Dr. Banarsi Lal
Agriculture sector is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider and is considered as the largest private enterprise in India. This sector provides the commodities and raw material required in non-agriculture and industrial sector. Although the contribution of this sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is declining year after year but still this sector is significantly contributing to the GDP of the nation. By 2030, when India’s population is estimated around 150 crores, the requirement of food grains will be around 334 mmts. Agricultural sector is undergoing a structural change with respect to its farm size, cropping pattern and share in the national Gross Value Added (GVA).Now we have achieved high crops production but still there is agrarian crisis. In order to increase the income of the farmers there is dire need to adopt the income centric approach in preference to production. There is need to facilitate the farmers so that they can operate their farm enterprises on the basis of profitable returns. Promotion of agriculture as a true self- enterprise will have to define by the sustainability of resources. Sustainability refers to appropriate use of natural resources, environmentally friendly technologies and protection of bio-diversity with a view to ensure the food and nutritional security of the increasing population. There is need to provide the equal opportunities for all categories of the farmers to grow and earn net family incomes more than they are presently earning. There has been increase in the number of cultivators from 1951 to 1917. In 2011-12 around 22.5 per cent of the farmers were below poverty line and is a situation that needs amelioration. The percentage of farmers’ population below poverty line in the same year was as low as 0.5, 3.2 and 4.3 in Punjab, Kerala and Haryana respectively while it was as high as 45.3, 35.1 and 33.0 in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam respectively. The purchasing power of a farmer depends on his monthly income. It has been observed that average monthly income are higher in case of cultivators having large farm size as compared to those with smaller farm sizes means farm size and monthly income are positively correlated. It has also been observed that the size of land holding of small and marginal categories has reduced to a large extent. Presently around 86 per cent of the total numbers of holdings in the country are under small and marginal farmers categories. The average size of holding in the country is around 1.15 ha. According to Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers in 2013, the average monthly income of agricultural household at All India level was Rs.6, 426/- and the average monthly consumption expenditure was 6,223/-.This indicates the vulnerability of the farmers in terms of adequacy of their income to meet family expenses and create savings that can be plowed back as investments on his farm.
The farmers’ incomes are linked to the growth rates of agriculture sector. During the 11th plan (2006-7 to 2011 -12), the agriculture growth rate was 3.3 per cent as against the target of 4 per cent. The growth rate of 12th plan (2012-13 to 2017-18) has been less targeted on account of poor performance in 2012-13 and two severe droughts in the year 2014-15 and 2015-16. But the year 2016-17 has shown growth buoyancy. There is need to increase the income of the farmers so that their standard of living can be improved and also generate the savings. Because of lack of savings and non-availability of required quantum of credits, the farmer is compelled to borrow the money from money lenders. It has been observed that indebtedness is an important factor for the farmers’ suicides and around 52 per cent of the agricultural households in the country are estimated to be indebted. Government of India in its budget 2016-17 declared its commitment to double the farmers income over the period of six years from 2016-17 to 2021-22.In order to double the farmers income the growth rate of agricultural production is important but that is not sufficient. The emphasis on post-production of crops is also very important so that the income of the farmers can be increased. Special efforts are needed to double the farmers income by 2022.This requires transformation of agriculture production as well as marketing through a multipronged strategy that involves increase in productivity ,reduction in average cost, better price realization for farm produce, expansion of allied activities and shift of farmers towards the value addition occupations. The Indian is lacking the modern method of farming. Still we use the flood method of irrigation, broadcasting fertlisers and indiscriminately spraying of chemicals. Advance world is moving towards precision farming using sensors and other scientific tools for exact practices and application of inputs.
Our neighboring country China has shown consistent annual growth in the agricultural sector. Natural calamities and change in climate adversely impact the agriculture sector. It is also affected by the market uncertainties as production cannot be maneuvered as early as in case of industrial system. This impacts the farmers at production and post-production systems influencing their income directly. Thus, there is need to provide support to the farmers and enable them to overcome such risks and uncertainties. It is due to such reasons that Government of India redesignated the Ministry of Agriculture as Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Department of Agriculture and Cooperation under the Ministry as Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. The objective is to focus on welfare of the farmers by ensuring coverage under various welfare schemes. It is necessary to prioritize sub-sectors for investments and efforts so as to achieve higher growth rates from this sector. Agriculture comprises various sub-sectors such as field crops, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries etc. and it is important to understand the composition of these sub-sectors and the growth potential of each of these. The Internal Rate of Returns is not uniform from all the sectors. It has also been observed that the livestock, fishing and aquaculture have more growth potential as compared to crops sector. Within the crops sub-sectors, horticulture sector has been registering more growth rates over the last decade. From 2010-11 to 2014-15 the area under horticultural crops increased by 18 per cent while the area under agricultural crops has increased by 5 per cent. The share of horticultural output as a percentage of agriculture now constitutes 30 per cent. It is obvious that horticulture, livestock and fisheries have great potential and need special emphasis. Also the efforts are needed to increase the yields of field crops. Road, markets, irrigation, godowns, cold storage infrastructures, knowledge creation through technical development and so on are necessary for the agricultural growth in the country. For instance, improving of road infrastructure leads to reduction in the cost of transportation and thereby the marketing costs can be reduced. The investments by public and private sectors can play a critical role for the agricultural growth in India. Farmers’ suicides are an avoidable issue if appropriate and timely interventions are made in agriculture sectors. The policies and programmes of the government should be designed in such a way so that farmers can be facilitated at every stage of crops production and post-production chain. By the Soil Health Card Scheme, the farmer can learn the nutrient and physicochemical status of the soil and thus can decide the nature and quantum of fertilizers and amendments in soil. Such techniques can reduce the cost of cultivation. By e-National Agriculture Market (eNAM) information farmer can decide whether to sell the farm produce or to postpone for the time being. The Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme entitled as Pardhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana aims to insure the farmers’ crops at the low premium rates.
The interventions on food processing, supply chain and value chain management can help the farmers to realize their great monetary returns from their farm produce. Various central and state agricultural schemes and programmes can also be helpful increase the income of the farmers. There is also the need for the effective review and monitoring mechanism of all the activities at the field level supported by the appropriate Information and Communication Technology (ICT). All this can help to double the farmers’ income and also to sustain the crops production.
(The writer is Sr. Scientist and Head of KVK, Reasi (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu).
