Plough to plate, hand held by the Indian state(The Hindu, GS-3, Economics)

09 Apr Plough to plate, hand held by the Indian state(The Hindu, GS-3, Economics)

Context:- After LPG reforms indian state took the backsheet in hope that more liberalisation will lead to more welfare of people and economic growth. But the results around the world show something different.

Specificities of agriculture

• limiting factors

• • • uncertainties of the weather to soil fertility
    • water availability
    •  increasing returns to scale are very difficult 
    •  86% of India’s farmers are ‘small and marginal
      • too poor to afford warehousing facilities
    • demand for food crops is typically price inelastic
    • 90% of India’s water is consumed in farming
    • Poor return due to expensive chemical input
    • More than 3 lakh farmers died till now.

• Balance of power

• • Moneylenders creates a debt trap due to usurious interest prices.
• How to find solution of farmer distress.
  • basket of public procurement to include more crops, more regions and more farmers
    • Its effects:–
      • higher and more sustainable farmer incomes
      • greater water security
      • better consumer health
  • Procurement must be local 
  •  follow the logic of regional agro-ecology
  • cropping patterns are diversified
  • incentivize farmers  for change
  • locally procured crops should then be incorporated into anganwadi supplementary nutrition
    • tackling India’s twin syndemic of malnutrition and diabetes
    • providing higher content of dietary fiber
    • Vitamin
    • Minerals
    • protein 
    •  antioxidants
  • Public investment in specific infrastructure 

Download Daily Current Affairs of 9th April 2021

Swarn Singh

Plutus IAS Current Affair Team Member