AGRARIAN CRISIS IN INDIA SINCE 1990s AND ITS IMPACT OF FORMER

INTRODUCTION

• India being an agrarian society i.e. highly dependent upon agriculture. In post independent India 75% of population was indulged in agricultural activities for their livelihood. However, till 1970s India was not self-sufficient nation and was importing large amount of food grains form foreign food surplus nations.

• However, the Green Revolution which took around mid 1960s, which changed the whole scenario by mid 1980s. With the commencement of Green Revolution, India's agricultural sector began to contribute more than 50% to India's GDP.
• However, with the induction of economic reforms the scenario is once again changed, now India's agricultural sector even struggle to contribute about 16% to India's GDP since 1990s, despite around 58% of Indian population is still indulged in agriculture.
Hence, we can observe the agricultural crisis in India's economy since 1990s.

CAUSES OF AGRARIAN CRISIS 

1. Depeasantization:- People are moving form agricultural sector to secondary sector or tertiary sector because agriculture is no more a profitable activity when compared to other enterprises. Income derived from this is even not enough to meet the needs of cultivators.
2. No alternative for Irrigation:- Even in the era of 21st century, the agriculture is completely dependent on rainfall for irrigation. However, due to climate change the Indian Monsoon often play gambles and further lead to crop failure, which resulted into agrarian crisis since 1990s.
3. Liberal import of agricultural products:- with the induction of globalization, the absolute policy of protectionism became impossible to follow for Indian government. At the same time Government has liberal import policy towards agriculture. Therefore rice and wheat is often imported form China, Malaysia, Middle east and even form west, which cost less as compared to Indian wheat and rice. Our farmers are not able to compete with the farmers of these countries as they are technologically strong. Thus, this lead to downfall of Indian farmers.
4. Reduction in agricultural subsidies:- Before Economic reforms of 1991, there were less secondary and service sectors in our country, thus huge amount of money was invested by government to give subsidies to farmers which was beneficial for them. However, with LPG reforms since 1991 government has shifted its focus from primary sector to secondary and tertiary sector as they give more return in less investment. This is also one of the major cause of farmer distress in India.
5. Lack of Institutional Credit:- According to data of NSO, only 16% of total farmers has access to institutional credits and rest of 84% farmers borrow the credit form informal sources at very high rate of interest. According to Robo Foundation report-2020, there are 124 Million small and marginalized farmers with less than or equal to 2 Hectare land and just 36 Million of them have access to formal sources for credit. In fact 50% of farmers do not get loans at all. Which is one of the major cause behind agrarian crisis.
6. Alternative use of fertile agricultural land:- Since the inception of Economic Reforms-1991, a lot of industries are being established and sometimes the fertile land is diverted for setting them, also with the population boom the lands are diverted for settlement which acted as the catalyst for agrarian crisis.

IMPACT OF ARGRARIAN CRUSUS ON INDIA

1. With increasing population and reduction in food supply our food security is in danger, it is alarming that a country who had became self-sufficient country in 1984, and later became food surplus as well as exporter, is moving towards point of no return. It is becoming net importer of food grains from food surplus nation.
2. With decrease in food production, the inflation is increasing day by day which has increased the cost of living.

IMPACT OF AGRARIAN CRISIS ON FARMERS

1. Low income of Farmers:- According to the report of OECD and ICRIER under the chairmanship of Ashok Gulati observed that in last 2 decades framers has incurred the loss of 14% per annum and on the other hand they has been paid 25% less by their consumers. According to a recent report income of farmers in declining since 15 years and it was least in year 2019.
Thus, it is evident that agrarian crisis has led into the low income of peasants.
2.Poverty:- According to a report published in 2016, the average income of farmers was RS 6426/ month. According to NSSO 6% of small farmers has annual income of 6000 RS. Government wanted to double the income of farmers by 2022, however, it will not make any big difference and would not be successful to pull them out of poverty. As a fact a daily wage labour in Delhi is earning around 12000Rs/Month.
3. Bad living standard:- On the one hand, economic reforms have contributed to the emergence of New Middle Class, who are successful to improve their living standard, on the other hand this economic reforms has lead to the agrarian crisis and degraded the living standard of farmers, due to their poverty and low income they do not have access to clean water, education and healthcare facilities.
4. Farmers Suicide:- According to the reports of National Crime Records Bureau of India(NCRB), the farmers suicide is increasing by each year, and agrarian crisis is the cause behind it. Farmers are unable to make profit out of agriculture, they take high interest loans form informal sources and get into the web of debt trap, they sell their lands, but they fail to come out of the debt trap and ultimately end up by giving their life. 321428 framers have committed suicide between 1995 to 2015.
5. Migration:- Agrarian crisis since 1990s has compelled framers to migrate in the search of better employment opportunities. The majority of population which migrate are small and marginal farmers in the search of unskilled labour jobs in big towns and cities.

WAYS TO MOVE OUT OF AGRARIAN CRISIS.

1. Agriculture should be made profitable enterprise by development of infrastructure and investment by government. Subsidies, loan waivers and packages is not long term.
2. Easy institutional credits should be provided to farmers, so that they could not be compelled to take loan from money lenders and can escape from debt trap and consequently can earn more profit.
3. Government should encourage the farmers for commercial crops and horticulture by giving them infrastructural support, so that they could gain good profit and can come out of distress.
4. New irrigation techniques and agricultural techniques like drip irrigation, crop rotation, sprinkler system, remote sensing, block chain method, vertical framing should be promoted by the government and farmers should not alone depend upon rainfall.

National Mission For Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)/Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)
5. Government has been made many schemes in the favour of farmers like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)
Gramin Bhandaran Yojna( GBY)
However, these schemes are not properly implemented by bureaucrats on ground, according to Vivek Askand( Economic Journalist), Bureaucrats are anti- peasant and they do not implement the schemes properly.
6. Agriculture as a subject is under the jurisdiction of both Centre and States, however, States run away form their responsibilities which put the whole burden on the centre, which is the biggest impediment in the development of farmers. Equal roles should be acknowledged by States in order to come out of Agrarian Crisis.

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