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: 73
 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]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

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: 74
 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]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

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]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot; title=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu&lt;br /&gt;ral Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 27951
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Hailstorms,Unseasonal Rainfall,Farmers&#039; Suicide,agrarian crisis,rural distress,Agriculture,farming,Food Security,monsoon&#039;
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot; title=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu&lt;br /&gt;ral Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br /><br />As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br /><br />On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br /><br />The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br /><br />This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br /><br />It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br /><br />If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br /><br /><em>Safeguards for farmers <br /></em><br />Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br /><br />A study entitled <a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br /><br />The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br /><br />Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br /><br />The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br /><br /><em>Make MGNREGA work<br /></em><br />According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br /><br />The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong><em>References<br /></em></strong><br />India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path" title="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br />Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf" title="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu<br />ral Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI</div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html" title="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot; title=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu&lt;br /&gt;ral Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 27951
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Hailstorms,Unseasonal Rainfall,Farmers&#039; Suicide,agrarian crisis,rural distress,Agriculture,farming,Food Security,monsoon&#039;
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot; title=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu&lt;br /&gt;ral Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br /><br />As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br /><br />On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br /><br />The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br /><br />This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br /><br />It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br /><br />If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br /><br /><em>Safeguards for farmers <br /></em><br />Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br /><br />A study entitled <a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br /><br />The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br /><br />Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br /><br />The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br /><br /><em>Make MGNREGA work<br /></em><br />According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br /><br />The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong><em>References<br /></em></strong><br />India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path" title="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br />Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf" title="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu<br />ral Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI</div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html" title="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot; title=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu&lt;br /&gt;ral Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 27951
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Hailstorms,Unseasonal Rainfall,Farmers&#039; Suicide,agrarian crisis,rural distress,Agriculture,farming,Food Security,monsoon&#039;
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year&#039;s unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Minister of Science &amp;amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &amp;lsquo;below normal&amp;rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&amp;agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safeguards for farmers &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A study entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled &lt;em&gt;Key Indicators of &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households&lt;/a&gt; in India&lt;/em&gt; (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp;amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make MGNREGA work&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot; title=&quot;http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.pib.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.pib.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf&quot;&gt;Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15&lt;/a&gt; (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp;amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp;amp; Cooperation &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu&lt;br /&gt;ral Households in India&lt;/a&gt; (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf&quot;&gt;State of Indian Farmers: A Report&lt;/a&gt; (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm&quot;&gt;Infrastructure Statistics 2014&lt;/a&gt; (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf&quot;&gt;Report of the Committee&lt;/a&gt; to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html&quot;&gt;Prof. Abhijit Sen&lt;/a&gt;, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp;amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html&quot;&gt;Land Acquisition Bill&lt;/a&gt;: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp;amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html&quot;&gt;257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year&lt;/a&gt; -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html&quot;&gt;Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp;amp; utilization&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br /><br />As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br /><br />On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br /><br />The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br /><br />This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br /><br />It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br /><br />If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br /><br /><em>Safeguards for farmers <br /></em><br />Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br /><br />A study entitled <a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br /><br />The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br /><br />Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br /><br />The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br /><br /><em>Make MGNREGA work<br /></em><br />According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br /><br />The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong><em>References<br /></em></strong><br />India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path" title="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br />Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf" title="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu<br />ral Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI</div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html" title="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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<div align="justify">
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br />
<br />
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br />
<br />
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br />
<br />
The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br />
<br />
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br />
<br />
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br />
<br />
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br />
<br />
<em>Safeguards for farmers <br />
</em><br />
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br />
<br />
A study entitled <a href="../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014"><em>State of Indian Farmers: A Report</em></a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br />
<br />
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br />
<br />
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br />
<br />
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br />
<br />
<em>Make MGNREGA work<br />
</em><br />
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br />
<br />
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong><em>References<br />
</em></strong><br />
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br />
<br />
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br />
<br />
<a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br />
<br />
<a href="../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br />
<br />
<a href="../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br />
<br />
<a href="../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br />
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	'metaTitle' => 'NEWS ALERTS | Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security',
	'metaKeywords' => 'Hailstorms,Unseasonal Rainfall,Farmers' Suicide,agrarian crisis,rural distress,Agriculture,farming,Food Security,monsoon',
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...',
	'disp' => '<br /><div align="justify">A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br /><br />As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br /><br />On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br /><br />The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br /><br />This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br /><br />It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br /><br />If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br /><br /><em>Safeguards for farmers <br /></em><br />Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br /><br />A study entitled <a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br /><br />The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br /><br />Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br /><br />The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br /><br /><em>Make MGNREGA work<br /></em><br />According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br /><br />The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong><em>References<br /></em></strong><br />India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path" title="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br />Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf" title="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu<br />ral Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI</div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html" title="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br /></div>',
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	'id' => (int) 27951,
	'title' => 'Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security',
	'subheading' => '',
	'description' => '<br />
<div align="justify">
A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br />
<br />
As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br />
<br />
On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br />
<br />
The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br />
<br />
This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br />
<br />
It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br />
<br />
If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br />
<br />
<em>Safeguards for farmers <br />
</em><br />
Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br />
<br />
A study entitled <a href="../farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014"><em>State of Indian Farmers: A Report</em></a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br />
<br />
The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br />
<br />
Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br />
<br />
The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br />
<br />
<em>Make MGNREGA work<br />
</em><br />
According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br />
<br />
The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong><em>References<br />
</em></strong><br />
India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br />
<br />
Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br />
<br />
<a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br />
<br />
<a href="../interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br />
<br />
<a href="../latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<a href="../latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br />
<br />
<a href="../news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br />
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$metaTitle = 'NEWS ALERTS | Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security'
$metaKeywords = 'Hailstorms,Unseasonal Rainfall,Farmers' Suicide,agrarian crisis,rural distress,Agriculture,farming,Food Security,monsoon'
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A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was...'
$disp = '<br /><div align="justify">A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit.<br /><br />As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. <br /><br />On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled <em><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> </em>from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. <br /><br />The Minister of Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as &lsquo;below normal&rsquo; rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below).<br /><br />This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. <br /><br />It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-&agrave;-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14.<br /><br />If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production. &nbsp;<br /><br /><em>Safeguards for farmers <br /></em><br />Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports.<br /><br />A study entitled <a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/rural-distress-70.html?pgno=2#state-of-indian-farmers-a-report-2014">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops.<br /><br />The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled <em>Key Indicators of <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households</a> in India</em> (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative &amp; Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops.<br /><br />Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period.<br /><br />The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. <br /><br /><em>Make MGNREGA work<br /></em><br />According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report.<br /><br />The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.<br />&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong><em>References<br /></em></strong><br />India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path" title="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/04/24423685/india-development-update-towards-higher-growth-path">click here</a> to access)<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br />Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in" title="http://www.pib.nic.in">www.pib.nic.in</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf" title="http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/Advance_Estimate/2ndAd18022015ENG.pdf">Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15</a> (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics &amp; Statistics, Department of Agriculture &amp; Cooperation </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu<br />ral Households in India</a> (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI</div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Farmers%20Report%20Final.pdf">State of Indian Farmers: A Report</a> (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/infra_stat_2014/main_infra_stat_2014.htm">Infrastructure Statistics 2014</a> (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/credit/Rpt_pkm2.pdf">Report of the Committee</a> to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India<br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html" title="https://im4change.in/interviews/prof-abhijit-sen-former-member-of-planning-commission-speaks-to-latha-venkatesh-sonia-shenoy-4675934.html">Prof. Abhijit Sen</a>, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh &amp; Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/land-acquisition-bill-missing-the-big-bleak-picture-sanjay-kumar-pranav-gupta-4675730.html">Land Acquisition Bill</a>: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar &amp; Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 </div><div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/257-farmers-committed-suicide-in-maharashtra-this-year-gargi-parsai-4675936.html">257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year</a> -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/vast-gaps-in-irrigation-potential-utilization-4673978.html">Vast gaps in Irrigation potential &amp; utilization</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi</strong> <br /></div>'
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Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security

A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit of farmers and reducing the flow of rural credit. As revealed by the Agricultural Ministry press release dated 28 April 2015, it is states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar which got mostly affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms since the last week of February onwards. Almost 50% of total area affected by this year's unseasonal rains and hailstorms fell within Uttar Pradesh. On top of the erratic weather related events, it has been predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the 3rd week of April that India is heading for a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row. Southwest monsoon that takes place during June-September every year, is responsible for the success / failure of Indian agriculture, which is basically rainfall dependent. A report entitled Infrastructure Statistics 2014 from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) had found that irrigation potential utilized as a percentage of ultimate irrigation potential created was just 22.3% in 2011-12. The Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said media persons on 22 April that the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 93% of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a possible error of plus or minus five percent (+/-5%). If the range in terms of percentage of the LPA is between 90 and 96, it is considered as ‘below normal’ rainfall forecast. The IMD has also forecasted presence of a stronger El Nino effect this year as compared to last year, which heightens the risk of droughts. (see the link below). This puts the country in a vulnerable position with respect to food security, livelihood security of farmers and price rise. It is worth noting that as compared to the area under foodgrains during 2013-14, in 2014-15 there was a decline in area by 3.3%. This occurred due to deficient rainfall. The second advance estimates by the Agricultural Ministry indicates that foodgrain production may have declined by 3.2% in 2014-15 vis-à-vis foodgrain production in 2013-14. If the monsoon rainfall dips below normal this year too, then both area under and production of foodgrains are expected to fall further in 2015-16. Moreover with states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana having suffered by extreme weather events, the coming months are going to be critical in terms of agricultural production.   Safeguards for farmers Usual government interventions in the form of procurement and crop insurance (among others) do not seem to be ideal options before the distressed farmers, as could be interpreted from various studies and reports. A study entitled State of Indian Farmers: A Report (2014), done by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, based on a primary survey across 18 states of India during December 2013 - January 2014, among other things, found that nearly 62% of the interviewed farmers were not aware about minimum support prices (MSP), whereas 38% had heard about MSP. Among those who had heard about MSP, most (64%) said that they were not satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the government and only 27% are satisfied with the rates of crops decided by the Government. The CSDS report found that large numbers of the farmers were not aware of crop insurance, with 67% having never insured their crops. The results of the CSDS report echoes in another report. It has been revealed in the National Sample Survey Organization 70th Round Report entitled Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January, 2013- December, 2013) that majority of the production of all crops such as paddy, wheat pulses, oilseeds etc. was sold off to either local private trader or mandi (except sugarcane). The lower share of sale to cooperative & Government agencies shows the lesser utilisation of procurement agencies, which provide MSP to selected crops. Data from the NSS 70th Round exhibited a lower level of awareness about MSP and even lower level of sale of these crops to procurement agencies. Except for sugarcane, only less than half of the households, which were aware about MSP, sold off their crop to procurement agencies. Even for the households reported sale to the procurement agency, the quantity sold was a very small percentage of the total sale by these households during the period. The NSSO report found that the reasons behind not selling to procurement agencies despite having awareness about MSP were: non-availability of procurement agency, no local purchaser, and better market price over MSP. Only a very small fraction of agricultural households insured their crops against possible crop loss since most people were not aware of the same, as per the same report. Make MGNREGA work According to the India Development Update of the World Bank, released in April 2015, asset creation is the key to effectiveness of MGNREGS. The report has recommended that assets created under MGNREGA need to be of sufficient value to the poor. Convergence of the job scheme with other programs will ensure that the assets created are productive and of lasting value, finds the report. The World Bank study has highlighted a number of reasons why the potential impact of MGNREGS may not be realized in practice: the supply side is too slow to respond to the demand for work on the scheme; workers are not paid the full scheme wage; delays in wage payment; and awareness of how to demand work is limited.   References India Development Update: Towards a Higher Growth Path , World Bank, April 2015 (please click here to access)   Revised Statewise Data (On 24th April 2015) of Area Affected by Recent Rains and Hailstorm, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture, 28 April, 2015, www.pib.nic.in Monsoon Forcast, Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science, 22 April, 2015, www.pib.nic.in Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2014-15 (as on 18 February 2015), Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultu ral Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, MoSPI State of Indian Farmers: A Report (2014), Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi  Infrastructure Statistics 2014 (Third issue), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Report of the Committee to Review the Implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes in India Prof. Abhijit Sen, former Member of Planning Commission, speaks to Latha Venkatesh & Sonia Shenoy, MoneyControl.com, 23 April, 2015  Land Acquisition Bill: Missing the big, bleak picture -Sanjay Kumar & Pranav Gupta, The Hindu, 3 April, 2015 257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year -Gargi Parsai, The Hindu, 25 April, 2015  Vast gaps in Irrigation potential & utilization   Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi