The struggle of Indian farmer

When it comes to agriculture, we see a picture of a beautiful view of fields with green crops and flowers, but what we don't know is the struggle of a farmer behind it. A farmer faces so much trouble just to grow one crop.

And when it comes to Indian farmers, the trouble becomes more and more.

According to the 2019 study, 296,438 Indian farmers had committed suicide since 1995 and 10 Indian farmer commits suicide every day.

It shows us that Indian farmers face so many troubles while doing farming which led them to the path of suicide.

The following are the reasons why it is so hard for an Indian farmer to do agriculture :

Lack of technology

Although India ranks second in the world in farm output. Still, up to 55% of the total cultivated land in India is still worked by animals like oxen, camels, etc.

The first locally assembled tractor was introduced on 24th April 1959 and still in 2020 only 45% of the land of India is cultivated by the tractor.

In 2020 farmers are using the traditional method of agriculture, if Indian farmers use computerized machinery for doing farming, the efficiency and effectiveness of farming will increase.

There are computerized machines that can be applied for cultivation, sowing, spraying, fertilizers and pesticides; and harvesting, etc. Electronic sensors which help automatic feeding and monitoring of the farm animals. This equipment can be controlled by GPS trackers, IoT devices, and mobile apps for timeliness and getting precision. Remote-controlled sprayers, sowers, and irrigation devices.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be very useful in agriculture. AI-based modern and high-tech tools can help get precision in large-scale agriculture. Farm equipment can plant different densities of seeds and apply different amounts of fertilizer in different parts of a field. Prediction of advisories for sowing, pest control, spray pesticides, irrigating and commodity pricing can help increase productivity and income of the Indian agriculturists.

Why it lacks?

According to the study, 86.2% of Indian farmers hold only 47.3% of Indian agricultural land.

It shows that most of the Indian farmers are poor. They can't afford new advanced types of machinery for farming, They are forced to use traditional methods.

Natural disaster

Nothing can stop Nature, every year nature cause so much damage to farming all around the world, but this problem is bigger for Indian farmers because Indian farmers are small farmers, they don't have a large portion of land, they don't have any subsidiary income source except farming, farming is their bread-and-butter source. They can't survive if their crop gets destroyed because of natural disasters like floods, storms, unseasonal rain, or hail.

The 2017 year’s Economic Survey noted that India incurs losses of about $9-10 billion annually (Rs62,000 crore) due to extreme weather events.

Acc. to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, between 1953 and 2017, floods have damaged crops spread across 3.941 hectares worth Rs 1,679 crore in India every year.

In 2019, Unseasonal rains and hailstorms affected rabi crops on over 4 lakh hectares of land in north India.

Government of India

The government of India can be a lifesaver or life destroyer for Indian farmer. It can provide modern types of machinery to Indian farmers for farming, it can give loan to a farmer for buying seeds and pesticides for crops, provide loan for buying land, it can provide irrigation facilities to farmers like river and dams, it can start schemes to support farmers. Basically, it can help a farmer in every way.

But the government of India never completely fulfilled its duty toward Indian farmers.

Irrigation facilities

Government of India do not provide enough water for irrigation to the farmer which cause crop damage. It is not because of not enough rainfall in dams, it is because of corruption - because of it whenever the government decides to build a canal or dam or repair existing canals or dams and issues a budget and pass it to contractors in between it government officials keep a portion of the budget to themselves and give less portion of the given budget to the contractor and after that contractor also keep a huge portion of the budget in his own pocket and use cheap material in the construction of canal or dam which causes weak inbuilt quality of canal or dam which results after some time it breaks again which cause water loss which at end leave farmer's land dry.

Implementation of schemes

The government of India does try to help farmers by issuing new policies but it never applies it efficiently.

The following are the major schemes for supporting Indian farmers :

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana

It is an initiative of the Government wherein 120 million small and marginal farmers of India with less than two hectares of landholding will get up to Rs. 6,000 per year as minimum income support. The PM-Kisan scheme has become operational since 1st December 2018. Under this scheme, cultivators will get Rs. 6000 in three installments.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is an actuarial premium based scheme where the farmer has to pay a maximum premium of 2 percent for Kharif, 1.5 percent for Rabi food & oilseed crops, and 5 percent for annual commercial or horticultural crops and the remaining part of the actuarial or bidded premium is equally shared by the Central & State Government.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana is implemented with the aim to promote organic cultivation in India. To improve soil health as well as organic matter content and to boost the net income of the farmer so as to realize premium prices. Under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, an area of 5 lakh acre is targeted to be covered though 10,000 clusters of 50 acres each, from 2015-16 to 2017-18.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana was launched on 1 July 2015 with the motto ‘Har Khet Ko Paani’ to provide end-to end solutions in the irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources, distribution network & farm level applications. PMKSY focuses on creating sources for assured irrigation, also creating protective irrigation by harnessing rainwater at the micro-level through ‘Jal Sanchay’ & ‘Jal Sinchan’.

National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)

National Agriculture Market gives an e-marketing platform at the national level and supports the creation of infrastructure to enable e-marketing. This new market process is revolutionizing agriculture markets by guaranteeing better price discovery. It also brings in transparency & competition to enable cultivators to get improved remuneration for their produce moving towards ‘One Nation One Market’. 

Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP)

It was started as a sub-scheme under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). The aim was to improve the quality of life of farmers especially, small & marginal farmers by giving a complete package of activities to maximize farm returns. It also helps in increasing agricultural productivity of rainfed areas in a sustainable way by adopting suitable farming system-based approaches.

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)

It is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It is aimed at promoting Sustainable Agriculture via climate change adaptation measures, boosting agriculture productivity especially in Rainfed areas focusing on integrated farming, soil health management & synergizing resource conservation.

Schemes under NMSA

Rainfed Area Development (RAD)
Sub Mission on Agro-Forestry (SMAF)
Soil Health Management (SHM)
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA)
Soil and Land Use Survey of India (SLUSI)
National Centre of Organic Farming (NCOF)
Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER)

According to research, less than 55% of Indian farmers are enjoying these schemes and their benefits. It shows the deficiency of the Indian government and its management.

It is all because of corruption, government officials eat money of schemes which come for farmers. It shows that corruption is the root cause of deficiency in government.

Disclaimer: Data here is compiled from various sources and by our own research. These data can be approximate and Anonymous Informer does not make any claims about the authenticity of the data.

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