NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said it was time the States brought in reforms in the agriculture sector, pertaining mainly to market and land lease.
Allowing direct purchases from the farmers, contract farming, permitting trader from any part of the country to get into the market and doing away with multiple-level levy were some of the aspects identified for doubling farmers’ income, he said.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a workshop on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for various sectors, including agriculture, Dr. Chand said the States would have to play a major role in agriculture reforms, particularly in the area of marketing of agriculture produce, to address the agrarian crisis. The Centre’s role was limited to linking spot market to future market, reforms in essential commodities Act and bolstering food storage and processing sectors.
When tomato was being sold at ₹7 a kg in A.P., it was sold at ₹50 a kg in Kerala the same day. “Why are our State markets not integrated. Why can’t we have better shelf life for vegetables and fruits. We need to remove restrictions on agriculture market and invite competition between markets,” he said.
Dr. Chand said a good number of SDGs were directly related to agriculture such as reducing poverty, zero hunger and sustainable use of water.
While a new State would tend to grow faster and Telangana apparently was on the right track, it should quickly learn from mistakes of the other States which compromised long-term goals in favour of the short-term ones.
He said over-exploitation of water and excessive use of chemical fertilizers would be the pinching factors. “Our crop patterns should be linked to water availability. The States should look at different zones and decide on crops that are suitable to specific zones,” he said.
On decreasing income of farmers, he said though the income might not have risen in 2014-15 and 2015-16, the long-term data showed that the income accruing to the farmers was rising at three % a year. But that was not enough to meet the growing needs and aspirations for better education and health when the rest of the economy was growing at seven to eight %.
Unless the farmers’ income was supplemented by non-farm sources, the agrarian distress would not be alleviated, he said.