Daily Financial News Analysis – 15th Dec’19 – Free PDF Download

Agroforestry

• Nirmala Sitharaman at School of International and Public Affairs – Columbia University, said India was on track to becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

1. more growth opportunities
2. more job opportunities
3. better living standards

• 10 years: India has lifted 168 million people out of absolute poverty.
• Now it is time to include farmers into the national growth story and accelerate our efforts towards doubling their income.
• Agricultural sector

1. Contributes about 17% to our GDP
2. Employs nearly 50% of the workforce

• For Indian economy to become one of the world’s top 3 economies we need farmers to prosper.
• Agroforestry, promoted polyculture with a variety of trees, shrubs, herbs, bushes, kept soil fertile and water plentiful and allowed economics and ecology to benefit from each other in complementary ways.
• ‘Sustainability’ was a way of life.
• Agroforestry can spark a new revolution in the agricultural sector and the Indian economy.

• Crop cultivation: take into account regional agro-climatic conditions, soil health, market demand and availability of alternative irrigation practices.
• Agroforestry promotes polyculture so that the farmer is able to harvest high-value crop with a healthy profit.
• And there is a huge domestic market for agroforestry products, especially timber products.
• Union of Forest Research Organizations, 2016: India is the 3rd largest importer of illegally logged timber in the world.
• 2010-18: India imported Rs 388 billion worth of wood and wood products.
• World Bank: wood market is expected to grow at 20% every year for the next few years.
• Should we allow our farmers to grow timber in their farmland?
• If we buy timber from our farmers, it will huge positive impact on the foreign exchange.
• Timber trees will act as an insurance for farmers in tough times.
• It will also reduce their dependence on private money lenders.
• 5 decades: Cauvery’s flow has depleted nearly 40%.
• Cauvery basin has lost 87% of its original green cover.
• Over 47,000 farmers have committed suicide in the Cauvery basin in a little more than a decade.
• By planting high-value trees on a portion of their farmland along with their existing crop, farmers will have a lucrative additional source of income.
• Unless farmers can earn from such an activity, why would they want to plant trees?
• Cauvery Calling promotes agroforestry as an economic plan with a profound ecological impact addressing soil health, water sequestration, farmer economics and biodiversity revival all in one go.

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