High value crops Cultivation

Agri

1. INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES,BHU DEPARTMENT OF EXTENSION EDUCATION. PRESENTATION ON- HOW TO DOUBLE FARMER’S INCOME? RAWE-411 PRESENTED TO: PRESENTED BY: PROF. O.P.MISHRA HARSHITA SRIVASTAVA PROF. B.JIRLI ID NUMBER: 14057 B.Sc . (Ag) PART 4

2. WHY DOUBLE FARMER’S INCOME ???

3. The low level of farmer’s income and year to year fluctuations in it are a major source of Agrarian distress. This distress is spreading and getting severe over time impacting almost half of the population of the country that is dependent on farming for livelihood.

4. Past strategy for development of the agriculture sector in India has focused primarily on raising agricultural output and improving food security. The strategy involved : (a) an increase in productivity through better technology and varieties and increased use of quality seeds and fertilizers , irrigation and agrochemicals. (b) incentive structure in the form of remunerative prices for some crops and subsidies on farm inputs. (c) public investments in and from agriculture. (d) facilitating institutions.

5. This strategy paid dividends as the country was able to address severe food shortage that emerged during mid-1960s. BUT DID THIS STRATEGY RECOGNISE THE NEED TO RAISE FARMER’S INCOME????

6. This strategy didn’t recognize the need to raise farmer’s income and didn’t mention any direct measure to promote farmer’s welfare. The result has been that farmer’s income remained low, which is evident from the incidence of poverty among farm households .

7. WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF GROWTH IN FARMER’S INCOME???

8. According to the Prospects and Action Plan of National Institution For Transforming India, GOI , doubling real income of farmers requires harnessing all possible sources of growth in farmer’s income within as well as outside agricultural sector.

9. The major sources of growth operating within agriculture sector are: 1. improvement in productivity. 2. resource use efficiency or saving cost of production. 3. increase in cropping intensity. 4. diversification towards high value crops. The sources outside agriculture includes: 1. Shifting cultivators from farm to non-farm occupations. 2. improvement in terms of trade for farmers or real prices received by farmers.

10. DIVERSIFICATION TOWARDS HIGH VALUE CROPS.

11. High value crops generally refers to non-staple agricultural crops such as vegetables, fruits, flowers, ornamentals, condiments, spices. Most HVCs are those known to have a higher net return per hectare of land than staples or other widely grown crops WHAT ARE HIGH VALUE CROPS?

12. Diversification towards high value crops offers a great scope to improve farmer’s income. The staple crops like cereals, pulses, oilseeds occupy 77% of the total or gross cropped area but contribute only 41% of the total output of the crop sector. Almost same value of output was contributed by HVCs like fruits vegetables, fibres ,condiments and spices , which occupy 19% of gross cropped area during 2013-14. Average productivity of HVCs after adjusting for intensity variations was estimated to be Rs.1,41,777 per hectare as compared to Rs.41,169 per hectare for the staple crops.

13. Thus, shifting one hectare area from staple crops to HVCs increases the gross returns up to Rs.1,01,608 per hectare. Between 2004-05 and 2013-14, area under HVCs increased by 9.16 million hectare, at an annual growth rate of 3.31%. Due to the large difference in area under HVCs and staples, 1% increase in area under the former is equal to 0.25% decrease in area under the staples.

14. Based on these statistics and calculations, it is estimated that if past trends in diversification continues in future, it has potential to raise output of crop sector by close to 1% each year. This can translate into 5% increase in farmer’s income by 2022-23.

15. GOURMET MUSHROOMS HEIRLOOM TOMATOES WOODY ORNAMENTALS PROFITABLE TREES GOLDEN ROOTS (GINSENG ROOTS) GARLIC LAVENDER MICROGREENS SOME HIGH VALUE PROFITABLE CROPS:

16. Microgreen is a young vegetable green that is used both as visual and flavor component or ingredient primarily in fine dining restaurants. They are known for their various flavors and textures. They can provide variety of leaf flavors, such as spicy and sweet. WHAT ARE MICROGREENS?

17. Unlike most crops, microgreens can be grown almost anywhere, even during winter in northern climate zones. Because microgreens take so little space, it is practical, and profitable, to grow them indoors when weather conditions don’t permit outside . Microgreens: A High-Growth Business! You can start a microgreen business with just a small amount of money for seeds and supplies. Microgreens mature quickly, so it is not uncommon for growers to earn back their investment quickly, or use their profits to expand their growing business. It doesn’t matter how much growing space you have, or gardening experience. If you can spare as little as an hour a day, you can start growing micro greens for profit.

18. Krishi Cress – international chef turned micro greens farmer ! Hobby by chance led chef to take up farming as parallel profession! Chef Achintya Anand grows 15 varieties of microgreens and supplies across New Delhi and Gurgaon. He is trained as Chef from International Culinary Center, New York and studied restaurant management at Le Cordon Bleu, Adelaide, Australia. He says – I used to add microgreens in salads when I was working in New York. When I came back to India I started working in a restaurant. Once I just gave handful of seeds to my gardener and asked him to grow it at my father’s farm house in Chattarpur , New Delhi. He grew the seeds independently without my intervention. To my surprise it really grew well! I found the texture and flavours of the herbs very appealing. I took the little greens to my work place and other restaurants as well and asked the chefs to use it in their dishes. At that moment I just wanted them to use it what I grew myself. CASE STUDY

19. Response received was overwhelming and people started asking me, “Why don’t you sell it?” I went back to the gardener quite motivated and asked him to grow one more batch of microgreens. The result was amazing second time too. Once again I shared the microgreens with chefs working in different restaurants. This time along with positive notes I even got orders for 12 boxes to be delivered every week! The quiet farmer inside me was awaken and shaken to really start growing microgreens professionally. This was the beginning of the learning curve for producing herbs. I began learning about the farming intricacies of growing microgreens through books. I started documenting each and every detail with respect to different seed variety like how much water is required, sunlight needed etc. Constant detailing of 4 months helped to identify and define the basic pattern of growing different varieties of microgreens. However, learning is a continuous process where I shall be trying out various permutations and combinations in the basic pattern. Some of the microgreens grown at my farm are mustard, radish, basil, coriander, red cabbage, lettuce and broccoli etc.

20. The medium used for growing is cocopeat and water. I do not use any soil. The pH of water is maintained at 5.5-6. I do not add any micro nutrients. Time taken for growing these herbs varies with respect to variety, weather and season for example mustard grows in summer in 4-5 days while in winters it takes about 8-9 days. In summers we keep the greens in shade while in winters it can be left in open. On an average the plant requires 13-14 hours of sunlight every day. Seeds are sown depending on the size of the container. I make sure the seeds used are just correct in quantity else it gets rotten. I only use open pollinated seeds that are procured from my trusted local vendor. I grow the greens against the orders received. Packaging is done in two ways. First using live box – the trays having the greens are delivered to the hotels. Microgreens in live trays have shelf life of extra 4 days. In this way chefs can use the greens as they want and the herbs in the tray continues to grow. Another way is to cut, wash, dry and pack in food grade polythene bags with holes. So far I am supplying the live boxes but soon plan to sell microgreens in polythene bags as well. These shall be targeted to the supermarkets.

21. The price of the microgreens remains stable throughout the year as it is mostly mentioned in the contract with five star hotels and restaurants. Some price quotes are Rs . 150/50 gms for mustard and radish. Urban India is more open for new flavors and their taste buds are reviving. However, looking at the present scenario I feel demand of microgreens is more prominent in all metros where not only five-star hotels but even the restaurants make the purchase of these greens. In other cities I assume it is restricted to only five-star hotels. Word-of-mouth has worked enormously for increase in sales of my products. Challenge faced is only the credit period, I have to make umpteen calls for the payments. I have been adding new variants consistently in my product line. Most recent additions are coriander, sunflower and mizuna etc. In coming winters I plan to grow full-grown vegetables as well, hopefully very soon the plans will be implemented. The talks are on! I would like to end saying that it is good blend being a farmer and chef on both sides. I am able to value my ingredients much more as chef because I am a farmer and I know the quality of ingredients essential for cooking as farmer because I am a chef. I understand both sides of the coin well!