E-Resources
ICAR now and ahead…
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research is an autonomous apex body responsible for the organization and management of research and education in all disciplines of agricultural sciences: It has been reorganized twice. In 1965, the ICAR became the nodal agency for coordinating agricultural research in the country. It gained administrative control over the various institutes and commodity research institutes. Late Dr B.P. Pal took over as the first scientist VicePresident. Dr Pal instituted the Alndia Coordinated Research Projects on various crops to integrate different disciplines and different institutions and universities for an effective national grid of coordinated experiments, He has been internationally acclaimed for this contribution. In 1973, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) was started by Dr M.S. Swaminathan, the first Director-General and Secretary to the Government of India, and Dr Pal?s successor, to enable scientists to move to other institutes within the system or sister organizations ? the CSIR, BARC, etc.
ICAR technologies Biofertilizers
Soil is a dynamic living entity wherein several self regulatory
mechanisms are operated through the constituent living organisms.
Microorganisms play a major role in keeping soils live through its
ecosystem services like solubilization of minerals, recycling of organic
matter, bioremediation and soil formation. Post green revolution,
self sufficiency in food grain production was achieved through
the use of high yielding varieties responsive to chemical fertilizers.
However, indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers has resulted
in deterioration of soil health leading to shift in emphasis towards
sustainable agriculture. Use of biofertilizers for nutrient management
is an integral component of sustainable agriculture.
Biofertilizers contain different plant associated microorganisms
that enhance plant growth and improve yield and quality of the
produce through supply of adequate nutrients. Nitrogen fixers,
P-solubilizers and mobilizers are the traditionally known biofertilizers.
With the advancement of science, new groups of biofertilizers kept on
adding to the list, a few to name are K-solubilizers, Zn-solubilizers
and consortia supplying different nutrients. In addition to supply of
nutrients to crop plants, many of these microbes help the plants to
tolerate abiotic stresses.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research recognized the
importance of Biofertilizers and started AICRP on Biological Nitrogen
fixation in 1976, which was renamed as All India Network Project on
Soil Biodiversity-Biofertilizers in 2008. These coordinated projects
and the constituent institutes of ICAR have developed a large number
of biofertilizers for different field and horticultural crops. In 2014, the
Govt. of India initiated National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture
(NMSA) where use of biofertilizers is being promoted to improve soil
health. Though a lot of efforts have been made on the development and popularization of biofertilizers, the usage of biofertilizers is not
at the expected level. The distribution of production and usage across
the country is also skewed with south zone dominating both in terms
of production and consumption of biofertilizers. Popularization of
biofertilizers developed by ICAR is the immediate concern.
This compendium entitled ?ICAR Technologies: Biofertilizers
for Sustainable Crop Production? is a compilation of validated
biofertilizers developed by constituent ICAR institutes over the
decades. I am hopeful that this publication would be useful for
researchers, scientists, students and other stakeholders interested in
this area. It would also help to popularize the biofertilizer technologies
developed by ICAR.
Icar Technologies Biopesticides FOR ECO-FRIENDLY PEST MANAGEMENT
Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides post
green revolution taught us a tough lesson that sustainable utilization of
the resources is the way forward for prolonged growth in agricultural
production sans deterioration of soil health. Just as biofertilizers are
emerging as green alternative to chemical fertilizers, biopesticides
have a huge role to play in sustainable management of crop pests
and pathogens. In contrast to chemical pesticides, application of
ecofriendly biopesticides does not lead to development of any
resistance in pests and pathogens. Still this sustainable alternative is
struggling to find its place in the market over its chemical counterpart
owing to technological challenges and acceptance among the farming
community.
National Policy for Farmers (NPF), 2007, which aims to improve
economic viability of farming and increase net income of farmers,
strongly recommends the promotion of biopesticides. In spite of these
efforts the biopesticides represent only 4.2% of the overall pesticide
market in India compared to 40% in USA and 20% each in Europe
and Oceanic countries.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, recognizing the
importance of biopesticides started All India Coordinated Research
Project (AICRP) on Biological control of Crop Pests and Weeds
way back in 1977. Since the inception of this project different
ICAR institutes accelerated the works on biocontrol and developed
biopesticides against a number of crop pests and diseases. At present
more than 970 biopesticide products have been registered with
Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB & RC)
which is a governing body for insecticide registration in India. Most
biopesticide producing companies are dependent on either a single
strain or a handful of microbes for commercial production. Most ofthe times, the products developed using these strains have limited
application and their activity range is narrow. To overcome this issue,
there should be many bioagents available that are active against a
wide range of pests and pathogens. Once there is availability of many
bioagents to select upon, the challenges faced by biopesticides in the
market can be handled well.
This compendium entitled ?ICAR Technologies: Biopesticides
for Eco-friendly Pest Management? is a compilation of microbial
formulations developed by ICAR against crop pests and pathogens
that are at various stages of registration and commercialization. It can
be a useful source of information for students, researchers, scientists,
entrepreneurs and most importantly farming community and policy
makers.
Indian Agriculture after Independence
Agriculture is the foundation of the civilization, culture and heritage of
India. Agriculture in India is a complex mosaic of distinct agro-ecosystems,
differentiated by climatic, soil, vegetation and other natural features. About
half of the Indians derive their livelihood from agriculture and allied activities.
It is one of the oldest systems of the world characterized by its diversity
and heterogeneity, unorganized and stressed on account of natural and
anthropogenic vagaries from ?seed to market?. Historically, stressed natural
resources due to unfavourable weather, monsoon and natural calamities
resulted in crop failures leading to food shortage that made serious impacts
on the civilization. Post-Independence, the Indian agriculture transformed
from a food-scarce to food-exporting country primarily due to science led
innovations that caused multifold increase in the agricultural production from
135 million tons in 1950/51 to over 1300 million tons in 2021/22 in spite of
increasing abiotic and biotic stresses and depleting alongwith deteriorating
natural resources.
The book ?Indian Agriculture after Independence? portrays the uniqueness,
diversity, vastness and history; and captures the aspirations of Indian
agriculture to develop a road-map for agri-food system matching with the 4th
Industrial Revolution and the global commitments on food security, nutrition
and sustainability. The first chapter provides an overview of Indian agriculture
with its achievements and aspirations. The following three chapters detail
out the crop and animal husbandry and natural resource management in
the pre-independent India starting from the Vedic to British period. The
subsequent chapters present the achievements of Indian agriculture after
independence in the areas of field crops, horticulture, livestock and poultry,
fisheries and aquaculture, crop and animal health, mechanization and postharvest processing, natural resources management, agricultural education
and extension, as well as policy, investment, collaboration and organizational
leadership.The book is an outcome of a sincere exercise by about 60 leading scientists and
science-leaders of ICAR, from a range of disciplines. In the course of
preparing the book, the authors and editors have received help and support
from different individuals. We are extremely grateful to each one of them. Our
sincere gratitude to the distinguished reviewers namely Dr. RB Singh, Dr. SP
Ghosh, Dr. JC Katyal, Dr. Mruthyunjaya, Dr. MP Yadav, Dr. SL Mehta, Dr. P
Das, Dr. VM Mayande and Dr. AG Ponnaiah for their constructive suggestions
and guidance. The editors take this opportunity to express their gratitude to all the authors for developing the chapters in a comprehensive and time-bound manner.
We sincerely thank Hon?ble Minister of Agriculture and Farmers? Welfare, and Hon?ble
Ministers of State of Agriculture and Farmers? Welfare, Govt. of India and Secretary,
DARE & DG, ICAR for their guidance and support in bringing out this publication. We are
thankful to the ICAR-Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, New Delhi
for its support in formating, developing the cover page and printing of the book.
We hope that the publication would be useful to the students, researchers, teachers, policy
makers, planners, administrators and the farmers.
Indian Farming January 2022
For the second successive year, Covid-19 pandemic is playing havoc for the world,
India in particular. Indian agriculture has progressed tremendously on every front
despite the pandemic. Thanks to the government policies, initiatives and untiring efforts
of our scientists, farmers and other stakeholders. Share of gross value added by agriculture
was estimated at ` 19.48 lakh crore in 2020, which is 17.8% compared to other sectors. In
India, total food grain production was recorded at 296.65 million tonnes in 2020 which is
11.44 million tonnes more compared with 285.11 million tonnes in 2019. For the year 2022,
the government has set a target for farmers to increase food grain production by 2% i.e.
to 307.31 million tonnes. In 2021, production was recorded at 303.34 million against a
target of 301 million tonnes.
India has the highest livestock population of about 535.78 million, which is around 31%
of the world livestock population. Milk production in the country was 198 MT in 2020.
India is the second highest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, groundnut, and
fruits and vegetables in the world. The Indian food industry is assured for huge growth
due to its enormous potential for value addition, specially within the food processing
industry. Indian food and grocery market is sixth largest market in the world, with retail
contributing 70% of sales. The Indian food processing industry has grabbed 32% of the
country?s total food market. In India, the processed food market is expected to grow to
` 3,41,352.5 crore by 2025 as compared to ` 1,931,288.7 crore in 2020. The organic food
segment in India will grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2015?25 and is estimated to reach
` 75,000 crore by 2025 as against ` 2,700 crore in 2015. In 2019, Coca Cola launched ?Rani
Float? fruit juices.
Two diagnostic kits developed by ICAR-IVRI and the Japanese Encephalitis IgM ELISA
were launched in 2019. Investment of ` 8,500 crore has been declared for ethanol production
in India. In 2021, APEDA signed an MoU with ICAR-CCRI, Nagpur, for increasing export
of citrus and its value-added products. In 2021, the Prime Minister launched 35 crop
varieties with special traits such as climate resilience and higher nutrient content. The
government has initiated Digital Agriculture Mission for 2021?25 for agriculture projects
based on new technologies such as artificial intelligence, block chain, remote sensing and
GIS technology, drones, robots and others. The Krishi UDAN 2.0 scheme proposes
assistance and incentive for movement of agri-produce by air transport. India looks forward
to achieve the ambitious goal of doubling farmer?s income by 2022.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Vision of Agriculture: Achievements of ICAR
The country is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma
Gandhi. He led freedom struggle against British empire, which transformed him into a global
leader of masses, disadvantageous and poor people. He has shown the way of social, economic
and political transformation with small steps to serve the rural poor. Non-violence, truthfulness,
democratic institutions, village industry and people-centric approach were his main principles
and teachings for the people. He had led several movements to pursue the cause of Indian
farmers, including famous protest of Champaran in 1917, Dandi March in 1930 and Quit India
Movement in 1942. These movements motivated the farmers and rural workers to join the
freedom struggle.
Mahatma Gandhi firmly believed that prosperity of agriculture and farmers should pave the
way for economic prosperity of the country. This belief has been reaffirmed in the agricultural
development process followed in India and other developing countries. Evidences are now
available indicating that agricultural growth has significant impacts on reduction of poverty and
promotion of social and economic equity. The pandemic of COVID-19 has further established
that agriculture is a strong pillar to absorb economic shocks and build resilience to economic
growth.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been at the forefront to propel
agricultural development through development and dissemination of technology, building
human capital and establishing the rural centres to serve the farmers. The Council has
developed partnerships with the organizations serving farmers and rural people. One of the
important components of ICAR strategy is increasing agricultural productivity in harmony
with nature. The needs of unprivileged farmers, marginal production environments, and rural
youth have been accorded high priority in research programs of the Council. Similarly, gender
mainstreaming, outscaling of farmers? innovations, farmers? participatory approach, and
institutional change for higher efficiency has been corner stones of research approach of ICAR.
In other words, the Council has followed the principles of Mahatma Gandhi to make Indian
agriculture prosperous, empower farmers, and strengthen village institutions. The efforts made
by the Krishi Vigyan Kendras to develop skills of rural women and small farmers, and to
provide services at the doorstep of farmers have contributed to the Gandhian vision.
This publication documents the major contributions of ICAR to promote sustainable
development, technological empowerment of people in inaccessible areas, enhance value of
farm produce, and promote rural livelihood options. Conservation of biodiversity, soil and
water, yield improvement of millets in hill areas, improvement of indigenous cattle, goat
development, support for fishermen, and food processing options for households are some of
the notable examples.
I compliment ICAR for bringing out this publication that shall be useful for policy makers and
public agencies to take the task of agriculture and rural development on the Gandhian way. This
is the need of the hour when there is weakening of the values of rural communities and rising
pressure on natural resources.
Vaccines for Livestock and Poultry
Livestock sector is a key subsector of the Indian agriculture. It is an important
livelihood source for farmers, supporting agriculture and contributing to
the health and nutritional security of the household as well as supplementing
incomes with employment opportunities. It is emerging as an important growth
engine of the Indian economy and has registered a growth of 6.1% per annum.
The most effective way to increase livestock productivity and minimize
losses from disease morbidity and mortality is by monitoring health, and
diagnosis and control of diseases by using effective vaccines. The R & D work
on veterinary biologicals in the country has led to successful eradication of three
important diseases viz, rinderpest, African horse sickness and contagious bovine
pleuropneumonia from the country.
Control of several bacterial and viral diseases of cattle and buffaloes (FMD,
HS, BQ, anthrax), sheep and goats (PPR, sheeppox, goatpox, enterotoxaemia),
pigs (classical swine fever) and poultry (Newcastle disease, infectious bursal
disease, avian influenza, infectious bronchitis) is being done through the use of
prophylactic vaccines developed by Animal Science Institutes of ICAR. Biologicals
developed have been transferred to various commercial manufacturers and state
biological production units to ensure adequate supply in the country.
The Animal Science Institutes of the Council are continuously toiling to
develop better, apt and effective vaccines for livestock and poultry diseases and
to improve and refine the current ones in the light of epidemiological findings
and contemporary advancement in technology. This is evident from the list of
vaccines compiled in this document that includes a sub-viral particle-based
recombinant vaccine. Efforts are also going on for the development of DIVAcapable marker vaccines, combined vaccines and thermo-stable vaccines.
I am confident that this informative compilation of vaccine technologies
developed by the ICAR will help all those engaged in animal health management
and disease control in the country.