Context:
Recently, the Supreme Court (SC)–appointed committee has submitted its interim report on agrarian distress in India. The report has highlighted the severe state of crisis in India’s agriculture.
Key Findings of the Report:
- Income Crisis
- Farmers make just Rs 27 per day through agricultural pursuits, it reflects the poverty
- Average monthly income of agricultural households is Rs 10,218, far below basic living standards.
- Increasing Debt
- Punjab and Haryana are burdened by the ever-growing debts of the farmers. In the year 2022-23, the institutional loans in these states are reported to be at Rs 73,673 crore and Rs 76,630 crore respectively.
- Non-institutional debt contributes to the burden, 21.3% in Punjab and 32% in Haryana.
- Farmer Suicides
- From 1995, over 4 lakh farmers and farm workers have taken their lives in India.
- A house-to-house survey documented 16,606 suicides between 2000 and 2015, mainly small and marginal farmers and landless workers.
- Agricultural Growth has remained stagnant
- Punjab and Haryana have faced stagnant growth in agriculture; hence low income levels and poor living standards for farmers.
- Proportionate Employment
- 46 percent workforce is distributed in agriculture, while it only contributes 15 percent to the national income.
- Many agricultural labourers earn low wages or suffer disguised unemployment, this deepens rural poverty.
- Impact of Climate Change
- The depleting water tables, droughts, erratic rainfall and extreme weather events are aggravating the crisis further threaten food security and agricultural productivity.
Implication of the report
- Poor agriculture, large suicide rates and growing debt as well as inability to reform spell serious threat for the economy as a whole in the country
- The farming sector is threatening with a major food security crises if the things continue to work like this in the future.
- The persistent farmer suicides and increasing hopelessness in the farming community may lead to social unrest.
