Agricultural - Some good terms/techniques

Permaculture

No tillage/ Zero Tillage - Happy Seeder is a zero tillage technology (residue management)

Soil Solarisation 

agro-diplomacy

Uberisation of Agriculture - renting agricultural machinery for fee

converting farmers to ‘agripreneurs’

‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’

Growth and Competitiveness of Indian economy

Context : News - India moves one notch up to 44th rank in IMF's World Competitiveness Rankings 2018


This blog aims to discuss a paradoxical feature of Indian economy : Currently, India appears a "bright spot" when it comes to the growth rate but it is punching way below its weight mainly due to its lower competitiveness.

Why is India’s growth high but competitiveness low?

Competitiveness refers to such an objective: It determines how countries, regions and companies manage their competencies to achieve long-term growth, generate jobs and increase welfare. In an era of open economy and interdependence, growth rate of an economy should go hand in hand with its competitiveness. However, India seems to be an outlier.

Evidences of India's Low Competitiveness : 

• A/t WEF's Global Competitiveness Report 2017-18, India is ranked at 40. 
• India ranks100 in World Bank's doing Business Report, 2018
• Low competitiveness in Infrastructure
• Poor Human Resource : UNDP's HDI - India's rank of 131 puts it in the "medium human development" bracket with nations like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan
• results in low workforce productivity

Reasons of low competitiveness :

• Yawning Infrastructure gap --> high logistics cost
• Inadequate digital infrastructure
• Poor quality Roadways
• high turnaround time of ports
• Human Resource Quality
• Education system
• Health
• Skill base of Labour
• Complex Tax structure

But still India has high growth rate because : 

• cheap labour availability in large number(wage competitiveness) 
• services sector - the mainstay of Indian economy
• Indian growth rate is not export oriented unlike other competitive economies but is largely domestic consumption driven.

Way Forward : 

India will need to bridge above gaps in short to medium by 

• focusing on both creating physical infrastructure like roads, airports and railway networks, and ‘soft’ infrastructure like fixing our schools or repairing our degraded higher education system or making the population more healthy.

On the other hand, the emergence of disruptive technologies like AI, Automation, 3D printing etc. and developed countries insistence on adding new issues like environmental safety, gender and labour issues etc in trade pacts(WTO, TPP,RCEPT) forces Indian policy makers to think a step ahead. 

Great Indian Bustard - going the Dodo way ?

Great Indian Bustard, or GIB was at the time of independence considered to be declared as India's national bird. However, due to concerns that 'bustard' would either be mispronounced or misheard(as 'bastard') which could bring national embarrassment, that baton went to the Peacock.

Today, due to large neglect and shrinking habitat their population has reduced to alarmingly low count of 150.

GIB is a heavy and low flying bird and a flagship grassland species found in Rajasthan & Gujarat. It is the State Bird of Rajasthan. 

Reasons for such alarming situation : 

• Habitat destruction and habitat deterioration - declining grasslands
• Poaching : rampant hunting 
• No clear cut land-use policy and domestic animal grazing policies in India
• mining and industrialization
• GIB is a slow breeder and the success rate of breeding is very less
• Construction of Windmills in the close vicinity of Sanctuary in Kutch
• Infrastructure intrusions such as roads and electric power lines in the desert leading to collision-related mortality
• Proposed expansion of RE infrastructure, which may involve deploying solar panels over large areas of desert and grasslands

Other issues : 

• Birds are not considered glamorous enough to be conserved, unlike mammals such as tigers. We spend Rs 160 cr/year on tigers; until recently we spent nothing on the GIBs

Steps taken to conserve the GIB : 

• 2011 - IUCN granted it "Critically Endangered" status 
• "Project Great Indian Bustard", a State of Rajasthan initiative
• Captive Breeding Programme (is it in situ or ex situ conservation technique ? ans)
• WWF-India has provided inputs in developing the ‘Guidelines for the State Action Plan for Resident Bustard Recovery Programme’.

Suggestions : 

• need for Project Bustard on lines of Project Tiger and Project Elephant
• identify the core breeding areas
• declaring critical areas a 'NO-GO' zone.
• linking local livelihoods with bustard conservation. 
• A profitable and equitable mechanism to share revenues generated from eco-tourism with local communities should be developed
• restriction on infrastructure development and land use diversion for roads, high tension electric poles, intensive agriculture, wind power generators and construction
• regularizing traditional pastoral activities especially during the breeding season
• Use of technology (GIS)  
• Renewable energy is critical in an era of Climate Change, but its placement must undergo scrutiny for biodiversity impacts.
• If granting National Status to the bird help in raising general awareness, and help in conservation, so be it.

If above steps are not taken on urgent basis , the bird might soon get extinct like Dodo in Mauritius. If it happens, it would be the first mega species to disappear from India after Cheetah in recent times. To prevent this, a holistic central government conservation programme with same spirit of Project Tiger is awaited. A failure will fly in the face of wildlife conservation in India.

Src : 

• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/with-just-264-left-in-four-states-lesser-florican-bird-may-go-extinct-report/story-WvokVR4xhoFu2JAOYhAc9O.html
• https://orientalbirdclub.org/indian-bustard/
•