Concept paper on agriculture, food storage techniques/methodologies based on our civilization roots experience.

 Introduction

The ancient texts of India like the Upanishads have taught us the importance of producing, gathering and distributing foods. Indian agriculture system since time immemorial was able to produce foods by and large needed by its vast number of people, though there were instances of famine on certain years due to natural calamities such as drought, floods, unseasonal rains or even man made disasters such as great Bengal famine. During post independence era in the sixties, green revolution made it possible for India from a “begging bowl to a bread basket”. Since then India had made a remarkable progress in producing enough food not only for home consumption but also able to export several agricultural commodities. The surplus production also bring its own problem. Based on the experience gained throughout the great civilization in India, it should be possible to evolve appropriate policy directions to meet the demands of future food requirements.

Ancient agriculture, how it was sustained over the years.

The time tested agriculture system, since Vedic times, be it cultivation of food grains or cattle management, forest produce, medicinal plant management, sustained dairy, fisheries production was fairly self sufficient over 5000 years of civilization. The traditional agriculture based on using animal power, natural fertilizers, cereal/legume cultivation, appropriate water harvesting system, indigenous post harvest and storage techniques, appropriate marketing systems was able to make India self sufficient. Repeated Foreign invasions, political turmoil did not have much effect on agriculture in rural India, farmers continuing their activities uninterrupted. Ancient texts like Kautilyas Arthashastra (BC 300) Krishi Parashara, (BC 400) , Brihatsamhita of Varahamihira (500 AD), Krishi Sookta of Kashyap (800 AD), Vrikshayurveda- science of plants, by Surapala (1000AD), etc. have guided farmers over centuries. According to sage Parashara “farm yields gold if properly managed but lead to poverty if neglected”. Cattle management, seed collection and storage, plowing, sowing and planting, water retention, weeding, draining of water, plant protection, water harvesting, harvesting of grain and storage of grains were all part of a good management of agriculture. Pashupalya, the science of rearing of and caring for domestic animals- the modern animal husbandry is considered part of Krishi or Agriculture. Cattle festivals, use of cow dung as manure , the plow and other implements, art of plowing etc were all well recognized, Seed collection and preservation, farm operations like sowing, transplanting, water retention, weeding, draining of water, plant protection, water harvest, storage were given considerable importance. Even before Kautilys time (BC 400) agriculture had remained the backbone of country’s economy.

The importance of rainfall and its knowledge in agriculture was well recognized in ancient India. It used to be predicted on the basis of well laid out calculation, leading to the publication of Krishi Panchang or Almanac. Krishi panchang followed in ASEAN countries like Thailand and Cambodia even today is a testimony to the Indian culture spreading overseas.

Scarcity takes the place of plenty during British rulers, writes Jitendra Bajaj and M D Srinivas in their publication “Annam Bahu Kurvita” (Centre for Policy Studies, Madras 1996). During the foreign subjugation period there was decline in productivity of lands, decline in availability of food and independent India fails to reverse the decline. There were large scale famines in several parts of India and Indian Famine commission reports were produced by the British even as late as 1940’s. British administration was more worried about difficulty of raising large revenue from the lands.

Traditional harvest and post harvest practices including safe storage.

The traditional harvest and post-harvest practices were very sound in nature and were evolved over the years according to 3 the region, local weather conditions and cropping patterns. They were all centered around villages and used local materials, traditional technology and were bye and large self-sufficient. Evidences were available to show that grains like Ragi stored in “Hagevas”- an underground storage structure can be safely stored even for beyond 30 years! Experiments to use storage structures based on western experiences such as silos did not succeed in India.

Current estimates of post harvest losses including food waste.

The post harvest losses in India be it in food grains or perishables like fruits and vegetables is quite high- estimates ranging from 10-30 percent , compared to developed countries of the world. This has been attributed to the lack of modern storage systems such as proper warehouses for storing food grains, lack of cold storage facilities specially for storing fruits and vegetables at rural production systems. Also facilities for processing of fruits and vegetables are minimal.

The food production, storage and transportation losses in developed countries are generally more. However there is a higher consumer food waste in developed countries. A food waste Index report 2021 of the United Nations Environment Programme indicated that 931 million tonnes of food or 17% of total food available to consumers is wasted. This happens in households, food service establishments like restaurants, functions etc. The total global food waste equals to India total production of food in 2019-2020Annuual per capita food 4 wastage globally is 121 kg and compared to this waste of food at household level in India is only 50 kg of food per person compared to 59 to 85 kg per capita in G 7 countries and over 150 kg in some other developing countries.

Green revolution and its impact on Indian Agriculture.

Agri systems to include all food production systems – be it food grains, cash crops, plantation products, fruits and vegetables, aqua products/fisheries, dairy, meat and poultry. Though the western model of industrialization of agriculture was not fully followed in India, the green revolution had considerable impact on Indian agriculture. Despite the recent challenges posed by Covid India’s food grain production output witnessed a record surge of over 300 million tonnes during 2020-2021. Similarly, horticulture production is also likely to touch an all time high of 327 million tonnes, with potato among vegetables and Mango among fruits being on top. Similarly dairy sector also making remarkable progress. With the increased production of food grains increased there was a concomitant increase in the use of artificial fertilizers, and the use of plant protectants. Use of organchlorine and other pesticides created problem of pesticide residues in foods including milk.

Industrialization of agriculture vs holistic approach followed in India.

India since time immemorial has been following a holistic type of agriculture, dairying, poultry farming and fishing. Most of the 5 land holdings in India were small, Rain fed irrigation or tank /canal irrigation with lifting of water through human/animal power were mostly used. Crop rotation, use of cattle manure, green leaves as manure, use of natural pesticides like neem cake was very much prevalent until recent times. Industrialization of agriculture followed in the west of making animals grow faster, fatter in less amount of time, mechanization of farms, use of large scale farm implements were not followed. Even use of biotechnology for crop improvement was minimal.

A good example of the dominance of technology over the traditional system is the production of salt. Simple sea salt usage is complicated by addition of anticaking agents, additives for sparkling white, double fortification of iodine and iron thus making sodium chloride secondary! There are several other examples like blending of edible oils, reconstitution of milk etc

Sustainable agriculture is possible only with good management. Faulty and adhoc policies of past Governments in India include the belief that only high yielding cultivars and hybrids will increase production, increasing irrigational facilities without proper attention to drainage, encouraging application of chemical fertilizers without equal insistence on increased use of organic matter, indiscriminate use of pesticides will increase in agricultural output.

Policy changes needed to improve the current scenario regarding food in India.

- Holistic approach to development needed rather than reductionist approach

- Sustainability of production system and ecologically protect the environment.

- intensive cultivation, heavy dependence on water guzzling crop systems. - Traditional crop rotation system to be encouraged

- Use of chemical fertilizers and synthetic pant protection chemicals to be restricted

- Encourage indigenous plant varieties - Cropping pattern to be specific to areas depending on traditional use, climate, rainfall pattern etc,

- Appropriate technology to be utilized rather than copying imported models

- Revamping of marketing system by avoiding middlemen

- Minimum support price for selected crops

- Quality improvement of food produce and pricing according to quality

- Agri imports and exportsneed a balanced approach. Export of high value crops like spices and selected fruits and vegetable need attention.

-Organic agriculture, a panacea for all ?

-Food waste: reduce food waste at home, retailers, food service establishments.