Challenges of Indian agriculture sector

Every year monsoon scripts the success story of Indian agriculture. Around 20% of the GDP of the nation comes from the agriculture sector. Despite of major contribution the sector faces and many difficulties and challenges.

Many parts of the country still lack the basic infrastructure which enhances the rate of production. Majority of the farmers are depend upon the traditional method of agriculture i.e. rain feed system of irrigation and so on. A farmer employs his investment in form of seeds, fertilizers, & labor and at the end of the day he has to depend upon the rain.

Monsoon is the only game changer which can turn the fortune of poor famers. But there is a problem, a problem of over rainfall and under rainfall. During the monsoon season we can witness floods in many region of the country, especially in north India and other parts of the country.

Irrigation system is the greatest challenge for the farmers. Though, in many states of India, there is a provision of canal water irrigation system but as a whole most of the sates lacks the same. In many cases a farmer used to extract water from earth by the means of tube-wells & pumps and so on. But again it demands power (electricity & fuel). More importantly the exercise of such systems, it deteriorates the water level of the surface and it hampers the natural water recharge system.

The agriculture sector has many issues like fair price of the products in the market. In most of the cases middle man enjoys the maximum amount of profit share because they lack direct access of market.

Majority of the farmers are in debt. They need to take financial assistance in form of loan and advances in order to buy seeds, fertilizers, and employ labor in some cases.

Farmers are unable to capitalize the opportunity of market demand due to lack of proper store houses. They cannot store the produces in order to fetch the high price during the off season.

During the recent years government has implemented many revolutionary schemes in order to facilitate the sector.

o   Kishan Call Centre: the KCC unanimously 24 * 7 days of week provides the necessary information about the agriculture and agriculture related issues.

o   Soil Health Management: under this program the government body tests the sample of a soil and accordingly provides the health report of the same. By which a farmer can grow anything according to the fertility capacity of his land. Not only this, it provides the information about the bio-fertilizers for improving soil health and its productivity.

o   Exemption of Loan Relief Scheme:  in recent days in many states and province of India on periodic basis government has exempted the loans of many farmers. It is a kind of program which assists the farmers to some extent.

o   Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme: The Comprehensive Insurance Scheme (CIS) covered 15 states and 2 union territories. Participation in the scheme was voluntary. Around 5 million farmers and between 8-9 million hectares were annually covered by this scheme. If the actual yield in any area covered by the scheme fell short of the guaranteed yield, the farmers were entitled to an indemnity on compensation to the extent of the shortfall in yield. The General Insurance Corporation of India administered the scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.













Note: All the information are taken from internet.