What are the present challenges before crop diversification? How do emerging technologies provide the opportunity for crop diversification?

Crop diversification refers to the addition of new crops or cropping systems to agricultural production on a particular farm. In India crop diversification is happening mostly into horticulture, livestock and commercial crops like cotton, soyabean etc.

The major problems and constraints in crop diversification are primarily due to the following reasons with varied degrees of influence: 

• Over 50% of the cropped area in the country is completely dependent on rainfall.

• Inadequate supply of quality seeds.

• Fragmentation of land holding less favouring modernization and mechanisation of agriculture.

• Poor basic infrastructure like rural roads, power, transport, communications etc.

• Inadequate post-harvest technologies and inadequate infrastructure for post-harvest handling of perishable horticultural produce.

• Very weak Agro-based industry.

• Weak research - extension - farmer linkages.

• Inadequately trained human resources together with persistent and large-scale illiteracy amongst farmers.

• Host of diseases and pests affecting most crop plants.

• Government’s MSP procurement policy

Emerging technologies like AI, IoT, Precision farming has the potential to diversify crop production in India in the following ways:

• Biotechnology and genetic engineering in crops with new quality traits will motivate farmers to diversify their crop production.

• IoT devices with remote sensors placed at farms can help in getting the real time data which will enable farmers to sow new kinds of crops having more returns.

• Using drone technology with AI enabled cameras, farmers can monitor the entire field sitting at home. This can lead to diversification to commercial and high value crops.

• Precision farming can help farmers in diversification to horticulture crops as these are high input and high output crops which require continuous monitoring and active management of soil nutrients, pests and diseases.

As the young generation is moving to the manufacturing and services sector, agriculture will have to embrace new technologies to increase production and gain efficiency. Crop diversification using emerging technologies has the potential to double the farmers’ income.