10 Major Agricultural Problems Of India Essay

Some of the major problems and their possible solutions confuse been discussed as fol lower-rankings. Indian agriculture is plagued by several problems some of them argon instinctive and some others are manmade.1. Small and fragmented discharge-holdingsThe perceivemingly abundance of net profit sown demesne of 141.2 million hectares and broad(a) cropped area of 189.7 million hectares (1999-2000) pales into insignificance when we see that it is divided into economically unviable midget and scattered holdings.The average size of holdings was 2.28 hectares in 1970-71 which was reduced to 1.82 hectares in 1980-81 and 1.50 hectares in 1995-96. The size of the holdings will except drop with the infinite Sub-division of the land holdings.See to a greater extent Sleep Deprivation hassle Solution Speech EssayThe problem of slim and fragmented holdings is more serious in densely populated and intensively cultivated states corresponding Kerala, westward Bengal, Biharand eastern b reak-dance of Uttar Pradesh where the average size of land holdings is less(prenominal) than one hectare and in certain split it is less than even 0.5 hectare.Rajasthan with commodious sandy strand so forthes and Nagaland with the prevailing Jhoom (shifting agriculture) confine larger average sized holdings of 4 and 7.15 hectares respectively. States having high per centimeimeimeage of net sown area handle Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have holding size above the national average.Further it is shocking to keep an eye on that a large proportion of 59 per cent holdings in 1990- 91 were marginal (below 1 hectare) accounting for 14.9 per cent of the total operated area. Another 19 per cent were small holdings (1-2 hectare) taking up 17.3 per cent of the total operated area. prominent holdings (above 10 hectare) accounted for barely 1.6 per cent of total holdings that c all overed 17.4 per cent of the operated area (Table 22.1). Hence, ther e is a across-the-board gap between small farmers, medium farmers (peasant group) and big farmers (landlords).The main reason for this sad state of affairs is our inheritance laws. The land be considerableing to the father is equally distributed among his sons. This distribution of land does not entail a collection or consolidated one, but its nature is fragmented.Different tracts have different levels of fertility and are to be distributed accordingly. If there are four tracts which are to be distributed between 2 sons, both the sons will get smaller plots of each(prenominal) land tract. In this way the holdings become smaller and more fragmented with each release generation.Sub-division and fragmentation of the holdings is one of the main causes of our low country productivity and opposed state of our agriculture.1/2/2015 758 PM10 Major Agricultural Problems of India and their Possible Solutions3 of 16http//www.yourarticlelibrary.com/agriculture/10-major-agricultural-proA l ot of time and parturiency is insensible in moving set outs, mud, implements and frightens from one piece of land to another.Irrigation becomes difficult on such small and fragmented fields. Further, a lot of full-bodied agricultural land is wasted in providing boundaries. Under such circumstances, the farmer cannot concentrate on improvement. The only answer to this ticklish problem is the consolidation of holdings which means the reallocation of holdings which are fragmented, the creation of farms which comprise only one or a a couple of(prenominal) parcels in place of multitude of patches formerly in the possession of each peasant. But unfortunately, this excogitation has not succeeded much. Although legislation for consolidation of holdings has been enacted by more or less all the states, it has been implemented only in Punjab, Haryana and in some separate of Uttar Pradesh.Consolidation of close to 45 million holdings has been done till 1990-91 in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. The other solution to this problem is cooperative farming in which the farmers pool their resources and share the profit.2. SeedsSeed is a critical and basic stimulant for attaining higher crop yields and sustained growth in agricultural output. dispersion of assured calibre sow is as critical as the toil of such authors. Unfortunately, bang-up tone seeds are out of reach of the volume of farmers, oddly small and marginal farmers mainly because of exorbitant tolls of better seeds.In order to solve this problem, the Government of India established the National Seeds Corporation (NSC) in 1963 and the State FarmersCorporation of India (SFCI) in 1969. Thirteen State Seed Corporations (SSCs) were also established to augment the supply of improved seeds to the farmers.High Yielding diverseness Programme (HYVP) was launched in 1966-67 as a major thrust plan to increase the production of food grains in the country. The Indian seed pains had exhibited imp ressive growth in the past and is expected to provide further potential for growth in agricultural production The role of seed industry is not only to stimulate adequate quantity of quality seeds but also to achieve varietal diversity to suit various agro-climatic zones of the country.The policy statements are designed towards making available to the Indian farmer, adequate quantities of seed of superior quality at the appropriate time and place and at an affordable price so as to meet the countrys food and nutritional security goals.Indian seeds programme largely adheres to peculiar(a) generation system for seed multiplication. The system recognises three kinds of generation, namely breeder, earthing and certified seeds. Breeder seed is the basic seed and first percentage point in seed production. Foundation seed is the second stage in seed production chain and is the publication of breeder seed. Certified seed is the ultimate stage in seed production chain and is the progeny of foundation seed. Production of breeder and foundation seeds and certified seeds distribution have gone up at an annual average rate of 3.4 per cent, 7.5 percent and 9.5 per cent respectively, between 2001-02 and 2005-06).3. Manures, Fertilizers and BiocidesIndian soils have been used for growing crops over thousands of yearswithout caring much for replenishing. This has conduct to depletion and exhaustion of soils resulting in their low productivity. The average yields of almost all the crops are among t e low in the man. This is a serious problem which can be single-minded by using more manures and fertilizers. Manures and fertilizers play the same role in relation to soils as right food in relation to body. upright as a well-nourished body is capable of doing any good job, a well nourished soil is capable of giving good yields. It has been estimated that about 70 per cent of growth in agricultural production can be attributed to increase fertilizer application.Thus incre ase in the consumption of fertilizers is a barometer of agricultural prosperity. However, there are practical difficulties in providing sufficient manures and fertilizers in all parts of a country of Indias dimensions inhabited by pathetic peasants. Cow feed provides the best manure to the soils.But its use as such is limited because much of cow dung is used as kitchen fuel in the shape of dung cakes. Reduction in the supply of fire wood and increasing pray for fuel in the rural areas delinquent to increase in macrocosm has further complicated the problem. Chemical fertilizers are costly and are much beyond the reach of the poor farmers. The fertilizer problem is, therefore, both intense and complex.It has been felt that organic manures are essential for keeping the soil in good health. The country has a potential of 650 million tonnes of rural and clx lakh tonnes of urban compost which is not fully utilized at present. The utilization of this potential will solve the twin pr oblem of disposal of waste and providing manure to the soil.The government has given high incentive specially in the form of heavy subsidy for using chemical fertilizers. in that respect was practically no use of chemical fertilizers at the time of emancipation As a result of initiative bythe government and due to change in the attitude of some progressive farmers, the consumption of fertilizers change magnitude tremendously. In order to maintain the quality of the fertilizers, 52 fertilizer quality control laboratories have been set up in different parts of the country. In addition, there is one Central Fertilizer Quality stamp down and Training Institute at Farida regretful with its three regional centres at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.Pests, germs and weeds cause heavy loss to crops which amounted to about one third of the total field produce at the time of Independence. Biocides (pesticides, herbicides and weedicides) are used to pull through the crops and to avoid losse s. The increased use of these inputs has saved a lot of crops, especially the food crops from unnecessary wastage. But indiscriminate use of biocides has resulted in wide spread environmental pollution which takes its own toll.4. IrrigationAlthough India is the second largest irrigated country of the world later China, only one-third of the cropped area is under irrigation. Irrigation is the most chief(prenominal) agricultural input in a tropical monsoon country like India where rainfall is uncertain, unreliable and erratic India cannot achieve sustained progress in agriculture unless and until more than half of the cropped area is brought under assured irrigation.This is testified by the success story of agricultural progress in Punjab Haryana and western part of Uttar Pradesh where over half of the cropped area is under irrigation voluminous tracts still appear irrigation to boost the agricultural output.However, care must be taken to forethought against ill effects of over i rrigation especially in areas irrigated by canals. Large tracts in Punjaband Haryana have been rendered useless (areas affected by common salt, alkalinity and water-logging), due to awry(p) irrigation. In the Indira Gandhi Canal command area also intensive irrigation has led to sharp rise in sub-soil water level, leading to water-logging, soil salinity and alkalinity.5. Lack of mechanisationIn spite of the large scale mechanisation of agriculture in some parts of the country, most of the agricultural trading operations in larger parts are carried on by valet hand using simple and conventional tools and implements like wooden plough, sickle, etc.Little or no use of machines is made in ploughing, sowing, irrigating, film editing and pruning, weeding, harvesting threshing and transporting the crops. This is specially the case with small and marginal farmers. It results in huge wastage of human labour and in low yields per capita labour force. there is urgent need to mechanise the agricultural operations so that wastage of labour force is avoided and farming is made convenient and efficient. Agricultural implements and machinery are a crucial input for efficient and timely agricultural operations, facilitating multiple cropping and thereby increasing production.Some progress has been made for mechanising agriculture in India after Independence. Need for mechanisation was specially felt with the advent of Green alteration in 1960s. Strategies and programmes have been directed towards replacement of traditional and inefficient implements by improved ones, enabling the farmer to own tractors, power tillers, harvesters and other machines.A large industrial base for manufacturing of the agricultural machines has also been developed. Power accessibility for carrying out variousagricultural operations has been increased to reach a level of 14 kW per hectare in 2003-04 from only 0.3 kW per hectare in 1971-72.This increase was the result of increasing use of tractor , power tiller and harmonize harvesters, irrigation pumps and other power operated machines. The share of mechanical and electrical power has increased from 40 per cent in 1971 to 84 per cent in 2003-04.Uttar Pradesh record the highest average sales of tractors during the fiveyear period ending 2003-04 and/West Bengal recorded the highest average sales of power tillers during the same period.Strenuous efforts are being made to encourage the farmers to adopt technically advanced agricultural equipments in order to carry farm operations timely and exactly and to economise the agricultural production process.6. Soil erosionLarge tracts of fertile land suffer from soil erosion by wind and water. This area must be properly treated and restored to its original fertility.7. Agricultural tradeAgricultural market still continues to be in a bad shape in rural India. In the absence of sound marketing facilities, the farmers have to depend upon local traders and middlemen for the disposal o f their farm produce which is change at throw-away price.In most cases, these farmers are forced, under socio-economic conditions, to carry on distress sale of their produce. In most of small villages, the farmers sell their produce to the money lender from whom they usually borrow money.According to an estimate 85 per cent of wheat and 75 per cent of oil seeds in Uttar Pradesh, 90 per cent of Jute in West Bengal, 70 per cent of oilseeds and 35 per cent of cotton in Punjab is sold by farmers in the village itself. such a situation arises due to the inability of the poor farmers to wait for long after harvesting their crops.In order to meet his commitments and pay his debt, the poor farmer is forced to sell the produce at whatever price is offered to him. The Rural Credit Survey Report rightly remarked that the producers in world(a) sell their produce at an negative place and at an unfavourable time and usually they get unfavourable terms.In the absence of an unionised marketing structure, private traders and middlemen dominate the marketing and trading of agricultural produce. The stipend of the services provided by the middlemen increases the load on the consumer, although the producer does not recoup similar benefit.Many market surveys have revealed that middlemen take away about 48 per cent of the price of rice, 52 per cent of the price of grounduts and 60 per cent of the price of potatoes offered by consumers.In order to save the farmer from the clutches of the money lenders and the middle men, the government has come out with correct markets. These markets generally introduce a system of competitive buying, help in eradicating malpractices, ensure the use of standardised weights and measures and evolve suitable machinery for settlement of disputes thereby ensuring that the producers are not subjected to exploitation and receive remunerative prices.