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Journalism of Courage
UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-3 to check your progress.
Discuss the implications of reduced investment in agricultural research and development (R&D) on India’s food security and economic growth. How can increased allocation to agriculture R&D contribute to addressing these challenges?
Evaluate the environmental concerns associated with the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Introduction
— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.
— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.
Body
— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.
— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.
— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.
— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.
— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.
Way forward/ conclusion
— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.
— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.
Self Evaluation
— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.
QUESTION 1: Discuss the implications of reduced investment in agricultural research and development (R&D) on India’s food security and economic growth. How can increased allocation to agriculture R&D contribute to addressing these challenges?
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— The Indian economy experienced an overall GDP growth rate of 8.2 per cent in 2023-24, and most estimates indicate that it would continue over 7% in FY25. However, growth in the agriculture sector fell from 4.7% in FY23 to 1.4% in FY 24.
— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has laid forth a road map for achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047. She has named nine main priority areas, with agriculture at the top of the list, raising hopes for significant investment in productivity and climate resilience.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:
Implications of reduced investment in agriculture
— It is critical to evaluate the percentage relative to agriculture’s Gross Domestic Product (Agri-GDP), which is calculated as Agriculture Research Intensity. The ARI peaked at 0.75 per cent in 2008-09 and will remain at 0.43 per cent in 2022-23. This will decline further in FY25 as the allocation to this category has decreased in real terms, potentially leading to food inflation.
— The idea of Viksit Bharat@2047 may not be achieved if the agrarian-rural sector is left behind. Almost two-thirds of India still lives in rural regions, and agriculture employs the majority of the working population (45.8% in 2022-23).
— Much of the support for agriculture, food, and rural development has been in the form of social programs and subsidies. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), as well as food and fertiliser subsidies, are major components of this support. Although these policies are not aimed at the agricultural ministry, they boost the agri-food-rural industry by assisting farmers or customers.
Addressing these challenges
— The allocation to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying has increased by 27%, from Rs 56 billion (RE) in FY24 to Rs 71 billion (BE), which is a positive indicator for this rapidly increasing sector.
— The Agriculture Ministry provides significant income support through initiatives such as PM-KISAN, credit subsidies, and the PM-Fasal Bima Yojana. Overall, these welfare and subsidy initiatives are anticipated to cost Rs 5.52 trillion in FY25, which is significantly less than the revised estimate of Rs 5.8 trillion for FY24. This support accounts for 11.5% of the entire budget (Rs 48 trillion) and a significant 21.4% of the central government’s net tax collection in FY25.
— The food subsidy is budgeted at Rs 2.05 trillion, down from INR 2.12 trillion in Fiscal Year 24. Despite the decline, the subsidy still primarily favours consumers rather than farmers.
— There is a need to reorient agricultural practices. While these policies have enhanced agricultural output, they have reduced soil fertility, depleted groundwater, raised nitrous oxide and methane emissions, and deprived crops of nutrients.
Conclusion:
— There is an urgent need to transform agriculture into a growth engine by adopting farming practices that benefit both farmers and the environment.
— Effective policy making, such as reorienting subsidies, can increase agricultural value addition, raise farmer incomes, and create prospects for food processing and exports.
Points to Ponder
What are the nine key priority areas of the Budget 2024-25?
Development in the field of agriculture
Role of e-technologies in agriculture
How can AI be deployed in agriculture?
Related Previous Year Questions
What are the challenges and opportunities of the food processing sector in the country? How can the income of the farmers be substantially increased by encouraging food processing? (2020)
What are the major reasons for declining rice and wheat yield in the cropping system? How crop diversification is helpful to stabilise the yield of the crops in the system? (2017)
QUESTION 2: Evaluate the environmental concerns associated with the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— Google stated in its annual environmental report, which was made public earlier this month, that its emissions footprint increased by 13% in 2023 over the previous year. The increase in supply chains and data centres’ higher electricity use was the primary cause of the spike.
— According to Google, the increased deployment and utilisation of its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in 2023 resulted in a 17% increase in electricity consumption for its data centres. The company also predicted that this trend would persist in the upcoming years.
— Studies have shown that a simple AI query, like the ones posted to OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT, could use between 10 and 33 times more energy than a regular Google search. AI search related to images could be using even more energy.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:
Environmental Concerns
Data Processing
— Even when the identical query is asked of both, AI models often outperform Google searches. They sift through a lot more material while digesting and developing relevant replies.
Energy consumption
— When a computer processes, stores, or retrieves data, it requires more electrical signals.
— As AI tools become more extensively used, their impact on global energy consumption is likely to increase dramatically. Data centres currently account for between 1% and 1.3% of worldwide electricity usage.
— According to current forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA), worldwide electricity demand might double (to 1.5% to 3%) by 2026.
Water Resources
— There is also a rise in demand for water resources, which are required for data centre cooling. There is insufficient data on water use in data centres, however the centre that feeds OpenAI’s GPT-4 model in Iowa (US) is said to have utilised 6% of the district’s water supply in July 2022.
Conclusion:
— Global emissions reductions could be significantly aided by the widespread application of AI. According to a recent Boston Consulting Group report, integrating AI into business and industrial processes could cut global emissions by 5–10% by 2030 and produce a value of between $1.3 trillion and $2.6 trillion in the form of higher profits or lower expenses.
— If artificial intelligence (AI) is used to track and forecast emissions in current processes and improve them to get rid of waste or inefficiencies, emissions can be reduced.
(Source: Why AI’s present and future bring some serious environmental concerns by Amitabh Sinha)
Points to Ponder
AI in India
Pros and cons associated with AI
Related Previous Year Question
Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare? (2023)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 61)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 60)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 60)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 61)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 61)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 60)
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