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Doubling Farmer Incomes by
2022
and India’s Agriculture Scenario
I ndia has a
high degree of sensitivity to climate change, which is compounded in
areas of extreme poverty and high dependency on agriculture (Maple
croft, 2010). 58 % of our population is dependent on agriculture and 85%
of the total farmers are small and marginal farmers.
The Government of India made a budget announcement
this year (2016) that it is setting itself the target of doubling
incomes of farmers by 2022. This article throws light on the
government’s strategy for achieving this ambitious target and
experiences from the ground.
Small farmers in India face double risk: production
risk and market risk. They face production risks due to constraints on
natural resource availability - water, land and soil conditions. The
production risk is further aggravated with the changing climate and
frequent weather aberrations that result in crop failures or reduced
crop production. Eleven states declared drought between August 2015 and
April 2016 (Sen & Bera, 2016). It is further expected that regional
water availability for food production shall reduce due to rising
temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and increasing frequency
of extreme weather events (Ranuzzi, 2012).
The market risk that farmers face is reflected in the
price fluctuations in the market and no assured buyers for the produce.
Constraints of small quantity of raw produce further adds to the reduced
returns for farmers from agriculture. Economic contribution from
agriculture has shown a declining trend. The rate of growth of the
agriculture sector has declined sharply from 4.2 per cent in 2013-14 to
-0.2 per cent in 2014-15 (CBGA, 2016).
Conditions of farmers have been worsening over time
with limited resource availability, higher vulnerabilities to climate
and market and low output price. The number of farmer suicides
nationwide rose to an average of 52 a day in 2015 (Sharma, 2016). The
economic situation of small farmers in India ranges from a monthly debt
of INR -1500 to savings upto INR 469. This highlights the economic
crisis faced by small and marginal farmers across India.
NITI Aayog’s Task Force on Agricultural
Development has highlighted five priority areas of work in the
agriculture sector (NITI Aayog, 2015):
• Important steps need to
be taken to raise agricultural productivity. It points out the need for
quality and judicious use of inputs, irrigation potential, modern
technology use (like genetically modified seeds) and shift to high value
commodities.
• It needs to be ensured
that farmers receive remunerative prices for their crops. Currently, MSP
applies to only a few crops such as rice, wheat and cotton and is only
available in areas where procurement is done.
• Land leasing laws have
to be revised to encourage formal leasing contracts between the owner
and the tenant. This shall help in the identification of actual
cultivators in the records.
• Effective crop
insurance schemes are required to reduce farmers’ hardships from natural
disasters such as droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, landslides, hails
and earthquakes.
• India needs to focus on
agriculture in the eastern states also.
The priorities put forth by the report need to be
read in light of certain facts of the agriculture sector. A small
farmer’s choice of crop for cultivation, choice of agriculture practice
and marketing choice is dictated by his aim for higher income
generation. Higher income in the long run will require the farmer to
maintain health of its natural systems comprising of water, land and
soil resources. It also needs to be noted that natural resource
management of the entire area may not be in the hands of one individual
farmer alone. Ground water exploitation or over use of water resources
by one farmer may result in lower water tables for all the other farmers
in the area. Another critical point to note is also that 60% of India’s
land under cultivation is rain-fed and more than 30% lies in the
resource scarce semi-arid regions of the country. This means that
natural resources are scarce and thus generate regular challenge for
agriculture practice in this region.
 In light of these facts, some suggested policy
considerations for doubling farmer incomes and the priority setting
exercise by NITI’s task force are as follows:
• Increasing agricultural
productivity using quality and judicious inputs, modern technology etc.
have to be proceeded with some caveats. While increasing agricultural
productivity should be the focus, there is also a strong need to develop
climate resilience. The choice of crops have to be made keeping in mind
the soil quality, water availability and weather suitability of the
region. Another factor that should be taken into account should be the
cost of cultivation. Crop production in India is dominated by
cultivation of paddy in Kharif and wheat in the Rabi seasons. These two
crops cover about 38% of gross cropped area in the country. Rice and
wheat have not been traditional crops in most of the areas and it is
important in this regard that other crops like millets and pulses which
are more adaptable to the natural resources and climatic conditions of
the region are given more focus (NITI Aayog, 2015).
• Use of modern
technology for increasing agriculture productivity will have to be cost
effective for small farmers in India. Therefore, technologies like
genetically modified seeds have to be researched on properly - not just
for scientific prudence but also for their social consequences. Seeds
are the basis of agriculture and the basis of farmers’ livelihoods.
Since Monsanto’s entry into India in 1998, the price of cotton seeds has
increased by almost 80,000% (from INR 5 – INR 9/KG to INR 1600 for 450
gms). The IPR, technology fees and patents on the seeds further
restricts access and availability of fairly priced seeds to the farmers.
(Shiva, 2016) There is a need for promoting technology that ensures
higher productivity, while ensuring cost effectiveness for small
farmers.
• Ensured remunerative
prices for food produce to farmers is important but government procures
only few crops and from few farmers. While the government currently
announces MSP for 23 crops, procurement is effective mainly for wheat,
rice and cotton and even for these crops, it is restricted to a subset
of farmers in a few states (NITI Aayog, 2015). It is therefore
important to revise MSPs in accordance to the traditional crops of the
state and ensure just MSPs for those crops. Additionally, there is a
need to enable farmers to reach markets effectively with adequate value
addition and marketing facilities for ensuring decent prices for their
produce and not remain dependent only on government procurement.
Adequate policy mechanisms that ensure skill and capacity development of
small farmers to reach markets and ensure decent and stable prices for
their produce needs to be of high priority in the government agriculture
agenda.
• Effective crop
insurance schemes are necessary but remain a curative exercise. What is
additionally required are systems and capacities for communities to be
informed of the vulnerabilities in agriculture and ways to adapt to the
vagaries of climate change. This needs investments in effective and
timely information systems, planning and decision making support to
farmers in order to ensure adequacy in preventive action for crop
failure.
q
Anshul Bhamra
abhamra@devalt.org
Bibliography
•
CBGA. (2016). Connecting the Dots- An
analysis of Union Budget 2016-17. Delhi: CBGA.
•
Maplecroft. (2010). Climate change risk
report.
•
NITI Aayog. (2015). Raising
Agricultural Productivity and Making Farming remunerative for Farming.
Government of India.
•
Ranuzzi, A. S. (2012). Impact of Climate
Change on agriculture and food security. ICRIER.
•
Sen, S., & Bera, S. (2016, May 12). Frame
national drought policy: Supreme Court. Live mint.
•
Shiva, V. (2016, March 27). Monsanto
versus Indian Farmers. Retrieved May 19, 2016, from vandanashiva:
http://vandanashiva.com/?p=402
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