Doubling Farmers’ Income When Agriculture Land Is So Unevenly Distributed Is An Enormous Task

Compulsive or subsistence farming is not a healthy sign in our country, where wealth, income, educational and health disparities are so ‘alarming

One should appreciate the efforts of Central and various state governments aimed at doubling farmers’ income in the country. Farmers – big or small – are at the core of our food security mission. They deserve the best.

However, I do not know how much those million farmers with less than two or three hectares of land will benefit in reality even if their income is doubled.

Major beneficiaries will certainly be the big farmers, also known as landlords. I would not like to get into the mechanical exercise of sharing rabid data here, not that I do not wish to do so but because of the fact that all details are in the public domain but then who cares.

No one has the guts or the will power to bell the cat and compensate those who have been deprived of their share in national resources for centuries.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ramnath Thakur, son of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, who championed the cause of social justice through reservation in Bihar, told the Lok Sabha that “agriculture is a state subject and the Centre supports the efforts of States through appropriate policy measures, budgetary allocation and various schemes, programmes.”

According to him, these schemes are meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers. The Central government has substantially enhanced the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) from Rs. 21933.50 crore BE during 2013-14 to Rs. 1,22,528.77 crore BE during 2024-25.

Given the importance of agriculture in securing livelihoods of the majority of poor and ensuring the food security of all, I do not see much merit in the argument that agriculture is a state subject, and hence the state governments need to bother more than the Centre so far as the farming sector is concerned. Like health and education, agriculture is an important collective responsibility of the Centre and States for the country’s sustainable growth.

India cannot think of becoming a developed nation without mandating that every household must have a minimum piece of land at least to meet both ends. Efforts must be made to make the problem of landlessness a passé in the country. A tall order but one must be positive. Thakur further informed about major schemes and programmes initiated by DA & FW to increase the income of farmers including small and marginal farmers and for the development of the agriculture sector in India.

He mentioned PM-KISAN, PM-KMY, PMFBY, RWBCIS, MISS, AIF, 10,000 new FPOs, NBHM and Namo Drone Didi.

The other schemes and programmes he referred to in his written reply included NMNF, PM-AASHA, AgriSURE, PDMC, SMAM, PKVY, SH&F, RAD, CDP, SMA), SMSP, NFSNM and Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM).

In all, Thakur mentioned 28 programmes and schemes. The other schemes included Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oil Palm, National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oilseeds, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region, Digital Agriculture Mission, and National Bamboo Mission.

He also said that ICAR has released a compilation of success stories of 75,000 farmers, who have increased their income more than two times by convergence of schemes being operated by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and the allied ministries and departments.

What is the actual ground-reality? The Minister dropped more than enough light on the other side of the coin in his reply. He said that the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), conducted a Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of agricultural households during NSS 77th round (January – December 2019) with reference to the agricultural year July 2018-June, 2019 in the rural areas.

According to these surveys, the estimated average monthly income per agricultural household increased from Rs. 6,426 in 2012-13 (NSS 70th round) to Rs. 10,218 in 2018-19 (NSS 77th round). Appropriate answers on how much income a household with six members – parents, two kids and grandparents – should have to thrive socially and educationally, remain elusive.

The minister pointed out that as per NSSO Survey on Household Consumption Expenditure (2023-24), the all-India average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) is Rs. 1,430 in rural areas (2011-12 NSS 68th Round) and Rs 4,122 in 2023-24, while in the urban areas it was Rs. 2,630 and Rs. 6,996, respectively. There is no correlation between income and expenditure.

It is so scary. One can just imagine the kind of circumstances under which our people – mostly from weaker and deprived sections of society – are living even after almost eight decades of Independence.

What are the repercussions? It was explicitly revealed by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan. According to the last decennial census, conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, the total number of cultivators in India dropped from 12.73 crore in 2001 to 11.88 crore in 2011, a decrease of 6.67 per cent.

From 2001 to 2011, nearly 85 lakh farmers quit farming. Among them, Punjab saw 1.30 lakh farmers leaving the agricultural sector. According to the 2001 census, Punjab had 20.65 lakh cultivators, a number that dropped to 19.35 lakh by 2011.

Compulsive or subsistence farming is not a healthy sign in our country, where wealth, income, educational and health disparities are so ‘alarming.

(The writer is a senior journalist, author and columnist. The views expressed are strictly his personal)