ANSWER WRITING- GS-1 & 3

1. A recent NABARD report highlights that, there is an urgent need to shift in policy focus from ‘land productivity’ to ‘water productivity’. Examine this statement with special focus on climate change.   (150 words, 10M)

Ans

The report ‘Water productivity mapping of major Indian crops’ by NABARD, calls for shift in policy focus from land productivity to efficient water use.  Land productivity is defined as the yield of crops per unit area of land (kg per hectare). Water productivity is defined as yield per unit of water used/applied for irrigation by crop.

REASONS FOR FOCUS ON LAND PRODUCTIVITY

1. Policy Issues

a. Skewed MSP policy: High minimum support prices for crops such as wheat and rice has incentivized farmers to produce maximum output from their limited land holdings.

b. Highly subsidized power supply for farmers: This has resulted in over use of ground water while focusing only on crop yield per unit land area.

c. Assured procurement policies: This has become incentive for farmers to ignore water requirement of crops such as paddy and sugarcane. 

d. Other important issues: Skewed fertilizer policy, land ceiling and fragmentation, etc.

2. Inequity in Irrigation: Regions with better irrigation facilities cultivate water intensive crops and there are no problems of water shortage as compared to rainfall dependent regions.

3. Monoculture Practices: Skewed cropping pattern, lack of crop rotation and extensive  monoculture practices have focused primarily on yield per hectare and sidelined issues of water availability and water use in-efficiency

4. Farmer Unawareness: Farmers are not aware of the ecological and economic costs of water use in-efficiency and importance of crop rotation and crop diversification.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY FOCUS ON LAND PRODUCTIVITY

1. Deterioration of soil fertility: Excessive use of same land for same crop invariably results in progressive decline of soil fertility over time.

2. Excessive use of fertilizers: To aim for maximum yield, farmers tend to overuse fertilizers and other chemicals causing leaching and contamination of soil and water bodies.

3. Ecological concerns: Excessive water use has led to decline in ground water while causing  increased methane emissions from paddy fields.

CHALLENGES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE:

Economic Survey 2017-18 reports the following:

1. There will be significant decline in  crop yields if rainfall declines.

2. Crops grown in rainfed areas -

pulses in both kharif and rabi—are vulnerable to weather shocks while the cereals—both rice and wheat— are relatively more immune.

3. In a year when rainfall levels were 100 millimeters less than average, farmer incomes would fall by 15 % during kharif and by 7 % during the rabi season.

Hence it is important to urgently shift focus from land productivity to water use productivity. This can be done using a judicious use of technologies such as precision agriculture, micro irrigation techniques, creating farmer awareness and by re-aligning the policies to focus on the same.

BENEFITS OF WATER USE PRODUCTIVITY IN CONTEXT OF

CLIMATE CHANGE

1. Save scarce resource: Agriculture uses 78% of fresh water resources available in India. Hence  it is important to use them efficiently so that resource can be made available for other sectors.

2. Ensure equitable crop yields: Focus on water productivity can help in addressing yield  mismatch across regions and time.

3. More crop per drop: It will enhance efficiency of farming as more water is available from savings and judicious use. Hence, helps in doubling the farm productivity.

To ensure food and nutritional security, in the context of climate change, it is inevitable that  Indian agriculture must shift its policy focus from land to water productivity.

As per World Bank report titled “India’s Water Economy”, India is already categorized as water stressed country in terms of per capita freshwater availability (1544 cubic meter in 2011). 

In India, the overall efficiency of surface and groundwater irrigation ranges between 30-65 % and 65-75 % respectively

2. Farming 3.0 is changing the narrative around agriculture from subsistence to sustainability. Discuss.  (150 words, 10 M)   

Farming 3.0 is a new era, which is defined by the increased use of technology and innovation in farming, greater professionalism within the farming ecosystem, a growing consideration for the environment and higher-quality farm produce. 

This is the time when high tech-sensors, cloud computing, specialized software and the internet of things are being integrated into farming.

HOW FARMING 3.0 DIFFERENT FROM FARMING 1.0 AND FARMING 2.0?

The First Phase, which is referred to as farming 1.0, extended from 1947 to 1966 and was characterized by radical land reforms that led to tenancy reform such as the abolition of the Zamindari system and the intermediaries and the ceiling and consolidation of land holdings.

The Second Phase was the Green Revolution which increased farm productivity and rid us ofour dependence on foreign food aid. Farming 2.0 was called as a golden age in India’s agriculture and the period of industrial agriculture.

The defining characteristics of Farming 2.0 were: 

1. More emphasis on multiple cropping.

2. Relatively cheap inputs.

3. Increased outreach of the extension services.

4. The spread of irrigation network and the resultant increase of yield potential.

However, the environmental impact of the increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides was not taken care of in early to mid-phase of Farming 2.0. This miscalculation has already proved too costly for us in terms of human health and loss of biodiversity. Thus it can be said that both farming 1.0 and farming 2.0 had the narrative of subsistence only.

HOW FARMING 3.0 HAS THE NARRATIVE OF SUSTENANCE?

1. In this new phase, agricultural data has become crucial. The data so gathered is used to help farmers make more efficient use of their resources like land, water and fertilizer. 

2. As the availability of weather data to farmers enable them to plan their operations according to weather conditions and make best use of resources available to them. Much of the data gathering is being done by agricultural drones’ satellites and smart farm equipments. 

3. New techniques of augmenting food production like Indoor agriculture through Hydroponics and Aeroponics in green houses and warehouses is now possible. 

4. With cheap sensors now allowing the farming community to connect to and understand the physical world in a way that’s been impossible on such a scale previously.

5. The potential of Farming 3.0 as a data rich source to farming that utilizes inputs from diverse sources on plants and farm equipments, weather stations and satellite images to make better farming decisions.

6. Farming 3.0 is the democratization of farming as it promises that some specialized knowledge that commercial farming requires today will be available to all regardless of their

farming prowess or economic situation.

7. Farming 3.0 will bring disruption in the present system; in tillage, in equipments and in farming systems and will also provide massive opportunities.

8. Farming 3.0 will be driven by economics, environmentalism, synthetic biology and changing consumer demand, and retailers need to be ready for serious change. 

9. Digital platforms have the potential to put farmers directly in touch with the consumer.

Middlemen will be frozen out of the system, and farmers will get fair price for their produce. 

Government's effort in farming 3.0 - The government is working with a few States to move APMCs — the Agricultural Produce Market Committees — to the national electronic platform, eNAM, for selling fruits and vegetables.

Digitization of agriculture also has the power to boost productivity by putting farmers in touch with each other and also with agri experts.

The shift to Farming 3.0 represents a movement away from efficiency as the primary focus of nearly all efforts to a new focus on profitability, productivity and economics with social and environmental considerations.

Farming 3.0 focuses on the concept of integration of all the relevant technologies into a single package. Thus, farming 3.0 creates a way for sustainability from the older version of subsistence of farming 1.0 and farming 2.0.

3. Natraja, the dancing form of Lord Shiva is a symbolic synthesis of the most important aspects of Hinduism and the summary of the central tenets of this Vedic religion. Comment.

(150 words,10 marks)

Introduction:

The term 'Nataraja' means 'King of Dancers' . It is a depiction of the Hindu God Shiva as the cosmic ecstatic dancer.

The pose and artwork is described in many Hindu texts such as the Anshumadbhed agama and Uttarakamika agama.

Body:

Nataraja as synthesis of important aspects and summary of central tenets of Hinduism.

Nataraja is shown with four hands representing the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West). These cardinal directions are central to Hindu astrology (Vaastu Shastra).

This cosmic dance of Shiva is called 'Ananda tandava,' meaning the Dance of Bliss which symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death.

The dance is a pictorial allegory of the five principle manifestations of eternal energy—creation, destruction, preservation, salvation, and illusion.

He dances within a circular or cyclically closed arch of flames (prabha mandala), which symbolically represent the cosmic fire that in Hindu cosmology creates everything and consumes everything, in cyclic existence or cycle of life. 

The fire also represents the evils, dangers, heat, warmth, light and joys of daily life. The arch of fire emerges from two makara on each end, which are water creatures and part of Hindu mythologies.

The upper left-hand holds a flame, the lower left-hand points down to the dwarf, who is shown holding a cobra. The upper right-hand holds an hourglass drum or 'dumroo' that stands for the male-female vital principle, the lower shows the gesture of assertion: "Be without fear."

His palm shows the Abhaya mudra (meaning fearlessness in Sanskrit), suggesting the devotee who is righteous and follows dharma need not fear the nearby evil.

The face shows two eyes plus a slightly open third on the forehead, which symbolize the trinity in Shaivism. The eyes represent the sun, the moon and the third has been interpreted as the inner eye, or symbol of knowledge (jnana), urging the viewer to seek the inner wisdom, self-realization. 

The three eyes alternatively symbolize an equilibrium of the three Guṇas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and is symbolic of his omniscience, insight, and enlightenment

The dwarf on which Nataraja dances is the demon Apasmara purusha, the personification of illusion and ignorance over whom Shiva triumphs.

On his head is a skull, which symbolizes his conquest over death.

On his right side, meshed in with one of the flying strands of his hair near his forehead, is typically the river Ganges personified as a goddess, from the Hindu mythology where the danger of a mighty river is creatively tied to a calm river for the regeneration of life.

The whole idol rests on a lotus pedestal, the symbol of the creative forces of the universe.

Conclusion:

Thus in Hindu mythology, it is a continual dance of creation and destruction involving the whole cosmos, the basis of all existence and of all natural phenomena unifying ancient mythology, religious art, and modern physics.

4. The British rule in India witnessed several peasant movements. Why did peasants rebel against the British? What were the most common underlying factors? How did peasants mobilize against the rule? Discuss. (250 words, 15 marks)

Introduction:

Agriculture being a very important source of revenue during the British Raj, peasants were the most exploited class in the Indian economy as a direct result of the transformation of the agrarian structure. 

The peasant movements proved to be a very important phase of Indian struggle against the oppressive British rule.

Background:

Indian peasantry was impoverished as a result of:

Regressive taxation policies: Permanent settlement, Ryotwari systems etc.

Ruin of traditional handicrafts leading to overcrowding of land

Dominating interference in the forest acts, forest rights and traditional social Fabric

Distorted measures of land revenue collections etc.

Common underlying factors to the peasant movements include:

 Unreasonably high rents and protection to the landlords and moneylenders.

Arbitrary evictions and unpaid labour.

Exploitation of the already overburdened farmers by the Zamindars and moneylenders.

Harsh systems of the British. E.g: Forced cultivations of Indigo crop, Sunset clause, seizure of cattle and crops due to non-payment of loans etc.,

Transferability of land which deprived the traditional occupancy rights.

Lack of awareness of clauses leading to sudden loss of land and work, leading to collective uprisings.

Mobilization of the peasants can be explained in 4 phases:

Peasant movements before 1857:

The peasants during this phase organized themselves and elected their own leader.

They collectively raised a huge army equipping themselves with primitive weapons.

Peasants attacked courts and looted stores.

Prominent places became the centres of mobilization.

Examples of this phase are: The Rangpur Rebellion ( 1783)

Peasant movements after 1857:

Mobilization of peasants in protests continued in some earlier forms but acquired new features in this phase.

Greater awareness of colonial policies, laws and institutions helped the peasants protest in a prepared manner to some extent.

There was growing involvement of educated middle class intelligentsia such as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, RC Dutt etc., as spokespersons for the movements.

The Deccan riots of 1875 were characterized with burning of deeds, bonds and looting the zamindar offices.

Movements in the 1920s:

This phase saw the development of class consciousness, influenced by the Gandhian movement, Russian Movements etc.

Local issues integrated with the national cause of Swaraj

Creation of Sabhas, Conferences and Co-operative movements to ensure fair systems of land revenue and tenancy.

Example: creation of UP/Awadh Kisan Sabha (1918)

Peasant Movements after the WW2:

Earlier movements were mostly non-violent with small fractions of violent surges, but this phase had increasingly violent uprisings. 

Examples: Telangana Movement (1946-51), Tebhaga Movement where the peasants revolted using mass struggle with the support of Bengal Province Kisan Sabha.

Conclusion:

The Peasant movements created an atmosphere and led to many immediate and post-independence agrarian reforms. Though in diverse areas, the revolts indulged on the broad ideology of nationalism.