The document discusses various reasons for the downfall of agricultural productivity in India at the grassroots level, including the mindset of farmers, illiteracy, high costs of tools, worsening farming conditions, decreased living standards, increased suicide rates, and lack of financial support. It also provides information on hydroponics techniques as an alternative to traditional farming and discusses some advantages and challenges of adopting hydroponics in India. Overall, the document analyzes issues currently affecting Indian agriculture and proposes hydroponics as a potential solution.

2. REASONS FOR DOWNFALL OF AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTIVITY AT GRASS ROOT LEVEL
Illiteracy
High cost of
agricultural
tools
Worse
Farming
Conditions
Downgraded
living
conditions
Increased
Suicide Rate
Bad Financial
help
Mindset of
Farmers
The basic problems as to why there is a downfall
in agricultural production is due to :-
• Mind set of Indian Farmers : They have started
considering farming as a downgraded job
• Due to illiteracy the farmers are not able to
gain the exact output from their inputs. They
are unable to implement newer technologies
an methods due to inefficient knowledge.
• High cost of agricultural tools makes another
move to reduce the interest of farmers in
farming
• Many farmers do suicide due to the high debts
imposed on them. This has a psychological
impact on the fellow farmers who fear the
same.
• Farmers generally are having a not so good
lifestyle. The are lured by the much glamorous
lifestyle of the cities so. In order to have faster
and better source of income they turn to cities
for better job opportunities
• Government doesn’t provide enough financial
support so as to provide enthusiasm to the
farmers.

3. INDIAN GDP COMPARED WITH THE WORLD
• As we can see from the above graph, In the year 2003 The GDP of India was 4% as compared to
21% worldwide. The above GDP comparison clearly shows the effect of agriculture on its value.
• Due to the drastic fall of these figures, It clearly shows that for a developing country like India,
Agriculture is an important factor in boosting our Indian Economy.
• Given the amount of irrigated land in India, with the help of proper Government support India
can improve its condition and boost its agricultural productivity.
• In the year 2010, the effect of economic slowdown decreases the agricultural value of GDP. We
can conclude that agriculture is a serious field to be focused on.

4. Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture and is a method of
growing plants using minerals nutrient solutions, in water,
without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their
roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert
medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, expanded
clay pebbles or coconut husk. ADVANTAGES :
• No soil is needed for hydroponics
• The water stays in the system and can be
reused - thus, a lower water requirement
• It is possible to control the nutrition levels
in their entirety - thus, lower nutrition
requirements
• No nutrition pollution is released into the
environment because of the controlled
system
• Stable and high yields
• Pests and diseases are easier to get rid of
than in soil because of the container's
mobility
• Ease of harvesting
• No pesticide damage
• Plants grow healthier
• It is better for consumption
TECHNIQUES :
The two main types of hydroponics are solution culture and
medium culture. Solution culture does not use a solid
medium for the roots, just the nutrient solution. The three
main types of solution cultures are static solution culture,
continuous-flow solution culture and aeroponics. The
medium culture method has a solid medium for the roots
and is named for the type of medium, e.g., sand culture,
gravel culture, or rock wool culture.
There are two main variations for each medium, sub-
irrigation and top irrigation. For all techniques, most
hydroponic reservoirs are now built of plastic, but other
materials have been used including concrete, glass, metal,
vegetable solids, and wood. The containers should exclude
light to prevent algae growth in the nutrient solution.
HYDROPONICS

5. ARE WE HYDROPHOBIC??
Any new technology / approach is
driven by many factors:
1. mind-set to accept change
2. cost / benefits
3. time
4. will to drive / implement
change (government)
• Majority of Indian agriculture is traditional, it is difficult getting
farmers to accept new ideas / technologies e.g. organic / water
conservation etc., level of education and difficulty in
understanding/ comprehension of long-term impacts a major issue.
• Money, the kind of investment required by most new technologies
e.g. hydroponics require capital investment, majority of farmers do
not have this kind of money.
• Government initiative, mostly decentralized and no common vision
(although not denying that good work is also being done but
majority is in silos)
SCOPE OF HYDROPONICS IN INDIA
• In hilly areas, where the land is
not levelled enough for
agricultural practices, water
reservoirs can be used to
practice hydroponics.
• The canals used for irrigation
purposes can themselves be
used as reservoirs for
hydroponic practices.
HYDROPONICS v/s LAND BASED
AGRICULTURE
• In land based agriculture, due to
continuous farming, the quality of the soil
degrades. On the other hand, in
hydroponics, the water once used can be
recycled as the amount of nutrients in it
increases.
• By practicing hydroponics, the land usage
can be reduced and that land can be used
for other purposes such as forestry.
• Damage to crop due to pests and rodents
decreases in hydroponics.

6. USE OF INSECTICIDES AND PESTICIDES ROUND THE GLOBE
 According to the given graph , In the year 2003 the
amount of insecticides and pesticides used by India
was less than the amount used round the world
 But in the year 2009 the figures went horribly up only
to face the problems like decrease in soil fertility,
contaminate the ground water table and also give
birth to human ailments

7. Strengthening
market
knowledge &
skills among
farmers
Better
irrigation
methods
Security law
for farmers
Promoting
entrepreneurs
hip skills
among
farmers
• Implementation
of new laws.
• Proper
Compensation by
government.
• Introduction of
Family Farm.
• Basic Education to
farmers by SHGs.
• Awareness about
the Urban
Scenario.
• More Institutions
for farmers in
rural areas.
• Access to
New
Technologies
• Efficient Use
of new
machinery in
Agriculture
• Controlled
use of
Insecticides
and
Pesticides
• Surface
irrigation
• Subsurface
irrigation.
• Sprinkler
irrigation.
• Drip Irrigation.
• Air Drop
Irrigation.

8. Problem Regarding Food Storage
The problem appears to be heading backwards, going by FCI statistics. FCI had a covered storage facility for 26.59 million tonnes in 2003, and
25.86 million tones in April 2010, even as food grain production nationwide increased to 228 million tonnes in 2009 from 174.19 million tonnes
in 2003.
Time is running out. With the size of India's urban food market estimated at $74 billion, increasing demand will complicate the battle against
food inflation that is already hovering at a 10-year high. Attacking the $12 billion foodstuff loss would be a fruitful start, more so as India's
agricultural output is expected to double in the next decade.
India set up storage facility which was later converted into Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute situated in Hapur, UP
“Our organization focuses more on research of upgrading packing materials such as polypropylene bags, pesticides and not storage
infrastructure," IGMRI director Subhash Gupta told Asia Times Online from Hapur.”
China, in contrast, runs the Beijing-based State Administration of Grain, the top agency coordinating all
food grain matters - from purchase, storage and quality control to research and development. It employs about 200,000 workers to operate
high-tech storage tools, including power ventilation appliances, recycling fumigation devices and computer-controlled temperature
measuring systems.
Improving farm/village
storage methods
A. Underground storage pits may be improved by using plastic sheets to avoid moisture penetration , the floor can be solidified using
cow dung and using thick course of brick structures or chicken wire mesh plastered with cement, proper ventilation and pest
controlling using smoke can be very productive.
B. Household silos and solar dryers can be useful for farmers which the government can provide for free and should
ensure they are being used by the farmers.
C. Industries can develop high scale refrigerated storage units to keep fruits and vegetables .
D. Involving use of Fumigants which are toxic gases used to disinfest a commodity in an enclosure which, ideally, is completely
gaslight. Fumigation enclosures should certainly be sufficiently gaslight for the gas to penetrate and remain in the commodity for
long enough to kill all stages of the insects present in or amongst the grains.

9. Here are five things you need to know about the key legislation:
1. The aim of the Bill is to provide "just and fair" compensation to
families whose land has been acquired for industrial purposes. It
proposes compensation that is up to four times the market value in
rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.
2. The Bill further aims at making affected persons partners in
development, leading to an improvement in their post-acquisition
social and economic status.
3. The Union Cabinet has approved several amendments suggested by
the Opposition, including the one that instead of acquisition, land
could be leased to developers so that its ownership remain with
farmers and provide them regular annual income.
4. The Cabinet also cleared the amendment that provides for payment
of 50 per cent compensation to original owners whose land was
purchased after introduction of the Bill in Lok Sabha in September 2011.
5. The Bill envisages that in cases where PPP projects are involved or acquisition is
taking place for private
companies, the Bill requires consent of no less than 70 per cent and 80 per cent
respectively (in both cases) of
those whose land is sought to be acquired
?
LAND ACQUISITION BILL
Will it effect
????
Socio and
economical
impact ????
Could it lead
to food
shortage ????

10. The Airdrop provides a self-sufficient system that could
help solve many of the irrigation problems facing drought
ridden farms by harvesting and watering crops with its
efficient method of extracting small amounts of moisture
from the air and feeding it under the surface soil.
In high winds the turbine that provides the air flow in the
system can run with the power of the breeze, and in low
winds there is a solar panel attached to provide the energy
to spin the turbine and capture air.
The design is also outfitted with an LCD screen that allows
for monitoring by the farmer. It displays reserve water
levels, solar battery life and the health of the system. With
climate change becoming an increasing problem
in agricultural communities around the world, solutions
for growing crops in even the harshest of weather patterns
are coming into increasing demand.
EDWARD
LINACRE’S
AIRDROP
SYSTEM

11. Air Drop Process
The Airdrop irrigation concept is a
response to poor agricultural conditions
in periods of severe drought. Extensive
research into droughts revealed an
increase in soil evaporation and trans-
evaporation (plant and soil) due to the
increasing temperatures. Airdrop
Irrigation works to provide a solution to
this problem. Moisture is harvested out
of the air to irrigate crops by an
efficient system that produces large
amounts of condensation. A turbine
intake drives air underground through a
network of piping that rapidly cools the
air to the temperature of the soil where
it reaches 100% humidity and produces
water. The water is then stored in an
underground tank and pumped through
to the roots of crops via sub surface
drip irrigation hosing. The Airdrop
system also includes an LCD screen that
displays tank water levels, pressure
strength, solar battery life and system
health.

12. • http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/farmers-suicide-rates-
soar-above-the-rest/article4725101.ece
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
• http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS/countries/1W-
IN?display=graph
• http://farmnest.com/forum/