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Experts’ Speak - Protect Our Livelihood

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Integrating livestock and crops, a common practice in the past, is a viable option that all farmers should adopt. This approach offers multidimensional benefits, including income security, continued availability of animal manure, and reduced dependency on crops for livelihoods. Government incentives, awareness campaigns, and training programmes can help farmers revive this approach.
How Natural Farming Can Revive India’s Farmlands and Ensure Sustainable Agriculture by Indira Singh, The Wire, July 21, 2023. Know More
Ineffective implementation of MSP and ‘non-procurement’ of all the crops at the MSP is also one of the main concerns of farmers. Such a scenario builds a strong rationale for giving ‘legal status’ to MSP as it is the floor or reference price. This does not imply that the government should procure all those crops but would certainly bind the private players to procure those crops at least at the MSP.
Will a hike in MSP help farmers? by Vikas Vasudeva, The Hindu, June 12, 2023 Know More
Convergence of SHGs, Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Co-operatives will lead to better bargaining power of farmers in terms of bulk procurement of inputs at a discounted price, economies of scale in transportation and warehousing, access to low cost institutional finance, farm mechanisation (drones for monitoring of crops and spraying of fertilisers and plant protection chemicals, etc.), aggregation in selling of agri-produce at remunerative prices.
Agriculture needs a ‘natural’ boost by M Srikanth, The Hindu Business Line, May 16, 2023 Know More
Over the last six years, farmers paid a premium of about Rs. 25, 186 crore but received claims worth Rs. 1,25,662 core (as on Oct 31, 2022). There can't be a better deal than this for farmers. Still, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, Jharkhand and West Bengal opted out of the scheme citing 'financial constraints'. Punjab persistently opposed and never implemented the scheme [PM-Fasal Bima Yojana]. Now is the time for them to think and join this PM-FBY.
Weather vagaries, wheat woes by Ashok Gulati and Raya Das, The Indian Express, April 3, 2023 Know More
“We need innovations in technologies, products, institutions and policies for more diversified high-value agriculture that is also planet friendly. On the question of doubling farmers’ income, we must realise it is going to take time. It can be done by increasing productivity through better seeds and better irrigation.”
How to double India’s farmers’ income by Ashok Gulati, The Indian Express, March 6, 2023 Know More
The FM has announced an Agri-Focused Accelerator Fund. She also talked of creating digital public infrastructure for agriculture as an open-source, open-standard and interoperable public good... These are steps in the right direction but we have to see how much funds are allocated under these schemes.
Doles to development by Ashok Gulati and Ritika Juneja, The Indian Express, February 6, 2023 Know More
“Agriculture 4.0, a considerably more advanced variant of precision farming, has the potential to transform the traditional farming industry. It refers to the use of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence, and robotics, to extend, accelerate, and improve the efficiency of activities throughout the entire production chain.”
Agriculture 4.0 is a potential solution to meet food and climate goals By Mohit Kapoor, Forbes India, January 18, 2023. Know More
Nutritional advantages apart, millets are hardy and drought-resistant crops. This has to do with their short duration (70-100) days, against 115-150 days for rice and wheat), lower water requirement (350-500 mm versus 600-1,250 mm) and ability to grow even on poor soils and in hilly terrain. However, millets are not the first choice either of consumers or of farmers.
The Millets Manifesto by Harish Damodaran, The Indian Express, January 2, 2023 Know More
The rice area in India has shown a mild shift, both temporally and spatially — from the rain-fed eastern belt to the drier north-west, served by controlled irrigation — despite a declining trend of rainfall observed in both the regions. The shift is part of the broader changes in land use.
Climatic Trends, Cropping Pattern Shifts, and Migration of Rice in India by Nilabja Ghosh, Mayanglambam Rajeshwor & Amritanshi Preeti, Economic & Political Weekly, November 19, 2022 Know More
The agriculture for tomorrow is going to be science-based, and the winners will be those who adopt it and develop it further today. Innovation is the name of the game, and “Jai Anusandhan” is a good slogan given by PM Modi. But it will have meaning only when the government goes ahead with not just GM Mustard but also fast-tracks Ht Bt cotton, Bt Brinjal, and even GM soya and corn.
Why India cannot afford to ignore the GM crop revolution by Ashok Gulati and Ritika Juneja, The Indian Express, November 14, 2022 Know More