<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advisor on the farm sector on Sunday made a strong pitch for involving the private sector in “all aspects of agriculture” as successive droughts signal tough time ahead for farmers.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Delivering the keynote address at the National Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers Welfare here, Ramesh Chand, member, NITI Aayog flagged three key issues — assured income for farmers, dealing with fluctuation in the income and easy access to markets — as “quantifiable indicators” to ensure farmers’ welfare.<br /><br />According to Chand, a agriculture economist, farmers benefited from rising international prices between 2005 and 2012, a period that saw 30 per cent increase in farm income. <br /><br />However, global prices have remained depressed during the past couple of years, a trend that has also reflected in India. He said the crises could deepen further if the trend is not reversed in 2016-17. He suggested changes in land lease laws to bring sharecroppers within the ambit of various farm credit and crop insurance initiatives of the government. <br /><br />“25 lakh farmers are leaving farming every year, but they are not leasing or selling their land holdings,” Chand said.<br /><br />He suggested consolidation of land holdings through lease as more than 50 per cent farmers cultivate less than one acre of land to earn a living.<br /><br />“Can farmers make a good living out of 2200 sq mts of land? Farmer will always remain in poverty,” he said suggesting extension of the Centre’s flagship initiatives — Startup India, Make in India and Atal Innovation Mission — to the rural sector.<br /><br />“We should shed the socialist mindset and allow private sector into all aspects of agriculture — R&D, seed production, agri-marketing and trade,” Chand said.<br /><br />Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh admitted that 2015-16 has been a challenging year for agriculture on account of two successive droughts and deficient post-monsoon rainfall.<br /><br />He said the government was mulling increasing institutional credit to farmers from the present Rs 8.5 lakh crores.<br /><br />Singh said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana unveiled by the Centre last week also covered post-harvest losses that would give greater assurance to farmers on protecting his investments.<br /></p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advisor on the farm sector on Sunday made a strong pitch for involving the private sector in “all aspects of agriculture” as successive droughts signal tough time ahead for farmers.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Delivering the keynote address at the National Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers Welfare here, Ramesh Chand, member, NITI Aayog flagged three key issues — assured income for farmers, dealing with fluctuation in the income and easy access to markets — as “quantifiable indicators” to ensure farmers’ welfare.<br /><br />According to Chand, a agriculture economist, farmers benefited from rising international prices between 2005 and 2012, a period that saw 30 per cent increase in farm income. <br /><br />However, global prices have remained depressed during the past couple of years, a trend that has also reflected in India. He said the crises could deepen further if the trend is not reversed in 2016-17. He suggested changes in land lease laws to bring sharecroppers within the ambit of various farm credit and crop insurance initiatives of the government. <br /><br />“25 lakh farmers are leaving farming every year, but they are not leasing or selling their land holdings,” Chand said.<br /><br />He suggested consolidation of land holdings through lease as more than 50 per cent farmers cultivate less than one acre of land to earn a living.<br /><br />“Can farmers make a good living out of 2200 sq mts of land? Farmer will always remain in poverty,” he said suggesting extension of the Centre’s flagship initiatives — Startup India, Make in India and Atal Innovation Mission — to the rural sector.<br /><br />“We should shed the socialist mindset and allow private sector into all aspects of agriculture — R&D, seed production, agri-marketing and trade,” Chand said.<br /><br />Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh admitted that 2015-16 has been a challenging year for agriculture on account of two successive droughts and deficient post-monsoon rainfall.<br /><br />He said the government was mulling increasing institutional credit to farmers from the present Rs 8.5 lakh crores.<br /><br />Singh said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana unveiled by the Centre last week also covered post-harvest losses that would give greater assurance to farmers on protecting his investments.<br /></p>
