THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 01 February 2020 (Thinking beyond farm sops (The Hindu))

Thinking beyond farm sops (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Farmer Producer Organisations
Mains level: Focus areas to improve agriculture sector

Context:

• The year 2019 witnessed a series of interventions and disruptions in the farm sector.
• The first half of the year saw the launch of a grand farm sop in the form of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) with a record allocation of ₹75,000 crore.
• The second half for the sector as many parts of the country witnessed drought and floods.
• The economic slowdown and the spiralling onion and vegetable prices burdened consumers (including farmers), providing a short respite to only a section of farmers.

Reflects two things:

• The populist measures have a low bearing on the economy.
• Despite several measures to reduce vulnerability of climate-induced disasters, the farm sector and farmers continue to suffer losses.

Focus areas:

Disparity in agriculture expenditure:

• The disparity in agriculture expenditure and growth drivers, mainly the subsidiary sectors, must be addressed.
• Despite higher growth in livestock and fisheries sector, only moderate to low expenditure was recorded.
• Expenditure on ............................

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Role of Farmer Producer Organisations:

• The Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), which are currently facing operational and structural issues governed by different Acts and funded by various sources, may be strengthened by bringing them under one institution, preferably an FPO Development and Regulatory Authority.
• A structured impetus must be given to build block chain based e-market places connecting farmers, traders, agencies, institutions and exporters on a common platform to check price fluctuations and harness decentralisation.
• Further, affordable technologies must be developed and deployed particularly in rural and remote areas where digital literacy of farmers has improved considerably.
• Key farm institutions and organisations in the front line of farm service, dealing with perishables and low shelf life commodities, must digitalise so that they are efficiently managed.

Private sector involvement:

• Large-scale investment in agriculture over several years have encouraged monoculture, threatening the environment and soil health (mainly in green revolution areas).
• Thus small-scale investment measures or an incentive-based system is essential to scale up sustainable practices such as agroforestry, climate-smart agriculture, ecosystem services, conservation agriculture and others.
• Increasing corporate social responsibility will help to tap more private investments besides encouraging private players in potential areas where production sustainability is possible.

Establishment of farm data agency:

• The government must establish a farm data agency, which can consolidate, collate and maintain farm data available at various platforms.
• Ongoing efforts of digitisation of land records must also include farmer-centric advisories. The farm data agencies can also facilitate beneficiaries identification, better targeting of subsidies, support systems of various developmental programmes.
• Access to farm agency data for scientific institutions and all other relevant stakeholders can hasten the process of technology dissemination and aid research systems for better policies.

Commissioning ease of farming index:

• To commissioning ease of farming index is necessary to ascertain the progress made by national and State governments on the key indicators of farming.
• Possibly, the exercise can be done with active involvement of proven private/public institutions or international agencies.
• This perhaps stands away from the conventional assessment of effectiveness of agriculture policies and programmes that are part of the farm support system.
• Moreover, the exercise may foster cooperative and competitive federalism besides encouraging States which are lagging behind to catch up.

Welfare commissions:

• The need of the hour is setting up two institutions; one, a national agricultural development council on the lines of the Goods and Services Tax Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister for effective coordination and convergence ...........................................

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Way forward:

• In the era of global uncertainty and domestic glitches, we need well-tailored farm measures beyond short-run sops to balance the national requirement with the farmer’s aspirations.
• Moreover, the right mix of direct benefits and price support with focused investment on resource conservation will bring stability in a farmer’s income.
• The promised achhe din for all must include farmers too which is only possible with steps engaging all stakeholders and sectors.

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  General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the India Climate Collaborative (ICC), consider the following statements:
1. It is an initiative of NITI Aayog.
2. It will be working to strengthen the climate community locally, build a climate narrative and drive solutions that will ensure both the natural world and people thrive.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) None

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Mains Questions:
Q.1) India needs well-tailored farm measures to balance the national requirement with farmers’ aspirations. Discuss.