Higher yields across crops don't always mean higher income for farmers

Data from 2013-14 to 2024-25 show yield increases haven't translated into proportional income gains for all crops, with market access and prices emerging as key factors

A few weeks ago, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in an interview to Business Standard, said that the focus of the ongoing mass contact programme called ‘Vikshit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’ is largely on raising production and productivity of major crops.

 

This is because, once you raise per hectare yields, it does translate into higher incomes for farmers as expenditure on major inputs such as fertilisers and seeds remains almost the same.

 

Chouhan was responding to questions over the focus of the mega mass contact programme and whether it should instead concentrate more on raising farm incomes and market linkages, which