Rapid doubling of farmers’ income is a big success of Modi government’s policies

About 60 percent of the population in India still lives in rural areas and a large part of this is dependent on the agriculture sector for their livelihood. If the income of citizens living in rural areas starts increasing, then it can be increased to more than 10 percent every year, adding to the rate of economic development of India. With this in view, the Central Government has been continuously making efforts as to how to double the income of the farmers. In this context, efforts are being made to double the income of farmers by implementing several policies and reform programmes. In April 2016, a ministry committee was also formed in this regard by the central government and seven sources were identified to increase the income of farmers, these include- increasing the productivity of crops, increasing the productivity of livestock To reduce the cost of production of agricultural activities while achieving efficiency in the use of resources, increasing cropping intensity, encouraging the farmer for high value farming (diversification of farming), providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce and To divert the surplus labor force from the agricultural sector to non-agricultural occupations. Many measures taken by the central government in all the above areas have now started showing positive results and in many states the standard of living of the farmers is improving, the spending capacity of the farmers has increased and overall now the farmers of the country Confidence has increased.

In ancient India, following the Sanatan culture, especially in the rural areas, cow rearing activities were carried out on a large scale. In that period, there was a lot of economic benefit from cow rearing. Cow dung was used as manure, dairy products were manufactured from cow milk and sold in the market, cow urine was used as medicine, etc. In rural areas, the prosperity of any family was measured by the number of cows in which family. Apart from agricultural work, almost all the families were also engaged in the activity of cow rearing and this made it an additional source of their income. On the same lines, at present, the activity of animal husbandry has been promoted by the Central Government as an additional source for the farmers in the rural areas.

There has been an unprecedented increase in the budget allocation for agriculture by the Central Government during the last 9 years. A provision of Rs 25,460 crore was made for the agriculture budget in the year 2015-16, which has increased to Rs 138,551 crore in the year 2022-23. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana was started in the year 2019. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs 6000 per year, in three equal installments, is directly deposited by the Central Government in the bank accounts of eligible farmers. Eligible farmers use this amount to buy fertilizers, seeds, etc. to complete agricultural work. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana, funds worth more than Rs 2 lakh crore have been released by the Central Government to 11.3 crore eligible farmer families so far.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has also been successfully implemented in the country. In the event of crop failure in the midst of natural calamities, the insurance company compensates the farmers for the economic loss caused to them. This has increased the self-confidence of Indian farmers. There has been an unprecedented increase in the target of institutional credit for the agriculture sector. Concessional institutional loans are being made available to farmers for animal husbandry and fisheries at 4 percent interest per annum. Due to which the profitability of the farmers has increased in these activities. Through the Kisan Credit Card Scheme, all the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana have been linked to the Kisan Credit Card Scheme. The minimum support price of various products is being fixed up to one and a half times of the cost of production. Organic farming is being promoted in India, due to which pesticides and fertilizers are being used less and this is reducing the production cost of agricultural commodities for the farmers.

Similarly, the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) has also been established by the Central Government. This has given farmers a better market to sell their produce. Kisan Rail has also been started while improving agricultural produce logistics. With this special facility, the possibilities of destruction of substances like fruits and vegetables have been reduced. Start-up eco-system is also being created in the agriculture and allied sector in the country. Instead of increasing productivity and production, policies are now being formulated to increase the income of farmers.

Irrigation facilities are being provided to the farmers, following the principle of ‘per drop more crop’. Micro Irrigation Fund has also been constituted in this regard. Farmer producer organizations are being encouraged so that farmers can sell their crops in the market at reasonable prices and become competitive in this context. Special attention is also being paid to the mechanization of agriculture sector. Soil health cards have been made available to the farmers after examining the soil of the field, so that the farmer can grow the same crop in this soil, which has the potential to be more productive.

Due to the incomparable increase in the production of various agricultural products in India, now the farmers of India have also started exporting various agricultural products. Due to the ever-increasing demand of Indian agricultural products in the international market, now farmers are getting good income from the export of these products. The central government has simplified the rules related to the export of agricultural products from the country.

Various measures taken by the Central Government as mentioned above have resulted in increase in productivity of crops and livestock, reduction in cost of production due to efficiency in resource use, increase in cropping intensity, shift towards high value farming. Diversification has taken place, farmers are getting remunerative prices for their produce and additional labor force has been diverted from agriculture to non-agriculture occupations. The combined result of all this has been that the increase in the net income of the farmers is visible. Farmers’ income is visible increasing both directly and indirectly.

– Prahlad Sabnani

retired deputy general manager

state Bank of India