Non-Conventional Energy Sources in Agriculture in Haryana (India)

The agriculture of India has undergone a dramatic transformation since independence due to the introduction of modern scientific inputs. Having achieved self-sufficiency in food production at aggregate level, agriculture is now required to diversify the fields of production for income generation, employment expansion, poverty alleviation and export promotion. Haryana State has the prime position of being one of the major contributors to the central food-grain pool of India. The increased use of energy builds up the productive capacity of agriculture and is the main sources of sustained agricultural growth. The structure of energy consumption in agriculture in Haryana has changed substantially, with a huge shift from animal and human labour towards tractors for farming operation and electricity and diesel used for groundwater irrigation. But the temporal use of different sources of energy inputs in agricultural production has to be empirically analyzed and inferences drawn so as to develop future strategies to create conditions for sustainable pattern of development. The overall performance of energy use from non conventional sources in Haryans agriculture has been spectacular. The changes in the number of tractors and Tubewells & pumping sets, power consumption, pesticides and fertilizers are depicted. the use of fertilizers has increased tremendously. The Herfindahle indices of Tractors, tubewells, pumping sets, power consumption, pesticides and fertilizers have been increased to 5563.93, 2913.18, 9120.65, 1483.51 and 10699.39 respectively in 2011-12.