Actions under the food crisis
Now the food crisis has once again appeared before people's eyes. The world is falling into a new food dilemma. Why do you say this?
From the perspective of global food supply , we can see that blocked supply and soaring prices are the main problems.
According to United Nations related data, from 2020 to March 2022, global grain prices have increased by more than 65%.
On the other hand, the world has begun to implement grain export restrictions. Countries that have implemented restrictions have added 35 . Many countries have stockpiled grain to protect themselves and restricted grain exports as the main countermeasures.
However, India is different. At this time, India claims that it is ready and will open its own granary to relieve the world.
As one of the world's largest grain producers, India's rice and wheat have always been the main exported grains and ranked second in the world.
According to statistics in April 2022, the inventory of these two major crops in India is approximately 74 million tons, of which about 35% is used as strategic reserves and public distribution.
In terms of export records, rice exports for the whole year of 2021 were surpassed by India , with a year-on-year increase of 46%, setting a record high and ranking first in the world.
But one thing that many people know is that India's grain output is actually less than half of China's , and its quality can only be said to be average.
Although India produces a lot of wheat every year, most of it is used for domestic consumption. The global wheat export market accounts for less than 1% of the country's consumption.
Despite this, nearly half of the people in India are hungry.
According to 2009 Ministry of Agriculture statistics, among the top five countries producing wheat, China and India are the main producers.
Among them, China's cultivated land is 298,800 hectares, output is 196.68 million tons, productivity has reached 6.5.
Looking at India, India has more arable land than China, but its total output is less than China, and its productivity is less than half of our country .
In addition, a written report of the Indian agriculture and food processing industry pointed out that India's rice yield per hectare in 2011 was 3,590 kilograms, while China's was 686 kilograms.
production in India is relatively low even compared to Bangladesh and Myanmar .
After understanding such a basic situation, we will have a question. Since India cannot reach China or neighboring countries in terms of productivity, why does India still make such a move?
Limitations of Indian Agriculture
Let’s first talk about India’s agricultural development and related processes. Indian agriculture has received praise on a global scale from to 2009 .
Whether it is fruit or grain exports, the world's exports account for a very high proportion, far exceeding that of China, Spain, the United States and other countries.
India's agricultural production method mainly relies on agricultural cooperatives . Since India became independent from the British government in 1947, agricultural cooperatives have become the main institutions for food production in India.
Among them, sugar industry and dairy industry are the main ancillary industries, and in terms of marketing model, India also mainly adopts cooperative methods.
In the subsequent development, a large number of people in India were engaged in agricultural work, and agriculture became India's main industry.
However, the slow growth of agriculture has been a major problem in Indian agriculture for a long time.
In India, two-thirds of the people are engaged in agriculture , and Indian agriculture appears to be uneconomical and environmentally unsustainable.
On the one hand, infrastructure is backward . The roads in rural India are very backward, which will affect the timely supply of inputs and the export transfer of farms.
Moreover, the irrigation system is also outdated, and many areas often experience crop failure due to water shortage.
Other areas also suffer from regional flooding, poor seed quality and inefficient farming.
Due to the influence of traditional concepts , Indian agriculture is mainly organic agriculture . Many farmers choose not to use pesticides and modern fertilizers.
In addition, in terms of production mode, some areas still use the traditional cattle farming method , so the per capita productivity and income of traditional farms are very low.
This kind of problem brings about the low enthusiasm of farmers. Due to the lack of positive feedback and the attacks of floods, many farmers choose to muddle along in agricultural production.
Although India has become self-sufficient in staple foods, farm productivity is still lower than Brazil , the United States and other countries.
A very obvious example is that the annual wheat output per hectare of Indian farms is only one-third of theirs. Compared with China's , it is even more shabby, the annual rice output is less than half .
The total factor productivity growth between China and India is also the highest in China. Some people may say that this is the result of the way that most of India uses small farmers to produce .
However, it should be noted that there are also many small farmers in our country.
The chaotic state of agriculture
Related research surveys show that the low productivity of Indian agriculture is mainly affected by many aspects.
The first is The average size of land holdings is small, and land management in India is often influenced by landlords, thus reducing the per capita land area.
Although China's small farmers account for 97% of the agricultural population, small farmers can rent land to large farmers. In addition, our country is also better than India in related retail industry and infrastructure.
Therefore, for China, maintains the infrastructure construction of , and improves the ability of transportation and transfer. still cannot be relaxed.
Insufficient irrigation facilities is also a major problem in India's agricultural production. Facts have shown that only half of India's land was effectively irrigated in the past, which caused most farmers to be too dependent on rainfall .
Especially during the monsoon season , relying on the weather for food is the main factor causing India's insufficient agricultural productivity.
As India's economy diversified, agriculture's contribution to GDP declined steadily from 1951 to 2011.
Even though India has achieved self-sufficiency in food, hungry people still account for a quarter of the world's hungry people.
is still climate problem . Nowadays, the global climate is experiencing various abnormalities, and temperatures are rising around the world. Scientists predict that by 2030, the world temperature will rise by 1 to 2.5 degrees Celsius.
The resulting problems may be high temperatures shortening crop duration, photosynthesis changes.
Climate change will also cause soil nutrient mineralization, hinder fertilizer use efficiency, and accelerate soil evapotranspiration.
Due to intensive cultivation in Indian agriculture, the fertility of many lands has begun to decrease.
Another subtle point is that India's educated population is not large , especially those engaged in agricultural production activities. When using agricultural chemical fertilizers, many farmers often use excessive amounts of nitrogen fertilizers .
The irrational use of nitrogen fertilizer and the lack of nitrogen fertilizer on the land are the more prominent contradictions in Indian agriculture.
With the increasing problems, India now has to face not only the domestic food crisis, but also the long-term plan for the future that needs to be carefully decided.
Taking into account these challenges, the Government of India and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare are embarking on new proactive measures.
Unreasonable use of chemical fertilizers is also a problem
Thoughts brought about by food production
For China , the food crisis is worldwide, and we cannot ignore the impact of related issues.
In terms of intensive planting, our country has also adopted this planting model, but in comparison, the degree of intensive planting in our country is not high.
In terms of chemical fertilizers, there are rarely unreasonable uses like in India, so what we need to do is to maintain the current production status.
An inconspicuous change is that in the past few decades, China has greened many areas through the efforts of several generations, which has improved the natural environment to a certain extent.
However, in terms of food culture, there are many problems of food waste in China. The amount of food wasted on the dining table every year is staggering. As of 2016, China’s annual waste of food is 17 to 18 million tons.
What we need to pay attention to is , under the influence of the global food crisis, this problem should be vigorously changed.
Although Operation CD has been effectively improved over the years, the problem of waste still exists, and it may still take some time in the future.
For India , the export of wheat will lead to a reduction in inventory, which will inevitably increase the price of domestic grains.
For those families who are already struggling with rising prices, it is tantamount to adding insult to injury. Perhaps the future of agriculture will require long-term efforts to change for all mankind.
