PM’s pledge: panel for doubling farm income estimating base figure to measure real increase

The crucial question of how much would a farmer earn if his income is indeed doubled by 2022 as promised by the Modi government will soon be answered.

The eight-member panel set up to formulate a strategy to achieve the goal is working on calculating the base income of farming households in India that would be used as a benchmark to measure increased income.

“We realise that it is very important to have quantifiable parameters to measure change. The committee is examining all the data available on farmers income and the analysis carried out by various experts to come up with a base income and quantifiable parameters. It will be part of the final report to be submitted in March 2017,” an Agriculture Ministry official told BusinessLine .

When the goal of doubling farmers’ income was announced in this year’s Budget, several critics had pointed out that it would be meaningless without a base income for comparing growth. Questions were also raised on what would be construed as farm income and whether growth would be calculated in real or nominal terms. While there are no full surveys available on farmers’ income, for calculating base income the panel will try to make do with sample surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation.

“The NSSO has assessment surveys of agriculture families. That is one data that we would consult. There are many researchers who made their own interpretations of the available data and also what all to include in income and exclude. We will look at all that to come up with the base income, say on March 31, 2016. It would then become the benchmark for doubling of income,” the official said, adding that it will definitely be evidence based.

The doubling of income of farmers would be in net terms and include an increase in earnings as well as decline in costs of farming, the official said. “The measurement is also likely to be in real and not nominal terms as inflation has to be adjusted to get the true picture of increase,” the official said.

To elicit views of States and other stakeholders on the strategy for doubling farm income, the Agriculture Ministry has asked NABARD to organise regional conferences in different parts of the country. Such conferences have already taken place in Bhuvaneshwar. Lucknow. Bengaluru and Jaipur and would soon cover the country, the official said.

The panel on doubling farm income, which is headed by Agriculture Additional Secretary Ashok Dalwai, has been asked to identify potential areas for greater investment in agriculture and suggest ways to reduce the risk of farming by diversifying to horticulture and allied activities to boost income.

It will also propose measures for reducing the cost of cultivation and addressing unpredictability of weather and price fluctuations in farm sector.

The panel include officials from the agriculture and food Ministries, experts from the National Council of Applied Economic Research and National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research.