Government Reorienting Agriculture Sector By Focusing On Income-centeredness

The Government has been reorienting the agriculture sector by focusing on an income-centeredness which goes beyond achieving merely the targeted production, noted a latest update from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The income approach focuses on achieving high productivity, reduced cost of cultivation and remunerative price on the produce, with a view to earn higher profits from farming.

The Government has set a target of doubling of farmers' income by the year 2022. The Government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Executive Officer, National Rainfed Area Authority, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare to examine issues relating to doubling of farmers' income and recommend a strategy to achieve doubling of farmers' income in real terms by the year 2022.

The committee has identified seven sources of income growth viz, improvement in crop and livestock productivity; resource use efficiency or savings in the cost of production; increase in the cropping intensity; diversification towards high value crops; improvement in real prices received by farmers; and shift from farm to non-farm occupations. The committee is also looking into the investments in and for agriculture e.g. increasing public investments for agriculture-rural roads, rural electricity, irrigation; the need for policy support to enable investments by corporate sector in agriculture.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) fixes target for the production of foodgrains in the country annually. The target for the production of foodgrains has been fixed at 290.25 million tonnes for the 2018-19.The production of foodgrains in the country has been estimated at 284.83 million tonnes (4th Advance Estimates) for 2017-18, which is a record.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the rainfall in the country was normal (-9%) during South-West monsoon season (June to September 2018). As per Fourth Advance Estimates for 2017-18, total Rabi Foodgrain production in the country is estimated at 144.10 million tonnes which is higher by 7.32 million tonnes than the previous record production of rabi foodgrain of 136.78 million tonnes achieved during 2016-17. The rabi production during 2017-18 is also higher by 13.58 million tonnes than the previous five years' (2012-13 to 2016-17) average production of foodgrain.

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