Making Agriculture Economically Viable

Making Agriculture Economically Viable

The Indian authorities has been conscious of the necessity to make farming extra economically viable and sustainable. The federal government has been taking varied measures to handle the issues confronted by the farmers, corresponding to low productiveness, excessive enter prices, market fluctuations, local weather change, indebtedness, and lack of institutional help. The agricultural sector may be very essential for the general financial system and society of India, because it supplies employment to a big section of the workforce and ensures meals safety for the nation’s inhabitants. Bettering the situation of Indian agriculture has been a precedence and a problem for the policymakers in India.

Why is it Vital to make Agriculture Economically Viable?

• To Guarantee Meals Safety: India is a rustic with a big inhabitants and a rising demand for meals. As a way to be certain that everybody has entry to sufficient meals, you will need to make agriculture economically viable in order that farmers can produce sufficient meals to satisfy the demand.
• To Promote Rural Improvement: Agriculture is a serious contributor to the agricultural financial system. By making agriculture economically viable, it’s potential to advertise rural growth and enhance the lives of individuals residing in rural areas.
• To Help the Livelihoods of a Majority of Indians: Making agriculture economically viable will help enhance the residing requirements and well-being of thousands and thousands of Indians who depend upon farming for his or her survival. Agriculture is the principle supply of earnings and employment for greater than 50% of the Indian inhabitants instantly.
• To Improve the Progress and Stability of The Economic system: Agriculture contributes round 17-18% to the GDP of India. Making agriculture economically viable will help increase the general financial development and stability of India by rising farm productiveness, lowering wastage, diversifying crops, enhancing worth addition and making certain meals safety.
• To Undertake Sustainable and Pure Farming Practices: Agriculture causes environmental degradation, water shortage, soil erosion, and greenhouse fuel emissions. Present farming practices depend on dangerous chemical compounds, irrigation, and subsidies. Making agriculture economically viable can encourage sustainable and pure farming practices that scale back environmental impression and improve adaptation to local weather change.

What are the challenges?

• Lack of Digital Literacy: Many farmers in rural areas could not have entry to smartphones or dependable web connectivity, which might restrict their potential to entry digitalized agri-services. One other problem is the necessity for schooling and coaching to assist farmers perceive find out how to use these new applied sciences successfully.
• Small land holdings: Many farmers in India have small land holdings, which might restrict their potential to realize economies of scale and scale back their profitability.
• Lack of Entry to Credit score: Many farmers in India lack entry to formal credit score, which might restrict their potential to put money into their farms and enhance their productiveness.
• Lack of Entry to Markets: Many farmers in India lack entry to markets the place they will promote their produce at a good value. This can lead to farmers receiving low costs for his or her produce and scale back their profitability.
• Local weather change: Local weather change is leading to extra frequent and extreme climate occasions corresponding to droughts and floods, which might have a devastating impression on farmers’ livelihoods.
• Lack of infrastructure: Many rural areas in India lack primary infrastructure corresponding to roads, electrical energy, and irrigation programs, which might restrict farmers’ potential to enhance their productiveness and profitability.
• Pure calamities: India is liable to pure calamities corresponding to floods, droughts, and pests. These calamities can injury crops and livestock, resulting in losses for farmers.
• Inefficient advertising and marketing: The advertising and marketing system for agricultural produce in India is inefficient. This results in low costs for farmers and excessive costs for customers.

What are some Coverage Choices for making Agriculture Economically Viable?

• Digitalisation of Agriculture: The brand new age expertise primarily based Agri start-ups supply full-stack options for farmers from seed to market. They prioritize the farmer by offering direct entry to provides, loans, insurance coverage, and promoting their produce at the most effective value.

  • For Instance, Gurugram-based DeHaat caters to fifteen lakh farmers protecting over 35 crops, by synthetic intelligence, machine studying, and information analytics.
  • Sometimes, the farmers with sensible cellphone can entry digitalized agri-services for agri-inputs, farm advisory, and advertising and marketing of agri-produce.

• Built-in/Pure Farming: Built-in farming will be worthwhile for farmers with small land holdings. By having just a few animals, fishponds, and vermi-culture for pure manure, farmers can develop into self-reliant and financially empowered. Household labor is vital for the sort of farming, and it’s each commercially viable and environmentally sustainable.

  • Pure farming affords an answer to numerous issues corresponding to meals insecurity, farmers’ misery, well being points and pure calamities through the use of domestically accessible sources and minimizing exterior inputs.

• Local weather Sensible Agriculture: Local weather sensible agriculture could make agriculture economically viable by shifting in the direction of eco-friendly agri-inputs corresponding to Nano Urea. This may scale back the indiscriminate use of fertilizers, which might result in irreparable ecological injury, soil infertility, and a poisonous meals chain. Through the use of cost-effective and sustainable farming practices, farmers can improve crop yields whereas lowering enter prices. This will help farmers develop into extra worthwhile and sustainable in the long term.

  • The federal government spends closely on fertiliser subsidy. This led to indiscriminate use of fertilisers leading to irreparable ecological injury, soil infertility, and a poisonous meals chain.
  • Soil place in Punjab is unhealthy as 246 kg of fertilisers are used per hectare in comparison with the nationwide common of 135 kg.

• Adopting Greatest Farm-practices: Adopting greatest farm-practices corresponding to co-operative rules could make agriculture economically viable. For example, Israel, regardless of its unfavourable local weather and restricted sources, has develop into a serious exporter of farm-produce and a world chief in agricultural applied sciences. By following social equality, co-operation and mutual support in producing agricultural output in the best method, farmers can improve their effectivity and productiveness. This may result in elevated profitability and sustainability in the long term.
• Say ‘NO’ to Casual Credit score: In addition to easing entry to formal credit score, farmers must be counselled on monetary prudence. Formal credit score amenities can improve agricultural productiveness and profitability by offering farmers with funds to put money into their farms.

  • Regardless of the provision of formal sources of finance, a latest survey reveals that cash lenders/merchants/landlords nonetheless exist in rural India, making farmers financially unstable and depending on casual credit score sources.

• Improvement of Agri-Worth Chains: Key drivers of agri-value chains are buyer focus, infrastructure, expertise, coaching & capability constructing.

  • VAPCOL, a multi-state farmer producer firm primarily based in Maharashtra, is a living proof. It has a membership of 55 FPOs protecting over 40,000 tribal farmers unfold throughout seven States.

• Leveraging Collectives: Convergence of SHGs, Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Co-operatives will result in higher bargaining energy of farmers by way of bulk procurement of inputs at a reduced value, economies of scale in transportation and warehousing, entry to low-cost institutional finance, farm mechanisation (drones for monitoring of crops and spraying of fertilisers and plant safety chemical compounds, and many others.).