AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTOR

Agriculture (inclusive of animal husbandry, forestry and fishing) is central to the nutrition needs of India and remains the largest sector of India’s economy as a source of employment and accounts for 17% of India's GDP

major issue pertaining to Indian Agriculture

Low Agricultural Productivity

Policy Issues

Inefficient Agricultural Marketing

Input Challenges

Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act has also allowed the cartelization of traders that keeps farm-gate prices low

Inefficient MSP structure

Only 6% farmers get the benefit of MSP and remaining 94% are dependent on the markets

Large number of farmers want to quit

Climate Change

Low investment in Research & Development

Lack of enabling infrastructure along the value chain

Market Sluggishness

Rural Distress & Farmer Suicides

Agricultural NPA’s due to

Dependence of Monsoon

Increasing Rural Distress

Moral Hazard of Farm Loan Waiver

Using Loan Amount for Non-farming Purposes

Suggestions for tackling agricultural distress

Recommendations of Ashok Dalwai Committee on Doubling Famers’ Income by 2022

Recognize agriculture in India as an enterprise

Expand the mandate of agriculture

Pursue adoption of NITI Aayog’s Model Land Leasing Act by all the states and UTs

transit from the status of cultivators to farm managers

Water may be treated as the ‘determining factor’ of production- rather than considering it as a mere input

Creation of additional sources of water

Efficient use of water

Saving on ground water and its sustainability through recharge

Crop alignment based on ‘path of least resistance’

Adopt ‘Fork to Farm’ approach- by reversing the ‘Farm to Fork’ approach now accepted generally

Adopt monetisation of produce as the basis for maximising the value

Maximise monetisation possibilities by upgrading and harmonising the agri-logistics

Adopt new market architecture comprising GrAMs, alternate Wholesale markets (APMCs - in private & public sectors) and Export market

Promote Agricultural Value System (AVS) as a link between farms and markets

Adopt risk management strategies at all the stages of agriculture

Pre-and Post-production stages

Market risks

Replicate Meteorological Advisory Services across the country

Coverage of farming under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) should become a norm

Adopt an institutional mechanism for price & demand forecasting

Adopt an import-export duty structure, that helps domestic market sentiments

Improve Institutional Arrangement/Overhaul of the Union agriculture ministry

setting up a three-tier planning and review mechanism through district, state and national level

establishing a national level policy and planning committee to review the policy framework

Liberalize the definition of a ‘farmer’

to include cultivators, lessee farmers and sharecroppers

developing an online and annually authenticated database to identify a farmer and render him/her eligible to avail benefits of agriculture related support-system of government