Agriculture,
the backbone of Indian rural economy, contributes to the overall economic
growth of the country and determines the standard of life for more than 50% of
the Indian population. Agriculture contributes only about 14% to the overall
GDP but its impact is felt in the manufacturing sector as well as the services
sector as the rural population has become a significant consumer of goods and
services in the last couple of decades. But during the same time, growing
industrial sector has created its own set of problems to agriculture.
(Note:
Some problems are inter – related and have common solutions. Hence I have
listed the solutions separately)
The ‘Intra – Sector’ Problems
1. Fragmented
land holding
Nearly 80% of the 140 million farming
families hold less than 2 acres of land[1].
Large land holdings enable the farmer to implement modern agricultural
techniques and boost productivity. Besides, the number of people dependent on
agriculture is also less in a large farmland as is the case in the Western economies.
Small land holdings restrict the farmer to use traditional methods of farming
and limit productivity. As land holdings are small, more people invariably work
on the farms in the rural areas and coupled with the obsolete technology, farm
incomes come down.
2. Irrigation
problems
Most of the farming in India is monsoon
dependent – if monsoons are good, the entire economy (and not just the
agricultural sector) is upbeat and when the monsoon fails, everyone everywhere
takes a hit to some extent. For a country that receives the second highest
rainfall in the world and a country with a well extended river system lack of
water can hardly be an excuse. The problem here is of proper management of
water or the lack of it. Irrigation which consumes more than 80% of the total
water use in the country needs a proper overhaul if the country has to improve
agricultural output and boost the overall economy.
3. Seed
problems
In the olden days, farmers had their own
seed repositories from the previous crop. They used to select the best seeds
from the previous generation and use them to improve the crop quality in the
succeeding generations. But now, most of the farmers – especially the poor and
marginal ones – are dependent on seeds sold in the market. Moreover, the HYV seeds
as well as the GM seeds which promise higher yields force the farmers to buy
seeds for every crop. With spurious seeds hitting the market, the farmers’ woes
have exceeded all limits. Sometimes seeds do not give the stated/claimed yields
and farmers run into economic troubles.
In many cases of GM and HYV seeds,
farmers are forced to use high amounts of fertilisers and pesticides, provide
large amounts of water (irrigation) and abide to all the other farming
requirements that the companies mandate to get the proper yields. A proper
regulation/legislation to hold seed companies accountable for false claims is
the need of the hour as companies use legal loopholes to push the blame on to
the farmers in the case of failed crops.
4. Sustainability
problems
Indian agricultural productivity is
very less compared to world standards due to use of obsolete farming
technology. Coupled with this, lack of understanding of the need for
sustainability in the poor farming community has made things worse. Companies
promise higher yields by usage of their fertilisers and farmers, most of the
time, exceed the prescribed limits of fertiliser use. Water usage is also
unplanned with some arid areas misusing the irrigation facilities provided by
planting water intensive crops. In areas where irrigation in the form of rivers
and canals is not sufficiently available, ground water resources are heavily
exploited.
Sustainability in agriculture is of
utmost importance as many problems faced by farmers are related to this. Excess
fertiliser usage not only makes the plants dependent on artificial fertilisers
but also erodes the land quality, polluted ground water and in case of a
surface runoff, pollutes the nearby water bodies.
Similarly, planting crops which
require more water like rice on the basis of irrigation facilities extended to
areas which are water deficient uses up more water than required. Besides, the
excessive evaporation cause salts to accumulate on the fields making them lose
their fertility quickly.
Lack of proper understanding of the
need to grow crops sustainably will push farmers into a vicious circle – of
debts, heavy use of fertilisers, water mismanagement, low productivity and thus
more debts for the next cycle.
5. Over
dependence on traditional crops like rice and wheat
Every crop requires certain
climatic conditions to give the best yields. Though rice and wheat are produced
in a large area in India, certain areas can readily switch to other crops to
get better productivity. India is importing cooking oil from abroad though we
have the necessary conditions to grow more oilseeds here[2].
Heavy dependence on traditional rice and wheat points to the lack of a proper
national plan on agriculture. Excess stocks in a few crops lead to problems in
the selling of the produce, storage and shortage of other essential farm
output. Moreover, if the farm output is skewed towards crops like rice,
irrigation and ground water facilities are misused by farmers, which leads to a
host of other problems.
6. Supply
channel bottlenecks and lack of market understanding
Supply channel bottlenecks and lack of a
proper marketing channel are serious problems for a farmer who is already
burdened with a host of troubles. These are issues which need to be tackled at
the regional, state and national levels. Lack of a proper marketing channel
forces the farmers to distress sale, makes them victims in the hands of greedy
middlemen and ultimately restricts their income.
An improper marketing and storage
channel also leads to storage problems in the years where productivity is good,
leads to poor agricultural exports due to problems in maintaining quality and
in many cases leads to gross wastage of valuable food grains and other farm
output.
Food wastage[3]
running into thousands of crores of rupees every year is nothing short of a
crime in a country where more than 20% is below poverty line and where millions
go hungry day after day. Lack of a national strategy in terms of agricultural
production leads to production of some crops exceeding the requirement and to
some crops well below the minimum limits. The problem is more acute in case of
perishable agri output like vegetables and fruits where estimates of wastage
are around 40%[4].
7. Government
handling of the issue
MSP, overall agricultural strategy of
the country, PDS, storage/granaries, lack of export market creation
India lacks the required number of
storage facilities (granaries, warehouses, cold storage etc) which negates the
advantage of having a bumper crop in years of good monsoon. Exports in
agricultural sector are also not very encouraging with a share of just 10% of
the total exports, for a country where more than 50% of population is dependent
on agriculture. The Minimum Support Prices (MSP) offered by the Government is a
double edged sword – MSPs protect farmers from being exploited by middlemen but
during times of excess crop, Government runs the risk of an unnecessary fiscal
deficit by buying the excess produce. Lack of proper storage facilities and
lack of a proper international market linkage leads to lower exports and in
many cases leads to huge amount of wastage.
Some Solutions to ‘Intra – Sector’ Problems
1. Pooling
of village lands and cooperative farming will ease the burden of fragmented
land holdings. When the farmers form a consortium at the village level, the
aggregate land can be farmed by using the latest technology. Banks too will be
willing to lend money to a village consortium which can be utilised to boost
farm productivity, employ sustainable farming methods, reduce over – dependence
on fertilisers and thus solve many problems. The overall risk of a crop failure
is less in this case and small farmers have a higher chance of earning a decent
income at the end of the harvest season. Agricultural intensity also rises when
a planned strategy adopted at the village level is implemented.
Agricultural credit and farm
mechanisation for small and marginal farmers will continue to be difficult
unless pooling of farm resources and/or a joint usage of farm technology are
employed[5].
2. Irrigation
problems can be addressed by Government –
preferably at the State and National levels. Though the Government cannot force
farmers to produce only the designated crops in particular areas, it can surely
educate them about the alternatives. Irrigation and water mismanagement is an
issue that can reach crisis proportions in the years to come if proper steps
are not taken to avert it today. This can be achieved only by making farmers
aware of the future problems and showing them alternative economic channels.
Farmers also will shift from the
traditional crops and look for alternative crops provided Government gives them
the confidence that alternative crops too are economically profitable. When
proper techniques (in water management at the regional, state and national
levels as well as a crop plan of what to produce and where to produce) are
employed, it will be a win – win situation for both the farmers as well as the
country.
Irrigation problems as well as
problems due to single/traditional crop dependence can be solved by a national
level plan for agricultural production. Government can encourage farmers to
shift to cash crops (oil seeds etc) instead of food crops in areas where food
crops are not at an advantage to reduce imports and also to boost exports.
3. Seed
problems can be overcome by creating in house
seed banks at the village level for traditional crops (thereby reducing farmer
dependence on external seed banks), selling Government approved seeds through
proper channels (to eradicate spurious seeds) and strict penalties on seed
marketing companies in case the seeds do
not match the claims – germination and yield - of the companies. Terminator
seeds should not be encouraged as a matter of principle as they force farmers
to buy seeds for every crop.
Scientific research in this subject
is to be encouraged to promote seeds which are mild on resource requirements
but help the farmers in boosting the yields. Sometimes small innovations at the
grass root levels can solve a host of problems specific to a particular region.
District agricultural officers must make it a habit to encourage such ideas and
also take part in knowledge sharing to implement the ideas at a regional level.
4. Some
sustainability solutions are proper crop management on the basis of
water availability, crop rotation, deploying modern agricultural practices to
boost productivity, switching over to organic farming (village pools will
reduce costs), thrust on allied activities.
For organic farming, first of all,
a proper awareness has to be built – among both the farmers as well as
consumers. Organic farming reduces the unnecessary usage of artificial
fertilisers, reduces water consumption, strikes a good balance between the
local environment and the farm output, helps the land retain its fertility for
a long time, reduces costs in the long run and also with the creation of a
proper market in the towns and cities establishes a virtuous cycle between
consumers and farmers.
5. Storage
facilities can be boosted by small cold storage or
granaries at village level which can be established from Panchayat funds and
loans to the village society (this eliminates dumping of excess crops in the
market yard). A 700 ton cold storage cum warehouse will cost around Rs. 1.5
crores[6] which
is very reasonable cost for a group of villages or a large Panchayat, provided
the State or Union Government funds the cost. E-Mandis will also help the
farmers to correctly predict the prices and thus market them profitably.
6. At
the National level an agricultural strategy or policy to improve
information exchange, national level cold storage chains and logistic network
(If Walmart can do, then Government of India can also do!) is the need of the
hour. Proper management of PDS has to done to cut down wastes so that a
reliable estimate of the food grain needs will be made. The excess (after
keeping reserves for a potential draught year) can be exported provided the
quality is maintained by means of proper storage. Food wastage can thus be cut
down and agricultural trade balance can be improved if there is a national
level plan.
Other serious issues plaguing Agriculture Sector
Rampant
urbanisation, industrialisation and infrastructural
development have created their own set of problems to a sector which is already
under much strain. In the past couple of decades, due to favourable economic
policies in the aftermath of liberalisation, industrial growth has been
phenomenal in India. Urbanisation too has seen an unprecedented increase in the
same time. But for establishing an industry or for building and expanding a
city, much land is required. As the land available in the country is limited,
the ever increasing demand is satisfied by the already strained agricultural
land.
Farmers,
in many cases the poor and marginal ones, are forced to part with their land to
boost industrialisation. The SEZs which are the future growth engines for
industrial output have become a menace to these poor farmers as far as land acquisition
is concerned. Coupled with this, a general lack of empathy towards farmers by
the administrators as well as legislators has exacerbated the situation.
So,
should all industrialisation and development be halted to save agriculture?
There is never a yes or no answer for many problems that India faces. Growth
and development in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy is
essential if India wants to become a super power but that development should
not be at the cost of agriculture. A balance is essential.
Industries
and SEZs do not need fertile agricultural land to set shop. Cities too can be
built on agricultural waste land. Industrial encroachment can be stopped by
proper handling of land acquisition. Agricultural lands must not be used for
industries unless there is absolutely no alternative. In the extreme cases
where an industry or an infrastructural requirement (like a power plant) has to
come up at an area where agricultural land has to be shifted to an industrial
purpose, proper compensation has to be provided to the local farmers who are
dependent on the land. This can done by way of reserving some jobs (on the
basis of the skill set of the local population) in the industry that is to come
up, having a proper rehabilitation and resettlement program, giving appropriate
compensation and making sure some share of the profits of the industry go
towards development – social and economic – of the area and the displaced
people.
Renewable
energy farms (wind and solar) must be set in agricultural lands if and only if
there is absolutely no alternative. Even in that case, double usage of land can
be thought of for both agriculture and the wind farm. Solar farms can be set up
over large canals which provides a double benefit – less wastage of water
(evaporation) and producing solar power.
Conclusion
Agriculture
is a sector that feeds millions directly, has a considerable influence on the
whole economy and in a country like India well being of the agricultural sector
as a whole brings a psychological advantage to a multitude of other sectors. Millions
depend on the farm lands for their sustenance and thus it makes it all the more
important to eradicate the problems in this field. India cannot develop in the
actual sense if its farmers lead a life of dire poverty and helplessness. A
careful balance of industrialisation and agriculture is crucial for the overall
prosperity of the nation.
