Wheat Production in India: Trends and Prospects

Trends in Indian wheat production before and after the inception of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on wheat have been analyzed to show its significant progress over the years. A brief intercountry comparison of productivity, production and area coupled with regional comparison within India has been attempted to give an idea about the contribution of country and regions, respectively, for global and national food security. The milestones in Indian wheat programme and research outcomes were highlighted post-AICRP along with the vision and strategies set for 2050 against diverse production challenges. Regional disparities, zone-wise production constraints and research programmes for achieving the set production target were briefed. The chapter concludes with possible interventions in strengthening the complete wheat value chain for ensuring food security for the future generation

Food Price Volatility in India – Drivers, Impact and Policy Response

Volatility in agricultural commodity prices is a priority policy agenda in the ongoing debate on commodity markets vis-à-vis food inflation. The extent of volatility in food commodities has been examined by comparing different indicators. In comparison to previous two decades, food prices are volatile globally and more in rice and wheat particularly during the decade since 2000. In contrast, the extent of price volatility in absolute and relative terms for India elucidated that rice and wheat are less volatile. Plausible drivers of price volatility have been empirically verified based on the arguments in economic forums besides elaborating its impact on economy. The study also highlights the various existing price stabilisation measures and concludes with a pragmatic approach of policy interventions to encounter the rising food prices

Food Price Volatility in India – Drivers, Impact and Policy Response

Volatility in agricultural commodity prices is a priority policy agenda in the ongoing debate on commodity markets vis-à-vis food inflation. The extent of volatility in food commodities has been examined by comparing different indicators. In comparison to previous two decades, food prices are volatile globally and more in rice and wheat particularly during the decade since 2000. In contrast, the extent of price volatility in absolute and relative terms for India elucidated that rice and wheat are less volatile. Plausible drivers of price volatility have been empirically verified based on the arguments in economic forums besides elaborating its impact on economy. The study also highlights the various existing price stabilisation measures and concludes with a pragmatic approach of policy interventions to encounter the rising food prices

Technical efficiencies and yield variability are comparable across organic and conventional farms

Cotton is essentially a smallholder crop across tropical countries. Being a major cash crop, it plays a decisive role in the livelihoods of cotton-producing farmers. Both conventional and organic production systems offer alternative yet interesting propositions to cotton farmers. This study was conducted in Nimar valley, a prominent cotton-producing region of central India, with the aim of categorically evaluating the contribution of management and fixed factors to productivity on conventional and organic cotton farms. A study framework was developed considering the fixed factors, which cannot be altered within reasonable limits of time, capacity and resources, e.g., landholding or years of age and/or practice; and management factors, which can be altered/influenced within a reasonable time by training, practice and implementation. Using this framework, a structured survey of conventional and organic farms operating under comparable circumstances was conducted. Landholding and soil types were significant contributors/predictors of yield on organic farms. In contrast, landholding was not the main factor related to yields on conventional farms, which produced the highest yields when led by farmers with more than five years of formal education and living in a joint family. Nitrogen application, the source of irrigation (related to timely and adequate supply), crop rotation and variables related to adequate plant population (seed source, germination rate and plant thinning) were the main management factors limiting cotton yields among conventional and organic farms. Both organic and conventional farms in the Nimar valley exhibited a similar pattern of variation in cotton yields and technical efficiency. This study highlights the enormous scope for improving cotton productivity in the region by improving technical efficiency, strengthening extension services and making appropriate policy interventions

Deciphering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security, agriculture, and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from developing countries

With COVID-19 now spreading in developing countries, massive consequences on health and livelihoods are feared. Food security is the most important and crucial aspect of sustainable development. The agricultural sector forms the backbone of the economy and provides livelihood to a large section in developing countries. Therefore, the disruption in food security and the agricultural sector will have far-reaching impacts on these countries. Owing to the importance of these sectors, this paper performs a comprehensive assessment of the effect of COVID-19 on food security and agriculture. The research suggests coping and mitigation mechanisms that can be adopted to sustain livelihoods

Antibiotic resistance: A cross-sectional study on knowledge, attitude, and practices among veterinarians of Haryana state in India

Aim: The current study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices pertaining to antibiotic usage among the field veterinarians who serve as nodal officers playing a crucial role in disseminating knowledge to the farmers regarding livestock management practices in India. Materials and Methods: A pilot study was conducted in which 106 of the 173 field veterinarians of Haryana, India, agreed to contribute through their valuable participation in the study. The collected data were critically analyzed by simple descriptive statistics, and the responses were ranked using Garrett's ranking method. Results: Our study found that most of the clinicians were aware of the fundamental clinical aspects of antibiotic resistance (AR), i.e., the general causes and transmission of resistance, response during treatment failure, and safe disposal of hospital waste. Further, implementation of "antibiotic stewardship" (rational/responsible use of antibiotics) and interruption of AR transmission by means of cross-kingdom pathogens are two ways to restrict the spread of resistant pathogens which were not in the clinical purview of majority of the clinicians. This highlights a lack of awareness and scope of improving clinician's knowledge pertaining to AR. Moreover, we got to know the methodology adopted by farmers for disposal of infected milk from diseased udders as well as their attitude toward diseased and unproductive animals. Conclusion: This study provides snippets of the current animal husbandry practices prevalent at the field level which would assist to plug in the gaps of knowledge regarding AR among the veterinarians as well as the general public and serve to reduce its deleterious impacts in Indian animal farming as well as in the world through the concept of "One World, One Health.

Genetic gains in grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars developed from 1965 to 2020 for irrigated production conditions of northwestern plains zone of India

Field trials with 13 landmark wheat cultivars released between 1965 and 2020 were conducted at 15 different locations during 2019–2020 and 2020–2021, providing data from 30 environments. The study of the historical set of spring wheat varieties from the North-Western Plains Zone (NWPZ) of India developed in the last 55 years demonstrated an improvement of grain yield from 3208 to 6275 kg ha−1 or a genetic gain of 1.21% year−1 over long-term check cultivar C306. In real terms, the yield has increased at a rate of 44.14 kg ha−1 year−1. To compare the present genetic gain study, a trend analysis based on historical grain yield data in standard AVT in the zone from 1980 to 2020 was also attempted, which revealed that the percent yield increase was 0.78 per annum. To achieve a higher rate of genetic gain, it requires greater breeding efficiency in the national breeding program through more systematic use of genetic diversity to introduce novel alleles as well as application of new breeding approaches like speed breeding and genomic selection