Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Punjab Won’t Fly Unless It Deals With Its Agrarian Crisis -Ashwini K Swain, Gareth Price and Ranjit Singh Ghuman

Punjab Won’t Fly Unless It Deals With Its Agrarian Crisis -Ashwini K Swain, Gareth Price and Ranjit Singh Ghuman

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jun 10, 2016   modified Modified on Jun 10, 2016
-TheWire.in

Agriculture in the state needs a new paradigm, one that acknowledges the scarcity of interlinked resources and the costs of their use.

Recently, experts from Punjab Agricultural University advised farmers in the state to reduce the area taken up by the cultivation of basmati, predicting a crash in basmati prices due to huge carryover stock. Last year, the state produced 18 million tonnes of paddy and contributed a record 9.4 million tonnes to the central pool. Subsequently, farmers in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana suffered losses as the market price for the premium rice halved. Paradoxically, while agricultural productivity has been increasing, farmers’ incomes have not improved much.

Low farm income, rising indebtedness and subsequent farmers’ suicides have been a policy concern in the state and at the national level. Farmers in Punjab account for an accumulated debt of Rs 69,355 crore. Earlier this year, the state passed the Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Bill, which attracted much criticism as a stunt carried out in anticipation of state polls. The bill only envisages the settlement of non-institutional debt – which is just 18% of the accumulated agricultural debt. At the national level, the central government recently made a pledge to double farmers’ income over the next five years.

However, these government measures fail to consider and address the root of the crisis. While the pursuit of higher yields has increased agricultural resource intensity and thus, farm level investment, the overproduction of selected crops has brought down market prices, affecting farmers’ incomes. Therefore, any measure to improve farmers’ incomes has to take into account the consumption of vital resources by the sector.

The Economic Survey 2015-16 appraises Indian agriculture well. According to the survey, agriculture has become “a victim of its own success — especially the green revolution”, by becoming cereal-centric, regionally biased and input-intensive in its use of land, water and fertilisers. It rightly argues that agriculture needs “a new paradigm” which seeks to get “more from less”— higher productivity from fewer resources.

From being one of the least productive regions at the time of independence, Punjab went on to become the ‘breadbasket’ of India. The state, with 5.2% of India’s cultivable area, produces 11% of India’s food grains and contributes about 45% of wheat and 25% of rice to India’s central food pool. The state recorded the highest food grain yield in the country at 4,409 kilograms per hectare in 2013-14. Punjab’s high agricultural productivity and contribution to India’s grain self-sufficiency has been facilitated by the Centre’s policies aimed at increasing food production through the ‘green revolution’, subsequent public sector investments and efforts by the state government.

Please click here to read more.

TheWire.in, 9 June, 2016, http://thewire.in/2016/06/09/government-measures-need-to-address-the-root-of-punjabs-agrarian-crisis-41597/


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close