Amity School of Urban Management in association with University of Durham, U.K. organized a Conference on the topic “Agrarian Revolutions and Rainfed Agriculture: White and Green” at Amity Campus, Sector-125, Noida
Eminent national and international panelists present during the Conference were Dr. Bruce Scholten, Sr. Fellow with the University of Durham,Mr. Harish Damodaran, Editor, Hindu Business Line, Mr. Adityo Ghosh, PhD Scholar,Centre for Science and Environment and University of Sussex and and Dr. Nilachala Acharya, Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability, New Delhi.
Mr. S.P. Jhakhanwal, Director General, Amity School of Rural and Urban Management while presenting the outline of the conference said that India and most of the developed nations of the world know the story of ‘White Revolution’. Indians take pride in not only developing its own model of White Revolution but also implementing it successfully across the country.
Dr. Bruce Scholten, Sr. Fellow in the University of Durham spoke at length about the vital research he undertook about Cooperative Diary Development in India and Africa for his book ‘India’s White Revolution’. He said, “every year we try to rope in people from different economies and bring walls down to work in the area of diary development.” He outlined how Operation Flood spread across India.
Dr. Bruce stressed that the farms are getting bigger. Therefore, more people are employed and are shifted to urban areas. Due to over utilization and extraction of natural resources the fertility of soil has decreased over the years, which has become a serious issue of concern. The population in India is increasing at an alarming rate so it is to be seen whether the rainfed areas are sustainable or not. Farmers have to ensure the judicious use of underground water, promote organic farming to retain soil sustainability.
While speaking on the White Revolution and its contribution in the agrarian economy Mr. Harish Damodaran, an eminent media personality said that the farmer’s suicide that were taking place in our country is due to lack of liquidity. Gujrat is the only state in India where there is not a single case of farmers’ suicide. It is due to good liquidity from milk production and increase in the consumption of milk. Citing an authentic source of information he shared that as the income of a family rises in India there is increase in the consumption of milk both in rural and urban areas. The current growth of the sector is 8%. Diary farming is the best rural employment programme. The future of diary farming is bright as western products like butter, cheese and ice-cream production will widen the market. On the other hand due to the Green Revolution there will be more production of rice, wheat, maize and barley which are fodder for animals of diary farms. A high level of modernization is needed in the field of diary farming for its growth and sustainability.
Dr. Nilachala Acharya, Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability, New Delhi informed the audience that Government of India is providing subsidies in the agrarian sector and the share is increasing since 1991. It is also noted that all the subsidies are part of the revenue expenditure of the government. Every year the government spents at least 1 percent of agricultural GDP expenditure on Agriculture Research and Education.
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During his address Mr. Adityo Ghosh, PhD Scholar,Centre for Science and Environment and University of Sussex gave a critical analysis of his study on Climate change and land degradation. “Degradation of land is a serious issue of India. There is not a single state in India which is not affected by land degradation. Migration, poverty, increase in population, urbanization and industrialization are some of the other problems exacerbating the situation in India. Crop insurance and Private Weather prediction are some of the ways through which the present crisis can be tackled to some extent” said Mr. Ghosh.
Dr. Asmita Bhardwaj, Asst. Professor coordinated and also made a presentation on the economic distress highlighted by farmers’ suicides in certain areas.
Students of Organic Agriculture, Biotechnology, Rural and Urban Management of Amity University attended the Conference.