There is a need to adopt a viable ‘whole of business’ approach, covering all aspects of farming, to break farmers’ dependence on money lenders, said the Reserve Bank of India’s Report on Currency and Finance.
The report noted that farmers are still dependent on money lenders.
“A comprehensive plan is necessary to revive the rural economy of the country alongside the existing several other policy measures.
“Organising farmers’ clubs or agricultural cooperatives is a possible solution to correct the pricing imbalances by reducing gaps between farm gate prices and retail prices,” said the report.
In this regard, the development of a modern supply chain infrastructure needs priority attention.
The RCF suggested that developing numerous small-scale irrigation projects, as well as using wind energy to lift water from bore wells as implemented in many West African countries, could be replicated in India’s drought-prone areas.
“India is one of the most-vulnerable countries to extreme weather events in the world.
“According to the India Meteorological Department, the occurrence of extreme weather events like floods, cyclones, heat waves and droughts has increased in both frequency and intensity,” said RCF.
Furthermore, the average temperature has increased by 1.8 degrees Celsius between 1997 and 2019 as against an increase of 0.5 degrees Celsius between 1901 and 2000.
Similarly, the fall in groundwater level in Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh has exceeded the annual recharging levels.