Pune & Discussing Precision Ag. in Phaltan

October 26, 2013 - Western Maharashtra: Sightseeing in Pune and Agriculture in Phaltan

Here are some photos from my side trip to the city of Pune in Western Maharashtra:

Flowers are strung into garland (resembling Hawaiian leis) often for festivals

Selling colored powder for Holi, which isn't until March...?

A beautiful display of pomegranates.  After getting into a bit of a tiff with this man about photographing his display, I ended up way overpaying for a kilo.

A nursery for mango and other fruit trees at the city's botanical gardens

Overlooking Pune

Drinking out of fresh coconuts on the street

Pigs eating trash, cute.

But actually, this was cute.  Small kids building a temple out of mud on the side of the street

Elephant Deity - Ganesha 

Paan (betel leaf wrapped around fennel seeds, cardamom, camphor, and other ingredients) as a breath freshener and digester.  More info about paan here 

I decided to take a bus two hours south of Pune for an overnight trip to a research institute/NGO called NARI.

The co-director of the institute recently wrote an article about precision farming and its role in the future of Indian agriculture.  The full article can be found here.  The gist of precision agriculture, which is found mostly in the US and EU is to maximize the efficiency of agricultural inputs by using advanced technology that can measure where inputs are required and add the exact amounts, reducing waste etc.  One of the critiques of precision farming is that it requires high tech machinery, thus rendering it very expensive.  I was curious to discuss this system that is seemingly incompatible with small low-tech Indian farming.  Below is a combination of his article (quotations are italicized) and my Q+A/interview with him:

In the article, the author writes, “I feel wealth and security of the country comes from its land and hence what is needed is sustainable, high-tech and high productivity agriculture which will be remunerative and help provide both food and energy security.Precision agriculture, which can provide precise inputs like water, fertiliser, insecticides at the right time to crops, can help bring in the next green revolution.”

My question: Is it a positive aspect that PA relies on fertilizer and pesticides/insecticides?  Can natural methods such as biopesticides or cow dung be used in place of synthetic inputs?

His answer: Yes, robots can be designed to replace human labor (e.g. do weeding, prepare compost etc.), so natural methods can remain without the same demand for labor

“India, though one of the biggest producers of agricultural products, has very low farm productivity, with the average only 33 percent of the best farms world over. This needs to be increased so that farmers can get more remuneration from the same piece of land with less labour.”

“Precision agriculture (PA) may provide a way to do it.  Originating in US and European countries where farms are generally big (over 100 hectares), it sees extensive use of Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) for precise mapping of farms and - with appropriate software – informs the farmer about status of his crop and which part of the farm requires inputs like water, fertilizer and pesticide etc.  PA in western countries is also characterized by increased mechanisation with the use of heavy farm machinery (average power 100-200 kW) for all the farm and field operations such as sowing, harvesting, weeding, baling etc.  The machinery runs on fossil fuels and uses about 63 percent of the total energy used in farming - a significant amount.  PA for small farms, on the other hand, can use small farm machinery and robots which may also be amenable to run on renewable fuels like bio oil, compressed biogas and electricity produced on farms by agricultural residues… PA in US and other countries has shown tremendous increase in productivity, lowering of inputs and hence increased remuneration to the farmers. Besides it has helped improve the quality of land with no-till farming and less water usage. Similar things are possible in India with its use.

For small farms, precision agriculture may include sub-surface drip irrigation for precise water and fertilizer application to the crops and robots for no-till sowing, weed removal, harvesting and other farming operations.  Some of these robots are already being used on small farms in US and Europe and with vigorous R&D taking place, it is expected that they may be deployed in large scale in near future.

Similarly drones are being used quite regularly in Japan and US for insecticide application to the crops. Use of drones for agriculture is proverbial "turning swords into ploughs!" Most of these robotic machines and drones are small in size and hence are very suitable and excellent match for small farm applications. Thus small farms size of India is a blessing in disguise and ripe for large scale application of precision agriculture… However, the biggest criticism of mechanised agriculture is that farm machinery is very costly and no farmer, including big ones, can afford it. Since precision agriculture is going to be very dependent on mechanization, this criticism is presently justified.”

My Q: But how do small farmers afford elaborate sub-surface drip irrigation infrastructure when many farmers cannot afford to drill a borehole deep enough to access water and are relying on flood irrigation?  Similar to the mechanization expenses – how do we raise farmer incomes?

His A: Cost of mechanization is going to go down (think about how cheap the iphone is now compared to when it first came out)

"However I feel the mechanisation and PA may give rise in a big way to farm machinery leasing agencies in rural areas. These companies will lease the mechanised equipment, including drip irrigation systems, to the farmers and also provide trained manpower to run these machines.  Such a thing already exists on limited scale in India where few agencies do the wheat harvesting using combines and spraying of crops. They charge the farmers on per hour basis and with the unavailability of farm labour, farmers find this concept economical and attractive."

My Q: Would these farm machinery leasing agencies be government or private sector initiatives?  How do you see cooperatives potentially fitting into PA (e.g. shared implements)?

His A: Definitely private sector because both parties (company and farmer) want to make money and have conveniences

"Critics of mechanisation also contend that by timely sowing of crops and applying proper and recommended water and fertilizer to it, a farmer can easily improve the productivity of crops and his income. However application of inputs at proper time requires timely availability of labour, water and fertilizer - all of which are becoming scarcer and scarcer.  Besides majority of farms are rainfed and with the change of weather patterns, availability of rain water is very unpredictable. Hence the non-availability of inputs and labour on time is the biggest stumbling block to increase productivity of farms and remuneration. PA can help in this matter.

To my mind the ultimate role of a farmer should be to identify better crops, use that seed to propagate it further and hence in effect become a breeder of sorts. Progressive farmers already do that and with more time available to them because of PA they may be able to help Indian agriculture to produce better and higher yielding varieties.

High tech PA therefore can help in bringing next green revolution to India and can produce tremendous rural wealth in a sustainable and environmentally sound way. Farmers and farms are the backbone of any country since they can produce food, fuel (agricultural residues) and wealth from the land. They should be helped by all members of society and developing PA is a step in the right direction.”

My Q: Given the potentially controversial history of Monsanto in India, do you think it’s a problem that the Precision Agriculture company just became a subsidiary of Monsanto?

His A: A large number of companies should implement this – using PA technology but not dealing with Monsanto per se

Other questions I had that we didn't get to discuss:

• Is it realistic to conceive of millions of small farmers having access to GPS devices, advanced software etc.?  For farmers that don’t have reliable electricity, running water, or proper road infrastructure, this seems like it might be difficult to implement and scale up.
• What role would the government play in implementing PA?  Or would it be a private corporation led movement?
• Do you think that PA and traditional/indigenous methods can be integrated?  Do natural/organic farming techniques (e.g. intercropping, crop rotation, mulching, animal dung, biopesticides, etc.) fit into PA?  For instance, once the infrastructure is set up to directly feed the crops the nutrients, can it be adjusted if the crops are rotated?
• If PA necessitates mechanization and high tech solutions, how will this impact the labor situation and small farmers versus large farmers?  You write that there are labor shortages, but is this because everyone is voluntarily moving to urban areas?  Or are small farmers being driven off their land?  Will large farmers benefit more?
• Do you think that the expensive nature of PA will be reflected in the market value and further drive up the cost of food for consumers?
• Is it advantageous for farmers to pursue monoculture under a PA scheme?  Or is polyculture and diversification possible or desirable?
• Considering the idea of agricultural development, do you think it’s in the interest of Indian farmers to continue to follow the model of the West?  In so many ways, agriculture in the U.S. and the EU is failing (e.g. house of cards, fragile subsidy system; factory farmed meat; huge water pollution and soil degradation) – not saying that PA is doomed to fail, but do you think it would be in the interest of India to pave its own way to a more sustainable farming future?

Something else we discussed briefly was his idea that technology + spirituality = sustainability.  In one of his books, "Nature of Human Thought," he is envisioning and hoping for a new lifestyle based on decentralized development: "it is quite possible that the evolutionary model of society could be rural based.  It will be driven by technologies so that it will be able to feed and create for its inhabitants goods and services from the raw materials available in its geographical area...However all the development models will become untenable if we do not put a cap on our freed for materials, resources, and energy...spirituality can help in keeping our greed in check...As a person progresses on the path of spirituality, his or her priorities in life change.  The focus of life shifts more towards getting personal happiness through mental peace and is less on material needs and desires and more towards sustainability...it also helps us have a compassionate view of nature...Nevertheless, the clock on technology cannot be turned back.  It is an evolutionary process and as we advance technologially, we also become more spiritual, since technology helps us in doing things more efficiently and thus our needs are satisfied with less quantity of materials and energy.  This allows us to think and reflect on higher things in life.  Eventually we will follow nature where all the processes are carried out extremely efficiently with few materials, in minimum number of steps and at room temperatures. Thus, a combination of high technology together with spiritual growth will be a new paradigm of sustainable development."

I don't know how much I agree with his assertion that technology will make us more spiritual - in fact, I feel that those with less material wealth (including technology) are often more spiritual and/or religious since they often look to faith and God to get through difficult times. However, it is an interesting and unique point, since spirituality and "technological fix" are often on separate ends of the spectrum and in also terms of environmental worldviews. 

Here are some of my notes from the NARI tour/visit and my interview with one of the coordinators:

• Short duration/early maturing varieties are ideal because they utilize soil water content more efficiently because the extra month in a normal/long duration crop requires more water, which is usually unavailable in drought-prone, rain-fed agricultural conditions – so it becomes a waste of time that is also vulnerable to climatic catastrophe such as floods or drought
• NARI is experimenting with spacing to maximize yield
• Safflower does not require irrigation to survive, making it ideal for dryland farming
• Southern and western India is mostly rain-fed/monsoon-dependent agriculture (as compared to Punjab and Haryana which have well developed irrigation schemes and available water)
• If the soil is good (deep, nutrient rich, can retain water), then going for the normal variety is better, but in most areas, soil quality is low and moisture retention is poor, so short duration is ideal (less water and nutrients required) and moreover, it is not beneficial to increase spacing if there is a lack of water or nutrients
• Root diseases are a major problem - NARI has developed a hybrid with disease resistance 
• We should promote contract farming with companies (e.g. to produce oil)
• Safflower: can use leaf as a vegetable, flower as tea and for medicinal uses, and oil seed – a very multi purpose and dryand suitable crop

Discussion on no till/conservation farming:

• Has more weeds and insect pests
• Sowing is difficult – and the no till seeder was not working properly
• Also difficult to sow if the root system is tough – need to till to mix in residues
• Small land holdings also make no till impossible – cannot leave plots fallow for 2 years to let decomposition of plant material/cover crop to decompose (but in the US, this is possible because of hundreds of acres)
• My question: however, no till could be more possible if land holdings were combined/consolidated under a cooperative structure?
• Guar requires 2-3 hand weedings and still gets weeds; need tilling to kill/remove the weeds OR use copious herbicide
• In the no till plot, glyphsate was sprayed but still can’t sow seeds here because the weed residues remain
• Plot needs to be hand weeded, no other choice
• Weeds are taking up soil resources and incorporation requires tiling
• Sowing must also be uniform, which is difficult under no till conditions (chaotic landscape)

Other details about the research farm:

• Apply FYM every 4-5 years and using both chemical fertilizer and compost (every six months)
• 30 laborers for 50 acres
• Seed production as high value crop (e.g. fruits and vegetables)

On organic: 

• "No one is breeding under organic conditions.  Plants do not differentiate between source of nutrients" (e.g. carbon and nitrogen are the same regardless of inorganic chemical fertilizer or cow dung/compost) - to which I would say that there are still environmental ramifications to synthetic and chemical inputs regardless of the fact that the plant cannot differentiate the source; thus, it's apparently impractical to use labour intensive organic practices for breeding
• There is not enough organic matter to scale up organic to feed the whole country - to which I would say, we need to increase fodder.
• Organic needs same yield and farmers need support during transition period of low yield (to which I would say that farmers should make the conversion in stages and there are studies that show that organic can in fact produce on par with conventional)

A discussion on seeds:

• Farmers are not aware of HYV (20-30% yield increase just by changing the variety to HY) – most crops are not available in hybrid (e.g. sorghum) – but more improved Open pollinated varieties (OPVs)
• Hybrids – have to change seed every year in order to maintain yield performance; requires 2-3 parents and may give a 20-30% yield increase; hybrid vigour v. disease and pest resistance
• Hybrid development only needs 3-4 years – female parent is crossed with 100 male varieties and only the F1 generation is looked at (with the most promising offspring chosen)
• In contrast, with OPV, farmers can save each year and have the same yield repeatedly
• OPV requires breeders to identify parents based on area requirement; cross desired-trait parents; grow the F1 and subsequent generations then select the best ones (should have all the desired properties) – this takes 8-10 years with selection each year (homozygous and uniformity in characteristics and yield – variety will not deteriorate) – farmers have been practicing this traditional breeding forever
• Molecular breeding has increased in US (lab breeding), less conventional breeding
• So my question becomes: conventional/traditional breeding is different from hybrid breeding which is different from molecular breeding which is different from genomics and transgenic genetic engineering?
• BT cotton has led to increases in production (dominant gene), this gene can then be transferred to non BT through crosses
• If farmers use traditional seed, then they do not require so many inputs

Why rice and wheat?

• Wheat and rice are secure crops that have few problems with pests and disease, are not as sensitive to timing, and need only water and spraying for weeds; a lower risk crop with an assured market

On sugarcane versus sorghum:

• Maharashtra moved to sugarcane from wheat and rice because the price is now more attractive (also, there are cooperatives in sugar cane for an assured market and minimum support price)
• Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugar cane but not enough pressing capacity (state legislation limits mills), whereas Maharashtra has 100% pressing mill capacity
• Sugar cane harvesting is expensive/labour intensive but otherwise it is low maintenance – a “lazy man’s crop," however, sugarcane requires water and high irrigation – this causes salinization of water by rising salts from arid soils and it doesn’t give grains
• Instead, sweet sorghum should be introduced to drought-prone areas, which can give fodder, grain (unlike sugarcane), ethanol/biofuel, sugar/jaggery, and fiber (unlike sugarcane) for pulp and paper
• Sorghum = food, fodder, fuel, and fiber – a dryland crop that doesn’t need irrigation
• NARI is developing hybrids for commercial ethanol (Biofuels) – the idea is to get the best of both worlds: grain and stalk, which will solve the food versus fuel debate (can have both)
• In India, people need the grain for food, whereas in the US, people can afford to waste/compromise on the grain
• Sweet sorghum can be used for ethanol, unlike grain sorghum
• NARI is working on sweet syrup and ethanol; sweet sorghum contains fermented sugar in the stalk and is better for animal fodder
• Need to spray every 15-20 days to keep aphids and pests in check because sweet sorghum attracts more pests
• 2nd generation biofuel – leftover biomass can be used as biofuel (first generation is from the stalk juice in the form of ethanol)
• Farmers are burning sugarcane leaves and sugarbeet after harvesting and an alternative could be to use it for biofuel generation
• It is possible to scale up this model but it needs government support and farmer commitment

On farmer suicides:

• Addition of improved cultivars is contributing to farmer suicides – traditional cultivars did not require expensive inputs
• Monoculture is causing pest vulnerability
• BT Cotton hasn’t helped – only vs. bollworm and insect/pest resistance is a result
• Marginal farmers take loans from landholders and money lenders and go into debt when production is low
• Also about planting crops that are geographically/agro-climatically unsuitable – e.g. many parts of the country are not suitable for cotton – Eastern Maharashtra is dryland, so they should be growing sorghum and millet

Other things to consider:

• How do you tell a farmer that we don’t need yield increases when yield is profit?
• Private companies won’t come with charity, they need financial returns
• Consumers need to be willing to pay higher price for food
• The government needs to eliminate middle men who are sucking up profit – yes, but I would ask, aren't MNC’s and corporations just as bad if not worse than middle men?

In a field of sweet sorghum

Sorghum breeding for seeds (netting protects against birds, pests, and cross pollination)

Riding in an improved auto rickshaw that is electric

Seeing this made me even more excited to hopefully meet Dr. MS Swaminathan at the end of November in Chennai

Seed storage

And of course, it wouldn't be traveling or India without something chaotic happening.  My bus back to Pune from Phaltan collided with a tractor, which left this nice dent in the bus door and the vehicle started spewing oil.

Needless to say, everyone had to exit and crowded onto the next passing bus.