The Struggle of a Smallholder Indian

Farmer
1. Historical perspective of Indian Agriculture

India remains the second-most populous country after China. It has a population of 1.2 billion
people, of which 70% is rural, and 75% of the poor live in rural area. After its independence,
the country made tremendous progress towards gaining food security. Before the 1960s, India
used to rely on imports and foreign aid but after 1966, India adopted policy reforms that
enhance self-reliance in food security by promoting domestic production. This has led to India
being the world’s largest producer of many fresh fruits. It is also the second largest producer
of dry fruits, agriculture-based textile raw materials, roots, and tuber crops. Though India is
the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world, the export of those
commodities only constitutes a smaller share of the country’s export.

In 2013, India exported more than $39 billion worth of agriculture products. It has gone from
a food deficit country to a food sufficient in a day. As the country’s food production is
increasing more and more land is cultivated. However, during the last decades, the growth in
agricultural land use grew more than the production, implying a decrease in productivity.

I.1 Green Revolution in India

The green revolution started in Mexico in the 1940s by an American named Norman Borlaug.
Due to its success in producing more agriculture products and increasing the amount of
calories produced per acre of agriculture, it spread in other nations. It was very successful in
India. Before the green revolution, only rainfed regions of India were able to practice
agriculture. A huge number of people were dying of famine because there was not enough
food to eat. During the green revolution, The following was introduced:

 Irrigation was introduced in the other regions that do not have enough rainfalls.
 Dwarf wheat: When improved wheats were introduced, they grew tall and will then
lodge.
 Fertilizers: The genetic crops introduced couldn’t grow without fertilizers.  
 Agriculture production on a large scale: there was the introduction of mechanization.
 Affluence in farmers: All farmers were considered poor before the introduction of
green revolution. But now, they are rich farmers who have large scale farms
 Land intensive management: The prevented land expansion by maximizing the
potential of its soil. More food was grown in the same amount of land. There was no
deforestation.  

I.2  Effects of green revolution on smallholder farmers

Although the green revolution had a lot of benefits and fed a lot of people that were dying of
hunger, it also had some negative effects on the lives of smallholder farmers and families.
Some of the failures of the green revolution include:

 Mono-cropping: In traditional farming, farmers planted a variety of crops. However,

farmers in green revolution planted few crop varieties of crops that were producing
 high yields. It leaded to the increase of pests and diseases in the crops. Fifty years ago
there were 30,000 varieties of rice, however,  only 10 varieties are remaining. (4)
 Inequality: farmers who were farming at large scale were benefiting more of the green
revolution. They were able to afford fertilizers, unlike smallholder farmers. Farmers
cultivating at small scales farms had to work for the big farms as they couldn’t afford
the prices of fertilizers and pesticides. As the pests increased, the more the pesticides
use increased. There was also the introduction of machinery which shorten the labour
employment which created unemployment. Those who were poor before the green
revolution became more poorer.
 Unsustainable practice: farming practices used were detrimental for the soil health.

II. Smallholder farmers health and impact after the green revolution

II.1 Farmers suicides

There was a spike in farmer suicides in the end of the green revolution. Small scale farmers
were exposed to price fluctuations that are characteristic of cash crops on the global market
and were in competition with multinational corporations. Large scale Indian farmers adopted
the use of pesticides, fertilized and genetic  modified seeds. It raised the production costs
significantly. The small scale farmers had to take out loans for inputs because they were
expensive and couldn’t afford them. Indians are very proud people who wouldn’t want to rely
on anyone for help. Although they were able to take out loans, they don’t have the capability
to predict the price of the crops once harvested or what the weather is going to be like. Thus,
when the price of the crops take a downturn, the farmers do not have earnings in the
postharvest needed to pay out loans used to buy inputs, resulting in enduring debt. As most of
the farmers do not have another source of income, they are obliged to take out more loans,
incurring more debts, to purchase inputs in attempts of trying to repay the previous their
debts. In this case, they found themselves drown in debts they cannot repay. This resulted in
male farmers taking out their lives, leaving their debts to their wives and children (Pull out
data about slavery on the families still alive)

III. Food losses

Food loss can be crucial to smallholder farmers who solemnly depend on agriculture with no
other source of income. It occurs along the agricultural value chain from harvesting to
consumption level. In low income countries they experience food loss which usually happens
during post harvest and before it reaches out to the market. However, in high income
countries where they experience food waste which happens at the retail and consumption
stages. Nevertheless, in my paper I’ll focus more on food loss than the food waste. In
developing countries, food loss happens at the post harvest stages due to lack of knowledge,
modern infrastructure and technologies. It has an immense impact on poor farmers whose
income diminishes, and consumers who have have to pay more for the produce and less food
availability. Below, I will elaborate on the causes of food losses.

  III.1 Causes of food losses in the agriculture value chain

1. Harvesting: In most rural areas traditional agriculture is prevalent. During harvest, due
to lack of machineries, crops harvesting is done by hand using farming tools. Crops
have a favorable moisture content they should be harvested on. When they are
 harvested ahead of time, it means they have a high moisture content which in return
raisesdrying costs and also make crops vulnerable to diseases and pests. Nevertheless,
when not harvested on time, they attract mammals and flying pests or perish by cause
of unavoidable casualty (1).

2.                Lack of effective storages: India is the second exporter of fruits and fresh
vegetables in the world, however, hunger and dietary deficiency is prevalent among
Indians. Compared to the US that store about 85% of produce using cold storage
facilities, only two percent is stored in India. This is due to the lack of post-harvest
infrastructure which is results in a loss of 18 percent of fruits and vegetables (2). In
addition, with the lack of storages, farmers are obligated to take the fresh produce
right after harvest. Take into account that all the farmers in that region are harvesting
and selling produce on the market at the same time. Under the circumstances, there’s a
price stagnation. According to the laws of supply and demand, when there’s an
excessive supply of produce than demanded; the price goes down and farmers are at
loss.

3.                Transportation: Transportation plays a major role in post-harvest losses. The

lack of proper roads increases the number of infections in the grains because they
spend more time on the roads and get exposed to undesirable things. The other modes
of transportation that are not vehicles such as bikes and motorcycles contribute to food
losses. There’s grain spillage as the bikes move through the poorly maintained road.
Grains are spilled in large quantities due the low quality of jute bags used to store
grains. “Alavi et al. (3) reported 2%-10% losses during handling and transportation of
rice in southeast Asia” (1).

4.                Middlemen; are intermediaries between farmers and consumers or

companies. They have turned out to be the enemies of progress. They buy low from
farmers and sell at a high price to consumers. It has seen to be crucial especially in
rural regions of the developing nations where farmers aren’t capable to communicate
with each other or know what the market prices are. Farmers might also not be aware
of the policies that are in favor of them because of lack of communication, which
makes it easy for middlemen to exploit them.  

IV. Why is India slacking compared to other countries?

India agriculture production is huge and is capable to feed its whole population, however,
millions of people are dying of hunger. Dr. Vijay Kumar Sarabu in his research paper (2015),
highlights some of the reasons why India is underperforming compared to China that has less
agriculture advantages to India. The two countries were compared to each other because they
are similar in so many ways such as having agrarian economies and relying on the agricultural
sector for industrial expansion.

According to Dr. Sabaru, China surpasses India due to these three reasons;

 “Technological improvement accruing from Research and development

 Investment in rural infrastructure
 Increasingly liberalised agricultural policy”
In the paper, Dr. Sabaru mentions that India has over 30,000 scientists but their “research
track record has been so abysmal that India’s current agricultural productivity is roughly equal
to what China achieved in the mid-1980s.” One of the reasons that led to the stagnation of
useful  research was due to the poor allocation of funding for research and development. He
mentioned that “90% of the Punjab Agriculture university’s budget is eaten up by staff
salaries with only 3% going into research.” In comparison to China, funding for research do
not go elsewhere. Researchers have an incentive to work harder because they get an increase
in salaries. With a lot of improved research and development allows China to make decision
such as investing more money in “rural infrastructure in particular roads as well as storage
and other marketing facilities” On the other hand, India instead of investing in rural
infrastructure, they provide subsidies to farmers.

The Chinese having a saying that goes ““You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a
day. You teach him to fish, and you give him an occupation that will feed him for a lifetime.”
This quote summarizes what they Chinese government is doing by giving less subsidies and
invest more in R&D and rural infrastructures.

Find out how UKEssays.com can help you!

Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have.
From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service
perfectly matched to your needs.

In the research paper, Dr Sabaru concludes that change will be sustainable once the
government make good agriculture policies and invest in R&D and try to follow the Chinese
government example. He acknowledges that Indians are hard workers and tend to excel in
other countries with good government, and it’s up to the Indian government to make the
country self sufficient and promote food security.

V. Solutions

Conclusion

As I conclude, the agricultural sector is growing however it’s growing at a slow rate. With
better agriculture policies like the ones implemented by the Chinese government, India will
become the first donor of food in the world. In addition, India will have food security.

References

 Kumar, Deepak and Prasanta Kalita. “Reducing Postharvest Losses during Storage of
Grain Crops to Strengthen Food Security in Developing Countries” Foods (Basel,
Switzerland) vol. 6,1 8. 15 Jan. 2017, doi:10.3390/foods6010008. (1)
 Sivarama, Madhu. “Government’s role in India’s Ailing Cold Storage Sector” Dec.
2016, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.36370.45765 (2)
 Alavi H.R., Htenas A., Kopicki R., Shepherd A.W., Clarete R.Trusting Trade and the
Private Sector for Food Security in Southeast Asia. World Bank Publications;
Washington, DC, USA: 2012 (3)
Lee, Kevin. “Harmful Effects of the Green Revolution.” Sciencing.com, Sciencing, 23
Apr. 2