Addressing the Challenges in Agriculture
Agricultural
productivity depends on several factors which include the availability
and quality of agricultural inputs such as land, water, seeds and
fertilisers, access to agricultural credit and crop insurance, assurance
of remunerative prices for agricultural produce and storage and
marketing infrastructure among others. Despite a number of initiatives
taken by the government, the farming sector in India is plagued with
problems of low agricultural growth. The reasons vary from structural
problems relating to falling public investments in agriculture to rising
input costs of farmers and issues in marketing of agricultural produce.
Over a period of time, Indian agriculture
has become cereal-centric and input-intensive by way of consuming
enormous amounts of land, water and fertilisers. The challenges
agriculture faces today include how to economise the use of water, how
to shift towards traditional cultivation and how to create a unified
agriculture market. With more than sixty percent of its population
dependent on agriculture, the impacts of climate change assume
significant importance for India. Global climate change projections made
up to 2100 indicate an overall increase in temperature by 2-40 C (IPCC
Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007) coupled with increase in
precipitation, especially during the monsoon period. This would have
adverse impacts on the farm sector and food security of the country.
The Agri-Horti model is being promoted as a
fundamental component of climate resilient agricultural practices. It is
implemented in family-owned plots of under-utilised lands. One
Agri-Horti plot of around one acre (around 0.405 hectares or 4050 square
metres) is developed for each family, with full participation of the
family. The Agri-Horti model aims to support families during adverse
climatic conditions by diversifying their income and providing
nutritional support to households.
Keeping in mind, the importance of
backward-forward linkages for agri produce, collectivisation of
producers especially the small and marginal farmers through the
formation of producer organisations has emerged as one of the most
effective pathways to address the many challenges of agriculture.
To increase the 3 P’s (Production,
Productivity and Profitability) of agriculture has been the primary
objective of mobilising farmers into member-owned producer organisations
or FPOs. The participant farmers are given the necessary support to
identify appropriate crops and are also provided access to modern
technology through community-based processes including Farmer Field
Schools. The training for capacity building of farmers for development
of improved agriculture practices are facilitated to access forward
linkages to technology for enhancement of productivity, value addition
of feasible products and market tie-ups.
The gradual shift from productivity based
policy to income based policy reflects optimistically on the
transitional change experienced in the farmers’ life ensuring better
life standards and income level in the days to come.
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Chandan Mishra
ckmishra1@devalt.org
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