Then figure out the analogy.
You want to feed 1.2 Billion people and then you dare farmers to quit Farming
How does that work ? By eating sand ?
The problem with Indian farming sector is straightforward.
Here 50% of people contribute just 15% of GDP. This portend to high level of hidden unemployment in Indian farming sector which express itself in low productivity.
The reason for this is that farmers have uneconomic small land holdings. Now if manufacturing sector develops and half of farmers gives up farming, selling their land to other farmers, the food production would decrease slightly ((productivity of intensive farm is higher in term of yield. It is low in term of earning for farmer because land holding is small therefore even higher yield could not compensate for low net production)), but not by alarming level as we already have food surplus. This would improve economic conditions of both farmers who are into farming,and also of those who have left farming.
Now an alternative argument could be made that Why not improve farm productivity and make farming lucrative in itself, instead of diverting labour?
The problem with this approach are many.
1. A piece of land has certain carrying capacity beyond which it could not produce irrespective of how much inputs are provided.
HYV of wheat are short wheat varieties where yield is increased by making wheat shorter thus diverting carbon resource to seed, rather than stem. Here too total organic matter that could be produced has not increased, just its form has been changed.
If a farmer has two bigha land, whatever he may do, he would never ever be able to makes even a middle class level profit from it.
2. There are very few avenues for improvement in agriculture.
This I have talked before also in this thread. People talk about irrigation like it is some magic wand, and if irrigation is provided to all farmers, drought problem would be solved. This is far from truth.India already has largest irrigated area in world in absolute terms and there are very little avenue for increasing it.
Irrigation works only when there is a need of water at a place in watershed and there is surplus available in that watershed elsewhere. Irrigation is not required (and could be counterproductive) in areas which receive very high rainfall as there is no water deficit in field.Irrigation could not be done in that watershed where there is no surplus water available for irrigation. An example of this would be Vidarbha region. It is not that government has not made dams in that region which is the cause of drought; it is that those dams are empty because of (a) low rainfall (b) low water holding capacity of volcanic rocks.
Barring river interlinking project, India's irrigation potential is nearly exhausted.You could dig canals, and build dams, but if there is no surplus water available, there could be no Irrigation.
Irrigation statistics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3. Nearly all innovations in agriculture are labour reducing and capital intensive. You cannot use harvest combine in a 2 bigha field. You cannot use tractor for an acre of field. Drip irrigation costs money. so does HYV seeds, fertilizers, no-till farming, organic farming certificates etc all cost money.
Capital investments in agriculture are increasing to cope with decrease in labour availability, but due to lack of scalability, capital productivity is decreasing. This has potential to become a debt trap for farmers.
Thus only way to improve condition of farmers is to wean a substantial amount of them from farming to industries.
This would improve their situation as
1. The farmers who would be farming would have medium level economical holdings from which they could earn a profit.
2. Those farmers who have so small a holding that he should not be farming at all would have chance to sell or lease that holding and get work in industries.
3. Efficient farmers would be able to expand their holdings by buying out land holdings of inefficient farmers improving productivity of inefficient farms.
So what needs to be done.
1. Reforming Tenacy Laws
Contrary to what some Adarsh Liberals sitting in AC rooms in their Khadi kurti and Jholas believes, Tenancy laws are harming Indian agriculture, today.
Most of tenancy and ceiling laws were drafter in 1950's during era of Zamindars. They were drafted to protect small farmers but now work against them.
The benefit that would accrue from reformed tenancy laws would be
(i) Some small farmers may lease out land to shift to other occupations, provided they were assured that they could resume the land if they wished.
(ii)Some large farms may lease in land and even employ the small owner on his own farm to grow specific crops under supervision.
Tenancy should be legalised in a ‘limited’ manner. Prescribed rents, if any, should allow a band that is wide enough for rents to be contracted mutually over time period long enough to encourage investment by tenants while at the same time protecting ownership rights so that landowners have incentive to lease out land rather than keep it underutilised or fallow.
2. Government could set up Village land Banks in which a farmer could surrender his land to Land back for a periodic fixed payment, the land which bank may lease to other farmer at a fee. This could be treated as a fixed deposit providing guarantee to both parties.
3. Government should facilitate input availability like Agricultural credit,seeds,fertilizers, etc. Govt could set up seed banks at block level.
4. Improving rural infrastructure like Rural roads, storage etc to prevent wastage, and allied industries like food processing industries which would act as both employment provider and customer for produce.Post harvest lost range from 10% to 25% which could be brought down by improving infrastructure.
5. Land consolidation and modernization of Land records.
6.Government should promote Joint liability, and self help group among farmers.
7.Diversification of Agriculture. Our Agriculture is Wheat and Rice dependent. monocropping carries with it a risk of periodic droughts. This could be solved by promoting coarse cereals, and horticulture near urban areas.
8. Mixed farming should be promoted. Paddy field could be used for seasonal pisciculture. Animal husbandry could supplement farm income of small farmers.
I knew it, the art of side stepping is not new. I know your types. Keep on fighting internet warrior while the world moves on. I won't post pictures of what happens to your 'ideal' leaders like Ghaddafi and Che without 'jawaans', don't want to rub it in too much.
