Disparties in Agricultural Inputs in Ambedkar Nagar District: A Block wise Analysis

 

Dr. Alok Pandey

 

Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Allahabad Degree College, Allahabad University, Allahabad-211001

 

ABSTRACT:

Inputs have contributed immensely to the growth of production and productivity district agriculture, and inputs from the backbone of district agriculture. It was the inputs which brought the green revolution to India, and studies show that inputs particularly fertilizers and irrigation played a huge role in increasing yields and rapidly boosting the district food production. In the process, input use has: for example fertilizer use in 155.1 kg.perha in 2015 and irrigation 95.9 percent coverage in Net Sown area.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Rising population and incomes coupled with the scarcity of basic natural resources such as land and water have been major drivers for the modernization of agriculture and input growth in district. The severe constraint of cultivable land area as a source of production growth has led to substantial dependence on raising yield. This has led to an intense focus on science and technology to increase yields which has resulted in numerous discoveries and developments of new technologies and inputs.

 

In recent times, the efforts have included not only government systems and institutions but also private sector industries and business which invest, innovate and contribute to agricultural growth. This has galvanized the development of various new agro-industries and agribusinesses. These include the fertilizer industry, irrigation, agro- Chemical Industry and others.

 

These are now making huge contributions to overcoming the land and resource constraints in agriculture. Agro inputs encompass not only crop related inputs like fertilizer, irrigation and machines which support crop and allied production. The availability, accessibility, quality and price have major issue in this sector from the farmer perspective. There are issues of lack of availability of major consumable inputs in adequate quantity on time, reliable quality, especially in fertilizer and crop protection products and feed. This dimensions of agribusiness hits the farm production subsector hard as poor input quality and economics compromise the entire agribusiness sector especially farmer and output users whose costs go up and benefit is reduced. But, it is important to recognise that in agribusiness sector, the agro-input sector is the most crucial even to attend to concerns of food quality, food safety and cost competitiveness. On the other hand agro-inputs are crucial for small farmer in terms of yield enhancement cost cutting and better quality production for better price realization.

 

OBJECTIVE:

        The main objectives are-

·        To study better plant provision through fertilizers.

·        To analyze better water provision through water sourcing technology and management.

 

METHODOLOGY:

Present study is based on secondary data which has been collected from District statistical handbook Ambedkar Nagar, Census 2011. Besides, a lot of information and literature are consulted from different Libraries and Web sources. For deriving the result simple statistical methods, Ms excel and for map making, map info software has been used and presenting result cartographic techniques are applied with the help of computer.

 

Qualitative and quantitative both techniques have been used in the analysis and mapping. The information and obtained data have been systematically arranged with the help of quantitative techniques into class and tables. Required maps and tables have also been prepared on the basis of analysis to obtain a scientific results of analysis in study area.

 

Study Area:

The study is undertaken in one of the north-east district of Uttar Pradesh. The Ambedkar Nagar district came into existence after 1994-95. Earlier it was a part of Faizabad district. The district situated on the north east of the province of Uttar Pradesh stretches from 26⁰09'NTo 26⁰ 40' N

 

Latitudes and 82⁰ 11' E to 83⁰ 08' E Langitudes. The district has entirely plain topography. The river Ghaghara flows in the north of the district. There are other small rivers which cross the district in the west to east direction. Administratively study region is divided into nine development blocks i.e. Tanda, Baskhari, Ramnagar, jahangirganj, Jalalpur, Bhiyav, Bhiti, Katehari and Akbarpur (Fig-1).

 

Fertilizer:

Fertilizer is a very important modern input for agriculture since it address the problem of soil fertility which is critical for yields. Chemical fertilizers are the immediate source of nutrients in soils. It provides a vital input for the growth of agriculture and is and inevitable factor that has to be reckoned with the attainment self-sufficiency goal in production of food grains. Apart from the primary nutrient ('N' 'P' 'K'), the secondary and micro-nutrients are also required for plant growth.

 

To ensure adequate availability of fertilizers DAC&FW organizes zonal conference before each cropping season to assess requirement of fertilizers of all the district. Initial projection of requirement of fertilizers for specific cropping season is made by State Government on basis of cropping pattern. Consumption pattern cropped area, irrigated area requirement of nutrient in soil as per soil health status etc.

 

All-India average consumption of fertilizers increased from 89.63 kg per ha in 2000-01 to 128.08 kg per ha in 2014-15. Ambedkar Nagar district average consumption of fertilizers increased from 148.2 kg per ha in 2000-01 to 155.10 kg per ha in 2014-15

 

Irrigation:

Despite sixty-nine years of concerted efforts to tap the irrigation potential the gap between the potential tapped and the potential possible is not only large but widening. On 1 July 2015, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched with outlay of Rs. 50,000 crores over a period of five years (2015-16 to 2019), to boost irrigation facilities. The motto of the PMKSY is "Har Khet Ko Pani" and "More Crop Per Drop". The scheme will coordinate the ministers department agencies and research and financial institutions engaged in the creation use recycling and potential recycling of water under a common platform so that a comprehensive and holistic view of the entire 'water cycle' is taken into account and proper water budgeting is done for all crops.

 

It will focus on improving water use efficiency to reduce wastage and increase availability both in duration and extend and bridging the gap between irrigation potential created and utilization. Special emphasis will be on creating protective irrigation by harnessing rain water at the micro level through 'Jal Sanchay' and "Jal Sinchan".

Water is a fundamental input for agriculture and table-2 shows that the net irrigated area has increased substantially from 94.4 percent in 2001 to 95.9 percent in 2015. The table shows highest irrigated area 97.7 percent in Jahangirganj block followed by minimum 87.5 percent area in Bhiyav block in 2010-11. Maximum irrigated area 100.0 percent in Tanda block followed by minimum 87.5 percent area in Jahangirganj block in 2014-15.

 

Table -1 :Disparties in Agricultural Inputs in Blocks of Ambedkar Nagar

Source: District Statistical Handbook, Ambedkar Nagar 2015-16

 

Table-1- Reveals the disparities in agricultural inputs in blocks of Ambedkar Nagar District. Table represents consumption of fertilizer in the study area. The Table-1 shows highest consumption of fertilizer 299.3 Kg per ha in Jahangirganj block followed by minimum 184.5 Kg per ha in Akbarpur block in 2010-11, highest consumption of fertilizer 185.5 Kg per ha in Jahangirganj block followed by minimum 112.9 Kg per ha in Akbarpur block in 2014-15. In study area maximum consumption of fertilizer 202.8 Kg per ha in 2010

 

Disparties In Agricultural Inputs Blocks wise in Ambedkar Nagar

 

Table - 2: Fertilizer Consumption, Irrigated Area and Food Production  Growth in Ambedkar Nagar.

Source: District Statistical Handbook, Ambedkar Nagar 2015-16

 

The finding indicate that there is a sharp increase in the dependence on ground water irrigation in the recent decades. Some declaration was evident between 2000-01 and 2014-15 indicating emerging constraints but the growth of ground water irrigation has again accelerated after 2014-15, perhaps indicating better management and more efficient use of the ground water. The reasons appear to be the special efforts that have been made towards this which includes increasing ground water recharge through check-dams in some areas, watershed development activities in other areas and the use of efficient irrigation methods such as drip and sprinkler irrigation.

 

CONCLUSIONS:

The level and kinds of inputs substantially determine the production and productivity of agriculture. Modern technology and inputs have played a huge role in the growth of agricultural production in district especially after the green revolution. This has led to various discoveries and developments including better plant nutrition through fertilizers, better water provisions through water sourcing technology and management and time efficiency. The need and demand for these inputs has stimulated the growth of various input industries/agribusinesses including fertilizer industry, irrigation equipment industry.

 

The study finds that agricultural inputs show a healthy growth overall until 2010-11, but fertilizer inputs are showing a decline in growth rates or absolute decline in recent years.

 

Improvement is evident on the irrigation front but the growing scarcity of the resources calls for continuing efforts to promote conservation of water and its sound and Judicious use. The recent decline in fertilizer use may lead to a soil fertility and nutrient crisis and calls for urgent reform of the fertilizer policy and subsidy regime. The major shift in agriculture and food demand towards high value products such as vegetables, fruits and livestock products also needs to be seriously recognized and addressed.

 

REFERENCE:

1.     Gandhi Vasant P. (2014) "Growth and Transformation of the Agribusiness Sector: Drivers, Models and Challanges" Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol-69 No-1, Jan-Mar.

2.     India, Ministry of Agriculture (2014) Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi.

3.     India, Ministry of Agriculture (2012) All India Report on Input Survey, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, New Delhi. District census-2011

4.     District Statistical Hand book Ambedkar Nagar 2015-16.

5.     Singh, S. (2014) Agribusiness Franchising in India: Experience and Potential, IIMA WP No. 2014-12-09

6.     Ali S.H. and Srivastava S. (2013) Buying preferences of customers for agri-inputs from organized rural retail store. Research of Social Sciences and Mgt, 3(2) 96-101.

 

 

Accepted on 21.03.2018            © A&V Publications All right reserved