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| PUTTING FARMERS’ FIRST | | | Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. Feroz Din Sheikh
Agriculture has always been a vital sector of the Indian economy since pre independence period. After Independence, although the share of agriculture in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined down to about 14 percent at present, yet it is a source of livelihood for more than fifty percent of the population directly or indirectly. Since, the last decade the sector has been receiving renewed attention. The present government since 2014 under the leadership of Hon’ble Primeminister Sh. Narendra Modi has also put farm at the forefront and the farmers first. The government of India has also started many pro farming and farmer favourable policies and programmes. Many programmes in mission mode have been started and they are also showing good results. The Government of India in the recent past has also enacted three new laws to benefit the farming community and create a conducive ecosystem for investment in this crucial sector. In fact, the main focus and goal of the major three policy reforms cleared by the Union Cabinet are to help farmers get higher remunerative prices by creating new sale avenues and higher competition. The pro farmer initiatives of the government include:
DOUBLING FARMERS INCOME: The Government of India is already working on a mission mode to ‘Double the Farmers’ Income’ by the year 2022. Prime Minister has clearly set the time limit and he referred to a doubling of farmer income of the agricultural year 2015-16 by the agricultural year 2022-23. Within 6-7 years the target has to be achieved. For this the government is focusing on irrigation with large budgets, with the aim of ‘per drop, more crop’, Provision of quality seeds and nutrients based on soil health of each field, Large investments in warehousing and cold chains to prevent post-harvest crop losses, Promotion of value addition through food processing, Creation of a national farm market, removing distortions and e-platform across 585 stations, Introduction of a new crop insurance scheme to mitigate risks at affordable cost, Promotion of ancillary activities like poultry, beekeeping and fisheries aimed at diversification to ensure more and regular income to the farming community.
SOIL HEALTH CARD: Soil should be nurtured well to increase production and also to keep it in good health. Realizing the importance of soil health, the central government has started a flagship programme; the Soil Health Card scheme. The scheme was launched by Honorable
Prime Minister on February 19, 2015 from Suratgarh, Rajasthan. Soil Health Card is basically a printed report card that provides vital information about the quality of soil by giving comprehensive information about type of soil, nutrient content, fertilizer required and crop suitability to ambient temperature and rainfall condition. It carries crop-wise recommendations based on the present status of nutrients in the farmer fields thus allowing the farmers to use their inputs judiciously. Soil Health Cards contain crucial information on macro nutrients in the soil, secondary nutrients, micro nutrients, and physical parameters. The card is to be accompanied by an advisory on the corrective measures that a farmer should take to improved soil health and obtain a better yield.
e- NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETING: As a part of the creation of a single national agriculture market the electronic National Agricultural Marketing (e-NAM) was launched in 2016 in the country. It is intended to enable farmers to get a better price and for consumers to pay a lower price for agri-produce, a win-win situation at both ends of agri-value chains. The highlight of the scheme is the single point levy of market fees, i.e. on the first wholesale purchase from the farmer. e-NAM addresses the marketing constraints of the farmers by creating a unified market through online trading platform, both, at State and National level and promotes uniformity, streamlining of procedures across the integrated markets, removes information asymmetry between buyers and sellers and promotes real time price discovery, based on actual demand and supply, promotes transparency in auction process, and access to a nationwide market for the farmer, with prices commensurate with quality of his produce and online payment and availability of better quality produce and at more reasonable prices to the consumer.
FARM ACTS 2020: Recently also the government has come up with major structural reforms in agricultural marketing by enacting farm acts 2020. The farming produce trade and commerce (promotion and facilitation) act 2020 has been enacted to provide adequate choices to farmer to sell produce at an attractive price and for barrier-free interstate trade. It will also set up the framework for e-trading of agriculture produce. The move is aim to end fragmentation of markets available to farmers who are currently forced to sell only to licensed APMC marketers. It will help create an ecosystem where the farmers and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of their produce of both interstate as well as intrastate. The government has also brought in amendments to Essential Commodities Act to enable farmers to store the food products and to ensure better price realization for farmers which will result in the deregulation of prices for foodstuffs including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potato. It would also help in attracting investments and making agriculture sector competitive. The stock limits, another feature of the old act is now to be imposed under very exceptional circumstances like during national calamities like famine that see a surge in prices.
Another one the farmers (empowerment and protection) agreement on price assurance and farm services act 2020, by which the government wants the farming community to engage with processors, aggregators, large retailers and exporters with a level playing field and without fear of any sort of exploitation.
This will ultimately transfer the risk of market unpredictability from the earner to the sponsor and enable the farmers to have access to better technology and better inputs. It will act as a catalyst to bring private sector human investment in creating value chains of their produce to global markets. Farmers have wanted all these reforms for a long time. With these ordinances farmers now have been freed from the binding to sell their produce only at APMCs. Now contract will only for the produce and in no case the land of the farmer be involved in the contract agreement. |
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