Dr. Parveen Kumar
Today is the birthday of fifth Prime minister of the country, late Choudhary Charan Singh. Born in 1902 in a middle class peasent family in Noorpur of district Meerut in Uttar Pradesh he left this world on May 29, 1987. He was a great farmer’s leader who remained Prime minister of the country from July 28, 1979 to January 14, 1980. During his tenure as Prime minister of the country, he introduced many farmer friendly policies and enacted much legislation to improve the lives of the Indian farmers. He was first elected to U.P Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhaprauli constituency and continued to represent it many times. Choudhary sahib held several ministerial positions in Uttar Pradesh cabinet including Revenue, Agriculture, Home and Transport. Known for his simplicity and understanding of rural India’s challenges, Singh introduced several policies to improve the lives of farmers and ensure sustainable agricultural development. He believed in empowering rural communities and fostering a self-reliant agrarian economy.
When he became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, he introduced the Land Holding Act of 1960, aiming to lower and standardize land ceiling limits ensuring fair distribution of agricultural land. He also played a leading role in drafting the Debt Redemption Bill of 1939, which alleviated the financial burden on rural farmers giving a relief to farmers from moneylenders and a key role in the enactment of the Zamindari Abolition Act of 1950. His dedication to farmers’ welfare earned him the title of ‘Kisan Leader’, and his birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘Kisan Divas’ to honor his contribution to Indian agriculture and rural development. The Kisan Divas has been celebrated since 2001 in the country. Due to his contribution towards addressing the welfare and rights of Indian farmers and significantly impacting the nation’s agricultural policies, he is also acknowledged as ‘champion of farrmers’. Commemorating with the birthday of a great visionary who devoted his whole life for welfare of farming community, National Farmers’ Day also known as ‘Rashtriya Kisan Divas’ is celebrated every year on 23rd December.
Farming constitutes one of the oldest practices that mankind knows about and which is still in practice today. It dates back to over 10,000 years. One simply cannot undermine the role of farmer’s in our life and economy at large. To ensure that they get due credit and attention that they deserve, countries across the globe observe their ‘National Farmers’ Day’ every year. The event is also popularly called as ‘Old Farmers’ Day’ in the United States (US). There isn’t an exact date when celebrating Farmers’ Day became a trend, but the tradition is being followed since the early 1800s. In different parts of the globe, the National Farmer’s Day is celebrated on different dates by different countries.
In India, agriculture sector is a vital contributor to our economy; creating and providing livelihood opportunities to about 50% of the population directly or indirectly. Majority of the rural population including the women folk are engaged in this sector. Since independence, country has achieved many milestones in agricultural production. From a production of 50 million tonnes in the post independence years, the food grains production reached a record 332.22 million tonne in the 2023-24 crop year (ended June), driven by bumper wheat and rice output. The technological interventions along with an enabling environment has led the country to increase the production of food grains by 5.6 times, horticultural crops by 10.5 times, fish by 16.8 times, milk by 10.4 times and eggs by 52.9 times since 1950-51 thus making a visible impact on the national food and nutritional security. Country ranks first in the production of number of crops like Banana, Lime and Lemon, Papaya and Okra.
The horticulture production in the country has exceeded food grains production in the country. The country has the largest area under cultivation. It is the largest producer of pulses, spices, milk, tea, cashew, jute, banana, jackfruit and many other commodities (FAO). It stands second in production of fruits and vegetables, wheat, rice, cotton and oilseeds. India has the largest cotton cultivation area all over the world after China and the USA. India is the third highest potato producing country. India is also the second largest producer of Pulses in the world. The country also has the largest livestock population.
The agriculture sector despite a vital contributor to the country’s economy still suffers from some inherent loopholes and challenges like sustainability, climate change and its non remunerativeness. Indian agriculture is predominated by the presence of small and marginal farmers. This vital segment of Indian agriculture is often the neglected one; still outside the reach of developmental policies and programmes. They are still outside the formal framework of technological interventions, have no or little access to credit facilities and are not in a position to avail crop and livestock insurance. Although government has started many programmes for their empowerment, these are yet to show the results on grounds.
Agriculture has become a non remunerative sector. More and more farmers are leaving this sector and the youths are not interested in this. The benefits of the different farmer welfare schemes do not reach all. Only a representative group of farmers avail the benefits. Indian agriculture is characterized by the predominance of small and marginal holdings. About 86% of the farmers are marginal and small. They needed to be included in the farmer welfare programmes and it must be ensured that the benefits of different agricultural schemes percolate down to them. The farm women are also an important part of the agricultural sector in the country. This is also a day to highlight various issues confronting the farm sector and the farming community. Farmers are not satisfied with the Minimum Support Price announced by the government every year. Although the Minimum Support Prices are announced by the government every year for 22 crops, yet the farmers are not satisfied with the MSP announced by the government and are demanding a legal provision on MSP.
The government has also been proactively supporting the farming community by starting many programmes for their welfare and rejuvenation of farm sector. PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKISAN) provides financial support to the farming community. PM Kisan Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) aims at improving the irrigation potential and efficiency of the irrigation network in the country. Soil Health Cards are being provided to the farmers which contain detailed description of the fertility status of their soils and the recommendation thereof. The marketing structure in the country is also being improved with many marketing reforms. e-NAM is being strengthened to connect all the mandi across the country. Organic and Natural farming is being promoted in the country to reverse the negative effects of chemical led intensive cultivation. Credit and insurance facilities are also being provided and their coverage is also being extended to include all the farmers. Special focus is being laid on the farm women and the youths. Many youths have now turned entrepreneurs and are providing job to many others instead of seeking job from others. Besides these, we also need to adopt and promote different practices for sustainable agriculture that result in food security and resilience. Practices like Zero/No tillage ensure that the soil is not ploughed but disturbed to the least possible extent. It helps to minimize mechanical soil disturbance which is essential to maintaining minerals within the soil, preventing erosion, and preventing water loss from occurring within the soil. Growing the same crops year after year of the practice of monocropping depletes the soil of different nutrients. Therefore crop rotation that involves growing different crops doesn’t rob the soil of its nutrients; instead add to the nutrient composition of the soil. Practicing crop rotation with more than two species does not allow insect/pests and weeds to be set into a rotation with specific crops. When crops are rotated, these act as a natural insecticide and herbicide against specific organisms. Growing of certain crops in the fields and then ploughing them back in the soil to enrich the soil with various nutrients. Green manuring helps increase biomass production in the fields, increase organic matter content, micro-organisims activity and also increase availability of both macro as well as micro-organisims to the crops. Organic and Natural Farming techniques which are based on use of local resources improve the soil health and also do not produce pollution of any kind. The adoption of an integrated farming system approach that involves different components also ensure that the local resources and family labour is used effectively and farmers get compensated from another enterprise in case of failure of one enterprise.
Today agriculture is witnessing what is called ‘digitalisation’. Just as our smart phones have become necessary for us, in the future the farming community is all likely to see through digital glasses and at the same time young farmers are likely to don the digital glasses or consult devices that will help them to analyze their work and accordingly take decisions for their betterment. For farmers, it has come as a fascinating experience. Digitalisation of agriculture has also emerged as another revolution, more so for the large numbers of the world’s smallholder farmers. Various digital farming technologies include Internet of Things (IoT), Precision Farming, Agricultural Drones and Robots and smart greenhouses have proved to be a boon for farming community.
(The writer writes on agriculture and social issues)
