Effect of globalisation in indian farming sector?

Question

Effect of globalisation in indian farming sector?

Answer 1

India’s farmers are committing suicide by the tens of thousands, and globalization is partly responsible.

http://www.progressive.org/mag_apb091906

Answer 2

The elaborate research findings given by chaitanya is like the govt agrl policy of how much crores have been set apart for the sector, how much loans have been disbursed by the Co Ag / commercial banks, how much crop insurance claims have been settled, etc.. It would reveal everything other than the actual meaningful benefits / reliefs received by the average farmer... Even so the research findings with the high sounding logics have very little relevence to the ground truths known to any ruralite... Still I have given Chaitanya a thumb up for the pains taken to give the study details...

The globalisation in India is being talked in the commercial context (export advantage etc to the trade community) and it has no info on the inter-sectoral flow of benefits (no tie up with the grower and the exporter to share the profits)... The govts take no effort in this direction... The farm gate prices are very low and the consumer's money is 70-80% taken away by the processor-trade group..

The govts have done precious little for agri - the water bodies are not maintained (desilted and repaired for registered storage) properly or protected from encroachments.. The power supply to lift irrigation belts are not assured.. In a country where the small farmers are in majority there is no community yards to dry and thrash the sheaves (to separate the grains) and the people dry them on the roads..

The globalisation is found only in the entry of GMO seeds and other hitech inputs that are costly and the farmer is lured by unauthorised products that carry no guarantee and incur losses... Agri dept has the least say in the policy making.. The wages would be decided by the Labour dept, irrigation policy by the PWD, land policies by the Revenue, energy policy by the EB, credit policies by the Cooperation dept... and so on.. Only the blames for less production would be borne by the Agri dept people.. Their voice in the irrigation / power / credit review / labour meetings will not even go into the minutes...

There is no proper forum for the farmers apart from some politically affiliated groups of farmers who do not command the confidence of all the farmers since their protests do not include the most burning issues but some local problems of consequence to some big farmers / leaders only.. They often irritate the govts and invite their wrath on the farming community.. So the average farm community avoid such groups operating in their (agrl) name...

If any govt takes the plights of average farmer serously and brings some radical reforms to mitigate their problems relating to timely supply of quality inputs, market ties ups with exporters or a mechanism for getting better farm gate prices (free from the collusion of traders as in the Regulated Market scheme)... then they will benefit form globalisation.. not until that time..

Answer 3

The case studies offered a valuable complement to the macro profile by revealing insights about the determinants of vulnerability at the individual or community levels. Numerous physical and socio-economic factors come into play in enhancing or constraining the current capacity of farmers to cope with adverse changes. Prominent among the physical factors are cropping patterns, crop

diversification, and shifts to drought-/salt-resistant varieties. The most important socio-economic

factors include ownership of assets (like land, cattle, pump-sets, and agricultural implements), access to services (like banking, health, and education), and infrastructural support (like irrigation, markets, and transport/communication networks).

Policies that are designed to fortify current coping capacity also have the power to strengthen long-term adaptive capacity. This is best exemplified by measures such as crop insurance, seed banks, alternative (off-farm) employment options, and enhanced access to inputs and markets. Another set of policy-relevant insights offered by the case study approach relates to the understanding of how certain factors change the vulnerability of a given community or place over time.

One example is that of changes in cropping patterns: the widespread switch to soybean in Jhalawar has immediate   economic benefits for farmers, but is sensitive to climate  

Group discussion with farmers in Timmanahalli village

change1.Another example is the strengthening of local institutions and higher education levels, which would have positive gender and equity impacts. Finally, case study examples such as private kisan kendras in Chitradurga or seed banks in Raipur demonstrate that the private sector and civil society have key roles to play in supplementing government efforts to reduce vulnerability.

The next stage in the policy analysis will be to examine how India’s participation in the WTO and the agricultural trade liberalization pressures it faces will reinforce climate vulnerability. With possible reduction and elimination of export subsidies and domestic support, cropping patterns would change from protected crops like rice and wheat to profitable cash crops. There would also be welfare connotations related to the Agreement on Agriculture translated through income and employment effects. The policy analysis will also consider, for example, the implications of agricultural trade policies proposed by the US and European Union and the Government of India at the recent WTO ministerial conference at Cancún.

Most important, this study hopes to bring attention to the need for strengthening institutions and

better integrating policies with the goal of building long-term adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change.

Policy developments in the Indian agriculture sector  

The National Agriculture Policy, 2000 aims to attain over the next two decades a growth rate in excess of 4 per cent per annum in the agriculture sector. This growth should be resource-efficient, equitable, demand-driven, and sustainable. The Policy explicitly recognizes that agricultural growth should cater to domestic markets and maximise benefits from exports of agricultural products in the face of the challenges arising from economic liberalization and globalisation (MoA 2000).

The following developments in the last decade also have significant potential for enhancing the coping capacity of Indian farmers.

The Rural Infrastructure Development Fund was launched in 1995/6 and the Kisan Credit Card Scheme was introduced in 1998/99 to facilitate short-term credit to farmers.

The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme was introduced in 1999/2000 to provide cover against losses on account of natural calamities. The scheme covers all food crops, oilseed, annual horticulture and commercial crops.

Pilot scheme on seed crop insurance was launched in 1999/2000 to provide cover to seed breeders/growers in the event of failure of seed crops (TERI 2003).