Re-oriented Approach to Address Farmer Distress

What is the issue?

Union government is working on re-oriented approach to address farmer distress apart from loan-waivers.

What were the issues with India’s agriculture policy?

• India’s agriculture development policies earlier revolved largely around the “economic” aspect of agriculture and the “people” aspect got less attention.
• Earlier strategy for development of the agriculture sector in India has focused primarily on raising agricultural output and improving food security.
• The loan waivers, while consuming substantial fiscal resources, end up benefiting less than 10 per cent of the deserving farmers.
• Various experience shows that in some cases, growth in output brings similar increase in farmers’ income but in many cases farmer’s income did not grow much with increase in output.
• By this the sectoral outputs and crop production grew considerably, the condition of farmers did not show proportionate improvement.

 What is government’s re-oriented approach on agriculture?

• Increased Investments - Capital investments in agriculture have been stepped up by around 75 per cent from around Rs. 1.21 lakh crore during 2009-14 to around Rs. 2.11 lakh crore during 2014-19.
• Most of these investments are targeted to improve critical infrastructure deficits such as storage, irrigation and logistics and modernize agriculture technology.
• Increased Incomes - Doubling the income of farmers in a time-bound manner has been adopted as a stated objective.
• A judicious multi-pronged strategy has been put in place for realising this goal.
• PM-AASHA - Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan initiative comprises three different options to help farmers realise benefits of the increased MSP even where government agencies fail to procure their produce.
• These strategies are being complemented by measures to enhance farmers’ access to markets and protect them from inherent risks that agriculture faces.
• Increasing Market Access - To assure market access to farmer government as introduced an agri e-marketplace (e-National Agriculture Market or e-NAM).
• This marketplace integrates 585 agricultural mandis spread across 16 states and two union territories into one platform.
• Crop Security - Low cost insurance plan called Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was launched to protect farmers against various risks.

What is the way forward?

• By bringing farmers and their families onto the policy Centre stage, the government is not only trying to assure incomes, but it is also trying to create a safety net for them. 
• Increase in the MSP, and implementation of PM-AASHA, PMFBY and e-NAM are integral components of this strategy. 
• In addition to these, efforts are also being made to provide basic essentials such as house, electricity, toilets and clean cooking gas to the needy households in rural areas. 
• Include these, and one can visualize the various contours of the larger development program being rolled out for farmers.

Source: Indian Express