India in 1950 vs India today

[BacktoCricaddict]

 

 

 

 

[BacktoCricaddict]

 

 

[gattaca]

Very good professor. Interesting the last chart mentions about not dependent on monsoon but we still are correct ? We are making head ways with lot of water projects and supplying water to villages ex: in. Telanagana we never used to have water for three crops but with new govt initiatives of water canals it is very helpful. But these are still dependent on rainfall. Another thing is also floods do impact our agriculture. 

Edited August 19, 2022 by gattaca

[BacktoCricaddict]

2 hours ago, gattaca said:

Very good professor. Interesting the last chart mentions about not dependent on monsoon but we still are correct ? We are making head ways with lot of water projects and supplying water to villages ex: in. Telanagana we never used to have water for three crops but with new govt initiatives of water canals it is very helpful. But these are still dependent on rainfall. Another thing is also floods do impact our agriculture. 

Great point!  I don't think the implication is that India is totally free of dependence on monsoons.  What they are trying to say is, IMHO, is that dependence on directly rain-fed farming has drastically decreased.    AFAIK, around 50% of India's cropland is currently irrigated, and this number has increased significantly since 2015 (I think it was <40% then).  My guess is that, in 1950, <10% of the land would have been irrigated. 

 

Floods, drought etc. and other natural disasters are significant yield threats and will continue to be so.  But biotechnology (drought and flood tolerant varieties) offers some solutions, and I am guessing modern agronomic water-management techniques could offer some solutions to minimize the damage.  One thing is clear - scalable food-production solutions cannot be found in ancient technologies, only in modernization. 

[Ranvir]

Half of these stats are useless considering that the population of India has quadrupled since independence. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

7 minutes ago, Ranvir said:

Half of these stats are useless considering that the population of India has quadrupled since independence. 

 

But most importantly, the same amount of cropland is feeding this 4x population and exporting as well.  Growing much more food on the same amount of land.   

[Ranvir]

6 minutes ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

 

But most importantly, the same amount of cropland is feeding this 4x population and exporting as well.  Growing much more food on the same amount of land.   

Yes it's fantastic that hunger has been reduced by so much along with polio. The next step is technological growth and education. The biggest change I would like to see is in cleanliness and pollution. 

[gattaca]

We should be thankful of Norman Borlaug for what did for Indian green revolution and helped the Indian wheat crops which were badly impacted by monsoons. Probably saved millions from starvation.

Edited August 19, 2022 by gattaca

[gattaca]

41 minutes ago, Ranvir said:

Half of these stats are useless considering that the population of India has quadrupled since independence. 

India was literally begging for food from Russia and US in 60-70. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

So, @gattaca , are you a geneticist/molecular biologist as your moniker suggests? 

 

hijacking my own thread :-).

[bharathh]

5 hours ago, Ranvir said:

Half of these stats are useless considering that the population of India has quadrupled since independence. 

How? According to the stats above all indicators show a multiplier of 6x to 10x on average which comfortably covers the population rise.

 

Main issue in India is storage and distribution to avoid wastage.

[coffee_rules]

8 hours ago, Ranvir said:

Half of these stats are useless considering that the population of India has quadrupled since independence. 

So? That’s an indication of how health index has improved and not on how much we have advanced in agrarian industry. Life expectancy in 1950 was in late 20s, now it is late 60s. So, naturally the population will increase. 
 

The point of OP is that we are self sufficient and in surplus in feeding the increasing population. 

[Clarke]

Good progress overall, quite some more to tackle: overdependence on agri for employment, many small holdings and farmer distress, imports in oilseeds and pulses, abuse of fertilizers and pesticides, politically influenced mismanagement such as sugarcane cultivation in inappropriate areas, water table concerns among others. 

[Lone Wolf]

Biggest challenge is to keep improving HDI index...  That's accurate indicator to show how much poverty we have alleviated. 

UP & Bihar have been way below average while other states have risen sharply. 

Time to expand Industrial capability in the North. 

[kepler37b]

Keeping a country with so many contradictions and chaos is in itself a huge achievement. If not for the Dharmic culture, we would have broken up into 50+ small countries. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

11 hours ago, coffee_rules said:

So? That’s an indication of how health index has improved and not on how much we have advanced in agrarian industry. Life expectancy in 1950 was in late 20s, now it is late 60s. So, naturally the population will increase. 
 

The point of OP is that we are self sufficient and in surplus in feeding the increasing population. 

I would actually argue that it is an indication of both improved health and agrarian advances. For without an adequate food supply, a nation could not sustain the growth in population.

[Vk1]

agree.. we have achieved a lot considering how a European/African continent like country could remain united is mind boggling.. we all should be proud of it..  Agri growth is something I am not really proud of.. 70% of work force working on agri related contributing less than 20% to gdp.. pathetic

[coffee_rules]

2 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

I would actually argue that it is an indication of both improved health and agrarian advances. For without an adequate food supply, a nation could not sustain the growth in population.

people used to die early from diseases. My parents have 5-7 siblings out of which 2 or 3 had died during childhood, child mortality was very high.  Medicines supply chain and nutrition from good  food supply was vital in increased life expectancy.

 

India imports pulses and millets, we should diversify from growing rice and wheat cereals and grow  millets as an in between growth seasons.

[G_B_]

I think from this point india needs to be self sufficient in energy.

 

Food we are nearly there.

 

South Asia in general has always been energy starved.

 

We need to be consuming three times as much energy as we are to be having a decent quality of life. The pollution trade off for that makes us externally dependent to boot.

 

India news a revewables and electric mobolity revolution in the next 30 years. 

 

 

[BacktoCricaddict]

17 hours ago, G_B_ said:

I think from this point india needs to be self sufficient in energy.

 

Food we are nearly there.

 

South Asia in general has always been energy starved.

 

We need to be consuming three times as much energy as we are to be having a decent quality of life. The pollution trade off for that makes us externally dependent to boot.

 

India news a revewables and electric mobolity revolution in the next 30 years. 

 

 

 

Pursue high-density, zero-carbon electricity - small modular nuclear reactors.

 

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/what-are-small-modular-reactors-smrs

 

Learn from the mistakes of Germany, which pushed for the "paper-tiger" energy sources such as solar and wind, eschewing nuclear, and ended in energy crisis.  I daresay that total dependence on renewables will lead to a Sri Lanka style crisis of energy.