Page 73 - EducationWorld October 2020

Agriculture productivity: how India compares

Wheat Milled Rice

12 12
8 9
mt/ha 5 mt/ha 6

2 Rank 3 Rank
1 6 19 25 42 1 3 13 35 46
New China India USA Pakistan Australia USA China Pakistan India
Zealand

Cotton Cottonseed / Oilseed
2500 4
1500 3
kg/ha 800 mt/ha 2

500 Rank 1 Rank
17 32 36 18 25
1 3 1 3 4
Australia China USA Pakistan India Australia China South Pakistan India
Africa
Source: Index Mundi 2020 based on US department of agriculture estimates

farmers’ income by 2022 by its research They are ranked #46 with an average
on farming systems, policy inputs and yield of 4 mt/h against top-ranked Aus-
coordination with state agencies.” tralia’s 10 mt/h. Surprisingly, India is
Ex facie these huge increases in ranked below Bangladesh #28 and Pak-
India’s production of foodgrains, hor- istan (35). Likewise on the millet (#39)
ticulture produce and livestock is im- and cotton (#36) productivity league
pressive. But it’s important to bear in tables as well, India is an also-ran. On
mind that the timeframe adopted by the cotton productivity league table
Mohapatra is seven decades, during of Index Mundi, India is ranked #36
which the country’s population has with 496 kg/h. In the table headed by
risen 3.5 times, that rural India has Australia (2,056 kg/h), China is ranked
not only many more mouths to feed, #3 (1,748 kg/h) while India is ranked
but 7 times as many hands to work with below Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh
new, mind-boggling technologies of In- among others (see table).
dustrial Revolution 4.0. Therefore, the For the near rock-bottom factor pro-
more important metric to measure the ductivity of India’s majority farming
progress of Indian agriculture during community, surely some — if not all
the past seven decades is per-hectare Banerjee: extension services deficit — of the blame can be levelled against
yields of farm produce. By this metric, ICAR and affiliated agriculture univer-
productivity of India’s over 400 mil- #19 worldwide with an average yield of sities whose graduates and/or faculty
lion farmers is abysmal. Although in 4 mt/h below China #5 (6 mt/h), Egypt have failed to disseminate best farm-
2019-20, India’s wheat production to- #8 (6), in a table topped by New Zea- ing nostrums and practices within the
talled 106 million tonnes, on the Index land #1 (9 mt/h). population.
Mundi 2020 based on US department In the league table of milled rice pro- “ICAR and India’s agriculture uni-
of agriculture estimates, India ranks ductivity, India’s farmers fare worse. versities played a major role in en-

OCTOBER 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 73