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India’s White Revolution: from a trickle to Operation Flood
Posted on May 15th, 2023
India’s White Revolution that made the country abundant in milk was born in 1970.
The Green Revolution that helped India achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains such as wheat and rice had a head start of more than five years.
The Green Revolution is considered one of the most important events in the history of modern India. But the gains from the White Revolution are far more spectacular.
India’s milk production from 1950 to 1974 grew at annually at 1.36%, far below the rate of population growth. That meant the availability of milk for an Indian shrunk by 15% during the period. The Operation Flood or the White Revolution set in motion in 1970 has now made India the largest milk producer in the world. The 220 million tonnes of milk it produced in 2022 is about 24% of the global output. Indians have access to 440g of milk a day, far more than the recommended daily average of 387g. Milk is by far the most valuable component of Indian agriculture (bigger in value than rice and wheat) and the dairy industry accounts for nearly 5% of the country’s economy.
What did the White Revolution do?
The White Revolution broadly rung in three fundamental changes. One, created a nationwide chain of milk-specific cooperatives that could source milk from a network of millions of small farmers owning as few as two or three animals. With access to big volumes of milk, the cooperatives could invest in large processing infrastructure. They set up small rural collection centres with milk chilling and basic quality check equipment where farmers could sell their output twice a day. The quality checks ensured that farmers’ milk was tested for the fat content, and they were paid fairly in accordance with quality not quantity of milk. At once, it brought in a level of quality assurance the country’s unorganised milk sector was not used to.
Two, The White Revolution introduced new technologies that improved milk productivity. Native Indian cattle breeds such as Sindhi were cross-bred with European Jersey, Brown Swiss and Holstein-Friesian cows. The cross-bred cattle could withstand the hot and tropical Indian conditions, and yet produce more milk. This could only be accomplished by making veterinary services and techniques such as artificial insemination more accessible.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, an extremely perishable produce of farmers was effectively linked to urban markets. All regional cooperatives branded their dairy products—from Amul in Gujarat to Sudha in Bihar, and a national marketing campaign around milk and its benefits as a cheap and accessible source of nutrition helped create sustainable demand.
An important outcome of The White Revolution was the impact on gender equality. Women’s participation in the dairy industry increased to nearly 70%.
Verghese Kurien, one of the architects of the White Revolution and a founder of the co-operative dairy brand Amul in his 2005 autobiography I Too Had a Dream notes: “In 1998 the World Bank published a report on the impact of dairy development in India and looked at its own contribution to this. The audit revealed that of the Rs 200 crore the World Bank invested in Operation Flood, the net return into India’s rural economy was a massive Rs 24,000 crore each year over a period of ten years. Certainly no other development programme, either before or since, has matched this remarkable input-output ratio.”
From providing oil to fibre to food, coconut is India’s ‘wish-fulfilling’ tree
Posted on May 10th, 2023
If there is a lesson every primary school child in India is taught, it is that the tall-standing coconut palm found in abundance in India’s coastal regions is a gift of nature like none other.
Often described as a ‘kalpavriksha’ or a wish-fulling tree, every part of it, from the fruit and leaves to the husk and shell of the nut, is capable of providing sustenance to humans in one way or another. And that is exactly what the coconut has been doing for thousands of years in India.
It is no wonder then that the coconut occupies a central place in Indian culture, especially in Hinduism where many rituals and poojas are incomplete without the presence of the dried coconut, whole or broken.
But perhaps just as important is its place in India’s agri-economy.
Coconut growing and allied industries provide food and livelihood security to over 12 million Indians. To put it simply, India is the world’s Coconut Central. There is none to beat India when it comes to the production of coconuts. In 2021-2022, it produced a total of 19,247 millions nuts or roughly 31% of the world’s coconuts.
Its productivity too is among the highest in the world at 9,123 nuts per hectare, bettering both Indonesia and the Philippines, the two other top coconut growing countries. In India, three states, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, alone produce over 80 percent of the output.
Coconut is consumed in many forms. The tender, green coconut is much sought after for its refreshing and nutritious water and its sweet and soft flesh. The ripe coconut when grated and ground is the mainstay of cuisines from the South, especially Kerala where it is used widely in all kinds of preparations. Then there are various other forms in which the coconut finds its way into food such as coconut milk, desiccated coconut, coconut sugar, dried coconut or copra etc.
Other than its direct use in food, the coconut produced in India goes towards three major industries — copra production, coconut oil extraction and coir making. Coconut oil is extracted from copra and used in cooking as well as in cosmetics like soaps, shampoos and lotions.
Coconut husk is used for coir-making, which supports a large industry that makes various products such as mats, mattress, textiles, yarn and so on. Coconut shell is used in handicrafts and as a source of biofuel.
India also is also among the world’s top coconut exporters, sending out coconuts and other products derived from it to more than 140 countries. The export of Indian coconuts and coconut-related products is growing at a fast pace — exports grew at 41% over the previous year in 2021-22— earning India over Rs 3,236 crore.
The coconut true to its reputation will continue to remain a source of livelihood and sustenance to many in the years to come as well.
‘There is no onion deficiency in India, only a lack of vision and management’
Posted on May 2nd, 2023
Onion is India’s most politically sensitive crop. Any increase in its retail price is a nightmare for politicians. Why is that so? India, an onion surplus nation, cannot make money in exports even when there is a global shortage. The Plate’s TR Vivek spoke to Nanasaheb Patil who perhaps knows more about onions than anyone else. He is an onion farmer himself and a member of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee or APMC at what is known as Asia’s biggest onion market at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.
Q1
Give us a sense of India’s onion production cycle.
Onion is a commodity that is part of India’s daily diet. The first crop of fresh onions arrive in August from Karnataka, starting from Bangalore and Hubli. The supply then shifts gradually north: Kolhapur in September, Nashik by October. This lasts till January or February end. The August-to-February cycle brings red onions that are more perishable. They have shelf life of 2-3 weeks. From late February and early March, the pink onions from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan start coming in. Fresh arrival lasts until April end. After April, there is no new production until August. The pink onions can be stored for six months. But it depends on climatic conditions. Our traditional storage methods cannot prevent rotting of onions due to high levels of humidity. Supply is maintained during the next four months by storing the March-April pink onion crop.
Q2
What is the demand and supply situation of onions? How much do we produce and what is our consumption?
Our total production is 30 million tonnes per year. Our domestic need is about 15 million tonnes. We process a small quantity into paste and powder and export 1.5 million tonnes. Where does the rest of it go? There is considerable loss since onion is a perishable commodity. Losses are anywhere between 15% and 40%.
There is no shortage of onions, but India lacks a proper management system. Since this is a very climate sensitive crop, average productivity goes up significantly when the climate is good and it is not even 10 per cent of the average when the climate is poor. Due to this, the onion trade sees many ups and downs.
Moreover, the government’s export policy is also not stable. We need ambassadors at our foreign embassies who can speak on behalf of Indian agriculture to other countries. This has become necessary since our production has gone up significantly. We grow a surplus of cereals as well as horticultural crops. There are many other commodities that can be exported, but it needs proper management and vision so that Indian agriculture can get a better market globally.
Q3
What is the problem with our onion export policy? Why does the government ban exports at the slightest hint of a retail price increase? Isn’t that unfair to onion farmers?
There is a psychological factor at work in onion pricing. We are scared of shortage. When the retail prices of onions increase and the media makes it a big issue, the government feels pressured to act. Export is immediately banned. The media, government and consumers need to understand why prices go up. When there is less production of onions due to poor weather conditions prices are bound to go up. People have to understand this. This is accepted about other commodities, why not in the case of onions? I frankly don’t know.
Q4
What is the impact of these knee-jerk export bans? Does India lose credibility in the international markets because of these export bans?
In a global world, countries are free to import commodities from any that can assure them of good quality and regular supply. We have no policy to help our exporters. Our governments are only concerned that there should be no backlash from domestic consumers. Therefore their knee-jerk actions damage our export policies and the overall conditions for exports.
Q5
Let’s say a farmer sells his onions in Lasalgaon at Rs 15 a kilo. By the time it reaches Delhi or Chennai, what is the retail price?
There are many factors that decide the price of onions by the time it reaches the consumer. For example, loading, labour, sorting, packing and transportation. There is a commission for all these activities. Costs increase at each stage of the handling process. All this means that there is a four-fold price increase in the final price of onions from the time the farmer sells his crop.
India No.1: Turmeric, the golden allrounder spice
Posted on May 2nd, 2023
Turmeric or haldi is a hard to beat multi-tasker in Indian homes. It is used extensively in Indian cooking; is an essential ingredient in home remedies for colds, coughs and cuts; is beneficial in skincare and a staple of many Hindu religious ceremonies. Poojas and special occasions, especially marriages, are incomplete without this ‘auspicious’ yellow root, its powder and paste.
Given how integral turmeric is to Indian life, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that India is the world’s No.1 producer, consumer and exporter of the spice. India produces 80% of all turmeric grown in the world, much of it for domestic consumption.
Curcuma longa, as turmeric known botanically, is native to the South Asian region, perhaps even India. It finds mentions in the Vedas as well as in old Tamil literature. Its use dates back 4,000 years.
The yellow in turmeric comes from curcumin, a chemical compound that is supposed to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Although many experts agree on turmeric’s supportive role in the treatment of conditions such as arthritis and mood disorders, large scientific studies of turmeric’s medical benefits aren’t available yet.
Ayurveda, for its part, accords it an important place in the treatment of many ailments, especially in boosting overall health. And it is as an immunity booster that turmeric has today found popularity in many parts of the world, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic. In the health food circuit, ’Turmeric lattes’, as haldi ka doodh is referred to now, are all the rage.
Indian production has kept pace with the increase in demand for turmeric. There has been a steady increase in acreage, up from 231,637 hectares in 2017-2018 to 349,642 hectares in 2021-22. Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka are the top turmeric producers.
Lakadong turmeric from Meghalaya is considered the best turmeric in the world with the highest curcumin content of over 7%. In 2021-22, India produced around 1.33 million tons of turmeric, up from 0.86 million tons in 2017-2018.
Indian turmeric exports too have been growing. The country’s exports grew a whopping 42% in the first six months of 2020-21 alone. Exports for 2021-22 are at around 1.53 lakh tonnes up from 1.1 lakh tonnes in 2017-18. Turmeric ranks third after chilli and jeera when it comes to India’s spice exports.
India No.1: Mango country
Posted on April 13th, 2023
If there is one fruit that immediately comes to mind when we think of India, it is the mango. The botanical name for mango, mangifera indica, is a nod to its birthplace, the region around Myanmar and north eastern India where the fruit is supposed to have originated. Not just that, the word ‘mango’ is a derivative of the Tamil and Malayalam ‘mangai/manga’, adopted by Portuguese traders coming to India in the 15th Century for the spice trade.
Mangoes have been cultivated in India for over 4,000 years. It’s not surprising then that it’s far more than just a fruit in the Indian subcontinent. It is a part and parcel of life. Not just something to be eaten and relished alone, it has found its way into poetry and literature, religion and art, culture, and even pop culture!
Sweet connection
Mango leaves adorn the doorways of many Hindu homes and the shape of the mango has become integral to the Indian visual art lexicon. The shape of the mango can be found in sculpture, architecture and textiles. Just think of the quintessential paisley shape so commonly found on saree borders and other apparel.
Mango permeates all aspects of Indian life, not least of which is food itself. Mango-based recipes abound, whether sweet or savoury ranging from chutneys, pickles and relishes to halwas, barfis and aamras or juices. There are other foods where mango is used either as the souring agent (amchur) or the main ingredient (mango rice, mango pachadi etc.)
And yet, if you ask the average Indian what their most favourite way of eating mango is, chances are that you will hear that they love it just as it is. Ripe and ready to be devoured whole with the skin on or without it.
Great variety
Given this love affair with the mango, is it any surprise that India is the world’s number one producer of mango and also its top consumer? India grows about half of the world’s mangoes—it grew about 21 million tonnes in 2022. The biggest mango-growing states are Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. While India is home to a mind-boggling 1,000 varieties of the fruit both wild and cultivated, a few varieties dominate in the market.
There is the alphonso, which is considered the king of mangoes, and is among the most exported varieties. Other popular mango varieties are kesar, langra, chausa and dussheri. But this is a far from exhaustive list. There is a mango for each region in India and each could quite legitimately lay claim to being the best and tastiest.
Unrealised potential
Despite all the mango mania, India does not export a lot of the fruit. It exported just 28,000 tonnes of fresh mangoes in 2021-22. The Middle East accounts for most of these exports. But India could emerge as a big mango exporter to the European Union in the coming years according to a recent report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.