THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 10 August 2020 (Secondary agriculture is of primary importance (Financial Express))

Secondary agriculture is of primary importance (Financial Express)

Mains Paper 3: Economy 
Prelims level:APLMC Act
Mains level: 

Context:

• Over the last decade, Indian farmers, too, have been facing a similar situation, with the fundamentals of market forces working to their disadvantage in case of high-volume commodities. 
• Glut-induced post-harvest price dips have been exacerbated by the absence of suitable supply chains. 
• Most surpluses, in the Indian context, are local to a production zone, and are gainfully evacuated to far-range markets with healthier demands.

Create opportunities through robust supply chains:

• Robust supply-chains demand free and fair-trade opportunities that let sellers and buyers connect, guided by supply and demand movements. 
• The recent basket of reforms releases new energy for building both domestic and global supply-chains. These include 
• (i) a new market architecture comprising Gramin Agriculture Markets, or GrAMs, as aggregation platforms; 
• (ii) three market channels, viz. APMCs (Cooperative and Private pursuant to the Model APLMC Act,2017) and the intra- and inter-state direct trade under The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; 
• (iii) Agricultural Export Policy 2018, focussing on volumes, standards and quality and cluster approach to production; 
• (iv) liberalisation of control orders under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955; 
• (v) contracts in respect of farming and services through The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; and finally, 
• (vi) promotion of 10,000 FPOs.

Increasing institutional credit to farmers:

• Increased volumes of production and post-production (eNWR) institutional credit will financially strengthen farmers (crop, livestock and fishery) and help negotiate distress sale. Under Atmanirbhar Bharat that targets an investment of `1.65 lakh crore in the farm sector, agri-logistics will get a boost across all sub-sectors. 
• The interplay of competitive market forces and the highway of backward and forward linkages will help tap unmet demand in distant consumption zones. 
• The expected positive is expanded market area and operations. 
• A territorially-expanded market structure neutralises spatial fragmentation into several market zones (as under the APMC regime)and facilitates “one nation, one market”. 
• Emphasis on exports means supply-chains become part of the global market, and this evens out local surpluses through timely and effective conveyance to demand-responsive markets.

Scope for diversified agriculture:

• India’s scope for diversified agriculture is vast, thanks to extensive arable land, multiple agro-climatic zones and a rich cafeteria of soils. 
• India’s status as a global super-producer in agriculture is juxtaposed with low average income of its farmers. 
• The road to higher agricultural GVA and farmers’ income rests in efficient management of the post-production segment, comprising agri-logistics, processing and marketing.
• Agriculture generates raw materials that meet basic human requirements, and is considered as a primary economic activity. 
• The process of generating the agricultural produce is biological in nature, and is, therefore, a primary agriculture activity, and when the raw produce is processed, it gains additional value, and is referred to as secondary agriculture. 
• There are certain alternative agriculture activities like beekeeping, mushroom cultivation, agri-tourism, etc, which fall under the ambit of secondary agriculture. 
• Secondary agriculture helps in using all parts of an agricultural produce (e.g. crop residues, animal hair, bones, viscera, etc), processing to enhance shelf-life, increasing total factor productivity, and generating additional jobs and income for farmers. 
• It, thus, encompasses both food and non-food processing, and represents agro-processing.

Processing can happen at three different levels:

• (i) primary processing (simple farm gate practices like cleaning, sizing, packaging, etc); 
• (ii) post-harvest secondary processing (basic processing, packaging and branding); 
• (iii) high-end processing which involves complex processing technologies, machinery and finances, with output of a rich range of products from grains like wheat, rice, corn, soybean, etc.

Way ahead:

• The canvas of secondary agriculture in India is huge, and can range from new crops, organic produce, herbal and medicinal plants to manufactured commodities like starches from cereals, proteins from legumes, oils and oleo-chemicals from oleaginous crops, resins, gums, rubbers and latexes. 
• All these can serve as building blocks for processed foods, materials, composites, fibre and fuel systems, imparting a leg up to the competitiveness of India’s agriculture sector. 
• The outcome is functional expansion of market alongside territorial extension, creating newer demand for agri-produce.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the production of lithium in stars, consider the following statements:
1. Stars, as per known mechanisms of evolution, actually destroy lithium as they evolve into red giants.
2. According to a recent study when stars grow beyond their Red Giant stage into what is known as the Red Clump stage, they does not produce lithium. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A.   1 only
B.   2 only
C.   Both 1 and 2
D.   None 

Answer: A

Mains Questions: 
Q.1)Highlights the scope of diversified agriculture. Do you think secondary agriculture can create opportunities through robust supply chains? Comment.