Question

Analyse any five problems faced by Indian farmers in agriculture.

Explain any five major problems of Indian agriculture.

Answer 1

• Dependence on Erratic Monsoon - Irrigation covers only about 33 per cent of the cultivated area in India. The crop production in the rest of the cultivated land directly depends on rain. Poor performance of south-west monsoon also adversely affects the supply of canal water for irrigation. On the other hand, the rainfall in Rajasthan and other drought prone areas is too meagre and highly unreliable. Even the areas receiving high annual rainfall experience considerable fluctuations. This makes them vulnerable to both droughts and floods. Drought is a common phenomenon in the low rainfall areas, which may also experience occasional floods. The flash floods in drylands of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan in 2006 and 2017 are examples of this phenomenon. Droughts and floods continue to be the twin menace in Indian agriculture.
• Low productivity - The yield of the crops in the country is low in comparison to the international level. Per hectare output of most of the crops such as rice, wheat, cotton and oilseeds in India is much lower than that of the U.S.A., Russia and Japan. Because of the very high pressure on the land resources, the labour productivity in Indian agriculture is also very low in comparison to international level. The vast rainfed areas of the country, particularly drylands which mostly grow coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds have low yields.
• Constraints of Financial Resources and Indebtedness - The inputs of modern agriculture are very expensive. This resource intensive approach has become unmanageable for marginal and small farmers as they have very meagre or no savings to invest in agriculture. To tide over these difficulties, most of such farmers have resorted to availing credit from various institutions and moneylenders. Crop failures and low returns from agriculture have forced them to fall in the trap of indebtedness.
• Lack of Land Reforms - Indian peasantry had been exploited for a long time as there had been unequal distribution of land. Among the three revenue systems operational during the British period, i.e., Mahalwari, Ryotwari and Zamindari, the last one was most exploitative for the peasants. After Independence, land reforms were accorded priority, but these reforms were not implemented effectively due to lack of strong political will. Most of the state governments avoided taking politically tough decisions which went against strong political lobbies of landlords. Lack of implementation of land reforms has resulted in continuation of iniquitous distribution of cultivable land which is detrimental to agricultural development.
• Landholdings - There are a large number of marginal and small farmers in the country. The average size of land holding is shrinking under increasing population pressure. Furthermore, in India, the land holdings are mostly fragmented. There are some states where consolidation of holding has not been carried out even once. Even in the states where it has been carried out once, second consolidation is required as land holdings have fragmented again in the process of division of land among the owners of next generations. The small size of fragmented landholdings are uneconomic.
• Lack of Commercialisation - A large number of farmers produce crops for self-consumption. These farmers do not have enough land resources to produce more than their requirement. Most of the small and marginal farmers grow foodgrains, which are meant for their own family consumption. Modernisation and commercialisation of agriculture have, however, taken place in the irrigated areas.
• Vast Underemployment - There is a massive underemployment in the agricultural sector in India, particularly in the unirrigated tracts. In these areas, there is seasonal unemployment ranging from 4 to 8 months. Even in the cropping season, work is not available throughout as agricultural operations are not labour intensive. Hence, the people engaged in agriculture do not have the opportunity to work round the year.