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Agriculture - Some Challenges in Modern India
Agriculture - Some Challenges in Modern India
Agriculture - Some Challenges in Modern India
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)
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
2 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-20/india-seen-defying-rupee-plungeto-import-record-cooking-oils.html
maintaining quality and in many cases leads to gross wastage of valuable food grains and
other farm output.
Food wastage3 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.
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.
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.
Other References
1. http://www.indianspices.com/html/wp_wcs.htm
2. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-27/indiabusiness/40832327_1_bumper-harvest-panel-discussion-madan-sabnavis
3. http://paepard.blogspot.in/2013/07/utilization-of-fruit-and-vegetable.html
4. http://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Policy/India-damned-by-food-wastagereport
by S. Venkateswara Prasad