Agriculture and Animal Husbandry : Haryana

Haryana is an agricultural state. Agriculture has remained the main stay and leading occupation for the people, since its inception. Haryana is self sufficient in food production and is at second position in foodgrain production in the country.The agricultural sector has always been an important contributor to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The Green Revolution took place in the state giving a major boost to the growth of agricultural sector. However, as a consequence of rapid structural transition of the state economy over the year, the contribution of the agricultural and allied sector went down to only 14.1% of the GSDP. Agriculture including crop husbandry, dairy farming and fishing sub-sectors is the main component contribution in GSDP of agriculture and allied sector.

CROPS OF HARYANA :

The main crops of Haryana are wheat, rice, sugarcane, cotton, oilseeds, gram, barley, corn, millet etc, which are grown in different districts of Haryana according to their agro-climatic conditions.

The crops of Haryana are categorised into two types :

• RABI CROPS : The main Rabi crops are wheat, tobacco, gram and mustard. The crop is sown by the end of October or the beginning of November and harvested by March. Wheat covers the maximum area under Rabi crop in Haryana, in fact wheat covers the maximum area among all types of crops in the state.
• KHARIF CROPS : The major Kharif crops are rice, jowar, maize, cotton, jute, sugarcane, sesame and groundnut. These crops are sown at the commencement of rains in June and harvested by the beginning of November. Rice covers the maximum area under the Kharif crops in Haryana followed by bajra. The area under Kharif crops in the state is not constant, since last many years, the area under Kharif crops continued to increase and decrease.
• COMMERCIAL CROPS : These crops are basically those crops, which are grown especially for commercial purpose and not meant for subsistence. Among the commercial crops, cotton covers the maximum area followed by Rabi oilseeds. It continued to fluctuate since last 8 years. Sugarcane ranks first in production, among commercial crops in Haryana.

GREEN REVOLUTION :

• Haryana contributed significantly to the Green Revolution in India in the 1970s, that made the country self-sufficient in food production. The state has also significantly contributed to the field of agricultural education in the country. Asia's biggest Agricultural University, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University is located at Hisar, which has already made a significant contribution in ushering Green Revolution.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN AGRICULTURE :

Government plays an important role in the field of Agriculture to start and launch many schemes and programmes. Some of the schemes and programmes are as follows :

• CROP INSURANCE : In order to provide better risk management in agriculture, the State Government has implemented National Agriculture Insurance Scheme from 2004 onwards. Presently, high risk prone crops like cotton, bajra, maize and arhar are being covered in Kharif season and gram, barley and mustard during Rabi season under the scheme. A provision of 10% subsidy has been made of small and marginal farmers on 50 : 50 sharing basis by Centre and state.
• WEATHER BASED CROP INSURANCE SCHEME : The scheme was for the first time started in the state during Rabi season in 2009-10. Presently, WBCIS is likely to be implemented in 27 blocks of the 12 districts in the state. Wheat and paddy are mainly covered crops. This scheme is based on several wheather parameters such as deficit rainfall, excess rainfall, temperature and dry days instead of yield parameters.
• MODIFIED NATIONAL AGRICULTURE INSURANCE SCHEME : The scheme was for the first time started in the state during Kharif season in 2011 on pilot basis in Karnal and Kaithal districts. Presently, MNAIS is being implemented in 4 districts namely Karnal, Kaithal, Rohtak and Jind for wheat and paddy crops. There is a provision of 40 to 75% subsidy depending on various premium slabs from 2 to 15%.
• ORGANIC FARMING : It is proposed to bring 250 hectare under organic farming in the districts of Panchkula, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Sirsa. In these districts, some of the growers have organic farming on commercial scale and need to be assisted with proper registration and certification with national/international agencies to compete with the growing commercialisation of organic farming. Further, 95 vermicompost units will be constructed in Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa.
• RASHTRIYA KRISHI VIKAS YOJANA (RKVY) : It is a state plan scheme, which is 100% funded by the Central Government Grant. It will give high levels of flexibility to the state and mainly focus on the agricultural and allied sectors. It is an incentive scheme, hence allocations are not automatic. RKVY aims at achieving 4% annual growth in the agricultural sector during of agriculture and allied sectors. RKVY focusses on food storage and water conservation. It is also covers area of crop husbandry including horticulture.

PRODUCTION OF VARIOUS HORTICULTURAL CROPS :

• FRUITS : Mango, guava and citrus crops are the leading fruit crops in Haryana accounting for over 66% of the area under fruit and over 62% of the total fruit production. Off-season production of mango is a distinguishing feature in Haryana.

Fruits and Production Area :

• VEGETABLES : The main vegetables grown in Haryana are potato, cauliflower, carrot, tomato, radish and onion. These account for over 61% of the total area and over 67% of production of vegetables.

Vegetables and Production Area :

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN HORTICULTURE :

• NATIONAL HORTICULTURE MISSION : The Government of India has launched National Horticulture Mission in 2005-06 as a centrally sponsored scheme to promote holistic growth of the horticulture sector through an area based on regionally differentiated strategies. Under this mission during the year 2012-13, all the districts of Haryana except Faridabad, Rewari and Kaithal have been covered.
• FOOD PARKS : Agri Export Zones (AEZs) are promoted with the objective of promoting experts of agricultural produce from selected areas of productivity prominence, while Food Parks provide an opportunity of increasing processing capabilities in the state. The AEZs and the Food Parks are two important linkage points, which help in absorption of fruits and vegetables for further value addition.Currently, there are no Food Parks in the state, but 4 Parks are planned in the districts of Sirsa, Jind, Sonipat and Ambala. While the Food Parks in Jind and Sirsa are still in the conceptual stage, the Government of India has already invested in the food parks at Rai in Sonipat and Saha in Ambala.
• INDO-ISRAEL HORTICULTURE PROJECT :The Haryana Government has set-up an Indo-Israel Horticulture Project at Gharaunda in district Karnal at a cost of 6 crore to enable farmers to grow unseasonal vegetables.Under the project, farmers would be provided saplings of the unseasonal vegetables and they would be able to get more yield of the vegetables with less water. The unseasonal vegetables would fetch better prices in the mandis.
  The project has been set-up over an area of 25 acres of land. Under the project, seedlings of various vegetables like tomato, seedless cucumber and capsicum would be prepared in the greenhouse, poly house, net house and these saplings would be provided to the farmers on subsidy. The farmer could contact this vegetable centre of excellence for increasing their income.
• INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTURE MARKET :To make a world class, modern, wholesale fruit and vegetable platform, the Haryana Government has decided to make use of French expertise in horticulture marketing and develop an International Horticulture Market (IHM) in Ganaur (Panchkula) and Sonipat.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY :

• Animal husbandry is an important sector to supplement the income of rural masses in the state. The Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department has undertaken ambitious programmes for genetic improvement of the livestock as well as keeping it disease-free for their optimum production.
• According to Livestock Census 2012, 2,779 veterinary institutions spread over the entire state. On an average, every 3 villages are having the facility of one veterinary institution in the state. In addition to this, 1145 Integrated Livestock Development Centres (ILDC) have been established in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to provide animal breeding facilities in equal number of villages.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DEPARTMENT :

• Department of Animal Husbandry, Haryana is one of the oldest departments established more than a century ago. The department is responsible for providing healthcare and breeding facilities for the precious livestock of the state. At the time of creation of the state of Haryana in 1966, the state had a skeleton infrastructure and staff for animal husbandry activities.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES :

• In order to improve the genetic merit of livestock, government has initiated many programmes for livestock. Animals of better quality are being identified with an ultimate objective of establishing a gene pool of this unique germplasm such as Murrah breed of buffaloes and Harian a and Sahiwal breed of cows for future breeding.
• Further efforts are being made to introduce latest technology in order to maximise per head productivity of milch animals in the shortest possible time. The owners of recorded high milk yielding Murrah buffaloes are to be awarded cash incentive ranging from Rs. 5,000 to 25,000 depending on the peak milk yield.
  To maximise per head productivity through regular breeding, a unique programme of Banjh Mukt Pashudhan has been launched in 2010-11. A comprehensive programme for control of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), NPRE and Brucellosis etc are being implemented in the state.

GAUSHALA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME :

• Haryana has a network of 283 Gaushalas housing more than 1.81 lakh cattle. The dual-purpose breed of Haryana has been on a serious decline lately and primary reasons for that include decline in the common grazing land vis-a-vis modernisation of agricultural operations in the state. Further, farmers are also reluctant to rear these animals because of relatively lower production efficiency.
• To bring the indigenous cattle at par with buffaloes, Systematic Breed Improvement Programme through various organisations, especially Gaushalas in the state is being undertaken, where selective breeding through natural service as well as through artificial insemination with quality semen is performed.
  The government also has decided to establish `Gau Abhyaranyas' at strategic locations in the state for effective control and upkeep of stray cattle.

LIVESTOCK INSURANCE SCHEME :

• The Livestock Insurance Scheme with 50% financial contribution of Government of India and 25% of State Government is being implemented in 15 districts.

MUKHYA MANTRI GRAMEEN DUDHARU PASHUDHAN SURAKSHA YOJANA :

• This scheme has been launched in the year 2013-14 to provide compensation to the farmers in the eventually of sudden death of milch animals in the state.

FISHERIES :

• There is great potential of fish culture in the state after Green and White Revolution. The state is now on the threshold of Blue Revolution. Fish culture is also being accepted by the farmers of the state as subsidiary occupation alongwith agriculture.
• The government is providing technical and financial assistance through Fish Farmers Development Agencies to the fish farmers, which have been set-up in all the districts of the state except Panchkula, Mewat and Palwal.

By: Harman Sandhu