Agriculture has always been a lifeline for India. Even though with age, India has made a mark in various spheres and has progressed in the manufacturing sector by leaps and bounds, but agriculture still remains one of the key drivers of the economy. Worldwide, India ranks second in farm output and accounts for about 50% of the country’s workforce. Federal policy think tank Niti Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister recently decided to set up a task force of state chief ministers and central ministers to prepare a blueprint for structural reforms in agriculture

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Science and Agriculture:

• The real success of scientific farming and use of various technologies in agriculture can be attributed to the Green Revolution. In 1960s when India was grappling with frequent droughts, Green Revolution came as a God’s blessing.
• The golden period in the agriculture sector, facilitated in increasing crop yields by manifolds. Improved agronomic technology allowed India to overcome poor agricultural productivity.
• A crucial aspect to the success of the Green Revolution in India was the various scientific technologies developed to facilitate more yields. New farming irrigation methods such as drip irrigation, stronger and more resistant pesticides, more efficient fertilizers, and newly developed seeds helped in proficient crop growth.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) are the frontline agricultural extension center funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The KVKs focus on training and education of farmers, rural youth, on field demonstration of new and improved farming techniques etc.
• The term “evergreen revolution”, coined by agricultural scientist Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, kept India away from large scale import of food. At that time, technology, basically digital in character, like Remote Sensing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geo-infomatics were not available.
• With the country developing the indigenous Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite program, the technology started to support the national economy in the areas of agriculture, water resources, forestry and ecology, geology, watersheds, marine fisheries and coastal management.
• In 2000’s, the concept of e-farming or e-agriculture also referred as ICT in agriculture. E-agriculture focused on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes.
• This involved conceptualizing, designing, developing, evaluating and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture.
• During this time India had also started to realise the worth of geospatial technology in boosting its economic growth by using the technology in various fields.

However, after nearly four decades into the post green revolution period, the country still grapples with crisis each year in trying to meet the increasing demand for food by its people. Structural reforms needed are:

• Credit, finance and Insurance:
  • Raising the MSP, price deficiency payments or income support schemes can only be a partial solution to the problem of providing remunerative returns to farmers.
  • A functional institutional credit system which is accessible and accountable to all cultivators.
  • This covers not only land-owning farmers but also sharecroppers, tenants, adivasi and women farmers, and animal-rearers.
  • Credit products for agriculture need to be tailor-made based on cropping and rain cycle, specific to a particular region. The regional offices of commercial banks should contribute in this exercise. Registration of all cultivators and providing Kisan credit cards.
  • The period of crop loan should be extendable to four years, given that, on average, every second or third year the spatial distribution of rain pattern is erratic in India.
• Land holdings:
• The average size of farm holdings declined from 2.3 hectares in 1970-71 to 1.08 hectares in 2015-16.
• Policies for land consolidation along with land development activities in order to tackle the challenge of the low average size of holdings.
• Farmers can voluntarily come together and pool land to gain the benefits of size. Through consolidation, farmers can reap the economies of scale both in input procurement and output marketing.
• Input Costs:
  • It is more important to make agriculture sustainable by reducing input costs of seeds, fertilizers and other inputs.
  • Investment in infrastructure and research and development are needed.
  • There is a need for collaboration of industry-academia for coming out with cost-effective solutions to agrarian distress.
  • There is a need to make a shift from rice and wheat-centric policies to millets, pulses, fruits, vegetables, livestock and fish.
• Remunerative Prices:
  • Extending reach of minimum support price which has been dedicated to few crops and in a narrow geographical area is important.
  • Set up of Futures and Trade markets, tie up of farmer and private companies for procurement should be looked into as alternative methods against distress sale.
• Agro- Produce Marketing and Processing:
  • The creation of a competitive, stable and unified national market is needed for farmers to get better prices.
  • For better price for farmers, agriculture has to go beyond farming and develop a value chain comprising farming, wholesaling, warehousing, logistics, processing and retailing.
  • The agro-processing industry and warehousing needs to expand so that agricultural produce can be stored when prices plunge.
  • Promoting viable farmer collectives to act as a “collective voice of marginal and small farmers”.
  • Legislations on the basis of NITI Aayog’s new model law — Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitating) Act (APLM) should be enacted in all states.
  • A sustainable solution is market reforms to enable better price discovery combined with long-term trade policies favourable to exports.
• Technology:
  • Use water-use efficient technologies that can improve significantly the produce like drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation.
  • Precision agriculture, GM Crops should be encouraged drought prone areas.
  • Space technology and Mobiles should act as “Eyes and Ears” of the farmers to assist in farming.
• Distress Management:
  • Establish farmers’ distress and disaster relief commissions at the national and State levels, based on the model of Kerala Farmers’ Debt Relief Commission.

Conclusion:

Although Science and Technology did help improve the situation of Agriculture but the farmer income dropped consistently due to a variety of reasons. There is a need for implementation of the structural reforms and recommendations of various commissions to realise the goal of doubling of farmer’s income by 2022.