Acta Horticulturae

Table 2. Food per capita supply in South Asia from 1961 (pop. 575.6 million) to 2003 (pop. 1.41 billion) (data details only for selected crop groups).
Source: FAO.
1961 2003
Group Total Calorie Protein Fat Total Calorie Protein Fat Total change
(kg yr -1 ) day -1 (g day -1 ) (g day -1 ) (g day -1 ) day -1 (g day -1 ) (g day -1 ) (%)
Total 2042 52 30 2426 57.6 51.7
Animals 124 6.9 8.2 214 11.6 14.4
Crops 1968 45.2 21.8 2212 46 37.3
Cereals 144.5 1333 30.5 5.3 159.5 1459 34.3 6.1 10.38
Pulses 19.9 191 11.2 1.8 10.3 97 5.9 0.7 -48.24
Oilseeds 5.6 30 0.6 2.6 5.9 35 0.9 3 5.357
Vegetables 32.7 22 1.3 0.2 58.3 39 2.2 0.3 78.29
Fruits 24.9 31 0.3 0.2 34 45 0.5 0.3 36.55
Roots & tubers 10.2 23 0.3 0 23.2 46 0.8 0.1 127.5
Nuts 0.5 3 0.1 0.1 0.8 5 0.1 0.3 60
Table 3. Importance of horticultural crops in the Indo-Gangetic States of India.
2001 2002-03 3
State
Population Area (000 ha) 2 Fruits Vegetables
Total Density Area Production Area Production
(million) 1 (per km 2 ) 2 Total Cultivated (000 ha) (000 t) (000 ha) (million t)
Punjab 24 484 5033 4250 40.5 578 140 2.3
Haryana 21 478 440 3526 31.9 237 16 2.1
Uttar Pradesh 166 690 29767 17612 280.3 4314 850 15.8
Bihar 83 881 17330 7437 294.8 3038 610 8.3
W. Bengal 80 903 8688 5417 152.2 1786 1210 17.4
All India 1029 325 30624 141087 3787.9 45203 6100 84.8
1
Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, GOI, 2004
2
ESO, Statistical Abstract of Punjab, 2004
3
Agricultural Research Data Book, ICAR, 2005
Farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains tend to be
market-oriented, aided by the productivity of
the system. Yet further increases in cereal productivity
are needed to allow land and other
resources for diversification into high-value
enterprises with horticulture. Improving irrigation
schemes coupled with a growing demand
of “supermarkets” from nearby urban areas will
further encourage the diversification of the
cereal-based systems of South Asia. Betterment
of marketing and processing chains plus
transport and other support services will assist
horticultural trade to local urban centers and
exports of any national surplus. Horticulture,
due to its intensive labor demands, will provide
an additional means for income to the landless
poor of the Indo-Ganges, where poverty and
household food insecurity are still widespread.
The landless laborers may benefit as wage rates
rise due to high demand for their work by commercial
enterprises, especially in the neighborhood
of major urban markets. Clearly, market
forces plus national and state policies will drive
the pace and form of sustainable diversification
for enhanced income and employment generation
in rural South Asia.
ADVENT OF RESOURCE CON-
SERVING TECHNOLOGIES
Another important factor that may enhance the
diversification of rice-wheat systems is the new
“platform” made possible by the recent advent
of resource conserving technologies in the
Indo-Gangetic Plains. There has been extensive
on-station and on-farm testing and adaptation
of a range of technologies, including zero-tillage
and direct seeding of cereal crops such as
wheat and bed planting. This implied investments
for designing local, effective, and affordable
seeding equipment as the successful
adoption of the technology depends on farmer
knowledge and machinery availability. In 2004
the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) gave the King
Baudouin Award to the Eco-regional Rice-
Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains
(http://www.rwc.cgiar.org) for combining
efforts in promoting conservation agriculture
that benefits large numbers of farmers in the
Indo-Gangetic plains of South Asia. The
Consortium, established in 1994, includes the
national agricultural research systems of
Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan; several
international centers of the CGIAR and various
advanced international research institutions,
with the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Centre (CIMMYT as per its
Spanish acronym) serving since 1998 as convener
of this eco-regional program.
Thanks to the efforts of this Consortium and
partners, zero tillage and significantly reduced
tillage is now practiced on over 3 million hectares
- from just 5000 hectares in 2000. This
technology is primarily applied to wheat and
has reduced the cost of cultivation by US$ 55
per ha by lowering land preparation costs and
thus increased farmer incomes. The underlying
saving of 50 liters of diesel per ha also curbs the
release of CO 2 to the atmosphere. In 2003
alone, farmers in India and Pakistan derived US$
100 million in estimated net benefits. The adoption
of this technology produced an additional
0.5 million tons of wheat primarily due to more
timely planting, and also saved a foreign
exchange of US$ 80 million through reduced
fuel consumption in tillage and irrigation operations.
The success with reducing tillage in wheat
implies a significant first step in moving the rice-
ISHS • 28