Major Problems Faced by Indian Agriculture

Major Problems Faced by Indian gardening The major problems confronting Indian agriculture atomic number 18 those of universe of discourse pressure, sm completely holdings, crushed smuts, lack of modern technology and misfortunate facilities for storage. (a) Population Pressure India has a huge population of over one billion and it is increase at a very fast rate. According to 2001 census figures the over all density of population is 324 persons per sq. km. This is likely to increase further in future. This has created enormous demand for land. Every bit of land has been brought at a lower place the plough.Even the hill slopes render been cut into terraces for cultivation. (b) Small and Fragmented Land Holdings The pressure of change magnitude population and the practice of dividing land equally among the heirs has produced excessive sub divisions of set up holdings. Consequently, the holdings be small and fragmented. The small size of holdings makes farming activity unec onomical and leads to friendly tension, violence and discontentment. (c) Inadequate Irrigation Facilities By and large the irrigation facilities available in India argon far from adequate.So for half of the total area under food crops has been brought under irrigation and the remaining half is left to the mercy of monsoon rains which are erratic in time and space. (d) Depleted Soils Indian soils have been used for enhanceing crops for thousands of long time which have resulted in the depletion of soil fertility. With deforestation the sources of sustaining natural fertility of soil has been drying out. Lack of material resources and ignorance of scientific knowledge have further exhaust the soils of the natural fertility. Earlier only animal waste was enough to maintain soil fertility. e) Storage of food grains Storage of food grains is a speculative problem. Nearly 10 per cent of our harvest goes waste every stratum in the absence of proper storage facilities. This colossal w astage can be avoided by developing scientific ware-housing facilities. The government has interpreted several move to provide storage facilities. (f) Farm Implements Although some mechanisation of farming has taken place in some parts of the state, most of the farmers are forgetful and do not have enough resources to purchase modern farm implements and tools.This hampers the development of agriculture. Challenges agriculture sector challenges will be important to Indias overall development and the improved welfare of its pastoral paltry 1. rhytidectomy awkward productivity per whole of land Raising productivity per unit of land will need to be the main engine of pastoral growth as virtually all cultivable land is farmed. wet resources are also limited and body of water for irrigation must contend with increasing industrial and urban needs.All measures to increase productivity will need exploiting, amongst them increasing yields, diversification to higher value crops, and developing value chains to humble marketing costs. 2. Reducing rural poverty through a socially inclusive strategy that comp go ups both agriculture as well as non-farm employment Rural development must also benefit the poor, landless, women, schedule castes and tribes. Moreover, at that place are strong regional disparities the majority of Indias poor are in rain-fed areas or in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic plains. Reaching such(prenominal) groups has not been easy. magical spell progress has been made the rural population classified as poor fell from nearly 40% in the early nineties to below 30% by the mid-2000s ( nearly a 1% fall per year) there is a clear need for a faster reduction. Hence, poverty substitute is a central pillar of the rural development efforts of the Government and the man Bank. 3. Ensuring that verdant growth responds to food security needs The sharp rise in food-grain production during Indias Green Revolution of the 1970s enabled the country to achieve self-sufficiency in food-grains and stave off the threat of famine.Agricultural intensification in the 1970s to 1980s saw an increased demand for rural struggle that raised rural wages and, together with declining food prices, reduced rural poverty. However agricultural growth in the 1990s and 2000s slowed down, averaging active 3. 5% per annum, and cereal yields have increased by only 1. 4% per annum in the 2000s. The slow-down in agricultural growth has be bed a major cause for concern. Indias rice yields are one-third of Chinas and about half of those in Vietnam and Indonesia. The same is true for most opposite agricultural commodities.Policy makers will thus need to initiate and/or conclude insurance policy actions and public programs to shift the sector away from the existing policy and institutional regime that appears to be no longer viable and build a solid foundation for a much more productive, internationally competitive, and change agricultural sector. Priority Area s for Support 1. Enhancing agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and rural growth Promoting forward-looking technologies and reforming agricultural interrogation and extension Major reform and strengthening of Indias agricultural research and extension systems is one of the most important needs for agricultural growth.These services have declined over time due to inveterate underfunding of infrastructure and operations, no replacement of aging researchers or broad glide slope to state-of-the-art technologies. Research now has little to provide beyond the time-worn packages of the past. common extension services are struggling and offer little unused knowledge to farmers. There is too little connection between research and extension, or between these services and the private sector. Improving Water Resources and Irrigation/ drain Management Agriculture is Indias largest user of water.However, increasing competition for water between industry, domestic use and agriculture h as highlighted the need to plan and grapple water on a river basin and multi-sectoral basis. As urban and different demands multiply, less water is likely to be available for irrigation. Ways to radically enhance the productivity of irrigation (more crop per drop) need to be found. Piped conveyance, better on-farm management of water, and use of more efficient delivery mechanisms such as drip irrigation are among the actions that could be taken. There is also a need to manage as opposed to exploit the use of groundwater.Incentives to nub less water such as levying electricity charges or association monitoring of use have not yet succeeded beyond irregular initiatives. Other key priorities include (i) modernizing Irrigation and Drainage Departments to integrate the participation of farmers and other agencies in managing irrigation water (ii) improving cost recovery (iii) rationalizing public expenditures, with precession to completing schemes with the highest returns and (iv) a llocating sufficient resources for operations and maintenance for the sustainability of investments.Facilitating agricultural diversification to higher-value commodities encouraging farmers todiversify to higher value commodities will be a significant doer for higher agricultural growth, particularly in rain-fed areas where poverty is high. Moreover, considerable emf exists for expanding agro-processing and building competitive value chains from producers to urban centers and export markets. While diversification initiatives should be left to farmers and entrepreneurs, the Government can, first and foremost, liberalize constraints to marketing, transport, export and processing.It can also play a small regulatory role, victorious due care that this does not become an impediment. Promoting high growth commodities any(prenominal) agricultural sub-sectors have particularly high potential for expansion, notably dairy. The store sector, primarily due to dairy, contri simplyes over a quarter of agricultural gross domestic product and is a source of income for 70% of Indias rural families, mostly those who are poor and headed by women. Growth in milk production, at about 4% per annum, has been brisk, but future domestic demand is expected to grow by at least 5% per annum.Milk production is constrained, however, by the poor genetic quality of cows, inadequate nutrients, inaccessible veterinary care, and other factors. A targeted program to tackle these constraints could boost production and have good fix on poverty. Developing markets, agricultural credit and public expenditures Indias legacy of extensive government involvement in agricultural marketing has created restrictions in internal and external trade, resulting in cumbersome and high-cost marketing and transport options for agricultural commodities.Even so, private sector investment in marketing, value chains and agro-processing is growing, but much slower than potential. While some restrictions are be ing lifted, advantageously more needs to be done to enable diversification and calumniate consumer prices. Improving access to rural finance for farmers is another need as it remains difficult for farmers to get credit. Moreover, subsidies on power, fertilizers and irrigation have progressively come to dominate Government expenditures on the sector, and are now four time larger than investment expenditures, crowding out top priorities such as agricultural research and extension.