< Previous | Contents | Next >
Agriculture, the dominant economic activity of India, faces a number of challenges on various fronts. Some of the important challenges Indian agriculture is facing at present are given below:
1. Stunted Yield: The yield of most of the crops has not improved substantially and in some cases (wheat, gram, pulses, sugarcane, and bajra) fluctuated downward. Therefore, there is a need to focus on improving productivity. At the same time there is a need to speed up the growth of allied activities.
2, Dry Farming: Agriculture in the dry-farming areas is highly vulnerable to drought. In such areas, micro-irrigation system needs to be developed. Watersheds management, water harvesting and participatory approach can be of great importance in such areas.
3. Inadequate Marketing Facilities: In the greater parts of the country, including the areas of Green Revolution, the farmers are not getting remunerative prices. There is a need to narrow the gap between producer prices and consumer prices through proper marketing support. The development of marketing infrastructure and storage and cold-chains and spot markets that are driven by modern technology may go a long way in providing good returns to the farmers.
4. Inadequate Formal Sources of Credit: As per the report of the committee on Financial Inclusion (January 2008), more than 73 per cent of the farmer households have no access to formal sources of credit. Under the debt pressure of private money lenders, thousands of farmers have committed suicide. To exempt the full or part of the loan of the marginal, small, and medium farmers is an immediate need of the hour.
5. Mismanagement of Public Distribution System: The Public Distribution System is not working satisfactorily. The weaker section of the society, especially the people below the poverty line, should be provided sufficient quantity of food at a highly subsidised rate.
6. Sustainability of Agriculture: After the diffusion of the High Yielding Varieties, especially in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, the farmers have adopted rice and wheat crop combination. Both these crops, however, are soil exhaustive, damaging the soil fertility and degrading the environment.
7. Soil Erosion: Soil erosion, water-logging, reduction in underground watertable are some of the serious problems of Indian agriculture. These problems are causing ecological imbalances. In brief, while the challenges faced by the agriculture and the allied sector are numerous, the possibilities for new investment, the use of new technologies are imperative. These issues of the meso and micro levels deserve to be addressed immediately.