FC-2-ASSESSMENT-1

SAURAV ANAND
M.A-DEVELOPMENT STUDIES-039
QUESTION-3
India rural economy is the base on which superstructure of the industrial as
well as services sector stands. Even though it contributes only 14% to total GDP
but employs directly or indirectly close to 50% of all INDIA workforce. This
sector has highest number of disguised employees too. India has failed to
adequately invest in human development is the critical factor behind this
sector being host to unproductive labor. The health and education as well as
skill development are the foundation on which manufacturing sector thrives
and absence of it has consequences for the farm sector too as lack of
employment opportunities makes a labor dependent upon farm in the rural
areas. The agriculture economy is vital for food and nutrition security of our
country. It is major foreign exchange earner as India happens to be one of the
largest exporter of food items. It has remained the top rice exporter for the
last five years. India is a megadiverse country and its farmers have played a
very stellar role in preserving the seed and plant biodiversity.
The massive workforce income and consumption drives the wheel of Indian
economy. It acts as a major boost to urban economy where production centers
are based. This consumption in the rural areas provide jobs to other
workforces in factories and which on their part stimulate the raw material
demand. So, the rural income is the trigger which fires the other sectors of
Indian economy. This bedrock of our nation is under severe pressure due to
both man-made policies and natural factors. The current status has been given
the name of rural distress. The current crisis has not erupted suddenly. What
really brought the distress to the notice of mainstream media as well as
general masses is spate of farmer suicides.
This distress has plagued large regions and particularly the small and marginal
farmers. There is plethora of reasons for this sorry state of affairs. To begin
with, rising population has deleterious impact on the size of the land holding.
They are getting smaller and thus economically unviable as the farmer’s
capacity to invest diminishes with every crop cycle. The 10th agricultural census
of 2015-16 shows that small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares
of land account for 86.2% of all farmers in India but own just 47.3% of the crop
area. The input cost is increasing with every crop cycle while erratic weather
has enhanced the risk of crop failure. Though the government encourage small
farmers to form farmer productive organization which will increase their
bargaining power in the retail market, it has not made any difference on the
ground. It is also challenging for these small farms to access extension services
and government farm support schemes. The green revolution was initiated to
tackle the massive food shortage in the country which made India dependent
on foreign aid program. This green revolution though solved the problem but
mechanism of mono cropping and emphasis on paddy and wheat has become
obsolete in this day and age. Today our warehouses are overflowing with
grains and images of rotten rice are every one of us. The nation wastes
precious resources in importing edible oil and pulses. The focus today has
shifted to nutritional security which can only be achieved by diversifying the
farm sector towards horticulture, dairy and meat as well as pulses and oil.
This mono culture has also harmed the land productivity. All the above can
only be achieved when there is access to credit on low interest credit as well
development in expertise of our farmers. The lack of institutional access to
farm loans is exploited by traditional money lenders who charge high interest
rates thereby trapping the farmers in vicious circle of debt. The climate change
has aggravated this problem as crop failure due to increasing heat as well as
sudden high intensity rain makes this a risky venture. To top all these
problems, is the issue of market space in the semi urban areas which are
limited in numbers. The farmers also lack storage space and food wastage
especially in horticulture is very high.
To rectify all these problems that has made rural economy a no -go zone for
investors and made migration to slums in the cities as only option, government
has to take holistic view of it. The policies that concentrates on one or two
parts are not going to work as the whole economic machine is interlinked.