Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. Anil Kumar
A lot of attention is being paid to the agricultural sector since the new government has been formed at the centre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started many programmes for the welfare of farm and farming community. One such of his measure aims at doubling the income of farmers by the year 2022. Remembering that the year 2022 will be the year when the country will complete 75 years of independence. Prime Minister has clearly set the time limit and he referred to a doubling of farmer income of the agricultural year 2015-16 by the agricultural year 2022-23. Within six-seven years the target has to be achieved. The current average income of the farmer stands at about Rs 6,400. It has to be taken to more than Rs 12,000.
Going by the uncertainties the agriculture sector is exposed to, the task is not going to be easy one. Government of India will therefore have to reorient its interventions in the farm and non-farm sectors to double the income of the farmers by 2022. Experts claim that if anything is to be doubled by the year 2022-23, it will require annual growth of 10.4 per cent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday talked of a seven-point strategy to double the income of farmers in six years. The seven point strategy includes: Big focus on irrigation with large budgets, with the aim of “per drop, more crop”
Supply of water to crops at critical stages is very critical for the plant growth and good yields. Unfortunately the irrigation potential in the country is less. With most of the area in the rain fed regions where a lot of ground work is yet to be done for ensuring supply of water, we are left with no choice but to produce more crop per drop. Every single drop of water should matter. Besides focusing on big irrigation projects, we should also increase the efficiency of our already existing irrigation projects by plugging leakages, reducing conveyance losses, desilting of canals etc. This would ensure that a larger area is put under irrigation. Rainfed regions which constitute of more than fifty per cent of the arable land should be targeted to increase their productivity. Besides watershed management, constructing check dams and farm ponds should be taken up extensively. Micro-irrigation should be encouraged to save water and input costs, increase productivity and improve quality of output.
Provision of quality seeds and nutrients based on soil health of each field: Seed play an important part in raising yields. Good quality seeds not only give us good yields but also protect the crop from many diseases. Prime minister has rightly said that provision of quality seed and nutrients based on soil health of each field. Farmers in the country still use old traditional and local varieties which result in less production. The average seed replacement ratio in the country is less. It is at 25 per cent. In case of pulses and oilseed crops it is still less. In some pulse crops it is even less than 10 per cent. The government has also started many initiatives for quality seed production. The sub-mission on seed and planting material under NMAET also emphasize on providing good quality seed and planting material to the farmers Large investments in warehousing and cold chains to prevent post-harvest crop losses: The country faces a problem of ware housing and proper storage facilities. The country need storage facility for more than 60 million metric tonnes but the storage capacity is only for 30 million tonnes. As a result of this huge amount of food grains get wasted. In the absence of proper storage facilities the food grains have to be kept in the open where they are attacked by insect pests thereby severely deteriorating their quality. A few years back food grains kept in the open meant for public rotted to such an extent that it was to be sold at throw away prices. Larger investments in warehousing and storage structure at the village/Panchayat level will not only help in solving the problem of rotting of food grains but will also enable us to distribute the food grains them among the needy thereby reducing hunger and ensuring food security for all.
Promotion of value addition through food processing: Presently there is a very low level of food processing and value addition in the country. The value addition in the country ranges from 5 to 20 per cent. This is very less as compared to developed world where a good percentage of food products are processed and value added. Value addition facilities can be provided by strengthening food grain storage infrastructure, cool chain systems for perishables, post harvest processing and marketing facilities. This will result in increasing farmers, income and maintaining the quality of food products for a longer time.
Creation of a national farm market, removing distortions and e-platform across 585 stations.
The present marketing structure is tilted highly in favour of the middlemen and commission agents. Farmers do not get adequate price of their produce. A large portion of their income from the produce goes to the middlemen and commission agents. Farmers did not have the knowledge of market rates and the markets are very far from the place of produce. The government has started the electronic-National Agricultural Market. The e-NAM is an electronic platform that will connect all the mandis all over India in a phased manner. It will enable the farmers to sell their produce to distant places without being physically present there. Presently about 250 markets in the country are connected with the e-NAM. The ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare has announced 10 lakh to each of these mandis for making compost out of the waste like vegetables and fruits which accumulate in these mandis daily.
It will serve dual purpose one of cleanliness and other of supplying compost to the farmers at cheap rates. At present trade is carried out in only in 220 mandis. NAM has achieved a trade turnover of rupees 1,825 crore so far since its inception. The highest contribution has been from Haryana where 54 mandis have achieved a trading volume of rupees 1521 crores.
Introduction of a new crop insurance scheme to mitigate risks at affordable cost: The farming in India is subjected to various types of uncertainties. The weather uncertainties are more predominant. The weather is their greatest adversary and this is something that is not in his hands. This is more so because agriculture on large portion of arable land in the country is done under rain fed condition and timely availability of water by rains holds the key to a good yield. Unfortunately the farmer puts in a lot of hard work, invests a lot and ultimately the crop gets failed due to drought or flood like situation. Here is where the crop insurance plays its part. It compensates the farmers. In the country crop insurance was done but owing to the high costs of premiums and unawareness among the farming communities, majority of the farmers were left outside the ambit of crop insurance. The government has now launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Under the new scheme a uniform maximum premium for all farmers 2% of sum assured in Kharif and 1.5% of sum assured in Rabi and for horticultural/commercial crops 5% of sum assured is to be levied. Since independence only about 20 per cent of the farmers are covered under insurance. The new Yojana targets to cover about 50% of the farmers in next three years. Due to adverse conditions if sowing is not done, claims up to 85% of the sum insured will be paid
Promotion of ancillary activities like poultry, beekeeping and fisheries.
It aims at diversification. The basic philosophy is that in case farmers’ crops fail, he gets compensated by other enterprise. Diversification has many advantages. Besides providing regular income throughout the year it also keeps family labour engaged in various activities of different farm enterprises. There have been many success stories where farmers taken to diversification have increased their income tremendously. Diversification also maintains good soil health and proper use of local resources. Dairy husbandry for example is a boon for small farmers, as a family with three cows or buffaloes can earn an annual income of Rs. 50,000 to 60,000, while conserving our precious native breeds. With stall-fed, high yielding animals, the dung availability will also increase by3 to 4 times, giving a boost to biogas and agricultural production.
(The authors are from Advanced Centre for Rainfed Agriculture (ACRA), SKUAST-Jammu)