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Policies biased against rainfed agriculture
Why in news?
- A new rainfed agriculture atlas released this week.
- Atlas not only maps the agro-biodiversity and socio-economic conditions prevailing in such areas, but also attempts to document the policy biases that are making farming unviable for many in these areas.
More in the news
Concerns:
- Three out of five farmers in India grow their crops using rainwater, instead of irrigation.
- However, per hectare government investment on rainfed lands may be 20 times lower.
- Procurement of their crops is a fraction of major irrigated land crops.
- Many of the flagship agriculture schemes are not tailored to benefit them.
Farmers in rainfed areas:
- There has been negligence toward rainfed areas, which is leading to lower incomes for farmers in these regions.
- Farmers in such areas are receiving 40% less of their income from agriculture in comparison to those in irrigated areas.
Difference in yield is not proportionate to the difference in investment:
- Lands irrigated through big dams and canal networks get a per hectare investment of ₹5 lakh.
- Watershed management spending in rainfed lands is only Rs 18,000-25,000.
When it comes to procurement:
- Between 2001-02 and 2011-12, the government spent Rs. 5.4 lakh crore on wheat and rice.
- Coarse cereals, which are grown in rainfed areas, only had Rs 3,200 crore worth of procurement in the same period.
Failure of schemes:
- Schemes, such as seed and fertilizer subsidies and soil health cards, are designed for irrigated areas and simply extended to rainfed farmers without taking their needs into consideration.
- Many hybrid seeds notified by the government scheme need plenty of water and are thus not useful to most rainfed farmers.
- Commercial fertilizers will simply burn out the soil without adequate water.
- The government has no system to channelize indigenous seeds or subsidize organic manure.
Source
The Hindu.