5th Aqua Aquaria India 2019

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Recently, the Vice President of India inaugurated the 5 th Aqua Aquaria India, 2019 in
Hyderabad, Telangana.

The theme for the 2019 edition is “To take Blue Revolution to India's hinterland”.
It is the largest aquaculture exhibition in India.
It is a biennial exhibition organised by the Marine Products Export Development
Authority (MPEDA).

Fisheries Sector in India

India is the second-largest fish producer in the world.
Fish constituted about 10% of total exports from India and almost 20% of
agriculture exports in 2017-18.
India is the 4 th largest exporter of fish in the world.
Contribution of fisheries to the GDP is about 1% and about 5.37% to the
Agricultural GDP.
Thus, India has the potential to emerge as a leading Blue Economy in the world.
Notified existing potentials in the Fisheries sector are:
Shrimp Culture: Recently, the government has permitted the regulated
introduction of Pacific White Shrimp with the objective of utilizing the potential
of the species to cater to the global markets.
Cage Culture: It involves the growing of fish in existing water resources while
being enclosed in a net cage which allows free flow of water.
Pen Culture: It is the system of culturing fish within a fixed net enclosure either
at the bank or in a water body

Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)

Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is a nodal coordinating,
state-owned agency engaged in fishery production and allied activities.

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 It was established in 1972 under the Marine Products Export Development
Authority Act (MPEDA), 1972.
It functions under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
It is headquartered in Kochi, Kerala.
Its mandate is to increase exports of seafood including fisheries of all kinds, specifying
standards, marketing, processing, extension and training in various aspects.

Source: PIB

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ICAR to Set up Farmers’ Innovation Fund
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Why in News
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is all set to start a Farmers
Innovation Fund. ICAR will bring a system to scientifically validate, scale-up and propagate
the innovations of progressive farmers.

As part of this system, an innovation centre will be established in New Delhi where
the innovations will be scientifically validated and farmers will be allowed to pursue
research work.

Key Points
Agriculture and Science: The system intends to link farmers and farming with
science and to ensure that their farm practices are science-based. It would also
encourage farmers to continue their innovations.
Krishi Vigyan Kendras document the innovations of farmers.
Technology in Agriculture: ICAR emphasises that agriculture is a science and
application of principles of science helps in boosting agriculture.
Scientific approach and use of technology helped in the success of various
agricultural and allied sectors’ revolutions like- green revolution and white
revolution.
ICAR has created a link between 105 startups and farmers to encourage the
use of technology in the farm sector.
Organic Farming: ICAR has developed 45 different organic farming models suitable
for different agro-climatic regions and has validated 51 integrated farming systems
to help increase farm income.
Fertilisers and Pesticides: ICAR is developing nano fertilizers and nano pesticides
to promote organic farming and to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers

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 Youth and Agriculture: A programme named Arya is also being implemented to
improve rural bio-economy and attract youth to agriculture.
Till now over 5000 youth have been brought into this programme in which they
have been trained to be entrepreneurs and begin a start-up. Around 104
such startups are marketing processed food items.
Indian Science Congress: Its theme for the year 2020 was “Science & Technology:
Rural Development”. Also, Farmers’ Science Congress was inaugurated for the first
time in the 107 years of history of the Indian Science Congress highlighting the
importance of farmer’s innovations and their scientific validity.

Indian Council of Agricultural Resource

It is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research

and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
It was established on 16 July 1929 and was formerly known as Imperial Council of
Agricultural Research.
It is headquartered at New Delhi.
It is the apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in
agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country.

Krishi Vigyan Kendras

It is an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS), which

aims at the assessment of location-specific technology modules in agriculture and
allied enterprises, through technology assessment, refinement, and demonstrations.
KVKs have been functioning as Knowledge and Resource Centre of agricultural
technology supporting initiatives of public, private and voluntary sectors for improving
the agricultural economy of the district and are linking the NARS with extension
system and farmers.
These are 100% funded by the Government of India.
The first KVK was established in 1974 at Puducherry.

Source: TH

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Seed Bankers for Conserving Native Crops
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A total of 1597 farmers varieties have been registered with Protection of Plant Varieties and
Farmers' Rights Authority and certificates of registration have been issued.

India’s Seed Bank

India has established its own seed storage facility at Chang La in Ladakh, Jammu and
Kashmir.
It has been built jointly by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR)
and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 2010 under the
aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
It stores over 5,000 seed accessions (one accession consists of a set of seeds of a
particular species collected from different geographical and demographic locations).
Note: Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s largest seed storage facility
situated at Norway.

ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR)

It is a nodal organisation for management of plant genetic resources in India and

functions under the control of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
It is conserving seed germplasm for long-term conservation (at -20°C) in its National
Genebank (NGB)
It plans, organizes, conducts and coordinates exploration and collection of indigenous
and exotic plant genetic resources.

Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority

It is a statutory body created under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers
Rights Act, 2001 (PPV&FR Act).
Plant Genome Saviour Reward is also given by it to the farmers engaged in the
conservation of genetic resources of landraces and wild relatives of economic plants
and their improvement.
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Objectives
Establishment of an effective system for the protection of plant varieties, the rights of
farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the development of new varieties of
plants.
Recognition and protection of the rights of farmers in respect to their contribution in
conserving, improving and making available plant genetic resources for the
development of new plant varieties.
Accelerate agricultural development in the country by stimulation of investment for
research and development both in public and private sector.
Facilitate growth of seed industry to ensure the availability of quality seeds and
planting material to the farmers.

Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 (PPV&FR

Act)
It has been enacted to fulfill India’s obligation under the agreement on Trade Related
aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of the World Trade Organization
as also to stimulate investment in Research and Development for the development of
new plant varieties which will facilitate the growth of the seed industry and ensure the
availability of high quality seeds to the farmers.
The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 provides for the
establishment of an effective system for the protection of plant breeders’ rights.
According to section 39 of the Act, farmers are allowed to save, use, sow, re-sow,
exchange, share and even sell farm produce including seed of a protected variety. But
when it is sold, it cannot be packaged and branded as such.

Source: PIB

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Integrated Management of Public Distribution System
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The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has launched a new central
sector scheme- Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IMPDS). It will be
implemented during 2018-19 and 2019-20.

The IMPDS system is already operational in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana,

Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura,
wherein a beneficiary can avail his share of foodgrain from any district in the state.

Key Objectives
Implementation of nation-wide portability of ration cards to lift foodgrains from
any fair price shop (FPS) across the country, moving towards ‘one nation one ration
card’.
Creation of national level data repository- for de-duplication of beneficiary data
(Aadhaar based).
Use of advanced data analytics techniques to bring about continuous
improvements.

Significance
It will bring more transparency and efficiency in the distribution of foodgrains.
It will improve the mechanism to identify fake/duplicate ration cards and provide
the option to PDS beneficiaries to lift their entitled foodgrains from the Fair Price
Shops of their choice at the national level.
The scheme will ensure food security of migrant labourers who move to other
states to seek better job opportunities.

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Bringing A Multiplier Effect In Indian Agriculture
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This article is based on “Giving PM-KISAN the multiplier effect” and “Thinking beyond
farm sops”. It talks about an array of reforms that need to be carried out in order to bring a
multiplier effect to India’s agricultural growth.

Agriculture is a crucial segment for inclusive development and provides stimulus to the
economy, especially when it is not doing too well. Since India has laid down the target of
doubling farmers' income by 2022, therefore, it is imperative to lay a strong foundation by
launching measures that can stem falling farm growth.

In pursuance of this, the government had launched a direct income transfer scheme called
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) in 2019. Though the scheme was a
tectonic shift in the nature of government support to farmers in India.

However, there is a lot to be done (than just addressing the liquidity constraints of
farmers), to achieve a vibrant agrarian sector in India.

PM-KISAN Scheme
PM-KISAN scheme was aimed at addressing the liquidity constraints of farmers for
meeting their expenses for the acquisition of agricultural inputs and services.
The scheme implemented from February 2019 provides each eligible farmer’s family
₹6,000 per annum in three instalments of ₹2,000 each.
This scheme is particularly important in a country like India, where still about half of
the farming households do not have access to formal credit.
Initially, farmers with less than two hectares of land were eligible; subsequently, the
benefit was extended to all farmers (about 140 million farmers) from June 2019
onwards.
The amount is transferred directly to the beneficiary’s bank account to check
leakages.
93% of non-beneficiary farmers had already applied for the scheme, depicting
awareness and potential uptake.
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 Banking infrastructure created through Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
and digitisation of the complete database of farmers who were now registered in the
system with their credentials by the state governments played a key role in the fund
disbursal.

How PM-KISAN scheme can be augmented to give a multiplier effect?

According to a study conducted by International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) in association with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) in
Uttar Pradesh, PM-KISAN scheme along with agricultural advisory services (Krishi
Vigyan Kendras), can pull farmers out of poverty.
By investing more in agricultural advisory services, the government can encourage
farmers to invest some or all part of the income support in productive assets for
achieving the multiplier effect of PM-KISAN (the exponential growth in India’s
agricultural growth trajectory).
Farmers receiving PM-KISAN benefit in the agricultural peak season are more likely to
spend it on agriculture, and those getting it in the off-season are more likely to spend
it on consumption.
This clearly suggests that the timing of benefits has implications on spending
patterns.
Therefore, the transfer of benefits should be synchronised in a way that
prompts farmer for investment in agriculture.

A direct transfer scheme like PM-KISAN is a game-changer and can have significant effects
if it is timely, not transaction cost heavy and is provided with complementary inputs such as
extension services.

Extension Services:

The extension is an informal educational process directed toward the rural

population. This process offers advice and information to help them solve their
problems.
The extension also aims to increase the efficiency of the family farm, increase
production and generally increase the standard of living of the farm family.

However, in the absence of holistic agricultural reforms, direct income transfer will
just be one cog in the wheel. In this context other reforms that need to be taken are:

The disparity in agriculture expenditure and growth drivers needs to be

addressed.
Despite higher growth in livestock and fisheries sector, only moderate to low
expenditure was recorded.

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The expenditure on research and development in agriculture needs to be raised
from nearly 0.40% of agriculture GDP to 1% as it pays huge dividends in the long run in
ameliorating poverty and improving livelihoods compared to any other investment.
Considering India’s dependency on agriculture and recurring climate-induced
disasters, it is imperative to expand the implementation of Climate-Smart Villages all
across the nation.
The Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), which are currently facing operational
and structural issues governed by different Acts and funded by various sources, may
be strengthened by bringing them under one institution, preferably an FPO
Development and Regulatory Authority.
A structured impetus must be given to building blockchain-based e-marketplaces
connecting farmers, traders, agencies, institutions and exporters on a common
platform to check price fluctuations and harness decentralisation.
Affordable technologies must be developed and deployed particularly in rural and
remote areas where digital literacy of farmers has improved considerably.
Small-scale investment measures or an incentive-based system is essential to scale
up sustainable practices such as agroforestry, climate-smart agriculture, ecosystem
services, conservation agriculture and others.
Large-scale investment in agriculture over several years have encouraged
monoculture, threatening the environment and soil health (mainly in green
revolution areas).
Increasing corporate social responsibility will help to tap more private investments
besides encouraging private players in potential areas where production sustainability
is possible.
The government must establish a farm data agency, which can consolidate, collate
and maintain farm data available at various platforms.
Access to farm agency data for scientific institutions and all other relevant
stakeholders can hasten the process of technology dissemination and aid
research systems for better policies.
Commissioning Ease of Farming Index is necessary to ascertain the progress made
by national and state governments on the key indicators of farming.
This perhaps stands away from the conventional assessment of the
effectiveness of agriculture policies and programmes that are part of the farm
support system.
Moreover, the exercise may foster cooperative and competitive federalism
besides encouraging States which are lagging behind to catch up.

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 The need of the hour is to set up two key institutions:
A national agricultural development council on the lines of the Goods and
Services Tax Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister for effective
coordination and convergence of States on key reforms and policies.
Farmers’ welfare commissions (both at the Centre and State level), as an
independent institutional mechanism which will act as a neutral platform for
assessing all agriculture-related issues and schemes.
It is pertinent to deliberate on an ‘Indian Agricultural Service’ on the lines of the
Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
In addition, to deal effectively with increasing droughts and floods and other extreme
events, transfer of agriculture to the concurrent list is of prime importance.

Therefore, the right mix of direct benefits and price support with focused investment on
resource conservation might bring stability in farmers’ income.

Drishti Mains Question

Despite several measures to reduce the vulnerability of farmers in India, the farm
sector and farmers continue to suffer losses. Suggest some measures that can be
taken to improve their conditions.

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Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference 2020
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Why in News
The 11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference was held in New Delhi.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)

KVK is an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS).
It aims at assessment of location specific technology modules in agriculture and allied
enterprises, through technology assessment, refinement and demonstrations.
KVKs also produce quality technological products (seed, planting material, bio-agents,
livestock) and make it available to farmers.
The KVK scheme is 100% financed by the Government of India and the KVKs are
sanctioned to Agricultural Universities, ICAR institutes, related Government
Departments and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) working in Agriculture.
The first KVK was established in 1974 at Puducherry.
KVKs act as a bridge between the laboratories and farmland.These are crucial to
fulfilling the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Developments in Agriculture
R&D has been done in the Agriculture sector.
Superior crop varieties have been released. (Eg;-Wheat: HD 4728 (Pusa Malvi))
171 mobile apps developed for farmers. (Eg:-Kisan Suvidha)
More than three lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) opened.
eNAM portal has been created so that the farmer gets a better price for his
produce.

Note:

It is estimated that India’s agriculture and allied sector accounts only for around 14%
of the country’s economy but for 42% of total employment.
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 It is a matter of concern that within this sector, the contribution of Agriculture alone
is lower than that of Horticulture, Fisheries and even Animal Husbandry.

Source: PIB

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Sahyadri Megha: New Paddy Variety
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Why in News
The University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (UAHS), Shivamogga (Karnataka),
has developed a new variety of paddy, ‘Sahyadri Megha’.

The University has developed the new variety to prevent decline in the area under
paddy cultivation.

Reasons Behind Developing the New Variety

Paddy growers are switching over to commercial crops like arecanut, ginger and
rubber for lucrative returns.
The area under paddy that was around 1.5 lakh hectares in Shivamogga district
in 1990, has come down to around 1.05 lakh hectares.
The ‘Jyothi’ variety which is widely cultivated in the command areas of the Bhadra
and the Tunga reservoirs and in semi-arid areas in Sorab, Shikaripur, Hanagal and Sirsi
taluks in Karnataka has become vulnerable to blast disease and other infestations.
Demand by customers in urban areas for red rice which is rich in fibre and protein.
The red variety gets its rich colour from an antioxidant called anthocyanins,
which are also found in deep purple or reddish fruits and vegetables. The
compound is believed to have properties that can reduce inflammation, allergy,
prevent risks of cancer and help in weight management.

Sahyadri Megha
Sahyadri Megha is a red variety of paddy that is resistant to blast disease and rich
in nutrients.
It was developed under the hybridization breeding method by cross-breeding the
best among the ‘Jyothi’ variety with that of ‘Akkalu’, a disease-resistant and protein-
rich paddy variety.

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 The new variety will be notified under the Indian Seed Act 1966 shortly after which it
will become part of the seed chain.
Key Attributes
The protein content in it is 12.48%, higher than the other red rice varieties
grown.
The yield per hectare from ‘Sahyadri Megha’ is around 65 quintals, substantially
higher than other red paddy varieties.
It is a medium-term paddy that can be grown when there is a delay in the onset
of monsoon. It can be harvested after 120 days of sowing.

Blast Disease

It is caused by fungus Pyricularia grisea (P. oryzae).

Also known as rotten neck or rice fever.
First recorded in India during 1918.
Expected grain loss : 70 to 80%.

Source : TH

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APEDA signs MoU with SFAC
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Why in News
Recently, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
(APEDA) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Small Farmers
Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to bring in better synergy in the agricultural activities.

Key Points
APEDA has been in dialog with SFAC for linking of Farmer Producer Organizations
(FPOs), farmers’ cooperatives to the export value chain through quality production
as per the requirement of importing countries.
Agri Export Policy announced by Government of India with Farmers’ Centric
Approach suggests for developing product specific clusters in the country to help
improve productivity and quality of the varieties of crops with special involvement of
FPOs.
FPOs are an institutional innovation to help small holders to reduce cost of
produce by procuring necessary inputs in bulk at wholesale rates, aggregation of
produce and bulk transport reducing marketing cost etc. and extend their reach
to modern technology and distant markets.
The Policy also aims at addressing the obstacles faced by FPOs through
organisations like SFAC to expand its network.
The joint collaboration will enable SFAC and APEDA to reach a large farmer base for
improving the production base of agri products quantitatively and qualitatively.
It will maintain the consistency of supply and establish an image of quality
suppliers in the International market leading to increase in export volume and
value, contributing indirectly to doubling of farmers’ income.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority

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 It is an authority established under an act of Parliament and under the
administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of
India.
It has been mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and
development of the scheduled products viz. fruits, vegetables, meat products, dairy
products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages etc.
APEDA has also been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor import of sugar.

Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium

It is an autonomous society promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture,

Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare.
It is a pioneer in organising small and marginal farmers as Farmers Interest Groups,
Farmers Producers Organisation (FPOs) and Farmers Producers Company for
endowing them with bargaining power and economies of scale.
It provides a platform for increased accessibility and cheaper availability of
agricultural inputs to small and marginal farmers and in establishing forward and
backward linkages in supply chain management.

Source: PIB

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Soil Health Card Scheme
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Why in News
According to the National Productivity Council (NPC), the Soil Health Card scheme has
led to a decline of 8-10% in the use of chemical fertilizers and also raised productivity
by 5-6%.

Issuance of the Soil Health Cards has enabled the farmers to understand the soil
health parameters and improve the productivity by judicious application of soil
nutrients.

Key Points
Under the Phase-I (2015-17) of the scheme, 10.74 crore cards were distributed, while
under the Phase-II (2017-19), 11.69 crore cards have been distributed.
A pilot project, ‘Development of Model Villages’ is also being implemented by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in the financial year 2019-20.
It is to be noted that, this project is different from the Saansad Adarsh Gram
Yojana (SAGY) which was launched in October 2014 with the goal of
developing the socio-economic and physical infrastructure of villages.

Development of Model Villages

Under this project, a Model Village is selected for aggregation of soil samples and
analysis of each agricultural holding.
The programme promotes farm holding based soil sample collection and testing with
farmers’ participation.

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 The Soil Health Card Scheme along with other projects (National Mission for
Sustainable Agriculture) for soil health management has created jobs for the
agrarian youth.
Under these, village youth and farmers up to 40 years of age are eligible to set
up Soil Health Laboratories and undertake testing.
75% of laboratory costs are proposed to be funded by the Central and State
Governments.
The same provision applies to Self Help Groups, Farmers’ Cooperative
Societies, Farmers Groups and Agricultural Producing Organisations.

Soil Health Card Scheme

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare introduced the scheme on

December 5, 2015.
Soil Health Card (SHC) is a printed report which contains nutrient status of soil
with respect to 12 nutrients: pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon (OC),
Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), Zinc (Zn), Boron (B), Iron (Fe),
Manganese (Mn) and Copper (Cu) of farm holdings.
SHC is provided to all farmers in the country at an interval of 3 years to enable the
farmers to apply recommended doses of nutrients based on soil test values to realize
improved and sustainable soil health and fertility, low costs and higher profits.
Farmers can track their soil samples and also obtain their Soil Health Card report.
It is a field-specific detailed report of soil fertility status and other important soil
parameters that affect crop productivity.

National Productivity Council

It is a national-level organization to promote productivity culture in India.

Established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in
1958, it is an autonomous, multipartite, non-profit organization.

Source: PIB

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MACS 4028 Wheat Variety
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Recently, scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, have developed a
biofortified durum wheat variety MACS 4028.

ARI Pune is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science &

Technology, Government of India.

Note

Biofortification is a process to increase the bioavailability and the concentration of

nutrients in crops through both conventional plant breeding and genetic
engineering.
Durum is a kind of hard wheat grown in arid regions that is typically ground into
semolina and used to make pasta.
Durum wheat, or Triticum turgidum, is the second most cultivated species
of wheat after bread wheat, which is also called common wheat or Triticum
aestivum.

Key Points
Biofortified durum MACS 4028 wheat variety shows high protein content of about
14.7%, better nutritional quality having zinc 40.3 ppm, and iron content of 40.3
ppm and 46.1 ppm respectively, good milling quality and overall acceptability.
ppm stands for parts per million.
MACS 4028, is a semi-dwarf variety, which matures in 102 days and has shown the
superior and stable yielding ability of 19.3 quintals per hectare.
It is resistant to stem rust, leaf rust, foliar aphids, root aphids, and brown
wheat mite.

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 The MACS 4028 variety is also included by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)
programme for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to alleviate malnutrition in a
sustainable way and can boost the Vision 2022 “Kuposhan Mukt Bharat”, the
National Nutrition Strategy.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has also tagged this variety
under the Biofortified category during the year 2019.
MACS 4028 has been notified by the Central Sub-Committee on Crop Standards,
Notification and Release of Varieties for Agricultural Crops (CVRC) for timely sown,
rainfed condition of Peninsular Zone, comprising Maharashtra and Karnataka.
In the peninsular zone of India (Maharashtra and Karnataka states), wheat
cultivation is majorly done under rainfed and limited irrigation conditions. Under
such conditions, the crop experiences moisture stress.
Efforts for the development of high yielding, early maturing varieties with good quality
and disease resistance for rainfed conditions are carried out at Agharkar Research
Institute, Pune under All India coordinated Wheat and Barley improvement
programme, coordinated through Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research,
Karnal governed by the ICAR.
The MACS 4028 is an outcome of such intervention for the farmers.
All India Coordinated Research Project on Wheat and Barley (AICRP) mandates
multidisciplinary and multilocational testing of varietal, newly developed
improved genotypes, crop management and crop protection technologies across
the diverse ecosystems for increasing and stabilizing the wheat production.

Wheat

This is the second most important cereal crop in India after rice.
It is the main food crop, in northand north-western part of the country.
Wheat is a rabi crop that requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the
time of ripening.
It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly-distributed over the growing season.
There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country – the Ganga-Satluj
plains in the north-west and black soil region of the Deccan.
The Major wheat-producing states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh etc.

Source: PIB

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Agriculture Reforms
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This article is based on “Reforming Indian Agriculture” which was published in Economic and Political Weekly on
14/03/2020. It talks about challenges and solutions pertaining to India’s Agriculture sector.

India’s agriculture policies have had multiple mandates, including a production imperative (national food security), a
consumer imperative (keeping food prices low for a large low-income population), and a farmer welfare imperative
(raising farmer’s income).

Tensions between these mandates have resulted in costly, contradictory policies whose costs have been increasingly borne by
farmers, the government purse, and the natural environment.

Realising the significance of Agriculture in India’s socio-economic order, the government has set an agenda of doubling
farmer incomes by raising productivity and cutting down costs, and going for diversification towards high value agriculture.

However, Indian Agriculture is in the need for many fundamental reforms.

Significance of Agriculture in India

Highest Employment Provider: More Indians depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for employment than on
any other sector.
Addresses Malnutrition and provides food security: Agriculture holds a key to reducing India’s malnutrition
problem, directly affecting public health and worker productivity.
Augmenting Economic Growth: Agriculture has the potential to spur India’s overall gross domestic product (GDP)
growth.
Agricultural growth of 4%, would add at least a percentage point to GDP, increase exports and improve India’s
trade deficit.
Economic transformation in developing nations is propelled by increases in agricultural incomes underpinning
industrial growth. For example, China's economic growth.
India’s vital land and water resources, which farmers used for agricultural production, assumes more significance
especially in the face of mounting scarcity, environmental degradation, and climate change.

Actions Taken by Government to Increase Farmer Income

Subsidizing Input Costs: Providing water,power and fertilizer subsidies to decrease production costs.
Green Revolution: Increasing yields through better farming practices and timely availability of quality inputs, especially
high yielding seeds, chemical fertilisers and water.
Stabilizing Output Prices: Through minimum support prices (MSP) and public procurement.
Augmenting Non-Crop related Agriculture Income: KUSUM scheme.
Providing Direct Income Transfers to Farmers: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

Associated Challenges In India’s Agriculture

Issue Related to Subsidies

Agricultural subsidies were introduced to incentivise farmers to take up the green revolution. Subsidies also intended
to reduce the cost of production for farmers and to check food price inflation and protect consumers.

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 However, today it has become apparent that subsidies are inflicting significant damage on different aspects of the
economy.
Subsidised Urea has led to massive overuse of nitrogenous fertilisers, leading to damaged soils and pollution of
local water bodies.
Similarly, power subsidies have not only led to an alarming overuse of groundwater,, but also it has severely
damaged the health of power distribution companies.
Credit subsidies like loan waivers have weakened the Indian banking system (due to increased NPAs), having
negative spillover effects on the economy.
Output price supports in the form of minimum support price (MSP) basically apply to only a handful of crops,
especially wheat and rice that are procured by the government in a handful of states.

Consumer Oriented Policies

Whenever there is a price rise in any agricultural commodity, the government imposes restrictions on exports to
protect Indian consumers. It creates hindrances for farmers taking advantage of high prices in foreign markets.
This, coupled with the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), has meant lower private investment in export infrastructure
such as warehouses and cold storage systems.
This lack of storage infrastructure compels farmers to go for Distress sale.

Flawed Agricultural Marketing Policies

Due to restrictions imposed by Agricultural Produce Market Committee Acts passed by various states, Indian
farmers today can only sell their produce at Farmgate or local market (haat) to village aggregators, APMC mandis and
to government at the minimum support price (MSP).
The introduction of the electronic national agriculture market (e-NAM)—an online trading platform for agricultural
commodities in India—is a step in the right direction. However, its effects have been underwhelming due to three major
bottlenecks:
Time cost of transactions
Quality assessment challenges
Transportation logistics

Marginal Land Holdings

Raising farm productivity is critical for long-term increase in farmer incomes in India, as land fragmentation means that
many Indian farmers are farming plots of such small sizes that even doubling their incomes would leave them with
meagre earnings.
In India, nearly 85% of agricultural land holdings are small and marginal (less than 2 hectare).

Slow Agricultural Growth Rate

The Ashok Dalwai Committee Report on doubling farmers’ income, estimated that the doubling farmers' income will
require an agricultural growth rate of 10-11% per annum, until 2022–23.
However, agricultural growth rate and farmers' income growth rate has been stagnating and well below the required
rate of growth.

Steps to Increase Farmers' Income

Addressing Subsidies Problem

This can be done by:

Freeing up input prices to market levels, or charging an optimum cost pricing for fertilisers, power, agri-credit,
and canal waters fees.
Channelizing the resulting savings for expenditures on investments in agricultural R&D, irrigation, marketing
infrastructure, building value chains by involving Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and linking farms to
organised retail, food processing, and export markets.
Direct income transfers to farmers’ should be promoted by leveraging the trinity of Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile
(JAM) to reduce the leakages and pilferage.

Allowing Land Leasing

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 The central government, in association with the state governments, should free up land lease markets, which can help
provide farmers with a steady income, while maintaining asset security.
In remote dry areas, leasing land to solar or wind power companies could provide farmers with relatively higher
and steadier incomes.
The Model Land Lease Act, 2016 offers an appropriate template for the states and UTs to draft their own piece of
legislations, in consonance with the local requirements and adopt an enabling Act.

Increasing Avenues for Non-Farm Income

Subsidised electricity should be rationalised, as today solar water pumps are operationally and financially sustainable.
This will reduce government burden of electricity subsidies, while at the same time allowing surplus power from the
solar powered pumps to be sold back to the grid.
Promoting value-added uses of biomass like Bamboo for construction and other applications, rice husk and bagasse-
based mini-power plants, and ethanol from sugar cane and corn can all help augment farmer incomes in sustainable
ways while developing more dynamic local rural economies.

Improving Agricultural Export Scenario

India needs to address the composition of its agriculture export basket. Currently agricultural exports constitute
10% of the country’s exports, but the majority of its exports are low value, raw or semi-processed, and marketed in bulk.
The share of India’s high value and value-added agriculture produce is less than 15%.
Robust agriculture exports will increase the demand for India’s farm output (and hence, incomes of farmers).
In this context, the government has launched Agriculture Export Policy 2018. It is aimed at doubling the agricultural
exports and integrating Indian farmers and agricultural products with the global value chains.

Investing in Agriculture Infrastructure

The most sustainable way to augment farmers’ real incomes over the long term is through investments in
productivity-enhancing areas, ranging from agricultural research and development (R&D), to irrigation to the
development of rural and marketing infrastructure.
Local level investments that seek to build village level storage facilities, better surface irrigation management, and
investments in drip irrigation, tile drainage, trap crops, etc, that can give results in a relatively short period of time.

Agricultural Marketing Reforms

Farmers’ income can improve substantially if they are able to capture a greater share in the supply chain from farm gate
to consumer.
For this to happen, farmers must have the freedom to sell what they want, where they want, and when they want
without any restrictions on sale, stocking, movement, and export of farm produce.
These will require legal and institutional changes, major investments in market infrastructure and storage (including
cold-chain storage), and incentives for the creation and operation of infrastructure by FPOs.
In this context, the state needs to adopt Model Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing Act, 2017.

Need For Cooperative Federalism

Agriculture is a state subject and many of the important levers—water, power, irrigation, extension, etc—are
controlled by the states. However, the central government continues to play a larger role.
Thus, reforms can only succeed if the central and state governments work closely together in a spirit of “cooperative
federalism.”

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Drishti Mains Question

Indian Agriculture is in a dire need of fundamental reforms for better fiscal and environmental sustainability.
Discuss.

4/4
Armyworm Attack
drishtiias.com/printpdf/armyworm-attack

Why in News
The Directorate of Agriculture has reported an armyworm attack on the standing crops
in the northeastern Dhemaji district of Assam.

The pest attack has added to sorrows of the already worried farmers, due to the
Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Points
The armyworm caterpillar is the larval stage of several species of moths.
It has a huge appetite and can feed on more than 80 species of plants according to
the entomologists.
Entomology is a branch of zoology which involves the scientific study of
insects.
Challenges:
The weather is a factor because there are no pre-monsoon rains in Assam yet
and the temperature is very high now. The armyworm can cause more
damage in the absence of rain.
Another major issue is reaching out to farmers. All the roads and gaps have
been blocked due to the fear of contracting coronavirus.
Other Concerns:
Officials are afraid of the winter crop cycle getting affected if the lockdown
continues beyond 14th April, 2020.
April-May is the time when paddy farmers in Assam clear weeds and
manure the fields for transplanting the seedlings of the winter crop from
the nursery. The process takes 35-40 days.
According to the farm experts, if the cycle is pushed back by more than a month
it could impact yield because the sowing and maintenance phase of the crops
would be very close to the flood timings of Assam.

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Armyworm

Its scientific name is Spodoptera frugiperda and also commonly referred as Fall
Armyworm (FAW).
It is a dangerous transboundary insect with a high potential to spread rapidly due to
its natural distribution capacity and opportunities presented by international
trade.
FAW represents a real threat to food security and livelihoods of millions of
smallholder farmers by spreading across all of sub-Saharan Africa, the Near East
and Asia.
Control and Elimination:
Farmers need significant support to manage FAW sustainably in their cropping
systems through Integrated Pest Management (IPM) activities.
FAW cannot be eliminated.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched a Global Action for
FAW Control as a response to the international threat posed by the armyworms.

Source: TH

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Alternative Market Channel for Farmers
drishtiias.com/printpdf/alternative-market-channel-for-farmers

Why in News
In Maharashtra, an alternative market channel aids the impact on production and
distribution of agricultural commodities as a result of the lockdown.

It is a nearly two-decade-old initiative to reach fresh produce directly to consumers in

Maharashtra, bypassing the mandis.
Mandi System:
The mandi is a marketplace where farmers sell their produce to the licensed
buyers through auction.
It is operated as per the regulations of Agricultural Produce Market
Committee (APMC).
The auction is facilitated by the adithis (commission agents, middlemen) at the
mandi, who hold licenses and are allotted a shop in the market.
These are wholesale markets - sites of aggregation and assembly, dealing with
the bulk purchases and trade of agricultural commodities, before goods are
processed in different units and distributed through a range of retail channels.

Key Points
The model was introduced in the early 2000s.
The idea was to create smaller, less congested markets in urban areas with the
participation of farmers’ groups and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), so that
growers of vegetables and fruit have direct access to consumers.

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 The model is implemented by the state Agriculture Department and Maharashtra
State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB). Maharashtra is one of a handful of
states where FPCs are robust.
At least 118 such markets were set up in Mumbai, Pune and Thane, with more
planned in Nashik, Aurangabad and other cities before the lockdown began on
March 24, 2020.
The farmers’ groups have filled much of the gap created by the shuttering of
wholesale markets. More than 200 FPCs are now supplying fresh vegetables in
urban Maharashtra.
Working
The government and MSAMB identify farmer groups and FPCs, and form
clusters.
The FPCs and farmers’ groups are allotted space for weekly markets in
municipal wards or localities.
The local bodies choose the market sites and link the markets for direct
delivery to cooperative housing societies.
Some producers’ groups even park pick-up trucks loaded with fruits and
vegetables at the gates of housing societies.
Advantages during lockdown when social distancing is critical:
Traffic of both buyers and sellers in these decentralised markets can be
controlled more effectively than in wholesale mandis.
In several areas of Pune and Mumbai, the decentralised markets have given way
to FPCs delivering directly to the gates of housing societies.
Most FPCs have minimised contact, and have taken to selling pre-packed,
customised packets of vegetables.
Benefits to Farmers
The start of the Covid-19 coincided with the peak vegetable harvesting season.
As the markets were locked down, there was a threat to the crop in over 100 lakh
hectares in the country.
A significant part of the produce of the state has made its way to these markets,
lessening the impact on farmers.
More importantly, larger numbers of vegetable growers in Maharashtra have got into
direct selling to consumers.
The practices of rudimentary packing, sorting and branding are being inculcated in
farmers, as they pack and send pre-ordered packets to housing societies.
This model will likely help create alternative market chains that could continue even
after lockdown.

Farmer Producer Companies

A provision for setting up FPCs was made in the Companies Act, 1956 in 2003 by an
amendment to the Act.
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 According to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),
a producer company is a hybrid between a private limited company and a
cooperative society.
Therefore, it enjoys the benefits of professional management of a private limited
company as well as mutual benefits derived from a cooperative society.
Most of these FPCs are concentrated in a few states such as Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Bihar.
Some have been formed by landless women, labourers or marginal farmers.
A significant proportion of FPCs has been engaged in sale of agricultural
inputs such as seeds and pesticides to farmers while some of them are
involved in commercial seed production.
However, only a handful of FPCs have been able to become financially viable.

Source: IE

3/3
Measures for Farmers’ Welfare
drishtiias.com/printpdf/measures-for-farmers-welfare

Why in News
The Government has taken up measures to protect farmers facing obstacles during the
lockdown due to Covid-19.

Measures for Fruit and Vegetable Farmers

Fruit and Vegetable Farmers have been among the hardest hit by the lockdown.
They are facing major losses due to obstacles in harvesting and marketing their
perishable produce.
The Central Government has directed all the States and Union Territories to
implement the Market Intervention Scheme to ensure remunerative prices to
farmers for perishable crops.
It has also begun a train service to transport perishable agricultural and
horticultural commodities to markets due to the obstacles in road transport.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare 50 trains have been
deployed for this purpose.

Market Intervention Scheme

Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) is implemented by the Department of Agriculture

& Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
The objective of MIS is to provide remunerative prices to the farmers in case of
excess of production and fall in prices.
The MIS is an ad-hoc scheme under which include horticultural commodities and
other agricultural commodities.
These commodities are perishable in nature and which are not covered under
the minimum price support scheme.
Further, the MIS is implemented on the specific requests of the State
Government/UT Administrations willing to share the loss with the Central
Government on a 50:50 basis (75:25 in case of North-Eastern States).
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Measures for Pulses and Oilseeds Farmers
Farmers, mostly in dry-land areas, have been complaining that market prices for toor
and urad dal, chickpeas and soybean are far below the Minimum Support Prices
(MSP) in many mandis, with trading disrupted by the lockdown.
The MSP is the rate at which the government buys grains from farmers.
It is fixed on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs
and Prices (CACP).
The Centre has extended the procurement window for its Price Support Scheme
(PSS) up to 90 days from the date of commencement of the scheme in each State.
The PSS is operationalised on the State governments’ request when the prices fall
below the minimum support price (MSP).
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited
(NAFED) and other agencies procure pulses and oilseeds under the scheme at the
MSP.
The procurement of pulses will also aid in the implementation of the Centre’s
promise to provide one kg of pulses per month to all families with ration cards
for the three months as part of a Covid-19 relief package (Pradhan Mantri
Garib Kalyan Yojana).

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd

NAFED is registered under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.
It was set up in 1958 with the objective to promote Cooperative marketing of
Agricultural Produce to benefit the farmers.
Agricultural farmers are the members of the General Body of NAFED, who
participate in the decision making process of NAFED.

Source: TH

2/2
India’s Food Processing Industry
drishtiias.com/printpdf/india-s-food-processing-industry-1

This article is based on “Hungry for more” which was published in Business Standard on
16/04/2020. It talks about challenges and steps to be taken in India’s food processing Industry.

Worldwide government’s have imposed social distancing and lockdown in order to deal with the
Covid-19 pandemic. This lockdown scenario has highlighted the importance of processed food,
especially in the urban areas.

Irrespective of the current crisis, the food processing industry (FPI) is always of enormous
significance as it provides vital linkages and synergies among all the sectors of the economy viz.
Primary (agriculture), Secondary (industry) and Tertiary (Transportation of goods, R & D in Agro
processing).

Food processing provides an opportunity to utilise excess production efficiently. Not just from an
agricultural growth perspective, but it is also important for reducing food wastage as it increases
shelf life and enhances quality.

Thus, food processing has become an integral part of the food supply chain in the global
economy, and India has also seen growth in this sector in the last few years.

FPI is recognised as the ‘Sunrise Industry' in India. However, the industry faces a lot of
challenges.

Challenges Faced by Food Processing Industry In India

Supply and Demand Side Bottlenecks
Small and dispersed marketable surplus due to fragmented holdings, low farm
productivity due to lack of mechanization, high seasonality, perishability and lack of
proper intermediation (supply chain) result in lack of availability of raw material. This
in turn, impedes food processing and its exports.
Demand of processed food is mainly restricted to urban areas of India.

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 Infrastructure Bottlenecks
More than 30% of the produce from farm gate is lost due to inadequate cold chain
infrastructure.
The NITI Aayog cited a study that estimated annual post-harvest losses close to Rs
90,000 crore.
Lack of all weather roads and connectivity make supply erratic.
Informalization in Food Processing Industry
The food processing industry has a high concentration of unorganised segments,
representing almost 75% across all product categories. Thus, causes the inefficiencies
in the existing production system.
Deficiencies in the Regulatory Environment:
There are numerous laws, under the jurisdiction of different ministries and
departments, which govern food safety and packaging.
The multiplicity of legislation and administrative delays leads to contradictions in food
safety specifications and guidelines.
Low-Value Exports: Further, most processing in India can be classified as primary
processing, which has lower value-addition compared to secondary processing.
Due to this, despite India being one of the largest producers of agricultural
commodities in the world, agricultural exports as a share of GDP are fairly low in India
relative to the rest of the world.
The same proportion is around 4% for Brazil, 7% for Argentina, 9% for Thailand, while
for India it is just 2%.
Besides these, issues like mounting cost of finance, lack of skilled and trained manpower,
inadequate quality control and packaging units and high taxes and duties, thwart
development of FPI.

Note:

Processing can be delineated into primary and secondary processing.

Rice, sugar, edible oil and flour mills are examples of primary processing.
Secondary processing includes the processing of fruits and vegetables, dairy, bakery,
chocolates and other items.

Steps To Be Taken
Hand-Holding Approach
Government should adopt a hand-holding approach by establishing risk sharing
mechanisms, fiscal incentives and partnership models for creation of infrastructure
for logistics, storage and processing.
In this context, the government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada
Yojana, aimed at bridging the infrastructure gap.
Also, 100% foreign direct investment in food processing units has been allowed.

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 Streamlining the Regulatory Structure: There is a need to foster development of
backward linkages crucial for securing scale and economic viability by evolving conducive
regulatory framework for contract and corporate farming and encouraging commodity
clusters and intensive livestock rearing.
The Strategy for New India @ 75 recommends that states take the lead in passing
Model Contract Farming Act, 2018.
Remove impediments of multiple departments and laws in seeking approvals by
bringing them under a single window.
Ensure proper agricultural marketing reforms e.g. by uniform implementation
of the APMC act.

Note:

According to the Model Contract Farming Act, 2018, the contract will specify the quantity, quality
and price of produce being supplied. This would shield farmers from price volatility, subject to
quality commitments.

Human Resource Development

Skilling is required at two levels. First at the farm gate in promoting agricultural best
practices and second, in processing activities.
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) estimated the need to skill
17.8 million persons in the food processing industry by 2022.
In this pursuit, industry, academia and government should put in combined efforts for
development of specialized institutes and courses in food packaging, processing, bio-
technology, and such allied fields.
Promoting Village-Level Procurement: The NITI Aayog, in the Strategy for New India @
75 document, recommended village-level procurement centres for perishables such as
fruits, vegetables and dairy.
In this context, the upgrading of 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agriculture Markets
(GrAMS), announced in the 2018-19 Budget, was a step in the right direction.

Conclusion
The need today is to treat food processing as part of the overall food sector and provide all the
facilities, exemptions, and concessions as available to agriculture and related activities. Food
processing industry will not only serve the nutritional needs of New India but it will also act as an
important link in doubling the farmer’s income.

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Drishti Mains Question

How India can utilize the untapped potential of the Food Processing
Industry?

4/4
National Conference on Kharif Crops 2020
drishtiias.com/printpdf/national-conference-on-kharif-crops-2020

Why in News
Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare addressed the National
Conference on Kharif Crops 2020 through a video conference.

Key Highlights of the Conference

Aims:
To discuss various issues and list out steps in consultation with the States
about preparedness for Kharif cultivation in view of the lockdown situation.
To take up doubling of farmers’ income in mission mode.
To urge states to explain the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Soil
Health Card Scheme to each farmer.
To implement the Home Ministry exemptions and relaxations for the
Agricultural sector while ensuring social distancing and social responsibility
norms.
To start using the e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) extensively.
Target of foodgrains production for the Financial Year 2020-21 has been fixed at
298.0 million tonnes.
During the FY 2019-20, against the foodgrain production target of 291.10 million
tonnes, higher production of about 292 million tonnes is anticipated due to
enhancement of area coverage and productivity of various crops.
This was possible due to the various technological advancements including
varietal improvement as well as dedicated and coordinated efforts of
Central and State Governments in spite of the present situation of climate
change along with change in rainfall patterns.

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The cultivable/agriculture land has reduced by about 2.74 million hectare during
the last two decades.
However, during the same period the Gross Cropped Area (GCA) has
increased from 182.28 million hectare to 196.50 million hectare, with net
area sown remaining largely unchanged at 140 million hectare.
Gross Cropped Area: It represents the total area sown once as well as
more than once in a particular year. When the crop is sown on a piece of
land for twice, the area is counted twice in GCA.
Net Area Sown: It represents the total area sown with crops. The area
sown more than once in the same year is counted only once.
The production of foodgrains has increased from 169.92 million tonnes to
284.96 million tonnes in the corresponding period due to various technological
and policy interventions.
It was highlighted that the agriculture and horticulture sector in the country have
become a key driving element for economic development in many States.
India is the second largest producer of vegetables, after China.
Although India has become food surplus, it still needs to accelerate the
production and productivity of agriculture and horticulture sectors for ensuring
food and nutritional security in the rural areas.
The major new initiatives for increasing production of crops and income of the
farmers were appreciated.
“Per Drop More Crop” under flagship Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee
Yojana (PMKSY).
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
e-NAM initiative.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana (PM-KPY).
Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA).
It was informed that All India Agri Transport Call Centre has been started to ensure
that agriculture is not affected.
The call centre will facilitate inter-state movement of perishables in the
current situation of lockdown due to the Covid-19 threat.
For Rabi crops, all States will ensure procurement at Village/Block levels as
farmers are not allowed to move out.
In addition, steps are taken for Direct Marketing/purchasing of crop
produce from farmers.
Relaxation has been given for movement of trucks/ vehicles loaded with seeds
and fertilizers to ensure timely availability of such inputs at Village/Block levels across
the country.

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 The format of State Action Plan (SAP) for advance planning and implementation of
the National Food & Nutritional Security Mission (NF&NSM) has been simplified.
NF&NSM is mainly a mandate for production of foodgrains and is
implemented on projectised mode through State Agriculture Departments
across the country.
Project Monitoring Teams at Central and State levels are guiding in
formulation of SAPs and also monitoring through field visit and farmers’
interaction.
Geo-tagging of various interventions are also undertaken to ensure
transparency in the programme implementation.

Source: PIB

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Madhuban Gajar: Biofortified Variety
drishtiias.com/printpdf/madhuban-gajar-biofortified-variety

Why in News
Madhuban Gajar, a biofortified carrot variety, is benefitting more than 150 local farmers
in Junagadh, Gujarat.

It is being planted in an area of over 200 hectares in Junagadh, and the average yield,
which is 40-50 tonne/hectare (t/ha), has become the main source of income to the
local farmers.
It is used for various value-added products like carrot chips, juices, and pickles.

Key Points
Biofortified Variety: The Madhuvan Gajar is a highly nutritious carrot variety
developed through the selection method with higher β-carotene content (277.75
mg/kg, source of Vitamin A) and iron content (276.7 mg/kg).
Developed By: Shri Vallabhhai Vasrambhai Marvaniya, a farmer scientist from
Junagadh district, Gujarat.
He was conferred with a National Award by the President of India at
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi during Festival of Innovation (FOIN)–2017.
He was also conferred with Padma Shri in the year 2019 for his extraordinary
work.
Tested By: National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous institute
under the Department of Science and Technology during 2016-17. It was found that
the Madhuban Gajar carrot variety possesses a significantly higher root yield (74.2
t/ha) and plant biomass (275 gm per plant).
Areas of Cultivation: The variety is being cultivated in more than 1000 hectares of
land in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh.

Biofortification

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 Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential
micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals in a food, so as to improve the nutritional
quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to
health.
Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is
improved through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern
biotechnology.
Biofortification differs from conventional fortification in that biofortification aims
to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through
manual means during processing of the crops.
Increased nutritional quantity through biofortification will further support India's
National Nutrition Mission.
Indian government launched the National Nutrition Mission (renamed as
Poshan Abhiyaan) in March 2018.
The National Nutrition Mission is backed by a National Nutrition Strategy
prepared by the NITI Aayog with the goal of attaining “Kuposhan Mukt Bharat"
or malnutrition-free India, by 2022.

Festival of Innovation

The Festival of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (FINE) {previously known as Festival

of Innovation FOIN)} is a unique initiative of the Office of the President of India to
recognise, respect and reward grassroots innovations and foster a supportive
ecosystem.
Hosted in the month of March at the President's House, the FINE has become a
national celebration of creativity and innovation at and for the grassroots.

Source: PIB

2/2
Agrobiodiversity for India
drishtiias.com/printpdf/agrobiodiversity-for-india

This article is based on “India’s food basket must be enlarged” which was published in
The Hindu on 29/11/2019. It talks about Agrobiodiversity and its significance for India.

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources Development brought out school ‘Nutrition
Garden’ guidelines, encouraging students to identify fruits and vegetables best suited to
topography, soil and climate.

Nutrition Garden envisages providing students lifelong social, numerical and presentation
skills, care for living organisms and teamwork, besides being used in the Mid-Day meal
scheme.

Based on Nutrition Garden, agrobiodiversity can be contemplated all across India, to

address India’s hunger issues.

What is Agrobiodiversity?
Agrobiodiversity is the result of the interaction between the environment, genetic resources
and management systems and practices used by culturally diverse people.

It comprises the diversity of genetic resources (varieties, breeds) and species used for
food, fodder, fibre, fuel and pharmaceuticals.
It also includes the diversity of non-harvested species that support production (soil
microorganisms, predators, pollinators), and those in the wider environment that
support agro-ecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic) as well as the
diversity of the agro-ecosystems.

Benefits of Agrobiodiversity
Increases productivity, food security, and economic returns.
Reduces the pressure of agriculture on fragile areas, forests and endangered species.
Makes farming systems more stable, robust, and sustainable.
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 Contributes to sound pest and disease management
Conserves soil and increase natural soil fertility and health.
Reduces dependency on external inputs.
Improves human nutrition and provides sources of medicines and vitamins.
Conserve ecosystem structure and stability of species diversity.

Significance of Agrobiodiversity for India

India’s promising genetic resources include rice from Tamil Nadu (Konamani), Assam (Agni
bora) and Kerala (Pokkali), Bhalia Wheat and mushroom (Guchhi) from Himachal Pradesh
and rich farm animal native breeds — cattle (42), buffaloes (15), goat (34), sheep (43) and
chicken (19). Since, genetic diversity of crops, livestock and their wild relatives, are
fundamental to improve crop varieties and livestock breeds, this can help in the following
ways:

In combating hunger: India is ranked 102 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) out of
117 qualified countries.
Hunger is defined by caloric deprivation; protein hunger; hidden hunger by the
deficiency of micronutrients.
Malnutrition: Nearly 47 million or four out of 10 children in India do not meet their
potential because of chronic undernutrition or stunting.
This leads to diminished learning capacity, increased chronic diseases, low birth-
weight infants from malnourished parents.
The global nutrition report pegs 614 million women and more than half the
women in India aged 15-49 as being anaemic.
Agrobiodiversity can help in nutrition-sensitive farming and bio-fortified foods.
For instance, moringa (drumstick) has micronutrients and sweet potato is rich in
Vitamin A. There are varieties of pearl millet and sorghum rich in iron and zinc.
This will help India achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and
the Aichi Biodiversity Target (focuses on countries conserving the genetic diversity of
plants, farm livestock and wild relatives).

Agrobiodiversity In India
Across the world, 37 sites are designated as Globally Important Agricultural
Heritage Systems (GIAHS), of which three are Indian — Kashmir (saffron), Koraput
(traditional agriculture) and Kuttanad (below sea-level farming).
In India, over 811 cultivated plants and 902 of their wild relatives have been
documented.

Challenges to Agrobiodiversity

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 Loss of crop genetic resources due to adopting new crop varieties without
conserving traditional varieties. For example, Bt cotton.
Similarly, there are concerns on high output breeds for production of meat, milk and
eggs. Crossbreeding of foreign breeds with indigenous breeds leads to erosion of
genetically diverse pool.
Out of 2,50,000 globally identified plant species, about 7,000 have historically been
used in human diets.
Today, only 30 crops form the basis of the world’s agriculture and just three
species of maize, rice and wheat supply more than half the world’s daily calories.

Way Forward
There is a need for a comprehensive policy on ‘ecological agriculture’ to enhance
native pest and pollinator population providing ecosystem services for the agricultural
landscape.
Bio-village concept: Ecologically sensitive farming can be done by conserving crop
wild relatives of cereals, millets, oilseeds, fibres, forages, fruits and nuts, vegetables,
spices etc. for crop genetic diversity healthier food.
Providing incentives for farmers cultivating native varieties and those conserving
indigenous breeds of livestock and poultry varieties.
Community seed banks should be encouraged in each agro-climatic zone.
Developing a national level invasive alien species policy is required to identify
pathways, mapping, monitoring, managing, controlling and eradicating invasive
species.
The consumption pattern and culinary diversity must be enlarged to increase
India’s food basket.

Drishti Mains Question

What do you understand by agrobiodiversity? Examine its significance in light of

climate change, sustainable agriculture and poverty.

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Anti Locust Fight
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The officials from India and Pakistan are closely working together to prevent the
movement of locusts and save crops in bordering districts.

Both the countries are also consistently sharing inputs, including satellite data, via
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to counter and restrict the movement of
locusts.

Food and Agricultural Organization

In 1945, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was created In Quebec City, Canada,
by the first session of the newly created United Nations.
FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to
defeat hunger.
FAO is also a source of knowledge and information, and helps developing countries in
transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices,
ensuring good nutrition and food security for all.

Locust
A locust is a large, mainly tropical grasshopper with strong powers of flight. They
differ from ordinary grasshoppers in their ability to change behaviour (gregarize)
and form swarms that can migrate over large distances.

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Locusts are generally seen during the months of June and July as the insects are
active from summer to the rainy season.
Locusts have a high capacity to multiply, form groups, migrate over relatively
large distances (they can fly up to 150 km per day) and, if good rains fall and ecological
conditions become favourable, rapidly reproduce and increase some 20-fold in three
months.
Threat to Vegetation: Locust adults can eat their own weight every day, i.e. about
two grams of fresh vegetation per day. A very small swarm eats as much in one day
as about 35,000 people, posing a devastating threat to crops and food security.
If infestations are not detected and controlled, devastating plagues can develop
that often take several years and hundreds of millions of dollars to bring under
control with severe consequences on food security and livelihoods.
Locust Control measures include destroying egg masses laid by invading swarms,
digging trenches to trap nymphs, using hopperdozers (wheeled screens that cause
locusts to fall into troughs containing water and kerosene), using insecticidal baits,
and applying insecticides to both swarms and breeding grounds from aircraft.

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 FAO provides information on the general locust situation to the global community and
gives timely warnings and forecasts to those countries in danger of invasion.
The FAO raised alarm over the locust outbreak in northeast Africa and Saudi
Arabia in February, 2019.

Locusts in India
Four species viz. Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), Migratory locust (Locusta
migratoria), Bombay Locust ( Nomadacris succincta) and Tree locust (Anacridium sp.)
are found in India.
The existing series of locust swarms that have entered India via Pakistan had
originated in Iran. Movement of locusts is facilitated by summer dusty winds, which
flow from the Arabian Sea, taking along these creatures from Sindh in Pakistan to
western Rajasthan.
These creatures have wreaked havoc in Pakistan but have not caused any damage on
the Indian side.
Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), Jodhpur is currently handling 13-16 swarms of
locusts in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts of Rajasthan. It is currently using a pesticide
'malathion'.
The last major locust outbreak that was reported in Rajasthan was in the year
1993.

Locust Warning Organization ( LWO)

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Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and
Storage, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is responsible for monitoring,
survey and control of Desert Locust in Scheduled Desert Areas mainly in the States of
Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Incursion of exotic locust swarms into India is prevented through organization of
suitable control operation. LWO keeps itself abreast with the prevailing locust
situation at National and International level through monthly Desert Locust Bulletins
of FAO.
Its objectives include:
To monitor, forewarn and control locust in Scheduled Desert Area (SDA) being
International obligation and commitment.
To conduct research on locust and grasshoppers.
Liaison and coordination with National and International Organizations.
Human resource development through training and demonstration for staff of
Locust Warning Organization (LWO), State officials, BSF personnel and Farmers.
To maintain control potential to combat locust emergency by organizing locust
control campaign.

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APEDA & TRIFED
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APEDA

Introduction
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was
established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority Act, 1985. It functions under the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry. The Authority has its headquarters in New Delhi.

Functions
APEDA is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development
of the scheduled products viz. fruits, vegetables and their products; meat and meat
products; poultry and poultry products; dairy products; confectionery, biscuits and
bakery products; honey, jaggery and sugar products; cocoa and its products,
chocolates of all kinds; alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages; cereal and cereal
products; groundnuts, peanuts and walnuts, pickles, papads and chutneys; guar gum;
floriculture and floriculture products; herbal and medicinal plants.
APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor import of sugar.
It looks after the development of industries relating to the scheduled products for
export by way of providing financial assistance or otherwise for undertaking surveys
and feasibility studies, participating through subsidy schemes.
Registration of persons as exporters of the scheduled products and fixing of
standards and specifications for the scheduled products for the purpose of exports.
Carrying out inspection of meat and meat products in slaughterhouses, processing
plants, storage premises and improving packaging of the scheduled products.

Composition of APEDA Authority

The APEDA Authority consists of the following members namely:
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 A Chairman appointed by the Central Government
The Agricultural Marketing Advisor to the Government of India, ex-official
Three members of Parliament of whom two are elected by the House of People
and one by the Council of States
Eight members appointed by the Central Government representing respectively;
the Ministries of the Central Govt.
Agriculture and Rural Development
Commerce
Finance
Industry
Food
Civil Supplies
Civil Aviation
Shipping and transport

Five members appointed by the Central Government by rotation in alphabetical order to

represent the States and the Union Territories

Seven members appointed by the Central Govt. representing

Indian Council of Agricultural Research
National Horticultural Board
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation
Central Food Technological Research Institute
Indian Institute of Packaging
Spices Export Promotion Council and
Cashew Export Promotion Council
Twelve members appointed by the Central Government representing
Fruit and Vegetable Products Industries
Meat, Poultry and Dairy Products Industries
Other Scheduled Products Industries
Packaging Industry
Two members appointed by the Central Government from amongst specialists and
scientists in the fields of agriculture, economics and marketing of the scheduled
products.

TRIFED

Introduction
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into
existence in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the
administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
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 TRIFED has its Head Office located in New Delhi and has a network of 13 Regional
Offices located at various places in the country.

Objectives
The ultimate objective of TRIFED is socio-economic development of tribal people in the
country by way of marketing development of the tribal products such as metal craft,
tribal textiles, pottery, tribal paintings and pottery on which the tribals depends
heavily for major portion of their income.
TRIFED acts as a facilitator and service provider for tribes to sell their product.
The approach by TRIFED aims to empower tribal people with knowledge, tools and
pool of information so that they can undertake their operations in a more systematic
and scientific manner.
It also involves capacity building of the tribal people through sensitization, formation
of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and imparting training to them for undertaking a particular
activity.

Functions
It mainly undertakes two functions viz. Minor Forest Produce (MFP) development and Retail
Marketing and Development.

Minor Forest Produce (MFP) development

An important source of livelihood for tribal people are non-wood forest products,
generally termed 'Minor Forest Produce (MFP)'. This includes all non-timber forest
produce of plant origin and include bamboo, canes, fodder, leaves, gums, waxes, dyes,
resins and many forms of food including nuts, wild fruits, honey, lac, tusser etc.
The Minor Forest Produces provide both subsistence and cash income for people who
live in or near forests. They form a major portion of their food, fruits, medicines and
other consumption items and also provide cash income through sales.
MFP has significant economic and social value for the forest dwellers as an estimated
100 Million people derive their source of livelihood from the collection and marketing
of Minor Forest Produce (Report of the National Committee on Forest Rights Act,
2011).
Around 100 million forest dwellers depend on Minor Forest Produces for food, shelter,
medicines and cash income. Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from Minor
Forest Produce on which they spend major portion of their time.
MFP also has strong linkage to women’s financial empowerment as most of the Minor
Forest Produces are collected and used/sold by women.
The people who depend on MFP are generally beset with a number of other problems
such as perishable nature of the produce, lack of holding capacity, lack of marketing

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 infrastructure, exploitation by middlemen, etc. Due to this, the MFP gatherers who are
mostly poor are unable to bargain for fair prices.
To cope with the above problem, Govt. of India has decided to introduce the scheme
of “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum
Support Price (MSP) and development of value chain”.
The scheme is designed as a social safety net for improvement of livelihood of MFP
gatherers by providing them a fair price for the MFPs they collect.

Retail Marketing and Development

TRIFED aims to improve the livelihood of the tribal communities by creating a

sustainable market and create business opportunities for tribal people.
It involves exploring marketing possibilities for marketing of tribal products on a
sustainable basis, creating brand and providing other necessary services.
It has a network of 13 regional offices across the country which identifies and source
tribal products for marketing through its retail marketing network of TRIBES INDIA
outlets.
It has been undertaking sourcing of various handicraft, handloom and natural & food
products through its empanelled suppliers across the country. The suppliers comprise
of individual tribal artisans, tribal SHGs, Organisations/ Agencies/NGOs working with
tribals. The suppliers are empanelled with TRIFED as per the guidelines for
empanelment of suppliers.
TRIFED has been marketing tribal products through its Retail Outlets located across
the country and also through exhibitions. It has established a chain of 35 own
showrooms and 8 consignment showrooms in association with State level
Organisations promoting tribal handicrafts.

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Climate Change and Crop Production
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According to a recent study, India’s grain production is vulnerable to climate change,

primarily because of the decline in yield of rice crop during extreme weather
conditions.

Researchers from Columbia University in the US studied the effects of climate on five
major crops in India: finger millet, maize, pearl millet, sorghum, and rice.
These five grains are essential for meeting India’s nutritional needs.
These crops make up the vast majority of grain production during the June-to-
September monsoon season with rice contributing three-quarters of the supply
for the season.
It can be noted that recently, the United Nations' State of Food Security and
Nutrition in the World report 2018 said that climate change is already having a
negative effect on global agriculture and is driving up the number of hungry
people around the world.
The study, however, found that the yields from grains such as millet, sorghum, and
maize are more resilient to extreme weather.
On the other hand, yields from rice experiences larger declines during extreme
weather conditions.
By relying more and more on rice, India’s food supply is potentially vulnerable
to the effects of varying climate.
Therefore, expanding the area planted with alternative grains like finger millet, maize,
pearl millet, sorghum can reduce variations in Indian grain production caused by
extreme climate.
The study shows that diversifying the crops that a country grows can be an effective
way to adapt its food-production systems to the growing influence of climate change.
It also offers benefits like improving nutrition, saving water, reducing energy
demand and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
Of late, there has been growing awareness about these alternative grains, often
clubbed as “Smart Food”. Few important developments are:
India celebrated 2018 as the national year of millets. Moreover, India's
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proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023 has been
approved by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
ICRISAT which conducts research on six highly nutritious drought-tolerant crops,
recently discovered important factors for heat and drought tolerance in
chickpea.

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Cropping Patterns and Major Crops of India: Part One
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Two-thirds of India’s population is engaged in agricultural activities. It is a primary activity,

which produces food grains and raw materials for industries. India is geographically a vast
country so it has various food and non-food crops which are cultivated in three main
cropping seasons which are rabi, kharif and zaid.

Major crops can be classified into-

Food crops- Rice, Wheat, Millets, Maize and Pulses.

Cash crops- Sugarcane, Oilseeds, Horticulture crops, Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Cotton and
Jute.

Cropping Seasons

S. Cropping Time Crops States

No Season Period

1. Rabi Sown: Wheat, barley, peas, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal

October- gram, mustard etc. Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,
December Uttarakhand and Uttar
Harvested: Pradesh
April-June

2. Kharif Sown: June- Rice, maize, jowar, Assam, West Bengal, coastal
July bajra, tur, moong, regions of Odisha, Andhra
Harvested: urad, cotton, jute, Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil
September- groundnut, soybean Nadu, Kerala and
October etc. Maharashtra

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3. Zaid Sown and Seasonal fruits, Most of the northern and
harvested: vegetables, fodder northwestern states
March-July crops etc.
(between
Rabi and
Kharif)

Major Food Crops

Rice

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Temperature: Between 22-32°C with high humidity.
Rainfall: Around 150-300 cm.
Soil Type: Deep clayey and loamy soil.
Top Rice Producing States: West Bengal > Punjab > Uttar Pradesh > Andhra
Pradesh > Bihar.
It is the staple food crop of majority of Indian people.
India is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China.
In states like Assam, West Bengal and Odisha, three crops of paddy are grown in a
year. These are Aus, Aman and Boro.

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 National Food Security Mission, Hybrid Rice Seed Production and Rashtriya
Krishi Vikas Yojana are few government initiatives to support rice cultivation.

Wheat

Temperature: Between 10-15°C (Sowing time) and 21-26°C (Ripening & Harvesting)
with bright sunlight.
Rainfall: Around 75-100 cm.
Soil Type: Well-drained fertile loamy and clayey loamy (Ganga-Satluj plains and black
soil region of the Deccan)
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 Top Wheat Producing States: Uttar Pradesh > Punjab > Madhya Pradesh >
Haryana > Rajasthan.
India is the second largest producer after China.
This is the second most important cereal crop and the main food crop, in north
and north-western India.
Success of Green Revolution contributed to the growth of Rabi crops especially
wheat.
Macro Management Mode of Agriculture, National Food Security Mission and
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana are few government initiatives to support wheat
cultivation.

Millets (Nutri-Cereals)

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Temperature: Between 27-32°C
Rainfall: Around 50-100 cm.
Soil Type: Can be grown in inferior alluvial or loamy soil because they are less
sensitive to soil deficiencies.
Jowar- Rain-fed crop grown in the moist areas with less or no irrigation.
Bajra- Sandy soils and shallow black soil.
Ragi- Red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils. (dry regions)

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 Top Millets Producing States: Rajasthan > Karnataka > Maharashtra > Madhya
Pradesh > Uttar Pradesh
Jowar: Maharashtra > Karnataka > Madhya Pradesh > Tamil Nadu > Andhra
Pradesh.
Bajra: Rajasthan > Uttar Pradesh > Gujarat > Madhya Pradesh > Haryana.
These are also known as coarse grains, which have high nutritional value. Ragi is
very rich in iron, calcium, other micro nutrients and roughage.
Jowar is the third most important food crop with respect to area and production.
National Agricultural Insurance Scheme, Initiative for Nutritional Security
through Intensive Millets Promotion are examples of government’s efforts to
support millet production.

Maize

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Temperature: Between 21-27°C
Rainfall: High rainfall.
Soil Type: Old alluvial soil.
Top Maize Producing States: Karnataka > Maharashtra > Madhya Pradesh > Tamil
Nadu > Telangana
India is the seventh largest producer worldwide.
It is used both as food and fodder.
Use of modern inputs such as High-Yielding Variety seeds, fertilisers and irrigation
have contributed to the increasing production of maize.
Technology Mission on Maize is one of the government’s initiatives for mazie.
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Pulses

Temperature: Between 20-27°C

Rainfall: Around 25-60 cm.
Soil Type: Sandy-loamy soil.
Top Pulses Producing States: Madhya Pradesh > Rajasthan > Maharashtra > Uttar
Pradesh > Karnataka.
India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world.
These are the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet.
Major pulses grown in India are tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas and gram.
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 Being leguminous crops, all these crops except arhar help in restoring soil fertility by
fixing nitrogen from the air. Therefore, these are mostly grown in rotation with
other crops.
National Food Security Mission for Pulses, Pulses Development Scheme and
Technological Mission on Pulses are few of the government’s plans to support
pulses production.

NOTE: Cash Crops will be covered in the Cropping Patterns and Major Crops of India: Part Two.

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Decline in Usable Groundwater
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A team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, West Bengal and Athabasca
University, Canada, has compiled the first estimates of Usable Groundwater Storage
(UGWS) at the state-level across India using both in situ and satellite-based measurements.

For the compilation, the groundwater-level data was used from 3,907 in situ
monitoring wells across the country.
The compilation includes total UGWS estimation between the years 2005 and 2013.
Till now, the government agencies have been able to estimate the total groundwater,
not the UGWS.
India is the largest user of groundwater in the world. It uses an estimated 230 km 3
of groundwater per year - over a quarter of the global total.

Key Findings
More than 85 % of the groundwater usage in India is linked with irrigation
abstraction practices.
The estimates show rapid depletion of usable groundwater storage during 2005-2013
in most of the northern parts of the country, which lost 8.5 km3 / year of the total
groundwater, and the eastern parts which lost 5 km 3 /year of the total groundwater.
Rapid depletion of UGWS in Assam, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West
Bengal.
A northeastern state like Assam which has always been regarded as a water-
affluent; lost 2 % of its usable groundwater resource and is at the brink of
suffering drought and famine in impending years.
Haryana, which gets an annual precipitation of 689 mm, had the highest level
of usable groundwater with 3,593 cm while Himachal Pradesh with a
precipitation of 1,147 mm per year had the lowest UGWS level of 520 cm.
Some pockets in Uttar Pradesh also saw a dip in groundwater table.
In these areas, increase in agricultural production has been at the cost of non-
renewable loss in the groundwater volume.
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Reasons cited
Lack of an organised water supply leads to increased dependence on
groundwater.
Depletion in groundwater is positively linked with the increased cropping
practice of water intensive crops.
Overexploitation of the groundwater: About 85 %of rural drinking water
needs and 65 %of irrigation needs and 50 %of urban drinking water and
industrial needs are fulfilled from the ground water.
Consequences
Rapid depletion in UGWS would accelerate the decline in food production and
availability of drinking water, two of the prime goals under UN Sustainable
Development Goals 2030. This would affect more than 120 million people in the
Gangetic states.
Summer groundwater droughts that some states are facing; would intensify in
recent future years, will become severe to very severe by 2050, with the
possibility of spreading over all the seasons.
Decline in the flow in the adjoining rivers, including Ganga, thus also
impacting river-aquifer interaction.
Suggestions
In order to develop a sustainable groundwater management programme, it is
important to know the exact water-stress.
India needs to develop a much robust quantitative approach, possibly with
the help of advanced hydroscience and data science techniques to understand
the conjunctive water demands and usages.
The southern and western Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Chattisgarh have shown replenishing usable groundwater storage trends.

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Golden Rice
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Why in News

Bangladesh is to be the first country to approve golden rice planting in the country.

Golden rice is a genetically modified variety of rice.

It is developed by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI).
This variety of rice is claimed to be able to fight vitamin A deficiency.
Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of blindness among children and can
also lead to death due to infectious diseases such as measles.
This rice variety will not be more expensive than the conventional variety.
The presence of beta-carotene pigment is the reason for its golden colour.
The conventional rice is naturally low in the pigment beta-carotene.
The beta-carotene is used by the human body to make vitamin A

Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that maintains healthy vision, skin, bones and
other tissues in the body.
Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) can lead to night blindness, a higher risk of the throat,
chest, and abdomen infections, follicular hyperkeratosis (dry, bumpy skin), fertility
issues and delayed growth in children, etc.
Women and children are the most vulnerable to VAD which is the leading cause of
childhood blindness and inability of the immune system to combat disease.
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International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

IRRI is an independent, non-profit, research and educational institute, founded in

1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations with support from the Philippine
government.
The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing
countries in Asia and Africa.
The IRRI South Asia Regional Centre is located at Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).
It aims to improve the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protect
the rice-growing environment for future generations.

Source: IE

2/2
Human Development Index
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Why in News
India was ranked 129 out of 189 countries on the 2019 Human Development Index (HDI)
improving from the 130th position in 2018.

HDI is part of the Human Development Report that is published by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The other indices that form the part of the 2019 Report are:
Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI),
Gender Development Index (GDI),
Gender Inequality Index (GII) and
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
The focus of the 2019 Report is on ‘Inequality in Human Development’.

HDI emphasizes that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for
assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
HDI measures average achievement of a country in three basic dimensions of
human development:
A long and healthy life,
Access to knowledge, and
A decent standard of living.
Top Performers in 2019
Norway, Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top three positions in that order.
Germany is placed fourth along with Hong Kong, and Australia secured the fifth
rank on the global ranking.

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 India’s Neighbours

Sri Lanka (71) and China (85) were higher up the rank scale.
Bhutan (134), Bangladesh (135), Myanmar (145), Nepal (147), Pakistan (152) and
Afghanistan (170) were ranked lower on the list.
Region Wise Performance
South Asia was the fastest growing region in human development progress
witnessing a 46% growth over 1990-2018, followed by East Asia and the Pacific at
43%.
India’s Performance
India’s HDI value increased by 50% (from 0.431 to 0.647), which places it above
the average for other South Asian countries (0.642).
In India, between 1990 and 2018, life expectancy at birth increased by 11.6
years, mean years of schooling increased by 3.5 years and expected years of
schooling increased by 4.7 years. Per capita incomes rose by over 250%.

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index

The IHDI indicates percentage loss in HDI due to inequality.
India’s position worsened by one position to 130 (as compared to the HDI Index 2019-
129) with a score of 0.477. Although, the IHDI score has improved from 0.468 in 2018.

Gender Development Index

GDI measures disparities on the HDI by gender.
India is only marginally better than the South Asian average on the Gender
Development Index (0.829 vs 0.828).

Gender Inequality Index

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 GII presents a composite measure of gender inequality using three dimensions:
Reproductive health,
Empowerment and
The labour market.
In GII, India is at 122 out of 162 countries. Neighbours China (39), Sri Lanka (86),
Bhutan (99), Myanmar (106) were placed above India.
The report noted that group-based inequalities persist, especially affecting women
and girls and no place in the world has gender equality.
The report notes that the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030 as
per the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG -5). It forecasts that it may take
202 years to close the gender gap in economic opportunity.
The report presents a new “social norms index” indicating how prejudices and social
beliefs obstruct gender equality, which shows that only 14% of women and 10% of
men worldwide have no gender bias.
The report highlights that new forms of inequalities will manifest in future through
climate change and technological transformation which have the potential to
deepen existing social and economic fault lines.

Multidimensional Poverty Index

MPI captures the multiple deprivations that people in developing countries face in
their health, education and standard of living.
India accounts for 28% of the 1.3 billion multidimensional poor.

Source: TH

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ICRISAT Hosts Meet to Tackle Fall Armyworm
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Eight nations have come together at the ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for
Semi-Arid Tropics) to understand the challenges and find solutions to tackle the rapidly
growing problem of Fall Armyworm (FAW).

Representatives from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India and some other
South and South-East Asian countries are attending a regional workshop on ‘Fall
Armyworm management in Asia’.
The U.S. is working to address the FAW in several African countries. As the FAW has
emerged in South and South-East Asia, collaboration is urgently required to manage
its spread and minimise crop loss.

Fall Armyworm
First reported in West Africa in 2016, the FAW pest quickly assumed epidemic
proportions and spread to over 44 African countries. In India, its infection was first
reported in Karnataka and also parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra and Gujarat.
FAW (scientifically known as Spodoptera frugiperda) is a lepidopteran pest that feeds
in large numbers on the leaves and stems of more than 80 plant species, causing
extensive damage to crops such as maize, rice, sorghum and sugarcane. It also
attacks vegetable crops and cotton.
The pest — its female moth lays eggs and the caterpillars hatching from these eat
parts of the host crop plants, before pupating and turning into new moths — has been
detected mainly in maize fields.
The adult moth of the pest migrates very fast — almost 100 km every night and
nearly 500 km before laying eggs. It can, therefore, invade new areas quickly. Also,
each female moth is capable of laying 1,500 eggs on an average.

1/1
In Depth - Blue Revolution
drishtiias.com/printpdf/in-depth-blue-revolution

https://youtu.be/TaHFT9Iyg2k

The Vice-President on 30 th August 2019, inaugurated the fifth edition of the Aqua Aquaria
India in Hyderabad. It is an event that is held every year. This time, the theme was ‘Taking
Blue Revolution to India’s Hinterland’.

The Blue Revolution is part of the Government's efforts to promote fishing as an allied
activity for farmers in order to double their incomes. It refers to an explosive growth in the
aquaculture industry. As part of its efforts to raise seafood output and exports and promote
sustainable aquaculture, the Government has constituted an independent Ministry for
Fisheries. In the budget 2019-20, the government allocated an estimated 3,737 crore
rupees for the newly carved out Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Blue Revolution
1/5
 It refers to the time of intense growth of the worldwide aquaculture industry from the
mid-1960s to the present day.
The aquaculture industry has been growing at an average rate of 9% a year and
India is one of the fastest growers.
In other words, the rapid increase in the production of fish and marine product
through a package program is known as the Blue Revolution.
The Blue Revolution, first began in China where fishing is an ancient activity. China
accounts for around two-thirds of the total aquaculture production worldwide by
weight and roughly half by market value.

Fisheries and Aquaculture

Worldwide, aquaculture production has now reached 50 million tonnes, up from 2

million tonnes in 1950.
Asian countries contribute over 90% to aquaculture worldwide. China, itself,
contributes more than 70%.
Aquaculture provides employment to people throughout the world.
Some 880 million people are employed in fish farming from salmon cages in
Norway to Prawn Ponds in Thailand.
Employment in the fisheries sector has grown faster than the world’s population
as well as employment in traditional agriculture.
Fisheries and aquaculture provide 4.3 billion people with over 15% of their annual
animal protein consumption and are a vital source of micronutrients and essential
lipids.
Fish and seafood are one of the most traded food commodities. Over 53% of the
trade originates in developing countries.
The top ten species of fish caught with aquaculture include carbs and other oysters,
salmons, trouts, shrimps and prawns among others.

Blue Revolution in India

It was launched in India during the 7th Five Year Plan (FYP) that went from 1985 to
1990, during which the government sponsored the Fish Farmers Development
Agency (FFDA).
During the 8th FYP, from 1992-97, the Intensive Marine Fisheries Program was
launched in which collaboration with MNCs was encouraged.
Over a period of time, fishing harbours in Tuticorin, Porbandar, Visakhapatnam,
Kochi and Port Blair were established.
A number of research centres have also been set up to increase the production as
well as to do improvement in species.

2/5
Outcomes
The FFDA brought improvement in aquaculture by adopting new techniques of
fish breeding, rearing, marketing and export.
The Indian Fisheries Sector which produced only 60,000 tonnes of fish 50 years ago
produces 4.7 million tonnes including 1.6 million tonnes from freshwater
aquaculture today.
India recorded an average annual growth of 14.8% in production of fish and fish
products in the last decade as compared to the global average of 7.5% in the same
period.
Fisheries, are in fact, India’s single largest agricultural export with a growth
rate of 6-10% in the last five years. In comparison, the growth rate of the farm
sector in the same period is around 2.5%.
Fishing is the primary source of livelihood for several communities in India and the
country is the world’s second largest fish producer with exports worth more than
47,000 crore rupees.
Currently, the USA is the largest market for Indian seafood products with a share
of 26.46% in terms of India’s exports of marine products followed by South East
Asian Countries- 25.71% and the European Union Nations- 20.08%.
The fisheries and aquaculture production contribute around 1% to India’s GDP and
over 5% to the agricultural GDP.

Unutilized Potential
It is a matter of great concern that India is able to exploit only a fraction of the
aquaculture potential available to it.
India uses only about 40% of the available ponds, tanks and other water bodies for
freshwater aquaculture and 15% of total potential of brackish water resources.

Recent Steps Taken By the Government

Blue Revolution 2.0/ Neel Kranti Mission

The focus of the Blue Revolution 2.0 is on development and management of

fisheries. This covers inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries including deep
sea fishing, mariculture and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries
Development Board.
The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) was established in 2006
as an autonomous organization under the administrative control of the
Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, to
enhance fish production and productivity in the country and to coordinate
fishery development in an integrated and holistic manner.

3/5
 Now, the Board works under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and
Dairying.
It aims to achieve economic prosperity of fishers and fish farmers. The same will
be done by developing fisheries in a sustainable manner keeping in view biosecurity
and environmental concerns.
The Program has certain objectives which includes:
Fully tapping the total fish potential of the country, both in the inland and the
marine sector and triple production by 2020.
Transforming the fisheries sector as a modern industry with special focus on
new technologies and processes.
Doubling the income of fishers and fish farmers with special focus on increasing
productivity and better post harvest marketing infrastructure including e-
commerce and other technologies and global best innovations.
Ensuring inclusive participation of fishers and fish farmers in the income
enhancement.
Tripling export earnings by 2020 with focus on benefits flow to fishers and fish
farmers.
Enhancing food and nutritional security of the country.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana

The Scheme is aimed to turn India into a hotspot for fish and aquatic products
through appropriate policy, marketing and infrastructure support.
With the Scheme, the government intends to bring all fishermen under the ambit of
farmer welfare programmes and social security schemes.
Through this scheme, the Department of Fisheries will establish a robust fisheries
management framework. This will address a critical gap in the value chain including
infrastructure modernisation, traceability, production, productivity, post harvest
management and quality control.

Financial Allocation
The government has allocated 804.75 crore rupees for the fisheries sector in the
current fiscal.
It’s aim is to augment fish production to achieve its target of 15 million tonnes by 2020
under the Blue Revolution and raise it thereafter to about 20 million tonnes by 2022-
23.

Initiative Taken under the MGNREGA

The government under the MGNREGA has started to develop the farm ponds, where
pisciculture is taking place.
4/5
Challenges
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) points out that nearly 90% of the global
marine fish stocks have either been fully exploited or overfished or depleted to
the extent that recovery may not be biologically possible.
Discharge of harmful substances like plastics and other waste into water bodies
that cause devastating consequences for aquatic life.
Changing climate.

Way Forward
India’s long coastline has the potential of becoming the strength of the economy
particularly through the exploitation of the Blue Revolution.
India can grow to the extent of 10 trillion dollar economy as against 2.7 trillion dollar
today with the help of the Blue Economy.
India needs to develop more scientifically its fishing system and other related
aspects such as freezing, packaging, etc.

5/5
Agri-Vision 2019
insightsonindia.com/2019/01/18/agri-vision-2019

January 18,
2019

Topics covered:

1. Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location,
upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
2. Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of
irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers
3. food security

Agri-Vision 2019

Context – Agri-Vision 2019, a two-day conference on ‘Envisioning Agro Solutions for

Smart and Sustainable Agriculture’ was held at Hyderabad.

Indian Agriculture

Agriculture sector accounts for 18 per cent of India’s GDP and provides
employment to 50 per cent of the workforce of the country.
The Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry and fishing is estimated at Rs 17.67
trillion (US$ 274.23 billion) in FY18.
During 2017-18 crop year, food grain production is estimated at record 284.83
million tonnes.
The introduction of high yielding varieties, irrigation facilities, increased input flow
through fertilizers and pesticides, farm mechanization, credit facilities, price
support, and other rural infrastructure facilities ushered the green revolution over
the past few decades.
Growth of Agricultural sector is important for inclusive growth and poverty
alleviation.
Need for concerted efforts from all stake holders to find long term solution to
various challenges faced by Agricultural sector, Loan waiver is only a temporary
relief but proves futile in long run in addressing Farmers concerns
India today is not only self-sufficient in respect of demand for food, but is also a net
exporter of agri-products occupying seventh position globally. It is one of the top
producers of cereals (wheat & rice), pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and
marine fish. However, we are still facing deficit of pulses and oilseeds. Although,
the availability of fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and fish has increased, the most
important aspect is to ensure access and affordability to a vast majority of Indians,
including farmers.

Food processing industry

1/4
 Plays a critical role in improving agrarian economy, raising farm incomes, reducing
wastages, ensuring value addition, promoting crop diversification and generating
employment opportunities as well as export earnings.
Vital link between agriculture and industry.
The Indian food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest.
The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32 per cent of the country’s total
food market, one of the largest industries in India.

Organic Farming

India holds a unique position among 172 countries practicing organic agriculture.
India is home to 30 per cent of the total organic producers in the world, but
accounts for just 2.59 per cent (1.5 million hectares) of the total organic cultivation
area of 57.8 million hectares.

Horticulture

leading horticultural country of the world with a total annual fruits and vegetable
production of 306.82 million tonnes during 2017-18
India is the second largest fruit producer in the world.

Livestock

Has been growing faster than crop sector.

The contribution of livestock output to the total output of the agriculture sector has
significantly increased from 15 per cent in 1981-82 to 29 per cent in 2015-16
acts as cushion and engine for agricultural growth.

Dairy industry

India is also the world’s second largest milk producer and is emerging as a major
exporter now.
It is contributing around 26 per cent to total agriculture GDP.

Challenges

Climate change, fragmented land holding, increase in demand for food, stagnating
farm incomes, declining productivity, diminishing and declining natural resources
etc.
Lack of favourable terms of trade, vagaries of monsoon, technology not reaching
farmers in time, absence of proper marketing strategies etc.
85 per cent farmers are small and marginal with land holding of less than 2
hectares.
Linking these small farmers with market is another major challenge in our system.
To enhance the farmers’ income, it is necessary to link them with marketers,
traders and exporters.

2/4
 Challenges for food security in the 21st century is not only improving productivity
but also yield stability through the development of crops which are disease-
resistant, pest-resistant and adaptable to climate change.

Solution to address the challenges

Some ways to address the issues – accord top priority to farmer-oriented

marketing, providing adequate cold storage facilities and refrigerator vans,
focusing on food processing through value addition, extending timely and
affordable credit to farmers and ensuring that innovations and technologies reach
the farmers, researchers and farm experts to come out with solutions to the multi-
dimensional problems faced by the farming sector.
United efforts by governments, scientific community, Krishi Vigyana Kendras and
farmers to realize the ambitious goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
Students pursuing agri courses must spend at least six months with farmers to
have a first-hand understanding of the problems faced by the latter.
Adopt the latest technologies from seeds to post harvest management to
marketing and to improve productivity on par with the other leading nations.
The use of Information Technology, Space Technology, Geo-Informatics, Internet of
Things (IoT), Block Chain Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics
and their first-mile connectivity to farmers is vital for enhancing farm incomes.
Digital technologies can also help in countering vagaries in farming and optimising
the resources.

Government initiatives

Improve soil fertility on a sustainable basis through the soil health card scheme.
Provide improved access to irrigation and enhanced water efficiency through
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
Support organic farming through Paramparagat KrishiVikasYojana (PKVY).
Creation of a unified national agriculture market to boost the income of farmers.
To mitigate risk in agriculture sector, “Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)
has been launched for implementation from Kharif 2016.
Focusing on irrigation with schemes like “Per Drop More Crop”, provision of quality
seeds and nutrients based on soil health, setting up warehouses and cold chains to
prevent post-harvest crop losses, promoting value addition through food
processing, creating a National Farm Market, removing distortions and e-platform
across 585 Stations.

To achieve the target of doubling farmer income by 2022 increasing investments in

agricultural R&D and rolling out efficient institutional reforms are vital to tackle the
emerging challenges in agriculture, including food and nutrition security both at national
and regional levels.

Focus areas

3/4
For Prelims – Agricultural Schemes

For Mains – Facts, stats, India’s ranking, challenges & solution

Source: PIB

4/4
Agri-Vision 2019
insightsonindia.com/2019/01/18/agri-vision-2019

January 18,
2019

Topics covered:

1. Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location,
upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
2. Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of
irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers
3. food security

Agri-Vision 2019

Context – Agri-Vision 2019, a two-day conference on ‘Envisioning Agro Solutions for

Smart and Sustainable Agriculture’ was held at Hyderabad.

Indian Agriculture

Agriculture sector accounts for 18 per cent of India’s GDP and provides
employment to 50 per cent of the workforce of the country.
The Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry and fishing is estimated at Rs 17.67
trillion (US$ 274.23 billion) in FY18.
During 2017-18 crop year, food grain production is estimated at record 284.83
million tonnes.
The introduction of high yielding varieties, irrigation facilities, increased input flow
through fertilizers and pesticides, farm mechanization, credit facilities, price
support, and other rural infrastructure facilities ushered the green revolution over
the past few decades.
Growth of Agricultural sector is important for inclusive growth and poverty
alleviation.
Need for concerted efforts from all stake holders to find long term solution to
various challenges faced by Agricultural sector, Loan waiver is only a temporary
relief but proves futile in long run in addressing Farmers concerns
India today is not only self-sufficient in respect of demand for food, but is also a net
exporter of agri-products occupying seventh position globally. It is one of the top
producers of cereals (wheat & rice), pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and
marine fish. However, we are still facing deficit of pulses and oilseeds. Although,
the availability of fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and fish has increased, the most
important aspect is to ensure access and affordability to a vast majority of Indians,
including farmers.

Food processing industry

1/4
 Plays a critical role in improving agrarian economy, raising farm incomes, reducing
wastages, ensuring value addition, promoting crop diversification and generating
employment opportunities as well as export earnings.
Vital link between agriculture and industry.
The Indian food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest.
The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32 per cent of the country’s total
food market, one of the largest industries in India.

Organic Farming

India holds a unique position among 172 countries practicing organic agriculture.
India is home to 30 per cent of the total organic producers in the world, but
accounts for just 2.59 per cent (1.5 million hectares) of the total organic cultivation
area of 57.8 million hectares.

Horticulture

leading horticultural country of the world with a total annual fruits and vegetable
production of 306.82 million tonnes during 2017-18
India is the second largest fruit producer in the world.

Livestock

Has been growing faster than crop sector.

The contribution of livestock output to the total output of the agriculture sector has
significantly increased from 15 per cent in 1981-82 to 29 per cent in 2015-16
acts as cushion and engine for agricultural growth.

Dairy industry

India is also the world’s second largest milk producer and is emerging as a major
exporter now.
It is contributing around 26 per cent to total agriculture GDP.

Challenges

Climate change, fragmented land holding, increase in demand for food, stagnating
farm incomes, declining productivity, diminishing and declining natural resources
etc.
Lack of favourable terms of trade, vagaries of monsoon, technology not reaching
farmers in time, absence of proper marketing strategies etc.
85 per cent farmers are small and marginal with land holding of less than 2
hectares.
Linking these small farmers with market is another major challenge in our system.
To enhance the farmers’ income, it is necessary to link them with marketers,
traders and exporters.

2/4
 Challenges for food security in the 21st century is not only improving productivity
but also yield stability through the development of crops which are disease-
resistant, pest-resistant and adaptable to climate change.

Solution to address the challenges

Some ways to address the issues – accord top priority to farmer-oriented

marketing, providing adequate cold storage facilities and refrigerator vans,
focusing on food processing through value addition, extending timely and
affordable credit to farmers and ensuring that innovations and technologies reach
the farmers, researchers and farm experts to come out with solutions to the multi-
dimensional problems faced by the farming sector.
United efforts by governments, scientific community, Krishi Vigyana Kendras and
farmers to realize the ambitious goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
Students pursuing agri courses must spend at least six months with farmers to
have a first-hand understanding of the problems faced by the latter.
Adopt the latest technologies from seeds to post harvest management to
marketing and to improve productivity on par with the other leading nations.
The use of Information Technology, Space Technology, Geo-Informatics, Internet of
Things (IoT), Block Chain Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics
and their first-mile connectivity to farmers is vital for enhancing farm incomes.
Digital technologies can also help in countering vagaries in farming and optimising
the resources.

Government initiatives

Improve soil fertility on a sustainable basis through the soil health card scheme.
Provide improved access to irrigation and enhanced water efficiency through
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
Support organic farming through Paramparagat KrishiVikasYojana (PKVY).
Creation of a unified national agriculture market to boost the income of farmers.
To mitigate risk in agriculture sector, “Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)
has been launched for implementation from Kharif 2016.
Focusing on irrigation with schemes like “Per Drop More Crop”, provision of quality
seeds and nutrients based on soil health, setting up warehouses and cold chains to
prevent post-harvest crop losses, promoting value addition through food
processing, creating a National Farm Market, removing distortions and e-platform
across 585 Stations.

To achieve the target of doubling farmer income by 2022 increasing investments in

agricultural R&D and rolling out efficient institutional reforms are vital to tackle the
emerging challenges in agriculture, including food and nutrition security both at national
and regional levels.

Focus areas

3/4
For Prelims – Agricultural Schemes

For Mains – Facts, stats, India’s ranking, challenges & solution

Source: PIB

4/4
Human Development Index
insightsonindia.com/2019/12/12/human-development-index

InsightsIAS December 12,

2019

Topics Covered:

Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to

Health, Education, Human Resources, issues relating to poverty and hunger.

What to study?

For Prelims: Key findings, about HDI.

For Mains: Challenges, concerns and ways to address them.

Context: UNDP has released the annual HDI 2019 report.

The focus of the 2019 Report is on ‘Inequality in Human Development’.

India’s position:

India’s rank- 129. Last year’s rank- 130.

Despite lifting 271 million people out of poverty between 2005-15, India still
remains home to 28% (364 million) of the world’s poor.
Between 1990 and 2018, India’s HDI value increased by 50 per cent (from 0.431 to
0.647), which places it above the average for countries in the medium human
development group (0.634) and above the average for other South Asian countries
(0.642).
This means that in the last three decades, life expectancy at birth in India increased
by 11.6 years, whereas the average number of schooling years increased by 3.5
years. Per capita incomes increased 250 times.
India is only marginally better than the South Asian average on the Gender
Development Index (0.829 vs 0.828), and ranks at a low 122 (of 162) countries on
the 2018 Gender Inequality Index.

India’s neighbours:
1/2
Sri Lanka (71) and China (85),

Bhutan (134), Bangladesh (135), Myanmar (145), Nepal (147), Pakistan (152) and
Afghanistan (170).

Global scenario:

Norway, Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top three positions in that order.
Globally, there are 1.3 billion poor people.
Around 661 million of these poor people live in Asia and the Pacific.
South Asia constitutes 41% of the world’s poor.

Changing nature of inequality:

As the number of people coming out of poverty is increasing, the world is veering
towards another type of poverty.
The old inequalities were based on access to health services and education
whereas the next generation of poverty is based on technology, education and
climate.

What is HDI?

Published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it is a statistical tool

used to measure a country’s overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions.
The social and economic dimensions of a country are based on the health of people,
their level of education attainment and their standard of living.

It is part of the Human Development Report.

The other indices that form the part of the 2019 Report are:

1. Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI),

2. Gender Development Index (GDI),
3. Gender Inequality Index (GII) and
4. Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

HDI measures average achievement of a country in three basic dimensions of human

development:

1. A long and healthy life.

2. Access to knowledge.
3. A decent standard of living.

Sources: the Hindu.

2/2
The India State of Forest Report 2019
insightsonindia.com/2019/12/30/the-india-state-of-forest-report-2019

December 30,
2019

Topics Covered: Conservation related issues.

What to study?

For Prelims: Key findings.

For Mains: Concerns expressed, challenges and ways to address them.

Context: The India State of Forest Report 2019 has been released.

Key findings:

1. Total tree and forest cover in the country increased by 5,188 square kilometer in
the last two years.
2. There is an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as
compared to the last assessment of 2017.
3. There is a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45 per cent) in
northeast India region. Except Assam and Tripura, all states in the region show
decrease in forest cover.
4. The loss in the North East is attributed primarily due to the traditional farming
practice of Shifting Cultivation.
5. The mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10 per cent) as
compared to the previous assessment.
6. Karnataka tops the country in growing the maximum amount of forest in the last
two years.
7. Karnataka is followed by Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq km).
8. Total bamboo bearing area of the country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km. There is
an increase of 3,229 sq km in bamboo bearing area as compared to the previous
estimate.

Sources: the Hindu.

1/1
Locust Invasion in Gujarat
drishtiias.com/printpdf/locust-invasion-in-gujarat

Why in News
The migratory insect - locust has swarmed the northern parts of Gujarat, causing

significant damage to agriculture.

The locusts, known as tiddis locally, destroyed standing crops of castor, cumin,
jatropha, cotton, and potato, and fodder grass in around 20 talukas.
Gujarat has not witnessed such an invasion of locusts since 1993-94.
The locusts emerged in February 2019 from Sudan and Eritrea in Africa's Red Sea
Coast and travelled through Saudi Arabia and Iran to enter Pakistan, where they
invaded the Sindh province and from there they moved into Rajasthan and Gujarat,
where south western monsoon had prolonged this time.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had issued an alert of a
massive locust attack in South Asia covering Pakistan and India.
The Locust Warning Organization (LWO) in Jodhpur also noticed the swarms
and predicted their trajectory across the international border.

Locust

1/2
 A locust is a large, mainly tropical grasshopper with strong powers of flight. They
differ from ordinary grasshoppers in their ability to change behaviour (gregarize)
and form swarms that can migrate over large distances.
Locusts are generally seen during the months of June and July as the insects are active
from summer to the rainy season.
Locusts have a high capacity to multiply, form groups, migrate over relatively large
distances (they can fly up to 150 km per day). They can rapidly reproduce and increase
some 20-fold in three months.
Threat to Vegetation: Locust adults can eat their own weight every day, i.e. about
two grams of fresh vegetation per day. A very small swarm eats as much in one day as
about 35,000 people, posing a devastating threat to crops and food security.
FAO provides information on the general locust situation to the global community and
gives timely warnings and forecasts to those countries in danger of invasion.
Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and
Storage, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is responsible for monitoring,
survey and control of Desert Locust in Scheduled Desert Areas mainly in the States of
Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Source: TH

2/2
Minimum Support Price
drishtiias.com/printpdf/minimum-support-price

The Government has hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Rabi crops for the
marketing season 2020-21, after decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), headed by the Prime Minister.

The increase in MSP for Rabi Crops is in line with the principle of fixing the MSPs at a level of
at least 1.5 times of the all India weighted average cost of production [CoP], which was
announced in the Union Budget 2018-19.

The MSP is the rate at which the government buys grains from farmers.
Reason behind the idea of MSP is to counter price volatility of agricultural
commodities due to the factors like variation in their supply, lack of market
integration and information asymmetry.

Fixation of MSP
The MSP is fixed on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural
Costs and Prices (CACP).
Factors taken into consideration for fixing MSP include:
Demand and supply;
Cost of production (A2 + FL method)
Price trends in the market, both domestic and international;
Inter-crop price parity;
Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture;
A minimum of 50% as the margin over cost of production; and
Likely implications of MSP on consumers of that product.
The Commission also makes visits to states for on-the-spot assessment of the
various constraints that farmers face in marketing their produce, or even raising the
productivity levels of their crops.
Based on all these inputs, the Commission then finalizes its
recommendations/reports, which are then submitted to the government.

1/2
 The government, in turn, circulates the CACP reports to state governments and
concerned Central Ministries for their comments.
After receiving the feed-back from them, the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA) of the Union government takes a final decision on the level of MSPs
and other recommendations made by the CACP.
Procurement: The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal central agency of the
Government of India, along with other State Agencies undertakes procurement of
crops.

The CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare,
formed in 1965. It is a statutory body that submits separate reports recommending prices
for Kharif and Rabi seasons.

National Commission on Farmers: Swaminathan Committee

On 18th November, 2004, the Union government formed the National Commission on
Farmers (NCF) with MS Swaminathan as its chairman.
The main aim of the committee was to come up with a sustainable farming
system, make farm commodities cost-competitive and more profitable.
It, in 2006, recommended that MSPs must be at least 50% more than the cost of
production.
It talked about the cost of farming at three levels:
A2: All the types of cash expenditure to generate the crop like seeds, manure,
chemicals, labour costs, fuel costs and irrigation costs.
A2+FL: It includes A2 plus an imputed value of unpaid family labour.
C2: Under C2, the estimated land rent and the cost of interest on the money
taken for farming are added to A2 and FL.

Rabi Crops
Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer
from April to June.
Some of the important rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard.
Though, these crops are grown in large parts of India, states from the north and
northwestern parts such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are important for the production of
wheat and other rabi crops.

Source: TH

2/2
One Nation One Ration Card Scheme
drishtiias.com/printpdf/one-nation-one-ration-card-scheme-1

With effect from 1st October 2019, two new clusters, Kerala and Karnataka and
Rajasthan and Haryana, will join the initiative of inter-state portability of ration cards.

It implies that people from a state will be able to buy subsidised food from ration
shops in the neighbouring state.
At present, a pair of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as well as of that
Maharashtra and Gujarat are part of the initiative.
Through this initiative, the government is laying out the roadmap for the One Nation
One Ration Card system, which it hopes to implement by June 2020.
One Nation One Ration Card Scheme will allow portability of food security
benefits across the country.
By 1st January 2020, the Centre hopes that the eight states in these initial
experimental clusters, as well as Jharkhand, Punjab and Tripura, can be clubbed
into a single grid.
This means that migrants from these 11 States can access their rations
guaranteed under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in any of the other
State within the grid.
These 11 States have already achieved the first step of implementing intra-
State portability, where NFSA beneficiaries can use their ration cards in any
ration shop within their own state, not just the shop where the card is
registered.

Source: TH

1/1
PEGASUS
drishtiias.com/printpdf/pegasus

The technical document "PEGASUS" i.e. Phycomorph European Guidelines for a

Sustainable Aquaculture of Seaweeds, highlights the current state of European seaweed
production and pinpoints challenges for the development and proposes recommendations
for short-term and long-term improvements at different levels of the chain.

Phycomorph is a network of international academic laboratories each addressing one

or several issues related to macroalgal development. The dynamics of the network is
based on regular meetings and student exchanges in order to share both recent
progress and experience in technical skills preparing guidelines for sustainable
seaweed aquaculture in Europe.
The main aim of PHYCOMORPH is to unify a scattered European research
landscape to enable a step-change in the basic knowledge of macroalgal
reproduction and development.
Macroalgae (seaweeds) are multicellular organisms living mainly in marine or
freshwater (a few live almost permanently out of water).
Seaweed is plant-like organisms, playing a key ecological role in coastal
ecosystems. It is a promising bioresource for the future and the demand for
high-value seaweed-derived compounds (cosmetics, food) is growing across the
world.
Like plants, they use light to fix atmospheric carbon dissolved in water.
Macroalgae are amongst the most powerful carbon-fixing organisms on
earth. Their size ranges from a few millimetres up to 50 metres.

Importance of aquaculture of Seaweeds

Food security: By 2050, the edible bioresource biomass will have to satisfy the 9
billion people predicted to live on the planet.
Seaweed aquaculture can help to address global challenges related to nutrition,
health and sustainable circular bio-economy.
Domestication of the oceans is widely regarded as a possible solution to increase
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 food and could be one of the next most important developments in human
history.
Environment protection: It will support food web, coastal protection of erosion,
bioremediation by removal of possible pollutants like nitrogen or phosphate and CO2
sequestration.
Pharmaceutical and medical applications:
Antibacterial and antifungal activity of various macroalgae has been
demonstrated.
It contains some promising compounds in the field of curing cancer. It shows a
potent cytotoxic activity (inhibition of cell growth and multiplication) against
human cancer cell lines.
It could be potentially useful as therapeutic agents against Adult T-cell leukaemia
(ATL).
It can be used as an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.
Renewable energy source: Algal biofuels dispose of quite some benefits compared to
fuels of terrestrial origin, such as a higher energy content; a fast growth and the fact
that they complement terrestrial biofuels instead of competing with it.
Cosmetics products: Because of the lipids they contain which can be used to produce
oils, these are an excellent choice for the preparation of cosmetic products.
Job creation: The algal industry is able to create a wide variety of jobs ranging from
research to engineering, from constructing to farming and from marketing to financial
services.

Seaweed production in India

According to a report from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
(CMFRI), only 30 million tonnes of seaweeds, valuing €8 billion, are being harvested
every year.
In India, seaweeds grow abundantly along the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat coasts
and around Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Of the nearly 700 species of marine algae found in both inter-tidal and
deepwater regions of the Indian coast, about 60 species are commercially
important.

Aquaculture is breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Basically,
it’s farming in water. It is an environmentally responsible source of food and commercial
products, helps to create healthier habitats, and is used to rebuild stocks of threatened or
endangered species.

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) was established by Government of

India on February 3, 1947, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

2/3
In 1967, it joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and emerged as a
leading tropical marine fisheries research institute in the world.
The Headquarters of the ICAR-CMFRI is located in Kochi, Kerala.

3/3
Revamping the Agricultural Sector
drishtiias.com/printpdf/revamping-the-agricultural-sector

This article is based on the “New Approach to Agriculture Sector” which was published in
Livemint on 02/12/2019. It highlights the problems faced by the Indian agricultural sector
and the solutions to tackle it.

India faces several challenges related to agriculture and food security that include
fragmentation of landholdings, degradation of resource quality, climate change induced
adverse impact, large scale migration of agriculturists to non-farming sectors, etc. The
current status of agriculture, therefore, needs critical evaluation in order to provide suitable
remedial measures.

Historical Background
Food security has been a national priority since Independence to fulfill the food
demands of a rapidly growing population.
Green Revolution that started in the mid-1960s through adoption of fertilizer-
responsive high yielding varieties (HYVs), farm mechanization and use of
agrochemicals including fertilizers transformed India from being a food importer to
food exporter country within five decades.
In the last 50 years, food grain production (in the form of oilseeds, horticulture
crops, etc.) in the country has increased by almost 3 times which has outpaced
the growth of the population that went up by 2.6 times during this period.

Issues in the Agriculture Sector

While Green Revolution technologies intensified agricultural production, the misuse of
inputs and deviant farm practices have led to an emergence of second-generation
problems.

Multi-nutrient Deficiencies

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 Practising the high yielding intensive agriculture has put an extreme pressure on soil
health reflected by the continuous depletion of soil fertility.
Due to selective subsidy scheme in the form of Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS)
scheme only for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilizers, there has been an
overuse of these fertilizers. This has lead to the problem of nutrient mining
(agricultural practices resulting in a negative nutrient balance) in Indian soil,
impacting soil health over time.
In addition to primary nutrients (NPK), deficiencies of secondary and micronutrients
(boron, copper, iron, manganese, etc) have increased in Indian soils.
Inadequate, imbalanced and inefficient use of mineral fertilizers with lack of use of
organic sources of plant nutrients has given rise to multi-nutrient deficiencies.
Fertilizer/nutrient use efficiency (economic production obtained per unit of
fertilizer/nutrient applied) is also relatively low in India such as, with nitrogen (30-40%),
phosphorus (15-20%) and potash (60-70%). This not only affects the crop yields but
also affects the environment due to the escape of unused nutrients.
Also, the crop response to fertilizers has been declining continuously. The average
crop response to fertilizer application (kg grain produced per kg of NPK applied)
decreased from 12.1:1 (during the 1960s) to 5:1 (in the 2010s). With the decrease in
crop response to fertilizers, the profitability of the farmers has gone down year
after year.

Inefficient Water Management

In the agriculture sector, water management related challenges include low water use
efficiency, water-energy nexus, growing water-intensive crops in water-deficient areas,
poor quality waters characterized by the excessive toxic elements and salts, and poor
rainwater management.
Water salinization and waterlogging in canal command areas (like Punjab, Haryana,
Western UP) and rapidly falling water tables in the tube well-irrigated areas have
aggravated the problem.
Also, the practise of flood irrigation (one of the most inefficient methods of
irrigation) has led to the transformation of agro-climatic cropping patterns in India.
For instance, easier availability of water through pumping of groundwater because of
the availability of free electricity to farmers has made the farmers of north-
western India shift to rice cultivation during kharif season by replacing traditional
maize and coarse cereals production.

Decreasing Farmers Income

The declining farmers’ income is largely on account of low average crop productivity
and poor price realization.

2/5
 Government announces Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops. However, farmers
are forced to sell their produce at much lower prices due to the exploitation by the
middlemen, called Aadhtees.
Therefore, in the absence of effective market interventions, infrastructure, backward
and forward linkages, farmers are unable to recover the cost of production.

Remedial Measures
Sustenance of Soil Health

Organic carbon content in Indian soils is relatively poor. Effective steps are needed
to augment the organic nutrient sources that include agricultural composting (natural
process of decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms under controlled
conditions), returning crop residues to the soil, etc.
For soil health enhancement, the government can link composting to Swachh
Bharat Mission and provide it free of cost to the farmers.
The target of reducing the use of chemical fertilizers up to 25% can be achieved by
doubling the nutrient use efficiency.

Correction in Fertilizer Policy

Recently, a number of initiatives such as shift from urea to 100% neem coated urea,
reducing the weight of urea bag from 50 kg to 45 kg and providing soil health cards to
all farmers have been taken to reduce urea consumption and promote more
efficient use of nitrogen.
However, it has not helped much because under the prevailing fertilizer pricing
policy there is a huge gap in urea vis-à-vis P&K prices that continues to distort
the NPK use ratio.
It is time to revisit the present fertilizer pricing and subsidy scheme. Fertilizer policy
should ensure balanced pricing of N, P, K, and micronutrients.
A simple solution in this regard is to bring urea under NBS scheme and transfer
the subsidy directly into the farmers’ accounts rather than routing through the
fertilizer industry.

Efficient Water Management

Education of the society at large on the necessity of ‘judicious use of water’, ‘har
khet ko pani’ and ‘more crop per drop' is a welcome step towards efficient usage of
water.

3/5
 Focus should be on agriculture sector with management technologies which have the
potential of making water savings.
Savings on water and nutrients under drip-fertigation (method of fertilizer
application in which fertilizer is incorporated within the irrigation water by the
drip system) range from 20% to 60% and 20-30%, respectively. The adoption and
development of cropping/farming systems should be guided by the potential
water availability.
Regulatory mechanisms should be put in place for sustainable development and
utilization of groundwater resources.

Enhancing Farmers’ Income

The inter-ministerial committee constituted to examine issues relating to doubling of

farmers’ income by 2022, has identified seven sources of income growth namely,
Improvement in crop productivity,
Improvement in livestock productivity,
Resource use efficiency or savings in the cost of production,
Increase in the cropping intensity,
Diversification towards high-value crops,
Improvement in real prices received by farmers, and
Shift from farm to non-farm occupations.
For the livelihood security of the country’s millions of farmers (especially small and
marginal ones), it is essential to shift to the approach of Integrated Farming System
(IFS). The IFS model integrates the latest production technologies of farming and
livestock/ aquaculture development and management.

Market Reforms

Market reforms are needed to ensure that remunerative prices to the farmers are
given for their produce. A step towards bringing reforms in Agricultural Produce
Market Committees (APMC) was taken by the government in July 2015 through the
creation of National Agricultural Market (NAM).
Since the APMCs are a state subject, operation of NAM faces innumerable
difficulties. Unless NAM becomes successful, farmers shall keep facing
exploitation.

Way Forward
Central and State Governments need to work in tandem to provide support and
required financial assistance to the farmers, so as to improve the availability and use
of organic sources of plant nutrients.

4/5
 Fertilizer policies need immediate course correction to promote the use of nutrients
from inorganic, organic and biological sources. Industry freed from controls and task
of reaching subsidy to the farmers by implementing DBT in true sense will encourage
innovation in products and services.

Indian agriculture is passing through a phase where the sustainability of soil health and
crop yields have come into question. The dependence on fertilizers will continue to increase
in the foreseeable future to meet the increasing nutrient demands for higher food
production.

Drishti Mains Question

Briefly discuss the issues faced by the Indian agricultural sector and suggest
corrective measures that can be undertaken to overcome them.

5/5
Seed Bill
drishtiias.com/printpdf/seed-bill

This article is based on “The Seed Bill must be tweaked for better results” which was
published in The Hindu Business Line on 02/12/2019. It highlights the provisions of the draft
Seed Bill-2019 and issues associated with it.

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has finalized the draft Seed Bill
2019 and is expected to table it in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. The Bill aims to
regulate the quality of seeds sold and facilitate the production and supply of these seeds
to farmers. It aims to foster competition by amending the Seed Act, 1966 and Seed Rules,
1968. There are certain proposals in the Bill such as registration of seed varieties, powers
granted to the government to fix prices inter-alia which suffer from certain drawbacks. In
this regard, the seed industry has made certain observations and recommendations to the
government.

Highlights of the Seed Bill- 2019

It is an important legislation to ensure the supply of modern, high quality, cutting edge
seed technologies to the farmers which will help them in enhancing their
productivity and profitability.
Formation of Seed Committee
The Bill authorizes the Central government to reconstitute a Central Seed
Committee (based in New Delhi) that will be responsible for the effective
implementation of its provisions.
Registration of Seed Varieties
Draft Bill Provision: All varieties of seeds for sale have to be registered and
are required to meet certain prescribed minimum standards. For instance, for
transgenic varieties of seeds, registration is to be obtained under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. This can bring greater accountability to
seed companies.
Industry Recommendation: Make the registration process time-bound.

1/4
Exemptions
Bill: Exempt farmers from obtaining registration for varieties developed by
them. However, if the farmer sells such seeds for a monetary consideration,
then that sale needs to be registered. This is to protect the interests of other
farmers who buy seeds from such a farmer.
Also, farmers are allowed to sow, exchange or sell their farm seeds and
planting material without having to conform to the prescribed minimum
limits of germination, physical purity and genetic purity (as required by
registered seeds). However, farmers cannot sell any seed under a brand
name.
Recommendation: Exemption of export-oriented varieties from registration
has been made. This will encourage custom production of seeds in India.
Research-based Companies
Bill: In the proposed Bill, there is a differentiation between the seed producer,
seed processor and seed dealer for the purpose of licensing. However, there is
no recognition of National Level Integrated Seed Companies with R&D
capabilities.
Recommendation: There must be a system of accreditation of national level
research-based companies with integrated facilities for research, product
testing, data analytics, seed production, seed quality control, seed processing,
farmer extension and marketing. These companies need to be given a
national licence that can be renewed at regular intervals based on fresh
inspections and track record.
Truthfully labelled seeds
Bill: Currently, a large percentage of seed is sold under a self-certification
programme called Truthfully Labelled (TL) seeds. The certification process has
been kept voluntary.
Recommendation: TL seeds category must continue, as the mandatory
registration of seed varieties eliminates the risk of misuse of TL provision. The
TL certification has helped the industry to grow and facilitated the supply of
high-quality seeds to the farmer in the last 30 years.
Nurseries
Bill: Licences/ registration of fruit nurseries.
Recommendation: Apply this provision to all nurseries and not just fruit
nurseries.

2/4
 Price Control
Bill: Empowers the government to fix prices of selected varieties in case of
‘emergent’ situations such as seed shortage, abnormal increase in price,
monopolistic pricing, profiteering, etc. which are open to subjective
interpretation.
Recommendation: The industry opposes any kind of price control, as it can
stifle innovation and result in a scale back of research investments.
Review of complaints
Bill: Consumer Protection Act, 1986 to be used to deal with complaints related
to the non-performance of seed.
Recommendation: Seed performance is dependent on several agro-climatic
and biological factors and is not always related to the quality of the seed.
Hence, this aspect must be kept in mind while reviewing a complaint.
Penal Provisions
Bill: Differentiates the agronomic performance of the seed, its physical quality
and the supply of spurious seed, and consequently penalizes the offences and
prescribes punishment.
Recommendation: All offences are not criminal. Minor offences (unintended
offences) and major offences (made intentionally) should be differentiated. The
minor offences in the Bill must be made as compoundable.

Legislative Frameworks for Seeds in India

Historically, the seed industry in India has been governed by several legislative &
policy frameworks such as Seed Act (1966), Seed Rules (1968), Seed (Control) Order
(1983), New Policy on Seed Development (1988), Plants, Fruits & Seeds (Regulation of
Import into India) Order (1989), Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Right
Act (2001), and the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 including Seeds (1955),
National Seed Policy (2002), and Seed Bill (2004).
All of these legislations were passed to take care of seeds right from the
production level to marking, labeling, and marketing levels so as to
maintain the quality standards as prescribed by the Central Seed Committee
(formed under the Seed Act, 1966).
These laws make quality seeds and planting material available to a common
farmer and provide him a mechanism to approach concerned authority for
justice.
The Seed Bill (2004) was proposed to replace the Seed Act (1966), however, owing to
several shortcomings it was not passed. The 2019 draft version tries to overcome the
drawbacks of the 2004 Bill.

Way Forward

3/4
 Agriculture production is purely based on the basic input,i.e., seed. Until and unless
the purity, quality and seed standards are maintained, production programme cannot
be successful. Hence, to maintain these quality standards, legislations in this regard
are equally important.
It is also necessary to disseminate the information regarding seed legislations to the
farmers in order to make them aware of their rights.
Companies with national licence and accreditation must be allowed to conduct trials
for seed varieties and generate data (which is to be made acceptable for product
registration purposes). This will help in speedy reach of new research products to the
market for the timely benefit of the farmer.

Overall, the seed law must have the twin objective of regulating the supply of seeds for
the benefit of the farmers and, at the same time, enable the development of the seed
industry.

Drishti Mains Question

Seed law in India must take into consideration the evolving needs of the seed
industry. Discuss the challenges faced by the seed industry in the country and
suggest steps that can be taken to tackle them.

4/4
Sheath Blight Disease
drishtiias.com/printpdf/sheath-blight-disease

Sheath blight is a fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani.

Rice sheath blight is an increasing concern for rice production, especially in

intensified production systems.
Infected leaves dry out and die more rapidly, young tillers can also be destroyed. As a
result, the leaf area of the canopy can significantly be reduced by the disease. This
reduction in leaf area are the primary causes of yield reduction.

Why and Where it Occurs

Sheath blight occurs in areas with high temperature (28−32°C), high levels of
nitrogen fertilizer, and relative humidity of crop canopy from 85−100%.
Plants are more vulnerable to sheath blight during the rainy season.
High seeding rate or close plant spacing, dense canopy, the disease in the soil,
sclerotia or infection bodies floating on the water, and growing of high yielding
improved varieties also favour disease development.

1/1
 2

INDEX

1. Human Development Index ...................................... 17 25. World Climate and Security Report 2020 ................. 27

2. Human Capital Index ................................................ 17 26. Corruption Perceptions Index .................................... 27

3. Human Capital Score ................................................ 18 27. Democracy Index 2019 ............................................. 27

4. Global Competitiveness Index .................................. 18 28. United in Science Report ........................................... 28

5. Multidimensional Poverty Index ............................... 19 29. World Malaria Report ............................................... 28

6. Global Hunger Index ................................................. 19 30. Global Wealth Report ................................................ 29

7. Global Gender Gap Index ......................................... 20 31. Misery Index ............................................................. 29

8. Gender Social Norms Index ...................................... 21 32. International Religious Freedom Report ................... 29

9. A New era for girls: Report ....................................... 21 33. Freedom in the World Report .................................... 30

10. Ease of Doing Business Index ................................... 21 34. Henley Passport Index ............................................... 30

11. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.............. 22 35. QS Indian University Rankings ................................. 31

12. International Migrant Stock 2019.............................. 22 36. SDG India Index........................................................ 31

13. Social Mobility Index ................................................ 23 37. SARAL ...................................................................... 32

14. World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2020 38. Composite Water Management Index ....................... 32
(WESO) ............................................................................. 23
39. India Justice Report 2019 .......................................... 33
15. Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)................ 23
40. India Internet 2019 .................................................... 33
16. Sustainability Index and Flourishing Index ............... 24
41. Good Governance Index ............................................ 33
17. Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) 2019 42. State Energy Efficiency Index 2019 .......................... 34
Global Report ..................................................................... 24
43. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) ............. 34
18. Services Trade Restrictiveness Index ........................ 24
44. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Report......... 35
19. International Intellectual Property Index ................... 25
45. India Child Well-Being Report ................................. 35
20. Global Health Security Index .................................... 25
46. School Education Quality Index ................................ 36
21. World Air Quality Report 2019 ................................ 26
47. All India Survey on Higher Education 2018-19…. .. 37
22. Business-to-consumer E-commerce index ................ 26
48. Municipal Performance Index 2019 .......................... 38
23. World Water Development Report............................ 26
49. Ease of Living Index ................................................. 38
24. Statement of the State of the Global Climate in 2019
50. World Happiness Report ........................................... 38
Report ................................................................................ 26

TARGET 2020

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 7

REPORTS AND INDICES 2020

Sl.No Reports/Indices Publishing Organizations

Financial Organisations

1. Ease of Doing Business

2. World Development Report

3. Global Economic Prospect (GEP) Report

4. Remittance Report

5. Ease of Living Index

6. India Development Update

7. Global Financial Development Report

World Bank
8. Energy Efficiency Implementation Readiness

Human Capital Index

9.
(Prepared as a part of World development Report)
Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy
10.
(RISE)

11. Logistics Performance Index

Report : A Glass Half Full: The promise of

12.
Regional Trade in South Asia
Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing
13.
Together the Poverty Puzzle

Human Capital Index

14.
(Prepared as a part of World development Report)

15. Universal Health Coverage Index World Bank + WHO

16. Global Human Capital Index

17. Global Information Technology Report

18. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report World Economic Forum (WEF)

19. Global Competitiveness Report

20. Global Enabling Trade Report

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 8

Global Energy Architecture Performance Index

21.
Report

22. Global Environment Performance Index

23. World Power Language Index

24. Inclusive Development Index

25. Global Gender Gap Index

26. Global Risk Report

27. Energy Transition Index

28. Future of Jobs Report

29. Global Manufacturing Index

30. Social Mobility Index

31. Readiness for future of Production Report WEF + AT Kearney

32. Global Financial Stability Report

International Monetary Fund (IMF)
33. World Economic Outlook

The Programme for International Student

34.
Assessment (PISA)

Organisation of Economic Cooperation and

35. Government at a Glance Report
Development (OECD)

Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) 2019

36.
Global Report

37. World Trade Outlook Indicator World Trade Organisation (WTO)

38. Global Financial System Report Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

UN and its Specialised Agencies

39. Global education monitoring Report

United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
40. Gender Parity Index

41. World Water Development Report UNESCO on behalf of UN Water

42. Report on Regular Resources United Nations International Children‘s

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 9

Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

43. The State of the World‘s Children reports

44. Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

45. Sustainability Index and Flourishing Index WHO, UNICEF and THE LANCET

UNICEF, Plan International and United Nations

46. A New era for girls: Report
Women

47. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

48. World Drug Report
(UNODC)

49. World Wildlife Crime Report

50. ICT Development Index

United Nations International Telecommunication
Union (UN-ITU)
51. Global Cyber Security Index

UN-ITU, United Nations University (UNU) and

52. ‗Global E-waste Monitor‘ Report
International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

53. The Global Report
(UNHCR)

54. World Investment Report

55. Trade & Development Report

56. The Least Developed Countries Report

United Nations Conference on Trade and

57. Information and Economy Report
Development (UNCTAD)

58. The Technology and Innovation Report

59. Commodities and Development Report

60. B2C e-commerce Index

61. World Economic situation and Prospects Report UNCTAD &UN-DESA

62. World‘s Women Report

63. e-Participation Index

UN-Department of Economic & Social Affairs (UN-
DESA)
64. e-Government Development Index

65. International Migrant Stock 2019

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 10

66. World Population Prospects

United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice

67. Reports on Counterfeiting and Organized Crime
Research Institute (UNICRI)

United Nations Industrial Development

68. Industrial Development Report
Organization (UNIDO)

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

69. Global Assessment Report
(UNISDR)

Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on

Ecosystem Services Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

70. State of World Population Report United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

71. World Cities Report UN-Habitat

UN-Habitat in partnership with Global Urban

72. Habitat Commitment Index
Futures Project

UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality

73. Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report
Estimation

United Nations University Institute for

74. World Risk Index
Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)

UN – Sustainable Development Solutions Network

75. World Happiness Report
(SDSN)

76. World Social Protection Report

77. World Employment and Social Outlook

Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent

78. International Labour Organization (ILO)
Work Report

79. World of Work Report

80. Global Wage Report

81. Gender Social Norms Index

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

82. Gender Inequality Index

Global Gender Gap Index WEF

Gender Parity Index UNESCO

83. Actions on Air Quality United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

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 11

/ UN Environment
84. Global Environment Outlook

85. Emission Gap Report

86. Inclusive Wealth Report

87. The Rise of Environmental Crime Report UNEP & INTERPOL

88. World State of Forest Report

Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
89. Global Food Price Index

90. World Health Statistics

91. World Tuberculosis Report

92. Global Nutrition Report

93. World Vision Report

World Health Organization (WHO)

94. World Malaria Report

95. Ambient Air Pollution Report

96. World Air Quality Report IQAir and Greenpeace

97. Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

98. United in Science Report World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)

Statement of the State of the Global Climate in

99.
2019 Report

100. Safety Reports

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
101. CORSIA

102. World Migration Report International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

103. World Intellectual Property Report World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

International Intellectual Property Index US Chamber of Commerce

104. World Water Development Report UN-Water

Other International Organizations

Asian Economic Integration Report & Asian

105. Asian Development Bank
Development Outlook

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 12

106. Asian Infrastructure Finance Report 2019 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting

107. World Oil Outlook
Countries (OPEC)

Nuclear Organisations Reports

108. Technical Cooperation Report

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
109. Nuclear Technology Review

110. Red Book (Uranium Report) IAEA+ Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

111. World Energy Outlook

112. The Future of Rail Report

113. Global Electric Vehicle Outlook International Energy Agency (IEA)

Status of Power System Transmission 2018

114.
Report

115. Southeast Asia Energy Outlook

International Union for Conservation of Nature

116. Red List
(IUCN)

Non-Profit Organisations

117. The Energy Report & Living Planet Report World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

118. Global Corruption Report

Transparency International
119. Corruption Perception Index

120. World Press Freedom Index Reporters Without Borders

121. Death Penalty Report Amnesty International

International Food Policy Research Institute

122. Global Hunger Index
(IFPRI)

123. Gender Vulnerability Index Plan India

124. An Economy for the 99% Oxfam

125. Widening Gaps - India Inequality Report Oxfam India

126. Change the World List Data Fortune

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 13

127. Global Pension Index Melbourne Mercer

Walk Free foundation, Australia based Human

128. Global Slavery Index
Rights Group

129. Global Retail Development Index

AT Kearney (American Global Management
Consulting Firm)
130. FDI Confidence Index

131. Global Climate Risk Index German Watch

German Watch and Climate Action Network

132. Climate Change Performance Index
Europe

Created by the Global Burden of Disease &

133. Healthcare Access & Quality Ranking
published in The Lancet

134. Global Burden of Diseases Report Lancet Planetary Health Journal

135. Financial Secrecy Index Tax Justice Network, UK based advocacy group

136. Freedom in the World Report Freedom House, a US-based watchdog

World Justice Project, American independent

137. Rule of Law Index
Multidisciplinary organisation

138. Commitment to Reduce Inequality Index Oxfam and Development Finance International

International Military Council on Climate and

139. World Climate and Security Report
Security (IMCCS)

Reports published by Research Centres and other Institutes

140. Index of Economic Freedom Heritage Foundation& Wall Street Journal

141. International Intellectual Property Index US Chamber of Commerce

142. Global Peace Index

Institute of Economics & Peace (IEP), Australia
143. Global Terrorism Index

Global Democracy Index / State of Democracy in

144.
the World 2018

145. Government E-Payments Adoption Ranking

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), UK
146. Global Liveability Ranking

147. Inclusive Internet Index

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EIUand Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) & Johns

148. Global Health Security Index Hopkins University Center for Health Security
(CHS)

INSEAD, Adecco Group and the Human Capital

149. Global Talent Competitiveness Index
Leadership Institute of Singapore

150. City Momentum Index JLL Real Estate Services, US

151. State of Global Air Report Health Effects Institute , Boston

152. Global Ecological Footprint Global Footprint Network

153. Social Progress Index Social Progress Imperative

154. World Inequality Report World Inequality Lab, Paris School of Economics

155. Digital Evolution Index Tufts University, US and Mastercard

UNDP, Oxford Poverty & Human Development

156. Multidimensional Poverty Index
Initiative

157. Global Youth Development Index Commonwealth Secretariat (Youth Division)

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg,

158. Varieties of Democracy Report
Sweden
US Commission on International Religious
159. International Religious Freedom Report
Freedom (USCIRF)
Credit Suisse Group, a Switzerland-based
160. Global Wealth Report
multinational investment bank

Reports Related to India

161. India State of Forest Report Forest Survey of India

162. Red Data Book of Indian Plants Botanical Survey of India

The Department of Administrative Reform and

163. Good Governance Index Public Grievances (DARPG) and Centre for Good
Governance (CGG), Hyderabad

164. Social Development Report Council for Social Development

165. State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index (SARAL) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

‗World Vision India‘ and ‗IFMR LEAD‘ (research

166. India Child Well-Being Report
institute)

167. National Air Quality Indices

Central Pollution Control Board

168. Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index

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169. National Ambient Air Quality Standard

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),

170. India State Level Disease Burden Report Public Health Foundation of India and Institute
for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

171. Transformation of Aspirational Districts

172. Strategy for New India at 75

NITI Aayog
173. Women Transforming India 2019

174. Blockchain: The India Strategy

NITI Aayog, World Bank and Ministry of Health

175. Healthy States, Progressive India Report
and Family Welfare

NITI Aayog, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of

176. Composite Water Management Index
Rural Development

Sustainable Tourism in the Indian Himalayan NITI Aayog and ICIMOD (International Centre for
177.
Region Integrated Mountain Development)

NITI Aayog & Ministry of Statistics and

178. SDG India Index
Programme Implementation

179. State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index NITI Aayog & Bureau of Energy Efficiency

180. School Education Quality Index (SEQI) NITI Aayog, MHRD and World Bank

181. India Innovation Index 2019 NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness

Global Innovation Index Cornell University, INSEAD & WIPO

Department for Promotion of Industry and

182. States‘ Startup Ranking
Internal Trade (DPIIT)

183. Energy Performance Index Bureau of Energy Efficiency

Ease of Living Index

184.
(At India Level)
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
185. Swachh Survekshan Report

186. Municipal Performance Index

187. Financial Stability Report Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

188. Financial Inclusion Index Ministry of Finance

189. Fiscal Performance Index Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

CII incollaboration with UNDP, AICTE and

190. India Skills Report
Wheebox (Global Talent assessment company)

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191. Indian Exclusion Report Centre for Equity Studies

192. India Internet Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)

193. Index of Internet Readiness of Indian States IAMAI and Indicus Analytics

194. RESIDEX National Housing Bank

195. Annual Survey of Education Report PRATHAM

196. All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)

Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD)
197. Performance Grading Index

National University of Educational Planning and

198. Education Development Index India (State Level)
Administration (NUEPA)

199. Logistics Ease Across Different States Index Ministry of Commerce and Industry

200. Composite District Infrastructure Index Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

201. India Justice Report Tata Trusts

202. Greenex (Green Index) Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

203. Deficient Rainfall Impact Parameter (DRIP) Index CRISIL

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1. Human Development Index 2019

 Human Development Report was recently released by UN Development Programme (UNDP).
 It unveils Human Development Index (HDI) which measures average achievement in three basic dimensions
of human development,
i. Life expectancy,
ii. Education and
iii. Per capita income.
 According to its recent report, India ranks129 out of 189 countries on the 2019HDI, up by one position
(130) from last year.
 Norway, Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top 3 positions followed by Germany & Hong Kong in 4 th and
Australia in 5th ranking.
 Among India's neighbours, Sri Lanka (71) and China (85) are higher up the rank scale.
 Bhutan (134), Bangladesh (135), Myanmar (145), Nepal (147), Pakistan (152) and Afghanistan (170) were
ranked lower on the list.
 Inequality-Adjusted HDI (IHDI) indicates percentage loss in HDI due to inequalities.
 In IHDI, India‘s position drops by one position to 130.
 In the Gender Inequality Index (GII), India is at 122 out of 162 countries. Neighbours China (39), Sri
Lanka (86), Bhutan (99), Myanmar (106) were placed above India.
 Report Highlights - South Asia was the fastest growing region in human development progress followed by
East Asia and the Pacific.
 The world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030 as per the UN‘s Sustainable Development Goals.
 It forecasts that it may take 202 years to close the gender gap in economic opportunity.
 It presents a new index indicating how prejudices and social beliefs obstruct gender equality.
 It shows that only 14% of women and 10% of men worldwide have no gender bias.
 It also highlights that new forms of inequalities will manifest in future through climate change and
technological transformation.

2. Human Capital Index 2019

 The World Bank has released a Human Capital Index as part of the World Development Report 2019.
 The theme of this year's world development report is ―The Changing Nature of Work‖.
 The first HCI was published recently at the annual
meetings of IMF and World Bank group. HDI Vs HCI

 The index is calculated for 157 countries.  United Nation Development Programme
(UNDP) calculates Human Development
 It seeks to measure the amount of human capital that a Index.
child born today can expect to attain by age 18.  HDI includes Health, Education and Per
 The components of HCI are, capita Income components.
 HCI excludes Per capita income and
1.Survival - measured by under-5 mortality rates included quality adjustments in learning.
2.Expected years of Quality-adjusted school -  This makes HCI far less representative of
measured by quantity and quality of education human capital development than the index
claims to be.
3.Health environment - measured by Adult survival
rates and rate of stunting for children under 5.
 The HCI outcome of each country is given as a fraction of maximum value of 1.
 The HCI for India has been estimated at 0.44 and India is ranked at115thposition in the index.

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 North America and Europe mostly have HCI value of above 0.75, while South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa
have the lowest HCI among the regions.

3. Human Capital Score 2018

 A recent study that ranks countries for their levels of spending on education and health care has been
published in Lancet.
 The study was conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the request of the
World Bank.
 It is the first ever scientific study ranking countries for their levels of human capital.
 Finland topped the score and turkey showed the most dramatic increase in human capital between 1990 and
2016.
 India ranks158thin the world for its investments in education and health care. It was ranked 162 in 1990.
 India is placed behind Sudan (ranked 157th) and ahead of Namibia (ranked 159th) in the list.
 The U.S. is ranked 27th, while China is at 44thand Pakistan at 164th.
 Countries in the South Asian region that have fared better than India in terms of human capital include Sri
Lanka (102), Maldives (116), Bhutan (133), Nepal (156).

4. Global Competitiveness Index 2019

 It is published by World Economic Forum annually.
 The index covers 141 nations and it measures national competitiveness through 103 indicators organized into
12 pillars.
 It accesses competitiveness through the factors that determine an economy‘s level of productivity.
 According to the recent report, United States ranked first followed by Singapore, Germany, Switzerland and
Japan.
 The 2019 index is the fourth version of the global competitiveness index; hence referred to as GCI 4.0.
 The GCI 4.0 tracks data and/or responses on 12 factors divided into 4 broad categories.
 The first category is the ―Enabling Environment.‖
 This includes factors such as the state of infrastructure, institutions, macroeconomic stability and the ability to
adopt new technology.
 The second category is ―Human Capital‖ and includes health and level of skills in the economy.
 The third is the state of ―Markets‖ such as those for labour, product, financial and the overall market size.
 The last category is ―Innovation Ecosystem‖ which includes business dynamism and innovation capability.
 Highlights - Singapore has become the world's most competitive economy in 2019, pushing the US to the
second place.
 Hong Kong SAR is ranked 3rd, Netherlands 4th and Switzerland 5th.
 China is ranked 28th(the highest ranked among the BRICS).
 The presence of many competitive countries in Asia-Pacific makes this region the most competitive in the
world.
 This is followed closely by Europe and North America.
 India has moved down 10 places to rank 68thamong 141 countries on the global competitiveness index.
 It is among the worst-performing BRICS nations along with Brazil (ranked even lower than India at 71 stthis
year).
 In the overall ranking, India is followed by some of its neighbours including Sri Lanka at 84th place,
Bangladesh at 105th, Nepal at 108th and Pakistan at 110th place.

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 A number of similarly-placed economies including Colombia, South Africa and Turkey improved over the past
year and hence have overtaken India.
 The study highlighted that the global economy is unprepared for a major slowdown.

5. Multidimensional Poverty Index 2019

 MPI is a measure that takes into account the incidence of poverty and the extent of deprivation.
 It is calculated by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative and United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP).
 The MPI value ranges between 0 and 1 and the value of 1 indicates the highest deprivation level, while 0
indicates the lowest.
 It has been calculated for 105 developing
economies.
 MPI is the product of the following factors
1. Poverty rate as a percentage of the population.
2. Intensity as the average share of deprivations
that poor people experience.
 If someone is deprived in a third or more of 10
weighted indicators, the global index identifies
them as ―MPI poor‖.
 India has reduced its poverty rate from 55% to 28%
in 10 years according to a new version of the global
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report 2018.
 India‘s MPI stood at 0.121 in 2016, half of what it was in 2006.
 India‘s MPI is lower than the global average of 0.159 and the South Asian countries but higher than BRICS
countries (excluding Russia).
 According to the report Bihar was the poorest state in 2015-16, with more than half its population in poverty.
 The four poorest states of India according to the report are Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya
Pradesh.

6. Global Hunger Index2019

 The 14thGlobal Hunger Index (GHI) 2019 was released recently and it had ranked India a lowly 102 among
the 117 countries it had mapped.
 The GHI has been brought out almost every year by Welthungerhilfe (lately in partnerships with Concern
Worldwide) since 2000.
 A low score gets a country a higher ranking which implies a better performance.
 The reason for mapping hunger is to ensure that the world achieves ―Zero Hunger by 2030‖ - one of the
Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

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 Four indicators of GHI -

1. Undernourishment (which reflects inadequate food availability)
2. Child Wasting (which reflects acute under nutrition)
3. Child Stunting (which reflects chronic under nutrition)
4. Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environment)
 Each country‘s data are standardised on a 100-point scale and a final score is calculated after giving 33.33%
weight each to components 1 and 4, and giving 16.66% weight each to components 2 and 3.
 Highlights - In 2018, India was ranked 103 among the 119 countries were mapped.
 The rank is one better in 2019 i.e. at 102, but in reality, India is not better off in comparison to the other
countries.
 The GHI slots countries on a scale ranging from ‗low‘, ‗moderate‘, ‗serious‘, ‗alarming‘ to ‗extremely alarming‘
hunger levels.
 India is one of the 47 countries that have ‗serious‘ levels of hunger.
 On the whole, the 2019 GHI report has found that,
 Number of hungry people has risen from 785 million (2015) to 822 million.
 Multiple countries have higher hunger levels now than in 2010.
 Approximately 45 countries are set to fail to achieve ‗low‘ levels of hunger by 2030.
 Among the BRICS grouping, India is ranked the worst, with China at 25.
 Within South Asia, India is behind Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
 Some of the other countries ahead of India are Saudi Arabia (rank 34), Venezuela (rank 65), Lesotho (rank 79)
and North Korea (rank 92).

7. Global Gender Gap Index 2019-20

 The Global Gender Gap Index for the year 2020 was released by World Economic Forum.
 Iceland, Norway, and Finland occupy the top three spots in the Report. Yemen ranked at the last place (153rd).
 India has ranked 112thamong 153 countries, slipped four places from the previous year ranking.
 Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China are ranked at 50, 101, 102 and 106respectively. Pakistan is ranked at
151.
 It measures progress towards parity between men and women in –
1. Economy
2. Education
3. Health &
4. Political representation.
 The index lies between 0 and 1, with 1 denoting complete parity and 0, complete inequality.
 Key Findings - The largest gender disparity is in political empowerment.
 Only 25% of the total seats in parliaments around the world are occupied by women, and only 21% of the
ministers are women.
 By following the current trends, the overall global gender gap will close in 99.5 years.
 It can potentially be closed 71.5 years in South Asia.
 Globally, the average distance completed to gender parity is at 68.6%, which is an improvement since last
edition.
 India -Ranked 18thin political empowerment and 4th in the number of years a female or a male ruled a
state.

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 Ranked in the bottom-five in terms of women's health and survival and economic participation.
 On health and survival, four large countries such as Pakistan, India, Vietnam and China fare badly with
millions of women not getting the same access to health as men.
 It has closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap (score of 66.8%)

8. Gender Social Norms Index

 It was released recently by United Nations Development Programme
 It measures how social beliefs affect gender equality.
 According to the report, nearly 90% of men and women hold some form of bias against women.
 And it was found that people‘s gendered beliefs do impact women‘s rights and equality.

9. A New era For Girls Report

 ‗A New era for girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress is a report recently unveiled by UNICEF, Plan
International and United Nations Women.
 The report reveals that though the rate of drop-outs for girls in schools has decreased from 20% to 13.5% from
2008 to 2018, a greater empowerment has not taken place.
 It also states that many girls still face an unequal violent environment and one in every 20 girls in the age
group of 15-20 has experienced rape, both within and outside marriage.
 According to the report Gender disparities in the number of out-of-school children have narrowed
substantially over the past two decades.
 At the secondary level, they have shifted to the disadvantage of boys.
 Still, despite the remarkable gains made for girls in the past two decades, they are still more disadvantaged at
the primary level, with 5.5 million more girls than boys of this age out of school worldwide.
 The report mentions a term called ―learning crisis‖; this means, even when girls are in school, many do not
receive a quality education.

10. Ease of Doing Business Index 2019

 It is being released as part of the World Bank every year.
 It was introduced in 2004 and this year with the theme ―Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs‖.
 The ranking of country is based on index averages the country‘s percentile rankings on 10 indicators each
having equal weightage.
 The indicators are -
1. Ease of starting business
2. Getting electricity
3. Dealing with construction permits
4. Registering property
5. Protecting investors
6. Access to credit
7. Employing workers
8. Trading across borders
9. Paying taxes
10. Enforcing contracts &
11. Resolving insolvency

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 A higher ranking of country in this list means that its regulatory environment is more conducive and
favourable for the starting and operation of firms.
 According to the report, New Zealand retained its 1st position followed by Singapore, Hong Kong and
Denmark.
 Somalia was ranked at 190th spot.
 India ranks at63rdamong 190 countries, moved 14 places from the previous year (77 th rank in 2018).
 The report assesses improvement in ease of doing business environment in Delhi and Mumbai.
 In the last 5 years, India‘s ranking has improved 79 places - to 63 in 2019 from 142 in 2014.
 Status in individual parameter ranking –
i. Biggest jump in ―resolving insolvency" category (to 52nd rank from 108th)
ii. Improved substantially in Dealing with Construction Permits (to 27th from 52nd) and ―Trading across
Borders" (to 68th from 80th).
iii. Improved in ―Registering Property" to 154th rank from 166th despite a drop-in score
iv. Deteriorated in ―protecting minority investors" (from 7th to 13th position) and ―getting electricity"
(from 22nd to 25th).
v. Ranking remained unchanged in ―enforcing contracts" at 163rd

11. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index

 The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) is produced by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
 It measures the factors and policies that make a country a viable place to invest within the Travel and Tourism
sector.
 India has secured 34th place in the Index.
 Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has taken several steps for creation of tourism infrastructure in the
country to promote tourism such as
1. Swadesh Darshan - Integrated Development of Theme-Based Tourist Circuits
2. PRASHAD- Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive.
3. The Adopt a Heritage “ApniDharohar, ApniPehchaan” – it is a collaborative effort by Ministry of
Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments, envisages
developing heritage sites and making them tourist friendly, to enhance tourism potential and cultural
importance in a planned and phased manner.

12. International Migrant Stock 2019

 The International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset released by the Population Division of the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
 It provides the latest estimates of the number of
international migrants by age, sex and origin for all
countries of the world.
 According to the data, there are 51,54,737
international migrants
1. India has emerged as the leading country of
origin for immigrants across the world, with
17.5 million international migrants in 2019
coming from India.
2. Of the international migrants in India in 2019,
the country of origin for 31 lakh or just over
60% was Bangladesh.
3. Another 21% were originally from Pakistan and

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10% from Nepal.

 The data encompass any person who moved across an international border, either intentionally or
involuntarily.
 The international migrant population across all countries is 27.2 crore, who represent 3.5% of the total global
population.
1. Of these 27.2 crore, 1.75 crore are Indian migrants living in various countries.
 The proportion of women among international migrants in India is at 48.8%, which is higher than the 47.9%
proportion of women among international migrants across countries.
 Increase in global number of international migrants continues to outpace growth of the world‘s population.
 In 2019, regionally,
1. Europe hosts the largest number of international migrants (82 million), followed by
2. Northern America (59 million) and
3. Northern Africa and Western Asia (49 million).
 At the country level, about half of all international migrants reside in just 10 countries,
1. The United States hosting the largest number of international migrants (51 million), equal to about 19% of
the world‘s total.
 In terms of age, 1 out of every 7 international migrants is below the age of 20 years.
1. 3 out of every 4 international migrants are of working age (20-64 years).

13. Social Mobility Index

 Social Mobility Index is newly compiled, released by the World Economic Forum ahead of the 50th Annual
Meeting of the WEF.
 The Index measures countries across five key dimensions distributed over 10 pillars — health; education
(access, quality and equity); technology; work (opportunities, wages, conditions); and protections and
institutions (social protection and inclusive institutions).
 The Index shows that fair wages, social protection and lifelong learning are the biggest drags on social mobility
globally; the Index is topped by Denmark.
 India ranks 76thout of 82 economies, the areas of improvement for India include social protection (76th)
and fair wage distribution (79th), It ranks 41st in lifelong learning and 53rd in working conditions.
 The Areas of improvement for India include social protection (76th) and fair wage distribution (79th).
 The top five are all Scandinavian, while the five economies with the most to gain from boosting social mobility
are China, the United States, India, Japan and Germany.

14. World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2020

 UN International Labour Organization (ILO) releases WESO report annually.
 The report analyses key labour market issues, including unemployment, labour underutilization, working
poverty, income inequality, labour Income share and factors that exclude people from decent work.
 According to the recent report global unemployment is projected to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020
and almost half a billion people are working fewer paid works than they would like or lack adequate access to
paid work.

15. Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

 The Global Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Programme was developed by UNICEF in the 1990s.
 It collects internationally comparable data on a wide range of indicators on the situation of children and
women for use in policies, programmes, and national development plans.

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 MICS is designed to collect statistically sound, internationally comparable estimates of about 130 indicators to
assess the situation of children, women and men in the areas of health, education, and child protection.
 It is a rich source of data on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), collecting about 33 SDG indicators.
 It covers topics and indicators related to children‘s well-being, women, and households, ranging from health
and education to child protection and water and sanitation.
 In the most recent rounds of MICS, additional data are also collected on men.
 Data can be disaggregated for young people age 15-24 and by gender.
 MICS 2019 is jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and UNICEF.
 According to the report Bangladesh records sharp decline in Child malnutrition over the last six years.
 The survey also records improvement in access to and use of toilets, birth registration, ante-natal care
coverage, institutional deliveries and similar other parameters indicating an overall improvement in child and
mother health in the country.

16. Sustainability Index and Flourishing Index 2020

 Sustainability index and Flourishing Index report is commissioned by the WHO, UNICEF and the Lancet
assess the capacity of 180 countries on the issue.
 India ranked 77thon a sustainability index that takes into account per capita carbon emissions and ability of
children in a nation to live healthy lives.
 Under the Sustainability Index, the authors noted that promoting today‘s national conditions for children to
survive and thrive must not come at the cost of eroding future global conditions for children‘s ability to
flourish.
 The Sustainability Index ranks countries on excess carbon emissions compared with the 2030 target.
 This provides a convenient and available proxy for a country‘s contribution to sustainability in future.
 It secures 131stspot on a Flourishing Index that measures the best chance at survival and well-being for
children.
 Flourishing is the geometric mean of Surviving and Thriving.
 For Surviving, the authors selected maternal survival, survival in children younger than 5 years old, suicide,
access to maternal and child health services, basic hygiene and sanitation, and lack of extreme poverty.
 For Thriving, the domains were educational achievement, growth and nutrition, reproductive freedom, and
protection from violence.
 According to the report world‘s survival depended on children being able to flourish, but no country is doing
enough to give them a sustainable future.
 Norway leads the table for survival, health, education and nutrition rates - followed by South Korea and the
Netherlands. Central African Republic, Chad and Somalia come at the bottom.

17. Social Institutions and Gender Index 2019 Global Report

 It is prepared by the Organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD).
 Sweden tops the chart by having low gender discrimination.
 According to it, gender-based discrimination, including female genital mutilation, reproductive rights, pay
gaps, and gender violence, were estimated to cost $6 trillion, or 7.5 percent of the global economy.
 Women also occupy less than a third of senior positions in the civil service on average.
 But they make up 75% of part time workers in the public sector.

18. Services Trade Restrictiveness Index

 STRI is released by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

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 25

 It was launched in 2014 and it ranks countries (both OECD and non-OECD) based on their services trade
policies.
 The index is now available for 2018 for a total of 45 economies and 22 sectors.
 It has placed Indian service sector as highly restrictive in areas such as FDI.
 India has found problems with the current method under which index is being calculated.

19. International Intellectual Property Index 2020

 International Intellectual Property Index is released by Global Innovation Policy Center or GIPC of the US
Chambers of Commerce.
 India has been ranked 40thout of 53 countries on a global intellectual property index 2020.
 India was placed at 36thposition among 50 countries in 2019.
 India's score, however, increased from 36.04 per cent (16.22 out of 45) in 2019 to 38.46% (19.23 out of 50) in
2020, a 2.42 per cent jump in absolute score.
 However, India's relative score increased by 6.71 per cent.
 Since the release of the 2016 National IPR Policy, India has improved the speed of processing for patent and
trademark applications, increased awareness of IP rights among Indian innovators and creators, and
facilitated the registration and enforcement of those rights, it added.
 The Index specifically highlights a number of reforms over the last year that strengthen India's overall IP
ecosystem.
 According to GIPC‘s report India also continues to score well in the Systemic Efficiency indicator, scoring
ahead of 28 other economies in these indicators.
 To continue this upward trajectory, much work remains to be done to introduce transformative changes to
India's overall IP framework and take serious steps to consistently implement strong IP standards," the report
said.
 GIPC has identified several challenges for India, prominent among them being
1. Patentability requirements,
2. Patent enforcement,
3. Compulsory licensing,
4. Patent opposition,
5. Regulatory data protection,
6. transparency in reporting seizures by customs,
7. Singapore Treaty of Law of TMs
8. Patent Law Treaty.

20. Global Health Security Index 2019

 The Global Health Security Index is the first comprehensive assessment of health security and related
capabilities in 195 countries.
 It assesses 195 countries across six categories - prevention, early detection, rapid response, health system
quality, standards, and the risk environment.
 It is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health
Security (CHS), with research by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
 In this Index, India was ranked 57thout of 195 countries with a score of 46.5 out of 100.
 The United States (US) topped the list globally, overall with a score of 83.5, followed by United Kingdom
(77.9) and Netherlands (75.6).

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 Global Health Security Index finds that no country is adequately prepared to deal with the new strain of
coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that is causing worldwide panic.

21. World Air Quality Report 2019

 World Air Quality Report is released by the pollution tracker IQAir and
Greenpeace.
 The ranking is based on a comparison of PM 2.5 levels.
 21 of the world's 30 cities with the worst air pollution are in India
 Ghaziabad was the most polluted city in the world last year, based on
average PM 2.5 levels.
 But there were some improvements.
 It says that every city in India where data was recorded, except Nagpur,
saw a decrease in PM 2.5 levels last year.
 Delhi (98.6) topped the rankings in the list of most polluted capital
cities in the world for the second consecutive year.
 The least polluted capital city was Nassau, Bahamas (3.3).
 In the Central and South Asia region, which includes India, only 0.7% of the cities met the WHO‘s PM 2.5
target (10µg/m3) in 2019.
 In India none of the cities met the target.
 PM 2.5 includes pollutants such as sulfate, nitrates and black carbon. Exposure to such particles has been
linked to lung and heart disorders and can impair cognitive and immune functions.

22. Business-to-Consumer E-commerce index

 It is published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
 It ranks countries on their readiness to engage in online commerce
 It has been topped by Netherlands for the second consecutive year, followed by Switzerland, Singapore,
Finland.
 European nations hold eight of the top 10 spots on the index.
 The only non-European countries on the top 10 list are Singapore (3) and Australia (10).
 India ranks at 73rdout of 152 countries, slightly improving its position from 80 in 2018 and 83 in 2017.

23. World Water Development Report

 The United Nations World Water Development Report is UN-Water‘s flagship report on water and sanitation
issues, focusing on a different theme each year.
 The report is published by UNESCO, on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinated by the UNESCO
World Water Assessment Programme.
 Launched in conjunction with World Water Day, the report provides decision-makers with knowledge and
tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies.
 According to the report, Climate change will not only strain water-stressed countries, but also create similar
problems in regions that have not been severely affected so far.

24. Statement of the State of the Global Climate in 2019 Report

 Record-high temperatures, cyclones in the Indian Ocean, erratic rainfall patterns leading floods in several
parts of India - these are among the concerns highlighted by the United Nation's World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) report released recently.

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 According to the report titled Statement of the State of the Global Climate in 2019, record-high temperatures
were reported in India, Australia, Japan and Europe in 2019, adversely affecting public health.
 India was among the most severely affected by heat waves, the report noted.
 Between May and June 2019, very high temperatures were observed.

25. World Climate and Security Report 2020

 The impact of climate change on water will increase the risk to global security in the next decade, according to
a group of international security and military professionals.
 The International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) administered a survey in December 2019
to assess the perceptions of climate security risks among 56 security and military experts and practitioners
from across the globe.
 The perception analysis was published in a World Climate and Security report, which claimed to be first of its
kind.
 According to the report, 93 per cent military experts perceived climate change effects on water security would
present significant or higher risks to global security by 2030.
 About 91% perceived those risks would turn severe or catastrophic by 2040.

26. Corruption Perceptions Index

 The Corruption Perceptions Index is an index published annually by Transparency International since 1995.
 It ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments
and opinion surveys.
 The 2019 CPI draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180
countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
 In the last eight years, out of 159 countries taken up for assessment only 22 countries significantly improved
their CPI scores.
 India‘s ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI-2019) has slipped from 78 to 80 compared to the
previous year.
 In democracies like India and Australia, unfair and opaque political financing, undue influence in decision-
making and lobbying by powerful corporate interest groups, has resulted in stagnation or decline in the
control of corruption, observed the report.
 The latest CPI report has revealed that a majority of countries are showing little to no improvement in tackling
corruption.

27. Democracy Index 2019

 The Economist Intelligence Unit releases democracy Index annually.
 It provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories.
 The Index is based on five categories:
1. Electoral process and pluralism.
2. Civil liberties.
3. Functioning of government.
4. Political participation.
5. Political culture.
 Based on the scores on 60 indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of
four types of regime
1. Full democracy
2. Flawed democracy

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3. Hybrid regime
4. Authoritarian regime.
 In 2019, India slipped 10 places to 51stposition, It is placed in the ―flawed democracy‖ category.
 Its score, down from from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019, is its lowest ever since the Democracy Index was
begun in 2006.
 The report mentioned the stripping of Jammu and Kashmir‘s special status with the repeal of Articles 370 and
35A, the various security measures that followed the bifurcation of the state including restriction of Internet
access, and the exclusion of 1.9 million people from the final NRC (National Register of Citizens) in Assam,
eroded civil liberties in the nation.

28. United in Science Report

 The report was compiled by WMO under the umbrella of the Science Advisory Group of the UN Climate
Summit.
 It stated that global temperatures have increased by 1.1°C since 1850, and have spiked 0.2°C between 2011 and
2015.
 In 2018, the annual growth in CO2 emissions soared 2% and reached a record high of 37 billion tonnes.
 The current levels of CO2, methane and Nitrous oxide represent 146%, 257 % and 122% respectively of
preindustrial levels.
 Moreover, the average global temperatures from 2015-2019 are also on track to be the warmest five-year
period on record.
 The increasing climate change has also accelerated sea-level rise, and made oceans more acidic than ever
before.
 Global sea-levels increased to approximately 4 mm/yr during 2007-2016, from 3.04 mm/yr during 1997-
2006.
 Rise in CO2 levels, meanwhile, are responsible for the growing acidity in the oceans.
 Oceans are a major source of carbon sink. They store nearly 25 % of the annual human induced CO2
emissions.
 The report also recorded a decline in Arctic sea ice by 12 % per decade from 1979-2018.
 Antarctic ice sheet lost at least six-fold amount of ice annually between 1979 and 2017.
 Report suggested that, to combat the impacts of climate change, there is a need to triple the ‗Nationally
determined contributions‘(NDCs).
 It highlights the urgent need for development of concrete actions that halt global warming and the worst
effects of climate change.

29. World Malaria Report

 World Malaria Report 2019 was recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
 Malaria is mainly caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites.
 It is transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
 Malaria is transmitted by blood, so it can also be transmitted throughan organ transplant, a transfusion and
use of shared needles or syringes.
 It is preventable and curable.
 Report Highlights – Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent malaria parasite in the African, South-
East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, Western Pacific region.
 Plasmodium Vivax is the predominant parasite in American region and its burden is high in South-East asia
region with the majority being in India.
 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and India accounted for 85 per cent of the global malaria burden in 2018.

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 Globally, malaria cases reported in 2018 is marginally lower than the number of cases in 2017.
 Africa and India saw the maximum dip in malaria cases between 2017 and 2018, but they still accounted for
85 per cent deaths.
 Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique and Niger
reported higher number of cases in the African region.
 The African region accounted for 94% of all malarial deaths
 India (58%), Indonesia (21%) and Myanmar (12%) accounted for the total reported deaths in the region.
 Status of India -It is the highest burden country in the South-East Asia region.
 Ithas one of the lowest funding per person at risk of being inflicted with malaria at just US$0.2.
 It showed a reduction in reported cases of 51 per cent compared to 2017 and of 60 per cent compared to 2016.
 In the South-East Asia region, the major challenges remain decreased funding, treatment failures and vector
resistance to pyrethroids, the insectides used against the vectors.

30. Global Wealth Report

 The 10th edition of annual Global Wealth Report was released by the Credit Suisse Group, a Switzerland-based
multinational investment bank.
 It tracks both the growth and distribution of wealth both in terms of the numbers of millionaires and
billionaires and the status of inequality around the world.
 Wealth is defined in terms of ―net worth‖ of an individual which is calculated by adding up the value of
financial assets (such as money) and real assets (such as houses) and then subtracting any debts an individual
may have.
 Key findings - China has overtaken the US to become the country with most people in the top 10% of global
wealth distribution.
 Just 47 million people, accounting for merely 0.9% of the world‘s adult population owned $158.3 trillion,
which is almost 44% of the world‘s total wealth.
 In inequality, the richest 10% own 82% of global wealth and the top 1% alone own 45%.

31. Misery Index

 Recently, there has been a demand to measure Indian economy on ‗Misery Index‘.
 The first misery index was created by Arthur Okun in 1960‘s and was equal to the sum of inflation and
unemployment rate figures to provide a snapshot of the US economy.
 The higher the index, the more is the misery felt by average citizens.
 It has broadened in recent times to include other economic indicators, such as bank lending rates.
 In recent times, variations of the original misery index have become popular as a means to gauge the overall
health of the global economy.
 A variation of the original misery index is the Bloombergmisery index, developed by the online publication.

32. International Religious Freedom Report

 International Religious Freedom report is an annual report released by the US Commission on International
Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
 USCIRF is a bipartisan, independent federal government commission, created by the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998.
 The report describes threats to religious freedom around the world and recommends to the State Department
countries for designation as ―countries of particular concern‖ (CPCs) for engaging in or tolerating ―systematic,
ongoing, egregious violations.‖

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 USCIRF also recommends to the State Department that non-state actors cited for similarly severe violations
be designated as ―entities of particular concern‖ (EPCs).
 According to the report India is facing declining religious freedom, apart from increased securitization and
politicization of religion.
 India continues to remain a Tier II country of the list, Tier II countries are those in which violations engaged
in or tolerated by the government are serious and characterized by at least one of the elements of systematic,
ongoing, and egregious (horrible)‘.

33. Freedom in the World Report 2020

 It is released by Freedom House, a US-based watchdog.
 It ranks India at the 83rd position, along with Timor-Leste and Senegal.
 This is near the bottom of the pile among the countries categorised as ―Free‖, with only Tunisia receiving a
lower score.
 India‘s score fell by four points to 71, the worst decline among the world‘s 25 largest democracies this year.
 Top 5 Countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are the top five countries in
the free category.
 Bottom 5 Countries: Botswana, Peru, India, Timor-Leste and Tunisia.

34. Henley Passport Index

 Henley and Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, prepares the Henley
Passport Index.
 It ranks passports based on their power and mobility.
 The index gathers data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that manages inter-airline
cooperation globally.
 It is updated in real time according to countries‘ visa policy changes and it covers 227 destinations and 199
passports.
 It ranked India at 86, down 5 places from 81 in 2018.
 Last year, an Indian passport holder had visa-free access to 60 countries. this year, it is down to 58.
 A value of 1 is attributed to the score,
1. Based on the sum of number of countries accessible by that passport holder without requiring pre-
departure government approval for visa-types.
2. It includes a visitor‘s permit, visa on arrival or an electronic travel authority (ETA).
3. For instance in 2019, India‘s score is 58, which means an Indian passport holder has a visa-free access to
58 countries.
4. India ranks 86 in the list.
 A value of 0 is attributed to a score when,
1. A passport holder has to seek pre-departure government approval for visa-types including e-visa.
 Japan and Singapore, are ranked 1 and have a score of 189.
 Afghanistan holds the weakest passport, with a score and ranking of 25 and 109, respectively.
 Syria and Pakistan follow with rankings of 107 and 106 and scores of 29 and 30, respectively.
 The index assumes only the passport of citizen of country and it is not for diplomatic, emergency or temporary
in nature.
Other Passport Index
 Arton Passport Index, which ranks United Arab Emirates‘s passport at rank 1.

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 As per this index,

1. India has a mobility score (MS) of 67
2. Visa required for 131 destinations,
3. visa on arrival required for 41 destinations and
4. 26 visa free destinations.
 It uses UNDP HDI 2018 in its methodology to rank passports.
 It is powered by Arton Capital, a global financial advisory.

35. QS Indian University Rankings

 The second edition of QS Indian University Rankings for India‘s higher education institutions was released
recently.
 QS, the global higher education think tank,
releases India specific university rankings.
 The rankings include Public Universities,
Private Universities and deemed
universities.
 The ranking looks into the Indian university
system with an international lens.
 The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)
dominate the list, with seven IITs figuring in
the top ten rankings.
 Like last year, IIT-Bombay leads followed by
the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
 8 indicators were used to determine rankings –
i. Academic reputation
ii. Employer reputation
iii. Faculty-student ratio
iv. The proportion of staff with a PhD
v. Papers per faculty from Scopus database
vi. Citations per paper from Scopus database
vii. The proportion of international students and
viii. The proportion of international faculty (2.5%).
 These India rankings do not necessarily match the QS World University Rankings since it uses different
criteria.
 In world university ranking, IIT-Bombay has been ranked the best Indian institution and IIT-Delhi the second
best.

36. SDG India Index

 SDG India Index is a single measurable Index to map the progress of States & UTs towards 2030 SDGs.
 The index is released by NITI Aayog, it is developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics
&Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
 NITI Aayog has the twin mandate to oversee the implementation of SDGs in the country, and also promote
Competitive and Cooperative Federalism among States and UTs.
 The SDG India Index tracks the progress of all States and UTs on 62 Priority Indicators selected by NITI
Aayog, which in turn is guided by MoSPI‘s National Indicator Framework.

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 Through which a composite score was computed between the range of 0-100 for each State and UT based on
their aggregate performance across 13 SDGs, which indicates the average performance of State/UT towards
achieving 13 SDGs & their respective targets.
 If a State/UT achieves a score of 100, it signifies that it has achieved the 2030 national targets.
 The higher the score of a State/UT, the greater the distance to the target achieved.
 Classification Criteria based on SDG India Index Score is as follows:
1. Aspirant: 0-49
2. Performer: 50-64
3. Front Runner: 65-99
4. Achiever: 100

37. SARAL
 Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, launched the ‗State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index‘ (SARAL).
 SARAL has been designed collaboratively by,
1. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),
2. Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF),
3. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and
4. Ernst & Young (EY).
 It has been developed to evaluate Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development.
 It is the first of its kind index to provide a comprehensive overview of state-level measures adopted to facilitate
rooftop solar deployment.
 It currently captures 5 key aspects,
1. Robustness of policy framework
2. Implementation environment
3. Investment climate
4. Consumer experience
5. Business ecosystem
 It encourages each state to assess the initiatives taken so far, and what it can do to improve its solar rooftop
ecosystem.
 This will help states to channelize investments that can eventually help the sector grow.
 In is also to create more conducive environment for solar rooftop installations and lead to accelerated growth
of the sector.
 The Ministry has set a target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, in that 100 GW solar power is
to be operational by 2022, of which 40 GW is expected to come from grid connected solar rooftops.
 Karnataka has been placed at the first rank in the Index followed by Telangana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

38. Composite Water Management Index

 The index is developed by NITI Aayog and it ranked states on how well they managed water.
 It is released by the Ministry of Water Resources.
 It comprises 9 broad sectors with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of groundwater, restoration
of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance.
 According to the recent report, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have managed water resources
efficiently.

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 Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Nagaland are the bottom three states in the index.
 While Tripura has emerged as top performer in north-east, Rajasthan has emerged as the best performer in
the incremental progress over last two years.
 Some of the other important findings from the recent report are,
1. India is facing its ―worst‖ water crisis in history and that the demand for potable water will outstrip
supply by 2030, if steps are not taken.
2. 21 cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, will run out of groundwater by 2020,
affecting 100 million people.
3. Critical groundwater resources, which accounted for 40% of the water supply, are being depleted at
―unsustainable‖ rates and up to 70% of the supply is ―contaminated‖.

39. India Justice Report 2019

 The report was recently released by Tata Trusts.
 It is based on the four pillars of justice delivery such as police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid.
 It collects data from publicly available data of different government entities.
 It covered the themes like infrastructure, human resources, diversity (gender, SC/ST/OBC), budgets, workload
and trends over the last 5 years.
 Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS- Prayas
and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy are other partners.
 Key findings – The country has about 18,200 judges with about 23% sanctioned posts vacant.
 Maharashtra has topped the list of states in delivering justice to people followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Punjab and Haryana.
 Among the small states, Goa has topped the list followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
 Smaller States are the ones where population is less than 1 crore each.

40. India Internet 2019

 Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) released the report ―India Internet 2019‖.
 Internet penetration is defined as number of individuals aged above 12 per 100 population who accessed the
Internet during a particular period.
 According to the report, Internet penetration
rate is highest in DelhiNCR (69%) followed by
Kerala (54%).
 The lowest penetration rate was in Odisha (25),
Jharkhand (26) and Bihar (28).
 It also notes that Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi
have the highest proportion of female Internet
users.
 In terms of Internet subscriptions per 100
population, Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh
and Kerala topped the list.
 The lowest subscriptions are from Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh.
 Kerala is among States with a huge gap between the number of rural and urban Internet connections. This is
also the case in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.

41. Good Governance Index

 The index was launched to assess the state of governance in the country.

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 The rankings were launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, and the
Centre for Good Governance.
 The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all States and
UTs.
 It enables them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result
oriented approaches and administration.
 It takes into account 10 sectors –
1. Agriculture and Allied Sectors,
2. Commerce & Industries,
3. Human Resource Development,
4. Public Health,
5. Public Infrastructure & Utilities,
6. Economic Governance,
7. Social Welfare & Development,
8. Judicial & Public Security,
9. Environment and
10. Citizen-Centric Governance.
 The states and UTs are divided into three groups -- big states,
north-east & Hill states and UTs.
 Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and
Andhra Pradesh topped among the ‗Big States‘.Odisha, Bihar,
Goa, and UP, are poor performers.
 Among the North-East and Hill States, Himachal Pradesh
Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim are top
performers.
 J&K, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh are poor performers.
 Puducherry is the best governed Union Territory followed by Chandigarh and Delhi. Lakshadweep is the worst
performing UT.

42. State Energy Efficiency Index 2019

 ‗State Energy Efficiency Index 2019‘, tracks the progress of Energy Efficiency (EE) initiatives in 36 states and
union territories based on 97 significant indicators.
 Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) develops the index in association with Alliance for an Energy Efficient
Economy (AEEE).
 It will help states contribute towards national goals on energy security and climate action by helping drive EE
policies and program implementation at the state and local level, tracking progress in managing the states‘
and India‘s energy footprint and institutionalizing the data capture and monitoring of EE activities by states.
 The first such Index, the ―State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index 2018‖, was launched on August 1, 2018.
 New indicators for this year include adoption of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017, energy
efficiency in MSME clusters, etc.
 For rational comparison, States/UTs are grouped into four groups based on aggregated Total Primary Energy
Supply (TPES) required to meet the state‘s actual energy demand (electricity, coal, oil, gas, etc.) across sectors.
 TPES grouping shall help states compare performance and share best practices within their peer group.

43. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

 ASER is released annually by education non-profit Pratham.

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 The report is based on a survey conducted in 26 districts across 24 states; it also highlights a gender gap in
schooling.
 Recent estimates shows that only 37.4% of kids below six are able to recognize at least letters and only 25.6%
can do additions, the survey has found
 The government-run preschool system is losing out to private schools in terms of enrolment.
 The lack of age-appropriate skills is alarming as this gap at an early age can impact the entire education supply
chain in India.
 The report underlined the need to focus on the early years to improve the basics of education
 The study also showed how a better education level among mothers can lead to better outcomes among
children in preschools and early schools.
 The findings also showed that more girls are enrolled in government institutions and more boys in private
institutions.
 The gap in enrolment between boys and girls is larger among 6-8 year olds, with 61.1% of all girls versus 52.1%
of all boys in this age group going to a government institution.
 It is to be noted that in India government preschool system is managed through the Centre‘s Integrated Child
Development scheme, under the ministry of women and child development, while schools come under the
education ministries at the Centre and in the states.

44. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Report

 The report gives a comprehensive estimates of disease burden due to malnutrition and its trends in every state
of India.
 According to the report, two-thirds of the 1.04 million deaths in
children under 5 years in India are due to malnutrition.
1. The overall under-five death rate due to malnutrition has
decreased substantially from 1990 to 2017.
2. However, malnutrition is still the underlying risk factor for
68% of the deaths in under-five children in India.
 The Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) rate attributable to
malnutrition in children varies 7-fold among the states.
 The deaths rate range as high as 72.7% in Bihar and a low of
50.8% in Kerala.
 Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh are states with a
high such proportion.
 Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Goa have the lowest
proportions of such deaths.
 Among the malnutrition indicators, ‗low birth weight‘ is the largest contributor to child deaths in India.
1. It is followed by child growth failure which includes stunting, underweight, and wasting.
 For substantial improvements across malnutrition indicators, states need to implement an integrated
nutrition policy.

45. India Child Well-Being Report

 The report has been prepared by ‗World Vision India‘ (child-focused humanitarian organisation) and ‗IFMR
LEAD‘ (research organisation) based in India.
 Children are the happiest in Kerala and the least happy in Madhya Pradesh.
 Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry topped the charts while Meghalaya, Jharkhand
and Madhya Pradesh featured at the bottom.

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 Poor nutrition and low child survival rate has pushed Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh to the bottom of an
index.
 Findings based on a study of 24 data indicators
including,
1. The indicators are a mix of health, education,
human rights, family income and so on.
2. Health indicators such as,
o Stunting and Infant mortality, Under-five
mortality rate,
o Mental health/illnesses, Sex-ratio,
o Adolescent pregnancy (women aged 15 to 19
years who were already mothers or
pregnant),
3. Education indicators such as passing tenth grade,
o The pupil-teacher ratio, basic reading and
math skills, drop-out rates in secondary
school,
4. Crime indicators such as juvenile crimes, suicide rates,
5. Economic indicators such as houselessness, households with income less than Rs 5,000 and
o Labour indicators such as manual scavenging.
6. All indicators were brought to a common scale of measurement and normalised.
 Among the UTs, the National Capital Territories of Delhi scored 0.53, closely followed by Dadra Nagar Haveli
at 0.52.

 The report is important considering that 40% of the country‘s population is made of children between the ages
of 1 and 18.
States/UT Overall Performance
Ranking
46. School Education Quality Index
 The index is jointly released by the NITI Aayog, the Top 3 Bottom 3
Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the World
Bank.
Large States Kerala Punjab
 It is to evaluate the performance of States and UTs in the
school education sector. (20)
Rajasthan J&K
 It assesses States based on learning outcomes, access,
equity and infrastructure and facilities, using survey data, Karnataka UP
self-reported data from States and third-party verification.
 The ranking is based on 30 indicators in 2 broad Manipur Sikkim
categories,
Small States
Tripura Meghalaya
i. Outcomes that consisted of learning, access,
infrastructure & facilities, and equity outcomes (8)
Goa Arunachal
ii. Governance processes aiding outcomes
Pradesh
 Some of the parameters are,
i. The number of schools with the largest number of Chandigarh Daman & Diu
toilets for girl children
UT
ii. The average score of students in mathematics and Dadra & Andaman &
language in classes III, V, and VIII, Nagar Haveli Nicobar
iii. The transition rate of students from primary to
upper primary levels and also from upper primary Delhi Lakshadweep

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levels to secondary level

 It used 2016-17 as the reference year and 2015-16 as the base year.
 Performance of States - Among 20 large States, Kerala was the best performer with a score of 76.6%, while
Uttar Pradesh came in last with a score of 36.4%.
 Among smaller States, Manipur emerged as the best performer, while Chandigarh topped the list of UTs
 Top performers –
i. Tamil Nadu was the top performer in access and equity outcomes
ii. Karnataka led in learning outcomes
iii. Haryana had the best infrastructure and facilities.
 Haryana, Assam and Uttar Pradesh showed the most improvement in their performance.
 Karnataka, along with Uttarakhand, saw the biggest drop.
 West Bengal refused to participate in the evaluation process and has not been included in the rankings.

47. All India Survey on Higher Education 2018-19

 AISHE was initiated in the year 2010-11 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
 The main objectives of the survey were to,
1. Identify and capture all the institutions of higher
learning in the country.
2. Collect the data from all the higher education institutions
on various aspects of higher education.
 Data is being collected on several parameters such as,
1. Teachers, student enrolment, programmes,
2. Examination results, education finance, infrastructure.
3. Indicators such as Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher
ratio, Gender Parity Index.
4. These are useful in making informed policy decisions and research for development of education sector.
 AISHE2018-19 showed the gender distribution of students enrolled in various higher education courses in
the country.
 The total estimated student enrolment in the country is 3,73,99,388, out of which 51.36% are male and
48.64% female.
 The ‗Gender ratio‘ is higher on the male side in most courses, but there are exceptions,
1. Female enrolment is higher at M Phil and
Postgraduate.
2. Enrolment at UG level is 51% male and 49% female.
3. Diploma has a highly skewed distribution at 66.8%
male and 33.2% female.
4. At PhD level, male enrolment is 56.18% and female
enrolment is 43.82%.
5. At integrated level, the distribution 57.50% male and
42.50% female.
6. PG Diploma student enrolment is 54.09% male and
45.91% female.
 A higher overall share of male students in enrolment is a
trend also in most of the states.

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 The report is based on voluntary uploading of data by institutions of Higher Education listed in government
portal.

48. Municipal Performance Index 2019

 The index is launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
 It aims to assess the performance of municipalities based on five enablers.
 They are Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance which have been further divided into 20
sectors which will be evaluated across 100 indicators.
 This will help Municipalities in better planning and management, filling the gaps in city administration, and
improving the liveability of cities for its citizens.
 All participating cities have appointed nodal officers whose responsibility is to collect and collate the relevant
data points from various departments both within and outside of the ULB.
 Those nodal officers should upload the same along with supporting documents in the exclusive web portal
designed for this purpose.

49. Ease of Living Index

 Ease of Living Index (EoLI) have been launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
 It is aimed at providing a holistic view of Indian cities based on
1. The services provided by local bodies,
2. The effectiveness of the administration,
3. The outcomes generated through these services in terms of the liveability within cities
4. The citizen perception of these outcomes.
 The key objectives of the Ease of Living Index are four-folds, viz.
a) Generate information to guide evidence-based policy-making;
b) Catalyse action to achieve broader developmental outcomes including the SDG;
c) Assess and compare the outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes.
d) Obtain the perception of citizens about their view of the services provided by the city
administration.
 EoLI 2019 will facilitate the assessment of ease of living of citizens across three pillars: Quality of Life,
Economic Ability and Sustainability which are further divided into 14 categories across 50 indicators.
 It aims to assess the progress made in cities through various initiatives and empower them to use evidence to
plan, implement & monitor their performance.
 These indices are designed to assess the quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus
Cities.

50. World Happiness Report

 The World Happiness Report is an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development
Solutions Network.
 It is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens
perceive themselves to be.
 The World Happiness Report 2020 for the first time ranks cities around the world by their subjective well-
being and digs more deeply into how the social, urban and natural environments combine to affect our
happiness.
 Finland was once again crowned as the world‘s happiest country, extending its lead over Denmark and
Switzerland.

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 According to the report Finland‘s residents enjoy a high quality of life, security and public services, with rates
of inequality and poverty among the lowest of all OECD countries
 As in each of the previous seven reports, Nordic states dominated the top ten, along with countries such as
Switzerland, New Zealand and Austria.
 Luxembourg also edged into the tenth spot for the first time this year.
 India ranks 144 in the ranking
 Meanwhile, the countries at the bottom of this year‘s ranking are those afflicted by violent conflicts and
extreme poverty, with Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Afghanistan classed as the world‘s least happy countries.

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