What Can be Done to Ease the Plight of Indian Farmers?

“The Indian farmer is an entity that will soon turn into a nonentity, and the Government can do a lot more for them,” says Shivanand Hulyalkar. He also says he is distressed seeing the plight of Indian farmers and their families, and that his heart goes out to them. Sadly, the person responsible for growing the roti and sabzi we live on is being grossly overlooked. Even today, there persist many issues that trouble the Indian farmer and compel him to search for an escape route by taking his own life. However, as a matter of fact, after the loss of a loved one, farmers’ families often find it difficult to survive by themselves.

Agriculture in India is largely an unorganized sector. No systematic institutional and organizational planning is involved in cultivation, irrigation, harvesting etc. Even the MSP (Minimum Support Price) at 1.5 times cost is an empty promise by the ruling government. The land holdings of farmers are small and cultivation on such a small patch of land is not economically feasible. In most cases, cultivation is unprofitable for farmers as the lease rent far exceeds the money earned. It is also seen that because of the middlemen, hardly a few rupees reach the farmer’s pocket. Most of the subsidies and schemes announced by Central and State Governments do not reach poor farmers. There is high indebtedness prevalent among farmers coupled with exorbitant interest rates. Let’s look at various possible solutions which could help farmers.

❖    Special agricultural zones:

The Government should undertake the development of Special Agricultural Zones, much like Special Economic Zones, for the betterment of farmers. That means, designated areas for the cultivation of crops. We have always taken fields for granted, and it’s high time agriculture be given due importance.

❖    Modernization of agriculture:

The Indian agriculture system could be vastly improved with the introduction of the latest cutting-edge technology. Research should be undertaken for the genesis of seeds with higher yield potential and resistant to pests. When crops don’t do well due to weather conditions, the Indian farmer should be provided funds for his livelihood from the Government treasury.

❖    Educate farmers:

Many farmers are unaware of the concept of crop rotation which keeps the fertility of soil intact over the years. The Government has to realize that almost 90% of our farmers lack formal education. He should be educated about best agriculture practices.

❖    Need for meaningful crop insurance policies:

Insurance companies need to be backed by the Government to come up with meaningful crop insurance policies. The existence of such policies in place ensures the farmer is covered in case his crops fail.

❖    Need for better weather risk management system:

With the weather playing hide-and-seek, it has become difficult for the farmer to rest assured about the safety of his crops. Improvising national weather risk management system that alerts farmers when there is a danger of extreme weather, would go a long way in reducing losses in Indian agriculture.

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Created on Mar 31st 2018 01:14. Viewed 883 times.

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