Strengthening future of Indian agriculture system

Lalit Garg

(The writer can be reached at lalitgarg11@gmail.com)

A new chapter of advanced agriculture is being written in India. Agriculture will be the base for building the foundation of a self-reliant India. India is ready to become an economic superpower in the world only through agriculture. India’s agriculture is becoming an exemplary enterprise at the global level; India’s agriculture is taking on the role of leader and guide. Many golden chapters of India’s rise, new rise, and uplift have been written in the nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. In these nine years, steps have been taken for the overall development of the country and the welfare of even those at the bottom of society. They are praiseworthy. Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy. 70 percent of our rural population earns its livelihood from agriculture or allied activities.

In such a situation, the government has made extensive efforts for advanced farming and the welfare of farmers, and transparency and continuity of these efforts are necessary. Indian agriculture has created unique new chapters under the leadership of Narendra Singh Tomar as the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The present government has given utmost importance to agriculture. Even the previous governments had enough opportunities and resources, but the results remained disappointing. Agriculture has never been his priority area. Agriculture coming into the priority areas is a sign of a strong and powerful India.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the largest and most comprehensive research institute in the world. The progress made by the institute so far is commendable. Be it achieving production targets, increasing productivity, or meeting the challenge of producing climate-resilient crops, our agricultural scientists have played a vital role in every field. After traditional farming in ancient times, along with the hard work of farmers, the research of scientists has proved to be a milestone in the progress of the field of agriculture. So far, this journey has been satisfactory, but the government’s goal of solving and overcoming the challenges of agriculture in the Amrit Kaal by the year 2047 to bring the country into the category of a developed nation is commendable.

The results of Bhagirathi’s efforts in the agriculture sector in the last nine years are now automatically visible. While the budget for agriculture in the year 2013-14 had only Rs 21933 crore, the provision of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for agriculture in the budget of 2023–24 shows the far-reaching thinking of the government. The objective of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, launched in 2019, is to provide such financial support to every farmer in the form of 6 thousand rupees per year so that not only the farmer can avoid getting trapped in debt in adverse times, but can also arrange for fertilisers and seeds on time.

India’s supremacy in the agriculture sector is increasing across the world, along with the injustice areas, and along with it, the expectations of the world are also increasing. The target is to build a new India by 2047. New India needs new science, research, new skills, and innovation because tomorrow belongs to New India. For this, the government of Shri Narendra Modi is working on the basis of new mantras. Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas are Modi’s mantras, continuously moving towards the goal without leaving anyone behind. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had given the slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee added science to it, and Modi has added research to it. This mantra has become India’s agriculture: Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, and Jai Anusandhan.

Significant progress has been made in terms of agricultural products; India has spent Rs 4 lakh crore. Due to the emphasis on natural and organic farming, such products are going to become even more popular around the world. Due to the fact that exports will increase further in the future, it is necessary that the quality of agricultural production meet global standards; special attention will have to be paid to this. The government’s emphasis is on natural farming. Prime Minister Shri Modi urges that we do natural farming, i.e., cow-based farming. Let there be the work of converting waste into wealth. The quality and safety of our products are also high. Certainly, natural farming is now one of India’s top priorities.

To promote natural farming, an area of 4.09 lakh hectares has been covered in eight states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu under the Indian Natural Farming System. The government is on the way to making natural farming a mass movement, and under the National Natural Farming Mission, it is moving forward with the target of getting 1 crore farmers in the country to adopt natural farming. This mission of Modi will prove beneficial for soil, farmers, agriculture, and the common people. This will increase the prosperity of farmers, and agriculture will be most important.

The year 2023 has been declared the International Millet Year by the United Nations on the initiative of the Government of India to address the anomalies related to the food habits of the whole world and the health problems arising out of them. India’s leadership in the production, promotion, and development of Srianna, i.e., millet, is a very important step. By making Srianna, i.e., coarse grains, a mass movement, where our food anomalies will improve, there will also be an improvement in nutrition. Along with this, cultivation of Shree Anna will prove to be a boon for small and medium farmers as well. These crops grown with less water will prove to be very useful. It is Modi who has exposed the usefulness of coarse grains, due to which the attraction of people for coarse grains is increasing all over the world. Just like India’s yoga and non-violence, India is moving forward to create a new identity in the world with coarse grains.

The overall and balanced development of the country is moving forward. When it comes to overall development, the agriculture sector must be like the backbone of the country. Various problems like climate change, challenges of damage to standing crops by farmers due to natural outbreaks in complex situations, new technology in agriculture in New India, and connecting agriculture and farmers with new research must be our priorities. The income of farmers should also increase, prosperity should be seen in their homes and villages, and the agriculture sector should be enriched. Only then will India be able to become a new India in real form.