how can agriculture be modernized

Why can’t agriculture be modernized?

March 2019 IDENTIFYING ISSUES, CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES + DEVELOPING GOALS FOR THE FUTURE A 2-day workshop [Organizing and Strengthening our Farmers and Farmer’s Organisations as Entrepreneurs and Partners in Agribusiness] by the Fiji Crop & Livestock Council was recently held in Suva as part of modernizing the agriculture sector [Photo: Fiji Beekeepers …

How to modernize agriculture in India?

The need of the hour is to use updated equipment, gain knowledge about modern techniques and move forward. Modern Day Agricultural Implements : Rotary Tiller: Rotary Tiller, commonly known as a Rotavator, is a tillage implement. Laser Land Leveler: High crop yield is significantly important to every farmer. That is why the crop field needs to be even and settled.

What is the process of modernization in agriculture?

 · As such, we use farm mechanization as a proxy for agricultural modernization as formulated in the model. We consider 10 years to be a reasonable life span for farm machinery …

Why is it important to boost agricultural production by modernizing it?

 · Moving on to the consumption effects of agriculture products, Table 11 indicates that mechanization of agriculture (Scenarios 1 and 2), leads to a decrease of the price of …

How can we modernize the agriculture?

Here are few ways that will help to modernize the agriculture scenario in the country.Which crops grow best where?Irrigate the fields in a smart way.Use the Right Equipment.Evaluate the performance of the product.Control the pests.

How can agriculture development be improved?

3 ways to boost Indian agricultureInvesting in smarter value chains. PPPs could help spur the development of the food processing industry, one of the newest sectors in Indian agriculture. … Improving access to credit, technology and markets. … Building farmer resilience to environmental shocks.

How can India agriculture be modernized?

For the modernization of agriculture, scientific methods should be applied. Qualitative seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides should be made available to the Indian farmers. Central and state government has given top dominance to agriculture. Multipurpose projects are being built in all the states of India.

What is the concept of agricultural modernization?

Modernisation of agriculture is a process of transforming agriculture from traditional labour-based agriculture to technology-based agriculture [25]. It is one of the fundamental issues in agricultural policies, particularly in countries, where agriculture is less developed.

How can we solve agricultural problems?

Below are the top solutions to the Problems of Agriculture: Provision of Adequate Education to Farmers. … Provision Large Area of Land to Farmers. … Reducing of the Cost Farmer Inputs to Farmers. … Encouragement of the Gender and Age in Farming Sector. … Farmers should be Encourage to Join Co-operative Society.More items…•

How can we develop the agriculture sector in our country?

(3) By providing investable surplus in the form of savings and taxes to be invested in non-agricultural sector, (4) By earning valuable foreign exchange through the export of agricultural products, ADVERTISEMENTS: (5) Providing employment to a vast army of uneducated, backward and unskilled labour.

Why modernization of agriculture is necessary?

Modernisation of agriculture is supposed to ensure productivity growth without imposing any threats to the natural environment and the well-being of animals, reduced impoverishment in rural areas as well as to ensure food security, growth in the profitability of farms, improvement to the efficiency of use of natural …

Is important for modernization of agriculture?

For this process to be successful, the agricultural sector must be modernized. Agricultural modernization prepares conditions for industrialization by boosting labor productivity, increasing agricultural surplus to accumulate capital, and increasing foreign exchange via exports.

What should be done to modernize agriculture in Nepal?

It has been emphasized to adopt superior agricultural technology in respect of crop rotation, selection of quality seeds, use of proper manure, treatment of soil, selection of crops etc. In this regard, Govt has initiated Intensive Agricultural Area Programme.

How does modernization affect agriculture?

Modernization in the field of agriculture has increased food supply to mankind and has also played a significant role in raising the income of farmers and local economy.

What step should be taken by the government to modernize the agriculture?

Answer: Setting up of Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Agricultural universities, veterinary services and animal breeding centres. Horticulture development.

What is the modernization process?

Modernization is the current term for an old process—the process of social change whereby less developed societies acquire characteristics common to more developed societies. The process is activated by international, or intersocietal, communication.

How to modernize agriculture in India?

But how are we going to modernize the agriculture in India? Embracing the internet will help the farmers to uncover new ways that have been unknown for years. It will give them a chance to alleviate the challenges that hinder crops growth and increase the agriculture yield.

Why do farmers need to know more about agricultural machinery manufacturers in the country?

They need to gain access to knowledge about farming implements in India that can help them increase their workload yet make it easy to increase crop growth. There are several farming equipment manufacturers in the country that are helping farmers ease their workload. The need of the hour is to use updated equipment, gain knowledge about modern techniques and move forward.

Why is it important to know when pests attack crops?

Healthy crops often fall prey to pests and thus farmers have to suffer great loss. Therefore, it is important in the crop production cycle to find out when the pests are more likely to attack and what measures need to be taken.

Why is smart irrigation important?

With smart irrigation, it becomes possible to waste less water and regularly water the field which will help in the optimal growth of the crops. Moreover, in drought-prone areas, it is important to uptake water management and detects any unauthorized water consumption.

Why is it important to manage irrigation?

Crops require a right quantity of water at the right time for its optimal growth. Therefore, it is important to manage the irrigation of the field. While it can be a challenging task, owing to shortage of water, it should be kept at priority.

Why is there so little space for farming?

Due to increasing population of the country, more and more land is getting acquired leaving very little space for farming.

What equipment do farmers need to grow crops?

Introduction of the latest agriculture equipment such as tractors, front-end loaders, backhoe and more will help farmers to increase their productivity. Apart from the equipment, taking care of the crops is also important.#N#Instead of relying on animals such as oxen, buffalo, and camels, the farmers should opt for mechanized farm equipment that will produce great results and help the farmer to use less manual power. Instead of manually seeding, opting for seed drill can reduce work load while increasing efficiency.

How does modernization affect agriculture?

Growth is not sustainable until this relative price drops below a certain threshold, thus inducing farmers to adopt modern technology that employs industry-supplied inputs. Once agricultural modernization begins, per capita income emerges from stasis and accelerates toward modern growth. Our calibrated model is largely consistent with the set of historical data we have compiled on the English economy, accounting well for the growth experience of England encompassing the Industrial Revolution.

What are the factors that directly influence the use of modern agricultural technology?

This proposition identifies several factors that directly influence the use of modern agricultural technology. First, TFP parameter Aat and land-to-population ratio are negatively related to the adoption of modern technology. Second, the industrial TFP ( Ant) has a positive effect on the adoption of the modern farm technology. As we shall shortly elaborate on further, this is because a high level of industrial productivity lowers the price of the nonagricultural good, thus reducing the cost of using the industry-supplied input. 11

What were the technological advances of the Middle Ages?

The inventions developed in China, including paper, printing, the magnetic compass and gun powder, raised production efficiency through diverse channels. In the Middle Ages, dramatic improvements in energy utilization through the use of windmills, waterwheels, and horse technologies effectively expanded the frontiers of production, and the creation of the mechanical clock marks the entry of a key machine of the modern industrial age. Turning to the Renaissance, in addition to its remarkable scientific achievements, innovations in shipbuilding, mining techniques, spinning wheels for textile production, and the use of blast furnaces raised the capacity of industrial production to new levels. Why then did these major technological advances fail to generate sustained improvement in living standards?

How long is the model economy?

For this quantitative exercise, each period in the model consists of 10 years, with the initial period starting in 1700–1709. We assume that the model economy is initially a traditional one with no modern technology used in agriculture; then, in the 1820–1829 period, it begins agricultural modernization, or the transition to modern growth. The technology parameters, subsistence consumption, initial TFP levels, and population growth profiles are calibrated. We then feed the TFP growth rates estimated from the historical data into the model to generate time series predictions for six key variables – per capita GDP, relative price, agricultural mechanization, farm employment share, real wage of agricultural workers, and land rents – and compare them to their counterparts in the data. The details are as follows.

What is the ratio of the land devoted to new technology over the total land area?

The use of modern inputs in agriculture: The ratio of the land devoted to new technology over the total land area measures the extent of modern technology adoption. In an agrarian economy, the old technology prevails. Once the transition begins, however, if the TFP in nonagriculture Ant grows sufficiently fast, then increases over time, and the proportion of land (and labor) allocated to modern agricultural production increases from zero to one, as moves from to (see Eq. (12) ).

Why does the price of industrial products decline with the growth of Ant?

The price of industrial products relative to agricultural products: In the traditional steady state, pt declines with the growth of Ant because is a constant (see Eq. (5) ). Once agricultural modernization begins, pt settles to a constant level at which farmers are indifferent about the adoption of either technology. Industrial TFP growth tends to lower the relative price, but this induces the more widespread use of modern technology, which helps to keep the relative price at a stable level.

How did the Malthusian regime affect the economy?

1 They argue that for a long period in history, the economy was trapped in the Malthusian regime because people employed only land-intensive technology, which is subject to diminishing returns to labor. What triggered sustained growth was the adoption of a less land-intensive production process that, although available throughout history, had not previously been profitable for individual firms to operate. However, the growth of usable knowledge eventually made it profitable to use this technology that is free of diminishing returns, thus permitting an escape from Malthusian stagnation. Although Hansen and Prescott provide powerful insight into the transition from stagnation to growth, their model is highly stylized. In an aggregate framework with a single final good, the model is abstracted from several key features of long-term development such as structural transformation and the relationship between agricultural and industrial growth.

How does agricultural modernization affect the Congolese economy?

As expected, the impact of agricultural modernization is an increase in the size of the Congolese economy. Under capital-using technological change (Scenario 1), real GDP increases by 1.83 percent and total absorption by 1.80 percent. Because of the saving-investment balanced closure, the increased total absorption forces total investment and government consumption to rise by 0.59 and 0.58 percent. The increase of total investment depends also on the increase in government savings (1.99), as public investment accounts for 41 percent of total investment. At the same time, enterprise and household saving rates decrease by 0.17 and 1.08 percent, respectively, to match the value of investment. Private consumption increases by 2.04 percent while household and enterprise savings increase by 0.42 and 2.01 percent. Despite the fall in household and enterprise saving rate, savings by these domestic non-governmental institutions increase because of the impact of capital-using technological change on income. As a result of increased absorption, imports and exports rise, leading to an appreciation of the exchange rate.

How to evaluate pro-poorness of agricultural modernization-led growth?

To evaluate the pro-poorness of agricultural modernization-led growth, I adopt a sequential approach that combines a CGE model to a microsimulation model augmented to incorporate a pro-poor growth framework. The empirical strategy proceeds in four steps, as Fig. 7 depicts. I first use the CGE model to generate the effects of agricultural modernization strategies on employment, wages and rents, and the price of goods and services. Then I transmit these changes into a microsimulation model, which takes into account household heterogeneity in terms of factor endowments and consumption patterns, to generate welfare gains or losses at the household level. Using these changes in welfare, I apply the pro-poor growth framework to assess which of the agricultural modernization strategies is pro-poor, and the extent to which growth and redistribution contribute to welfare changes. Finally, I select a strategy that produced pro-poor welfare gains in the previous stage, and use a least square regression to explain its characteristics.

How does microsimulation affect household income?

My framework posits that agricultural technological change affects household income through channels such as changes in price of goods and services, changes in employment, and changes in the return to factors of production. The microsimulation model has two building blocks: a labor participation model and an accounting equation. Based on Magnac ( [ 1991 ]) and Cogneau and Robilliard ( [ 2001 ]), I specify a labor participation model to estimate changes in the labor conditions. Specifically, I use the labor participation equations to estimate the probability to participate in the labor market. Later, I use these probabilities to allocate labor in the microsimulation model based on changes in employment levels from the CGE model. The second component of the microsimulation transmits changes in commodity and factor prices following Otchia ( [ 2014 ]).

What is pro-poor modernization?

In this study, the concept of pro-poor agricultural modernization refers to the advancement of agriculture technologies and institutions that improve the poor and small-scale farmers’ welfare relative to rich large-scale farmers. This means that agricultural modernization includes mechanization strategy as part of technological change and the modernization of agriculture behavior, structure and institutions. The choice of the technology, which depends on the factor price and public policies, must be centered on the technological need of small-scale farmers.

What type of technology do countries with scarce land but abundant labor adopt?

Countries with scarce land but abundant labor tend to adopt land-saving types of technologies such as chemical and biological high-yield technologies . Hayami and Ruttan ( [ 1985 ]) provide a theoretical framework of this type of biased technological change based on the induced innovation hypothesis.

Why is land important in DRC?

Land is a very important asset for DRC farmers for its economic, cultural and spiritual significance. Due to bad governance (corrupted judiciary system, weaken traditional land rights, flawed land law (uncertain land rights, outdated land registry), however, land has become the key driver of conflict in the eastern part of the country (Vlassenroot and Huggins [ 2005 ]; Huggins [ 2010 ]). The most core issue in conflicts over land concerns limited access to land, land succession problem, and inequitable distribution. There are other factors behind land issues in DRC, such as colonization, land grab, migration, and climate change (Long [ 2011 ]; Chausse et al. [ 2012 ]; African Union et al. [ 2012 ]). The consequences of these measures and events are visible in all their extent: increased landless and reduced average land size.

What was the Green Revolution?

The Green Revolution was an intensifying of input-based production characterized by the use of high-yielding and fertilizer-efficient new varieties of seed (rice and wheat). Policymakers initiated this type of agricultural transformation to increase food production and reduce hunger and malnutrition in the 1960s.

How has agriculture increased?

Agricultural methods have intensified continuously ever since the Industrial Revolution, and even more so since the “green revolution” in the middle decades of the 20 th century. At each stage, innovations in farming techniques brought about huge increases in crop yields by area of arable land. This tremendous rise in food production has sustained a global population that has quadrupled in size over the span of one century. As the human population continues to grow, so too has the amount of space dedicated to feeding it. According to World Bank figures, in 2016, more than 700 million hectares (1.7 billion acres) were devoted to growing corn, wheat, rice, and other staple cereal grains—nearly half of all cultivated land on the planet.

Why is it so hard to meet the demand for accelerated agricultural productivity?

The reasons for this have to do with ecological factors. Global climate change is destabilizing many of the natural processes that make modern agriculture possible.

What are the causes of the pollution of the soil?

The excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have caused the once-beneficial nutrients to become pollutants. Roughly half the nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers escapes from the fields where it is applied, finding its way into the soil, air, water, and rainfall.

How does nitrogen affect the environment?

While these chemicals have helped double the rate of food production, they have also helped bring about a gigantic increase, perhaps as high as 600 percent, of reactive nitrogen levels throughout the environment. The excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have caused the once-beneficial nutrients to become pollutants. Roughly half the nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers escapes from the fields where it is applied, finding its way into the soil, air, water, and rainfall. After soil bacteria convert fertilizer nitrogen into nitrates, rainstorms or irrigation systems carry these toxins into groundwater and river systems. Accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus harm terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by loading them with too many nutrients, a process known as eutrophication. Nutrient pollution is a causal factor in toxic algae blooms affecting lakes in China, the United States, and elsewhere. As excessive amounts of organic matter decompose in aquatic environments, they can bring about oxygen depletion and create “dead zones” within bodies of water, where nothing can survive. Parts of the Gulf of Mexico are regularly afflicted in this manner. Nitrogen accumulation in water and on land threatens biodiversity and the health of native plant species and natural habitats. In addition, fertilizer application in soil leads to the formation and release of nitrous oxide, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases.

Which country is the leading producer of nitrogen fertilizers?

They are particularly effective in the growing of corn, wheat, and rice, and are largely responsible for the explosive growth of cereal cultivation in recent decades. China, with its rapidly growing population, has become the world’s leading producer of nitrogen fertilizers.

How do cattle damage soil?

Cattle and other large grazing animals can even damage soil by trampling on it. Bare, compacted land can bring about soil erosion and destruction of topsoil quality due to the runoff of nutrients. These and other impacts can destabilize a variety of fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Chemical Fertilizer.

What is the impact of livestock on the environment?

Agricultural livestock are responsible for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions, most notably methane. In addition, overgrazing is a major problem regarding environmental sustainability. In some places, stretches of forage land are consumed so extensively that grasses are unable to regenerate.

How can modernization of agriculture be achieved?

For the modernization of agriculture, scientific methods should be applied. Qualitative seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides should be made available to the Indian farmers. Central and state government has given top dominance to agriculture. Multipurpose projects are being built in all the states of India. These projects have made irrigation facilities approachable to the farmers. Where canal and drip irrigation is not possible, rainwater should be harvested at such places. Government has built a large industry at Sindri in Bihar for the manufacture of the chemical fertilizers. Some industries overcome the problem of manure.

How to overcome the problem of manure?

Some industries overcome the problem of manure. Some farmers don’t have enough knowledge about proper utilization of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Hence, farmers are required to educate through proper mass media like television, newspaper or radio. Agriculture should be established on a co-operative basis.

Should agriculture be established on a co-operative basis?

Agriculture should be established on a co-operative basis. Only hard working and regular persons should be made responsible for performing government policies. Modern science and technology is changing very fast. We should make the best use of it as per our capabilities.

Why does agriculture fail in monsoon?

Due to unavailability of canal irrigation in the country, most of the farmers of different parts depend on rainy season. Hence, we can say that if the monsoon fails agriculture also fail. If monsoon does not come under correct time then agriculture cannot be modernized. The poverty and ignorance of farmers also makes it difficult to make development in the field of agriculture.

Can modern machines be used in farming?

Land holdings available for farming are very small and scattered. In such condition, modern machines and implements cannot be used.

What are the causes of backwardness in agriculture?

Let us find out some causes of backwardness of agriculture. Population is increasing tremendously in India. Due to this, more land is required for farming which is being brought under plough. Presence of wide range of Himalayas allows monsoon winds long time in our country.

What is the primary occupation of most villagers in India?

Primary occupation of most of the villagers in India is farming. Economy of this nation depends on the agricultural productivity. Hence, it is very important to boost the agricultural production by modernizing it.

What are the factors that contribute to modernization of agriculture?

Modernisation of agriculture results from a whole galaxy of factors, that include physical input, economic, organisational, cultural, motivational and knowledge factors . While all these factors cannot be provided in one go, they trickle in slowly over a long time before they get established and stabilised.

What are the factors that influence the culture and social system of a nation?

Cultural and Motivational Factors: i. Integration of agricultural institutions (like practices and values) within the culture and social system of the nation; ii. Public administration factors like structure and mode of operation of the bureaucracy; iii. Social structure like cultural values and dynamics of peasant communities;