Haryana: Agriculture, Irrigation, Food Processing and Animal Husbandry · HCS (Haryana)

What the official syllabus says

General Studies III (Paper V) ends with "Related issues of Haryana." Read with the agriculture lines of the paper, it covers:
Related issues of Haryana.
Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, - different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
Food processing and related industries in India - scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
Land reforms in India.

Haryana is a major contributor of wheat and rice to the central pool and one of the leading dairy States. This page lists the agricultural issues of the State that fall under the official lines above.

Topics in detail

Crops and cropping patterns

Rabi crops: wheat, mustard (rapeseed), gram, barley
Kharif crops: paddy (including basmati), cotton, bajra, guar (cluster bean), sugarcane
Regional pattern: rice-wheat in the north and north-east (Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Ambala); cotton in the west (Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind); bajra and mustard in the south (Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Mahendragarh, Rewari)
Basmati belt and rice exports
Horticulture: vegetables, fruits (kinnow and citrus in Sirsa), mushrooms; Centre of Excellence for Vegetables at Gharaunda (Karnal)
Crop diversification away from paddy: the Mera Pani Meri Virasat scheme (2020)
Problems of the cotton belt: whitefly and pink bollworm

Irrigation and water

Canal systems: the Western Yamuna Canal (headworks at Hathnikund barrage, Yamunanagar) and the Bhakra canal system (Sutlej water from Bhakra-Nangal)
Lift irrigation in the south: Jawaharlal Nehru Lift Irrigation System and Loharu lift canal
Inter-State water issues: the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal and Haryana's share of Ravi-Beas water; the Hansi-Butana canal; sharing of Yamuna water under the 1994 agreement and the Upper Yamuna River Board
Groundwater: falling water tables in the rice belt, over-exploited blocks; Atal Bhujal Yojana in Haryana
Waterlogging and soil salinity in parts of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat and other districts; reclamation by sub-surface drainage
Micro-irrigation: the Micro Irrigation and Command Area Development Authority (MICADA); drip and sprinkler systems

Marketing, procurement and support

Mandi system and the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board; the role of arhtiyas (commission agents)
Procurement at MSP by the Food and Supplies Department, HAFED and the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation
Meri Fasal Mera Byora portal: crop registration for procurement and schemes
Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana: price-difference payments for vegetables and some other crops
e-NAM mandis in the State
Crop loss compensation and the e-Kshatipurti portal; crop insurance
Public Distribution System in Haryana: ration cards linked to family identity data

Crop residue and farm environment

Paddy straw burning: causes (short window before wheat sowing, cost of removal) and effects
In-situ and ex-situ management: machines (Happy Seeder, super seeder, balers), incentives, custom hiring
Uses of straw: the second-generation ethanol plant at Panipat, biomass power, compressed biogas

Animal husbandry and dairying

Murrah buffalo (the State's best-known breed) and Hariana cattle; Sahiwal
Dairy cooperatives: Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation (Vita)
High milk availability per person compared with most States
Institutions: ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (Hisar), ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (Karnal), National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (Karnal), Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (Hisar)
Stray cattle and gaushalas; the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015
Poultry around Barwala (Panchkula); fisheries, including saline-water aquaculture (shrimp) in the south-west

Research, food processing and land

Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (Hisar) and Maharana Pratap Horticultural University (Karnal)
ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research and ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (both at Karnal)
Food processing: rice milling, dairy, sugar mills (cooperative and private), oil mills; NIFTEM at Kundli (Sonipat)
Land records: computerised jamabandi and registration; drone mapping of lal dora (village abadi) land, a forerunner of SVAMITVA
Fragmentation of holdings, land leasing and consolidation

Overlaps

Agriculture, Farm Subsidies, MSP and PDS, Food Processing and Land Reforms: the national side of the same topics.
General Studies I: Haryana's rivers, soils and physical regions.