Dr. Banarsi Lal, Dr. Shahid Ahamad
India as a country is one of the biggest food consumers in the world and there is dire need to keep our agricultural sector vibrant and alive for our food security. More than half of our country population owes its social, economic and even cultural life to the state of this sector. Governments after governments gave the importance to agriculture but when it came to policy making then it is left to struggle. Agriculture is the sole source of livelihood for more than two-third of the population and there is dearth of basic infrastructure in agriculture for instance irrigation, post-harvest facilities, research centres, loan facilities etc. which have impact on farmer income levels. India was facing the formidable famine in 1960s and then the Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri successfully led the country to green revolution. With green revolution India became self-dependent in food production and leaped miles forward in staple food production. The sole objective of green revolution was to increase in productivity and acreage. This led to excessive use of fertilisers, pesticides and other agro-chemicals. Now the states like Punjab, the biggest beneficiary of green revolution has started facing the problem of soil health deterioration, reduction in crop productivity and high cost of cultivation. For the first time in 2003 Govt. of India thought over post harvest aspect of the Indian agriculture and formulated Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC).There was lot of debate on APMC and farm insurance. Now the government is contemplating on agriculture not merely as a tool to feed the country but also as a means to uplift the socio-economic status of the farming community of the country. The government has initiated a number of developmental schemes and programmes which have the potential to immensely benefit the farming community by strengthening the roots of agriculture. On 19th February, 2015 the Prime Minister of India launched the nationwide Soil Health Card Scheme from Suratgarh, Rajasthan. Agriculture is a tool for poverty eradication. The govt. has sanctioned 100 mobile soil testing laboratories across the country and approximately 2.53 crore soil samples would be collected during 2015-16.The government has announced that 14.5 crore farmers would get the soil health cards within three years across the country. Soil Health Card Scheme is a national movement across the country. Under this scheme the soil sample is taken by the experts from the farmer’s field and tested in a soil health laboratory. Then the soil health card is issued to the farmers regarding the ingredients and deficiencies in the soil. On the basis of basis of the results of the soils of respective farmer field, he can add the nutrients in the soil accordingly. This scheme may not only maintain the health of the soil but will also reduce the cost of cultivation. This will also help to identify the best crop suited in the respective field.
The government also launched another scheme called as Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) with an objective to irrigate the every farmer field and also to increase the water use efficiency. Under this scheme there is immense support to the micro-irrigation and watershed development. The irrigated agriculture accounts for 56 per cent of all food grains production in the country. It is estimated that the total area under agriculture rose only 5.6 per cent during 2000-1 to 2011-12.The net irrigated area reached 46.34 per cent from 40.5 per cent during this period. The major objective of Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, reduce wastage of water, increase water use efficiency, promotion of water conservation practices, reusing treated municipal based water and attract private investment in precision irrigation system. This scheme will also help in bringing the ministries, departments, financial institutions, various agencies under a common platform so that a comprehensive view of the entire water cycle is taken into account. It is hoped that this scheme will go a long way for the upliftment of the socio-economic status of the farming community. On 13th of January, 2016 Government of India launched a scheme said to be Pardhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana for the upliftment of farmers. In this scheme the farmers Kharif, Rabi and Horticultural crops will be insured at the rate of 2 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 5 per cent premium respectively from June 2016. The farmers will get the insurance if his crops are damaged by the natural calamities such as drought, floods etc. All the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) are conducting farmers fairs on this scheme throughout the country which are attended by the scientists, district administrators, ministers etc. Union Minister Dr.Jitendra Singh also attended the farmers fair on Pardhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana organised by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Reasi at KVK campus,Tanda, Reasi.
Keeping the agricultural information of the Indian farmers in view the government of India has launched a new TV channel namely DD Kisan which is dedicated to the farmers. This will help to disseminate the agricultural information to the farmers. Now the Govt. is working on a new agricultural insurance scheme that would cover all the agricultural inputs of the farmers at his farm. If the Govt. succeeds in providing a robust loan to the farmers, it may create a strong social security to the farmers. We have national insurance then we have modified national insurance and now we are thinking for the weather-based insurance cover and also there can be income insurance of the farmers. From the last many years the prices of onions and potatoes have marred the farmers. These are perishable agricultural crops which require proper storage facilities which the farmers lack. So, the farmers are compelled to sale these commodities at throwaway prices and the middlemen earn lot of profits. In order to check this Govt. of India has launched a price stabilisation fund scheme. These agricultural crops will be procured from the farmers directly from the farm gate and made available to the consumers at the reasonable rates. We daily hear of the farmers suicidal cases because of the farmers fail to pay the credits. It is a herculean task for the government to provide loan to the farmers at easy terms. Keeping realities of the financing to the farmers in view the Govt. has increased the agricultural funding. Effective warehousing is primarily required for the storage of farm produce. It has been observed that 2.1 crore tonnes of wheat is wasted every year in India which is around 22 per cent of the total production due to lack of proper warehousing facility. In fruits and vegetables this proportion is 40 per cent of the total national production. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has aimed to make scientific storage of 2.23 lakh tonnes by constructing godowns and warehouses. The Government of India has diagnosed the major problem of the farmers and trying to solve it through various policies. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a Central Sector Scheme for Promotion of National Agricultural Market through Agri tech Infrastructure Fund on 2nd July, 2015. The Government plans to integrate 585 wholesale markets across India by setting up an online platform. There will be electronic auctions for price discovery. The plan is to cover 250 Mandis in current fiscal, 200 Mandis in 2016-17 and 135 Mandis in 2017-18.After the completion of National Agriculture Market (NAM) transfer of agricultural commodities can take place. The market size for the farmers would be limited to a captive market. Through this scheme the farmers will get better prices, improve supply chain and reduce wastages by unifying the markets at State and the Central level. This will also solve the genuine problem of the middlemen who eat away the major chunk of profits due to lack of market availability to the farmers. In order to get the employment the new generation from rural India is migrating towards the urban areas. The new schemes and programmes launched by the government may reverse this trend.
