Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi-110001.
Based on the paper presented in the Expert Panel Discussion on “Energy Management for Sustainable Agriculture” during the International Conference on “Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Agricultural Production in the 2] st Century” at New Delhi during February 14–18, 2000
During last 50 years, due to rapid growth of agricultural mechanization in India, the contribution of animate (human + animal) sources of energy, in absolute terms, has gone down from about 97.4% in 1951 to about 21.0% in 1999, still it is the main source of tractive energy on Indian farms for ploughing and other field operations about 75% of the cultivated land comprising of about 107 million ha area is managed by using animate sources of energy. With the modernisation of agriculture, increased availability of electrical and mechanical power in rural areas, development of improved road and transport systems, the annual use of animal energy is going down, however the use of human energy has not gone down due to mechanization. The labour force displaced due to mechanised operations get absorbed in handling and primary processing of additional agricultural produce due to increased yields.
During last few years India has emergedas the largest tractor producing country in the world, yet leaving 5 states namely Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan, other states do not have adequate farm power for timely field operations, resulting into reduced yields. Under such situations use of animate sources of energy will continue to play a complimentary role of providing farm power on Indian farms, specially on small farms andin hill agriculture, in addition to mechanical and electrical sources.
During recent years custom hiring of tractors and high capacity machines like combines, threshers etc. have gained popularity and even small category farmers have also availed this opportunity. Many of such farmers who were finding it difficult to maintain a pair of bullocks have sold their draught animals. However considering the scarcity and rising prices of petroleum fuels, it would be desirable to continue with a proper mix of animate, mechanical and electrical sources of energy so that there is no problem faced in future.
This paper gives the present status of utilisation of animate energy in Indian agriculture, analyses the problems associated in use of such energy and suggests measures to increase efficiency and utilsation of animate sources of energy.
