THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 04 November 2019 (Region-specific models will help double farm incomes (The Hindu))

Region-specific models will help double farm incomes (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level : Zero Budget Natural Farming
Mains level : Agricultural models

Context

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call on February 28, 2016 for the doubling of farmers’ income. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget on July 5 this year mentioned that Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) can help improve farmers’ income and needs promotion.
•  Modi then requested farmers to reduce consumption of chemical fertilisers in his August 15 speech and also endorsed ZBNF in his address at UNCCD on September 9.

Background

•  Costs of agricultural chemicals have sky-rocketed, but their price realisation has not.
•  This has led to farmers losing control of production, which in turn resulted their net incomes reducing.
•  Farmers are not thriving, but other actors in the agriculture ecosystem are doing fairly well.
•  There is a subtle connection between improving farmers’ incomes and natural farming approaches like ZBNF.
•  They reduce the cost of cultivation, improve ecosystems and empower farmers. India has 15 agro-climatic zones, but agriculture is quite diverse.
•  About 50 per cent of Indian agriculture is rain-fed.

Changing focus

•  The focus on doubling farmers’ incomes reflects a paradigm shift in our thinking, as food production — not incomes — has always been the priority.
•  But the sudden political interest calls for evolving optimal model(s) for a particular region and for particular type of farmers.
•  The model’s components may include crops, livestock, poultry horticulture, agro-forestry, fisheries etc.
•  To plan and invest can deliver the intent, rather than simply stating that agricultural growth rates need to improve.
•  Consumers desire chemical residue-free and healthy food, and farmers enhanced incomes.
•  The welfare of 12 crore farmers, food, nutrition and the ecological security of the nation is at stake.
•  But apparently, the intelligentsia are not getting the message from consumers, farmers and political intent.

Three-pronged approach

• At the heart of the strategy to double farmers’ income lies a three-pronged tatwa (principle):
•  increase the yields to increase income;
•  reduce the cost of production so those savings add to the income; and
•  help farmers receive remunerative prices.

Following tool-kit to help evolve the models

•  Define a region for developing model(s).
•  Develop a region-specific inventory of recommended varieties of field crops, horticulture and forestry, livestock, poultry and fish species.
•  Develop off-farm skills and crafts prevalent in said region for improving off-farm income.
•  Document best-practices if any, where one or more components listed above are integrated and improve upon them.
•  Develop crop planning and demand forecasting systems.
•  Take stock of existing schemes and budgets. Development is delivered through different line departments across the country.
•  The journeys of empowered teams and their work need to be taken to farmers from the very beginning.
•  Create support services and infrastructure required for these interventions, which must be on farmer-centric entrepreneurship mode to retain investments in the local economy.
•  Formalising land leasing will help in access to agricultural credit and insurance.
•  Setting outcome indicators is a must, and monitoring must be continuous to course correct.
•  Involve bankers, as agricultural credit plays an important role.
•  Build sufficient funding and oversight mechanisms.

Way forward

•  Another important task ahead is deciding the extent of agricultural research for developing models and moving agriculture to the concurrent list to give it much-needed direction.
•  Crunching numbers is important to know how near/far we are to the destination, but unless the journey is planned well, we may never reach the goal.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the Bamboo Technology Parks, consider the following statements:
1. It would be set up in the two new Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
2. The Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) under North Eastern Council (NEC) will implement the project.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: C
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Rather than focussing on agricultural growth rates, it is important to develop growth models for particular regions and farmers to help improve incomes. Elucidate the statement.