◾FARMING IN INDIA◾

We are all well known about the fact that farming in India has been introduced from the era around Indus Valley Civilization & even from before.Agriculture capacitates 50% of the workforce in India & 17-18% growth in Country’s GDP.Agriculture demographically turns out to be the broadest economic support & as well as plays a pivotal role in socio-economic fabric of India.

Being a agriculture dependent country, our farmers engage their entire life in farming.Rice, wheat, jute, sugarcane, oil seeds, soybeans, fish, vegetables ,flowers & everything we need to survive on are seeded year round in different parts of our country with a wide range of lands.Perhaps, we are standing strong in this field still the cracks & the holes in this large industry making it weaker day by day.
The recent study shows that suicide rates of our farmers are increasing so fast which is a utter shame for us to the world.India’s very poor rural roads affecting timely supply of inputs & timely transfers of outputs, inadequate irrigation system,crop failures for lack of water, regional floods & drought etc are badly affecting our innocent farmers.
Again, it should be thoroughly case-studied that india’s food distribution system is highly inefficient whereas movement of agricultural produce is heavily regulated,with inter-state & inter-district restrictions on movement & marketing on agricultural goods.
Even, underdeveloped infrastructure like irrigation & flood control infrastructure is collapsing the growth of our food crops.Besides, we need more immuned & disease resistant enriched food grains for a rapid growth .Cold storage ,unhygienic food packaging, financial disputes are also responsible for the disaster in our farming industry.

The low productivity in India is a result of following factors; -

1)Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs and impracticality in the case of small land holdings.

2)Illiteracy, general socio-economic backwardness, slow progress in implementing land reforms and inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce.

3)Inconsistent government policy. Agricultural subsidies and taxes are often changed without notice for short term political ends.

4)Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 52.6% of the land was irrigated in 2003–04, which result in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the monsoon season. A good monsoon results in a robust growth for the economy, while a poor monsoon leads to a sluggish growth.Farm credit is regulated by NABARD, which is the statutory apex agent for rural development in the subcontinent. At the same time, over-pumping made possible by subsidised electric power is leading to an alarming drop in aquifer levels.

5)A third of all food that is produced rots due to inefficient supply chains and the use of the "Walmart model" to improve efficiency is blocked by laws against foreign investment in the retail sector.

6)According to the World Bank, Indian branch's Priorities for Agriculture and Rural Development, India's large agricultural subsidies are hampering productivity-enhancing investment. Over- regulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty.

7)The overuse of water is being covered by over-pumping aquifers but, as these are falling by one foot of groundwater each year, this is a limited resource.[99] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that food security may be a big problem in the region post 2030.

8)Moreover,the average size of land holdings is very small (less than 2 hectares) and is subject to fragmentation due to land ceiling acts, and in some cases, family disputes. Such small holdings are often over-manned, resulting in disguised unemployment and low productivity of labour.

We should remember that only for our farmers, we don’t have to face problems with our regular foodstyle.We can easily end up eating a thali incomplete showing the excuse of that we are too full to consume it, but the effort our farmers put in growing the crops  just to provide sufficient meal to their family shouldn’t be ignored at any cost.
Recent death records of farmers don’t only indicate our failure over agriculture but also expose our internal eaten social system as the loss of our food provider is constantly creating aches in our hearts. Monsoon failure, high debt burdens, genetically modified crops, government policies, public mental health, personal issues and family problems are the reasons of the rapidly-growing rate of farmer’s suicide.But deep down, we are acknowledged with the fact of deaf ears of our government ,lack of our concern, care & sympathy are the most responsible factors behind this defeat.

Though initiatives like inaugurating some helpful schemes recently ,startup of niche technology, new business policies have helped us in preventing such shameful state but there are many cracks left yet to be repaired & noticed carefully.

Last but not the least;
To live, we need food & to grow food, we need our farmers who end up their day in putting their hard works, blood-flesh & body fluid over the fields.They don’t dream big still their dreams of providing the entire nation a sufficient amount of food so that nobody has to face a starved day like them.Perhaps, they know the pain of remaining starved for days or witnessing their family dying for the inefficiency of foods.

Hope, in future our food providers,will have their fruitful lack in form of golden crops & our cooperation will help them reaching this dream-state!

~©storytellersuchismita