in the dry regions.
• For sustained farmers livelihood
• But it requires good agricultural management
  • Irrigation in dry seasons
  • Crop rotation with the right combination of crops so as to not compromise with land fertility in the long run

Cropping intensity - India

• The average cropping intensity of India is around 140%
• Punjab has cropping intensity >190%

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