10 challenges faced by agriculture in India

Indian agriculture is developing day by day, despite its decline in the country's GDP share; the advancement and development in the agriculture sector could not be ignored. But with this improvement, Indian agriculture is also facing a variety of problems, some of which are natural, while others are man-made. Some of these problems are discussed below:-

Small and fragmented land holdings

The abundance of net sown area in India is divided into economically non-viable small and scattered land holdings. Our traditional inheritance laws are wholly responsible for the division of agricultural land into small fragments. The land that belongs to the father is equally distributed among his sons, and this process goes on like this. The distribution of land is not a consolidated one, but its nature is fragmented. Different holdings will have different features like their fertility, composition, texture, and many other factors that determine the production of crops in that particular area. If four tracts are to be distributed between two sons, each of them will get a smaller plot of each land tracts. In this way, the holdings become smaller and more fragmented with each passing generation. Fragmentation of the land holdings will harm the productivity of the farm. The biggest problems that arise out of the fragmentation of the land are those of irrigation. Providing irrigation to the fragmented land holding is a difficult job. Moreover, a lot of fertile land is wasted on providing boundaries. This problem of Indian agriculture could only be eradicated by enacting the consolidation of Holdings, which means the relocation of the fragmented land and creation of farms. But unfortunately, this didn't get much success. Although the legislation for the consolidation of holdings has been enacted by almost all states, it has been implemented only in Punjab, Haryana, and some parts of Uttar Pradesh. Cooperative farming is one of the other solutions to this problem, in which farmers pool their resources and share the profit.

Manures, Fertilizers, and Biocides

Agriculture is a very ancient practice in India, and Indian soils have been used for growing crops for thousands of years without caring much for their replenishment. This led to exhaustion and depletion of the soil, resulting in poor productivity. The average yields of almost all the crops are the lowest in the world. This problem presents the need for fertilizers and manure for the land. Like nutrition is necessary for the development of the human body, similarly well nourished soil is important for good yields. It is estimated that 70 % of the growth in agricultural production can be credited to increased fertilizer application. However, there are many practical problems in facilitating the use of fertilizers in Indian agriculture. Chemical fertilizers are costly and can not be afforded by the poor peasants. Cow dung provides the best manure for the soil, but its use is limited, as much of the cow dung is used as kitchen fuel because of the shortage of fuel. Hence, the fertilizer problem is acute and complex in India. Organic manure is essential for maintaining the good health of the soil. At present, India has the potential to produce 650 million tonnes of rural and 160 lakh tonnes of urban compost, but this reserve is not fully utilized. A proper waste management system will be a good option to utilize this compost. The government is providing subsidies on chemical fertilizers, which is very helpful for poor peasants. At the time of independence, there was practically no use of chemical fertilizers, but due to the government's effort, the consumption of fertilizers increased tremendously. The quality of fertilizers is controlled by the 52 fertilizer quality control laboratories established in different parts of the country. In addition, there is one Central Fertilizer Quality Control and Training Institute at Faridabad with its regional centres at Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.

Shortage of good-quality seeds for poor peasants

Seed is the most important element of agriculture; seed is the basic input for attaining higher crop yields and sustained growth in agricultural production. Production of good-quality seed should be followed by its distribution among the poor farmers. Unfortunately, good quality seed is out of reach of the majority of farmers because of the exorbitant prices of good quality seeds. To get rid of this problem Indian government established the National Seeds Corporation (NSC) in 1963 and the State Farmers Corporation of India (SFCI) in 1969. Thirteen State Seed Corporation (SSC) was also established to augment the supply of good-quality seed to the farmers. As a part of the Green Revolution, High High-Yielding Variety Program (HYVP) was also launched in 1966-67, which increased the production of the crop. In 1966, about 16,000 tonnes of seeds were imported for cultivating about 4 lakh hectares of land. The seed industry in India has exhibited impressive growth in the past and is expected to provide further potential for growth in agricultural production.

Problem of Irrigation

We all know that Indian agriculture is dependent on monsoon, which is uncertain, unreliable, and erratic. This problem provides the need for a proper irrigation system. Although India is second second-largest irrigated country in the world after China, only one-third of the cropped area is under irrigation. India will have to do much for the advancement of the irrigation system. Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh set a good example, as half of their cropped area is under irrigation. However, a watch should be employed on irrigation, because an excess of it makes the land useless.

Lack of mechanization

In spite of the advancement in agriculture, most of the farmers are using conventional tools for ploughing, sowing, irrigating, thinning, and harvesting. Marginal and small farmers are using much of the human labour, which results in the wastage of human labour and in low yields per capita labour force. However, some progress has been made in this direction after independence. The green revolution, which started in 1966-67, had some impact on the technology used in agriculture. A large industrial base has been set up for the manufacturing of agricultural machines. Successful efforts are made by the government to encourage farmers to adopt technically advanced agricultural equipment in order to make agriculture prosperous in India.

Soil erosion

Soil erosion is one of the most concerning problems of Indian agriculture. It is the greatest evil to Indian agriculture. Soil is the most precious asset; its productivity ensures good crop yields. But soil erosion causes huge losses to the productivity of the soil. There are many agents of soil erosion, like water, wind, animals, etc. Water is the most important and influential agent in the process of erosion. Water washes away the topmost layer of fertile soil and hence causes a loss to the fertility of the soil. This could be prevented using suitable methods like afforestation, checking overgrazing, constructing small dams, changing agriculture practices like crop rotation, strip cropping, contour ploughing, terracing, etc.

Agricultural marketing

Agriculture marketing is still a huge concern in the rural areas. In the absence of proper marketing facilities, the farmers are dependent on local traders and middlemen for the disposal of their agricultural produce, which is sold at throwaway prices. In small villages, farmers sell their produce to the moneylender under socio-economic conditions. According to an estimate, 85% of wheat and 75% of oil seeds in Uttar Pradesh, 90% of jute in West Bengal, 70% of oil seeds and 35% of cotton in Punjab is sold by farmers in the village itself. Many market surveys have revealed that middlemen take away about 47% of the price of rice, 52% of the price of groundnuts, and 60% of the price of potatoes. Regulated markets by the government are helpful for the farmers. These markets introduce a system of competitive buying, which helps in eradicating malpractices.

Inadequate storage facilities

Poor storage facilities in rural areas prove disastrous to the village farmers. They are compelled to sell their produce immediately after the harvest at the prevailing low market prices. The Parse Committee estimated that post-harvest losses at 9.3% of which nearly 6.6 % occurred due to poor storage conditions alone.  This presents the need for proper storage facilities. At present, there are several agencies engaged in warehousing and storage activities. The Food Corporation of India, the Central Warehousing Corporation, and the State Warehousing Corporation are among the principal agencies engaged in this task.

Inadequate transport

Lack of cheap and efficient means of transportation is one of the major challenges faced by the agriculture sector of India. Even at present, many of the villages are not well connected by roads. Availability of the market is most important for the growth of agriculture, but the absence of roads takes away the market from farmers. Most of the roads are kutcha, which become useless in the rainy season. Linking each village by metalled road is a gigantic task; it needs determination and a huge sum of money to complete this task.

Scarcity of capital

The role of capital is becoming more and more important with the advancement of agricultural technology. Since agriculturists' capital is locked up in the land of the farmers, he is bound to borrow money. The main suppliers of money to farmers are the money lenders, traders and commission agents who charges high rate of interest and purchase the agricultural produce of farmers at very low price.