Agricultural sector employs more than 50% of India's population and contributes to only 14% of the GDP. This indicates the drastic inequality in terms of earning when compared to urban population who are mostly employed in either manufacturing or service sectors. With such high votes falling in this domain, no government can ignore their demands or solutions to their sufferings. Various governments in Centre and State have changed over the last 65 years without solving the crux of the problem faced by these farmers.
The issues faced by the farming community are as follows:
1. Literacy - Lack of quality education and schools has resulted in this community to depend on traditional means of agriculture and less exposure to scientific methods of cultivation.
2. Banking - Failures in better regulation of banks and policies to ensure financial inclusion of this community has led them to depend on local moneylenders who charge exorbitant interest charges and risk of losing their lands to these wealth hungry class.
3. Insurance - Traditionally farmers pray to the almighty to mitigate the risk rather than opting for crop insurances. Lack of knowledge and banking has still kept them in the dark. Less than 2% of the farming community is covered under insurance.
4. Sustainable Agricultural Practices - Indiscriminate use of highly subsidized fertilizers has made the land infertile and reduced productivity. Also MSP - Minimum support prices for only selected crops has pushed the entire farming community to grow only these crops and thereby not allowing the market forces to decide the prices. MSPs have discouraged farmers from exploring integrated farming and other crops which is sustainable for their location.
5. Marketing - With different APMC acts in different states, lack of clarity on the prices set by these agencies, high lobbying capacity of the middlemen has resulted in exploitation of farmers and crops not fetching the right price.
6. Storage and Warehouses - Due to short shelf life of fruits and vegetables, there is a high requirement of cold storages and warehouses to have a stable price and quantity across the year. With very few and poorly managed warehouses, the government lacks the main tool for controlling inflation and also giving a fair price to the harvest. Such uncertainties discourage farming.
7. Alternate source of Income - Many of the tillers are landless and lack skills for employment at the time of draught or periods between sowing & harvest.
8. Irrigation - 65% of the agricultural lands depend on rains for irrigation even today. Risk of failure of crops is high due to both heavy as well as lower rainfall. Again with indiscriminate use of underground water has depleted the resource
9. Size of Land- with 95% of the farmers of the land owning less than a hectare, cost of farming is high with lesser productivity.
Given such a plethora of problems, a single solution wouldn't be feasible to solve all miseries faced by the community. The government needs to have smarter measures to encourage integrated farming, cooperative & contract farming, adoption for crop insurance with quicker claim settlements, application of new scientific means of cultivation, more efficient direct and indirect banks with lesser cost ( both process and economically ) of availing loans focused to farming community, water shed development, transparent and efficient agricultural markets, improved connectivity from farm to markets, modern storage and warehouses etc
Successive governments have well identified the problems along with solution but have failed in implementing the solutions in an efficient and fair manner.
Written Apr 29, 2015 • View Upvotes
Agricultural sector employs more than 50% of India's population and contributes to only 14% of the GDP. This indicates the drastic inequality in terms of earning when compared to urban population who are mostly employed in either manufacturing or service sectors. With such high votes falling in this domain, no government can ignore their demands or solutions to their sufferings. Various governments in Centre and State have changed over the last 65 years without solving the crux of the problem faced by these farmers. The issues faced by the farming community are as follows:1. Literacy - Lack of quality education and schools has resulted in this community to depend on traditional means of agriculture and less exposure to scientific methods of cultivation. 2. Banking - Failures in better regulation of banks and policies to ensure financial inclusion of this community has led them to depend on local moneylenders who charge exorbitant interest charges and risk of losing their lands to these wealth hungry class.3. Insurance - Traditionally farmers pray to the almighty to mitigate the risk rather than opting for crop insurances. Lack of knowledge and banking has still kept them in the dark. Less than 2% of the farming community is covered under insurance.4. Sustainable Agricultural Practices - Indiscriminate use of highly subsidized fertilizers has made the land infertile and reduced productivity. Also MSP - Minimum support prices for only selected crops has pushed the entire farming community to grow only these crops and thereby not allowing the market forces to decide the prices. MSPs have discouraged farmers from exploring integrated farming and other crops which is sustainable for their location.5. Marketing - With different APMC acts in different states, lack of clarity on the prices set by these agencies, high lobbying capacity of the middlemen has resulted in exploitation of farmers and crops not fetching the right price.6. Storage and Warehouses - Due to short shelf life of fruits and vegetables, there is a high requirement of cold storages and warehouses to have a stable price and quantity across the year. With very few and poorly managed warehouses, the government lacks the main tool for controlling inflation and also giving a fair price to the harvest. Such uncertainties discourage farming. 7. Alternate source of Income - Many of the tillers are landless and lack skills for employment at the time of draught or periods between sowing & harvest.8. Irrigation - 65% of the agricultural lands depend on rains for irrigation even today. Risk of failure of crops is high due to both heavy as well as lower rainfall. Again with indiscriminate use of underground water has depleted the resource9. Size of Land- with 95% of the farmers of the land owning less than a hectare, cost of farming is high with lesser productivity.
Given such a plethora of problems, a single solution wouldn't be feasible to solve all miseries faced by the community. The government needs to have smarter measures to encourage integrated farming, cooperative & contract farming, adoption for crop insurance with quicker claim settlements, application of new scientific means of cultivation, more efficient direct and indirect banks with lesser cost ( both process and economically ) of availing loans focused to farming community, water shed development, transparent and efficient agricultural markets, improved connectivity from farm to markets, modern storage and warehouses etc
Successive governments have well identified the problems along with solution but have failed in implementing the solutions in an efficient and fair manner.
Written Apr 29, 2015 • View Upvotes
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
