P K Joshi

In the context of shrinking crude oil reserves, rising demand and the resultant rise in prices of petroleum, as well as the concerns about global climate change and energy security, bioenergy is becoming increasingly relevant as a possible and potential alternative to fossil fuels. However, with many developed countries pursuing aggressive policies for encouraging the production and use of biofuels, there are strong apprehensions that as more and more land is brought under biofuel crops, food prices would increase substantially affecting poor consumers, particularly those from low-income net food importing countries. Keeping in view these facts, this paper presents a brief overview of the current state of affairs of biofuels at the global level, with a special emphasis on the ongoing efforts of biofuel expansion in India. It throws light on the various policies at the national and regional levels and also on the implications of biofuels for changes in land utilisation, food security, social welfare and the environment.

South Asian countries are gradually diversifying with some inter-country variation in favour of high value commodities, namely, fruits, vegetables, livestock and fisheries. Agricultural diversification is strongly influenced by price policy, infrastructure development (especially markets and roads), urbanisation and technological improvements. Rainfed areas have benefited more as a result of agricultural diversification in favour of high value crops by substituting inferior coarse cereals. Agricultural diversification is also contributing to employment opportunities in agriculture and increasing exports. The need is to suitably integrate production and marketing of high value commodities through appropriate institutions. Market reforms in developing and strengthening desired institutions through required legal changes would go a long way in boosting agricultural growth, augmenting income of small farm holders and promoting exports.

Agricultural research, over the last five decades has contributed significantly to higher productivity and expansion of area under cultivation.

Systems in India Socio-Economic and Policy Issues Introduction RICE-WHEAT Cropping Systems (RWCS) gained prominence from the mid- 1960s with the introduction of short- duration and high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat during mid1960s. The rotation has spread in the most fertile regions and has covered about 10 million ha in the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) region of India. It is more popular in the non- traditional rice growing states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and less in traditional rice growing states of Bihar and West Bengal. The impressive performance of the system during the last three decades resulted in a quantum jump in the production of rice and wheal, which largely contributed in achieving the food self-sufficiency in India, The foodgrain production increased from about 90 million tonnes in 1964-65 to about 190 million tonnes in 1994-95, at an annual growth of little over 2.5 per cent.