India has been identified as an agricultural country, but many farmers in the country are poor. Due to this, many times in the country, many farmers’ movements have cropped up. One look at the basic problems of farmers will reveal the reason for this.
Controversy over the ownership of agricultural land in the country is the biggest problem for them. Farmers have been raising their voice against the unequal distribution of land many times. A large part of the land on which small farmers work belongs to big farmers, Mahajans and money lenders. In such a situation, if the crop is not good, then the small farmers drown in debt.
Another big problem for the farmers is that they do not get the right price for the crop. Farmers also have to complete all the paperwork to sell their merchandise. For example, if a farmer wants to sell a product at the government centre, then he requires a paper from the village officer. In such cases, the less educated farmers are forced to sell their goods at an average of three and a half times.
It is very important to have good seeds for good crop. But due to the lack of a proper distribution system, good seeds are expensive and not in the reach of small farmers. Because of this, small farmers cannot enjoy the benefits of good seeds and the quality of the crop is affected.
Monsoon cannot be accurately predicted in India. Despite this, advanced techniques of irrigation have not been disseminated in all parts of the country. For example, Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have good arrangements for irrigation, but in a large part of the country, agriculture is dependent on monsoon. The falling levels of underground water have also increased the problems of farmers.
Other natural causes, alongside human factors, also increase the problems of farmers and agriculture. In fact, due to air and water on large areas of fertile land, soil erosion occurs. Due to this, the soil loses its original capacity and its impact on the crop drops.
Now machines are being used in the agriculture sector, but still, there are some areas where a big task is still done by the farmers themselves. They use traditional methods in agriculture. More and more such cases are being seen with small and marginal farmers. Its effect is clearly visible on the quality and cost of agricultural products.
There is a lack of good storage facilities in rural areas of India. In such a situation, farmers are forced to deal with the crop at the earliest, and many times farmers make crude bargains at rates that are two and a half times lower. The court has also reprimanded the centre and the state governments for storage facilities, but the ground situation has not changed much so far.
A major hurdle in the promotion of Indian agriculture is also the lack of a good transport system. Even today, there are many villages in the country that are not connected to the markets and cities. At the same time, the weather also has a great effect on some roads. Because of this, farmers are forced to sell goods at lower prices in local markets only. To overcome this problem, the agriculture sector needs a lot of money as well as strong political commitment.
Like all other fields, agriculture also needs capital to grow. The technical expansion of agriculture has further enhanced this requirement of capital. But there is lack of capital in this area. Small farmers take loans from Mahajans and traders at higher rates. But in the last few years, farmers have started taking loans from banks too. Yet, circumstances have not changed much.