Posted On: 2022-12-23 14:48:44
Farmers are said to be the pillars of our nation. India being an agricultural country, has 54.6 per cent of the total workforce in farming (Ministry of Agriculture). There won't be food at home if you or your breadwinner quits working. There won't be any food on the planet, though, if the farmer quits farming the ground! The significance of a farmer is obvious from this; it has increased as a result of the population growth and decline in farmland availability.
India is a significant agricultural powerhouse, with farmers and all other related labour serving as its foundation. India is a significant agricultural powerhouse, with farmers and all other related labour serving as its foundation. They provide us with the most important source of energy to humans, food. They play the initial and vital role in the whole process of growing our food and helping it reach us. Economically speaking, with a GVA of Rs. 46.44 lakh crore in 2021, the agriculture sector was responsible for an 18.8 per cent share. It was 20 per cent in 2018 which dropped down by 2 per cent due to various reasons in the country. Deforestation, poor irrigation facilities, climate change and other global reasons.
To praise the contribution of farmers in the country and raise awareness about their challenges, National Farmers Day is marked in India on 23rd December every year. The date 23rd December is specially chosen to celebrate the birth anniversary of the 5th Prime Minister of India, Shri Chaudhary Charan Singh, also known as the leader of farmers. He is known for introducing multiple policies for farmers and the agricultural sector during his tenure. In addition to "Abolition of Zamindari," "Co-operative Farming X-rayed," "India's Poverty and Its Solution," "Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers," and "Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum," he also wrote several other books and pamphlets.
Despite many laws passed by the government to aid the farmers, they still lag in helping the farmers of India through their struggles of minimum income, facilities, and insufficient yield. Today, they do not face just a couple of problems, their struggles lay at various levels that need to be addressed.
Challenges Faced by Farmers in India
1. Irrigation
One of the most crucial phases of farming is irrigation. Although India is the second largest irrigated country in the world after China, only one-third of the cropped area is under irrigation. In a country with a tropical monsoon like India, where rainfall is unpredictable, unreliable, and variable, irrigation is the most crucial agricultural input. India won't be able to make significant agricultural advancements unless and until more than half of the planted area is covered by reliable irrigation. For large areas, irrigation is still necessary to boost agricultural yield. Water resources can be utilised to their fullest extent and easily delivered to the locations where they are most required through interstate cooperation on water management.
2. Small and fragmented land-holdings
India has a total farmland, sown area of 141.2 million hectares out of which, 189.7 million hectares pales into insignificance when we see that it is divided into economically unviable small and scattered holdings. The average holding size was 2.28 hectares from 1970 to 1971; this fell to 1.82 hectares from 1980 to 1981; and 1.08 hectares from 2015 to 2016. Additionally, as the land holdings are continuously divided, the number of properties continues to decrease even today. The issue of smaller and fractured lands is one of the key issues faced by Indian farmers in states that are heavily populated and actively cultivated. This results in a wide gap between small, medium, and big farmers.
3. Lack of mechanisation
Despite the extensive mechanisation of agriculture in some areas of the nation, the majority of agricultural operations are still conducted by hand in the majority of those regions, employing traditional equipment and implements like wooden ploughs, sickles, etc. A lack of funds refrains farmers from purchasing the advanced equipment available today that can boost cultivation and save loads of time and labour hours. The saved time and hours can be put to use for many other farm-related productive activities that are necessary.
4. Scarcity of Capital
Agriculture is a major industry in India contributing a huge chunk of the GDP, and much like other industries, it needs money to function. With the advancement of agricultural technology, the importance of capital input is growing. Framers are forced to borrow capital to increase the pace of agricultural production because their capital is tied up in their lands and stocks. Money lenders, traders, and commission brokers charge high repayment rates and purchase agricultural products at ridiculously low prices, the farmers are left with no other way to go and have to choose the high charging interest rates.
5. Natural Calamities
Despite facing all of these difficulties throughout their production cycle, farmers still have to deal with a tragedy caused by nature. It can take any shape, including floods, tsunamis, cyclones, unseasonably dry spells, severe weather, and a bird or insect attack that causes crop destruction. All of the farmers' hard work is in vain because there is a lack of policy and financial aid available in the wake of such destruction. Large areas of fertile land are vulnerable to wind and water-induced soil erosion. Global warming and climate change are the biggest natural threats to farmers. It is essential to properly treat this area and bring it back to fertility.
National Farmers Day or Kisan Diwas aims to address all these and other issues of farmers in India and take firm steps in order to provide them with adequate aid to protect and increase their yield. Let us all take this day as an opportunity to be grateful for our farmers who provide us with our food, one of the basic necessities without which we cannot survive.
Author: Anjali Patel
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