Opinion | Indian agriculture’s problem of scale
6 years, 3 months ago

Opinion | Indian agriculture’s problem of scale

Live Mint  

The past few days have neatly summed up the scale and nature of the challenges facing India’s agriculture sector. First, the provisional agriculture census 2015-16 showed that landholdings have continued their decades-long trend of fragmentation, leading to a further rise in the proportion of small and marginal farmers. In his famous 1962 The Economic Weekly article, “An aspect of Indian agriculture”, Amartya Sen had argued that small farms have higher per-acre output. Cobbling together data from the National Sample Survey Organisation, agriculture census and the Union ministry of agriculture’s input survey, they found that the inverse relationship between farm size and per-hectare agricultural productivity still holds. And as Sen, with a sting in his article’s tail, had pointed out, “the factor that makes the crucial difference is not size as such, which is incidental, but the system of farming, whether it is wage-based or family-based.” Andrew D. Foster and Mark R. Rosensweig backed this up last year, studying village-level survey data on farms to find that productivity actually follows a U-shaped distribution curve.

India Productivity Farmers Size Hectares Small Farms  scale  indian  opinion  farmers  hectares  farming  small  farms  rural  productive  size  agricultures  problem  productivity  marginal

History of this topic

We must not let Indian agriculture turn into an unending tragi-comedy
10 months, 1 week ago

We must not let Indian agriculture turn into an unending tragi-comedy

Live Mint  

Third, agricultural spends have a targeting problem. Professor Ashok Gulati estimates that the MSP system’s total coverage is limited to only 5.6% of Indian farmers and just 2.2% of our agricultural produce by value. Juxtapose this with the fact that agriculture today accounts for a much lower portion of rural household incomes than is usually imagined. As per the National …

We did not manage to double the income of Indian farmers
2 years ago

We did not manage to double the income of Indian farmers

Live Mint  

On 28 February 2016, at a farmer rally in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government’s intention of doubling the income of farmers by 2022, a year marking 75 years of India’s independence. Nonetheless, based on the SAS, the income of farmer households from crop cultivation declined 1.5% per annum between 2012-13 and 2018-19, similar to what …

The Indian Young Farmers Forum, a collective where successful farmers mentor those new to farming
3 years, 6 months ago

The Indian Young Farmers Forum, a collective where successful farmers mentor those new to farming

The Hindu  

Six years ago, Pradeep Kumar Manickam, 39,began farming on his arid ancestral land in Karur, Tamil Nadu. “It’s time to talk about economic success in farming,” says Saravanan Chandrasekaran, 32, who has formed Indian Young Farmers Forum, a collective where successful farmers mentor newcomers. Make regular farm visits across Tamil Nadu to learn from successful farmers Promote farm internships -an …

‘Farm to Factory’: Employment for Marginal Farmers, Farm Labourers Need of the Hour in Rural India
4 years ago

‘Farm to Factory’: Employment for Marginal Farmers, Farm Labourers Need of the Hour in Rural India

News 18  

In farming, size matters. Farming is a seasonal affair, not a full-time job so the second job option mostly required by the small, marginal farmers and farm labourers in their nearby areas that’s why new industrial investment should be attracted in rural and backward areas by offering special incentives. Special incentives are being offered to develop industrial corridors and clusters …

In agri-reforms, go back to the drawing board
4 years ago

In agri-reforms, go back to the drawing board

The Hindu  

The purpose of agriculture reforms is to increase farmers’ incomes. The problem of low incomes in India’s agriculture sector is a complex systems problem which cannot be solved by agriculture experts alone. Economists point, wistfully, to the firmness with which bold reforms were brought about in 1991, and how the government stood up to the ‘Bombay Club’ of industrialists who …

Poor Farmers, Small Landholdings & Low Crop Yield Crisis: Why India Desperately Needs Farm Reforms
4 years ago

Poor Farmers, Small Landholdings & Low Crop Yield Crisis: Why India Desperately Needs Farm Reforms

News 18  

When it comes to agriculture, India is a land of contradictions. India is one of the top producers of several crops in the world but when it comes to productivity parameters, i.e., crop produced per unit of land, we are yet laggards. However, when it comes to the agricultural yield, or amount of crop produced per unit of land, we …

Review: Why small farms need a reordering of our society
4 years, 2 months ago

Review: Why small farms need a reordering of our society

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy “A Small Farm Future: Making …

The new farm laws endanger the livelihoods of small-scale farmers
4 years, 3 months ago

The new farm laws endanger the livelihoods of small-scale farmers

The Hindu  

A large number of farmers are protesting against three agricultural market reform Bills passed by Parliament recently. If private trade, which already has a 95 per cent market share, has not ensured better realisation of prices for farmers, how does a mere 5 per cent increase ensure that? The average price realised by marginal farmers selling to these local private …

Agriculture Reforms: Ignore Political Rhetoric, Embrace Prosperity Economics
4 years, 3 months ago

Agriculture Reforms: Ignore Political Rhetoric, Embrace Prosperity Economics

News 18  

A visibly low-hanging economic reform contains within it several vested interests. In fact, it must start communicating directly with small farmers — the middlemen in the closed agricultural chain are the same that ensure exploitative politics on farms. This law beaks the monopsony of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees, overseen by state governments, and enables farmers to sell their produce to …

Budget 2019 sops for agrarian sector: Rs 6,000 to small and marginal farmers good move, but needs enhancement
5 years, 11 months ago

Budget 2019 sops for agrarian sector: Rs 6,000 to small and marginal farmers good move, but needs enhancement

Firstpost  

The NDA government’s decision to provide Rs 6,000 per year to each farmer with a land holding of less than 2 hectares is a major boost for the sector that has been witnessing a sharp decline in the numbers of cultivators since 2001. This assured income of Rs 500 per month is vital for small and marginal farmers as only …

Agrarian crisis: Bias against agriculture needs to go for revival; higher investment, change in attitude towards sector a must
6 years, 1 month ago

Agrarian crisis: Bias against agriculture needs to go for revival; higher investment, change in attitude towards sector a must

Firstpost  

More attention to agriculture by way of higher investment and positive attitudinal changes, therefore, may actually bring about better economic dividends and put India into a higher development trajectory like other Asian nations. The first reaction of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government after the party’s debacle in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan seems to …

Farmers plan march in New Delhi: Agrarian crisis is deep and pervasive, but not fully appreciated or remedied
6 years, 1 month ago

Farmers plan march in New Delhi: Agrarian crisis is deep and pervasive, but not fully appreciated or remedied

Firstpost  

There are waves and waves of marches by farmers, landless and tribals in many parts of India these days, particularly to the seats of power. Editor’s note: This article is the first of a two-part series analysing the agrarian crisis in India, in light of the various marches and protests undertaken by farmers in recent months to highlight their problems. …

Doubling farm incomes: Why change is still slow
6 years, 2 months ago

Doubling farm incomes: Why change is still slow

Deccan Chronicle  

Agriculture’s contribution to economic value addition is shrinking worldwide. But that is cold comfort for the families of 118 million small and marginal farmers in India, comprising 85 per cent of the 139 million land holdings. These subsidies — purchase above market rates; fertilisers supplied at below market rates; electricity supplied at below cost; canal water supplied at below cost, …

Reduction in number of farmers will help raise farm incomes: Ramesh Chand
6 years, 3 months ago

Reduction in number of farmers will help raise farm incomes: Ramesh Chand

Live Mint  

New Delhi: Growth in farm incomes will be aided by a reduction in the number of farmers and value addition of produce, apart from rising growth in agriculture gross domestic product, according to farm sector expert and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand. Edited excerpts from an interview: India’s agriculture GDP growth rate has averaged 2.5% in the past four years. …

For NDA's move to raise MSPs of monsoon crops to matter, agriculture needs structural changes, says economic analyst
6 years, 3 months ago

For NDA's move to raise MSPs of monsoon crops to matter, agriculture needs structural changes, says economic analyst

Firstpost  

By Shreehari Paliath Mumbai: Under pressure from farmers’ groups across the country due to falling prices and a glut of produce, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government announced a hike in the minimum support prices of kharif season crops in July 2018. pic.twitter.com/7HayzD6ccD — BJP July 4, 2018 However, the new MSPs do not meet the recommendations made …

Why reports of agriculture’s demise are greatly exaggerated
6 years, 4 months ago

Why reports of agriculture’s demise are greatly exaggerated

Live Mint  

Bengaluru/New Delhi: Farmers may be looking for alternative avenues of income, but it is too soon to write off the significance of agriculture in rural India, data from the recently released Nabard All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey shows. An initial reading of the survey findings seems to suggest that earnings from farm-related activities—cultivation and livestock rearing—contributed just 43% to …

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