Updated:
January 25, 2021 00:56 IST
The agriculture sector’s performance has not been commensurate with the increasing subsidised credit it receives
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The agriculture sector’s performance has not been commensurate with the increasing subsidised credit it receives
Farmers on the warpath would mean that agriculture reforms have again occupied centrestage not just in the minds of the politicians but also policymakers. To enable small farmers to diversify their crops or improve their income they must have access to credit at reasonable rates of interest. This has been an agenda of the triad of the Centre, the States and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for decades. Unfortunately, while the volume of credit has improved over the decades, its quality and impact on agriculture has only deteriorated. Agricultural credit has become less efficient in delivering agricultural growth. Otherwise, why should over 85% of farmers’ income remain stagnant over the years? An
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The ongoing agitation by the farmers of Punjab, which is supported by other farm unions, is unparalleled in terms of the sheer number of people participating and the number of days it has been going on. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to put on hold the new farm laws and address the issues raised by the farmers before actively operationalising them.
While the farmers need a better price for their products and ease in their transportation and marketing, the consumers need the food products at an affordable price. The role of the Central government in balancing these two needs is challenging, especially with agriculture being a State subject.
Are the farmers’ protests justified?
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Dominance of middlemen denies farmers a fair price. The protesters are silent on this, while the laws seek to redress this distortion
In September, the Centre enacted three new agricultural laws aimed at reducing the continued exploitation of farmers by intermediaries in the agricultural market and increasing farmers’ incomes by providing remunerative prices for agricultural commodities. But the farmers are continuing their agitation, claiming that the new laws would have a deleterious effect on their livelihoods.
Are the alleged reasons of this agitation justifiable? If the new laws are repealed, will the market freedom of farmers provided by these laws suffer a setback? The farmers have cited two main reasons for their protest. One, the government will suspend the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme, which has been in effect for many years. Two, legal action should not be taken against intermediaries by blocking the traditional relat
Gandhi shared a Business Today graph on Twitter which depicted the average farming household income of different states of India. Punjab has the highest average farming household income in the country at Rs 2,16,708 per year