Organic Farming 382-386 4.7 Bio-Fuels 387-395
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National Commission on Farmers Serving Farmers And Saving Farming From Crisis to Confidence SECOND REPORT Contents Page No. Terms of Reference Composition of NCF Executive Summaries Chapter-wise I-XXVIII Composite Financial Summaries XXIX-XXXIII Composite Administrative Initiatives XXXIV-XLVIII Chapters 1. From Crisis to Confidence 1-33 2. Food for All 34-49 3. Fish for All 50-141 4. Enhancing Productivity, Profitability, Stability and Sustainability 4.1 Hill Agro Ecosystem 142-229 4.2 Arid Agro-Ecosystem 230-291 4.3 Coastal Zone Agriculture 292-298 4.4 Mission for the Prosperity of Sugarcane Farmers 299-354 4.5 Conservation, Cultivation and Marketing of Medicinal Plants 355-381 4.6 Organic Farming 382-386 4.7 Bio-fuels 387-395 5. Agricultural Market Reforms 396-445 Annexures Suggestions sent by NCF relating to: I. National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2004 446-454 II. The Seed Bill 2004 455-461 III. Agricultural Credit: Some Issues 462-470 IV. Acknowledgment 471 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR NATIONAL COMMISSION ON FARMERS Work out a comprehensive medium-term strategy for food and nutrition security in the country in order to move towards the goal of universal food security over time. Propose methods of enhancing the productivity, profitability, stability and sustainability of the major farming systems of the country based on an agro-ecological and agro- climatic approach and the harnessing of frontier technologies. Bring about synergy between technology and public policy and recommend measures for enhancing income and employment potential in rural areas through diversification, application of appropriate technology including IT for information on market, weather, credit facilities and e-commerce, training and market reforms. Suggest measures to attract and retain educated youth in farming and recommend for this purpose; methods of technological upgrading of crop husbandry, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries (inland and marine), agro-forestry and agro-processing and associated marketing infrastructure. Suggest comprehensive policy reforms designed to enhance investment in agri- research, substantially increase flow of rural credit to farmers including small and marginal, triggering agricultural growth led economic progress, which can lead to opportunities for a healthy and productive life to rural families. Formulate special programmes for dryland farming for farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions, as well as for farmers in hilly and coastal areas in order to link the livelihood security of the farming communities living in such areas with the ecological security of such regions. Review in this context, all ongoing Technology Missions like those relating to pulses, oilseeds, maize, cotton, watershed etc. and recommend methods of promoting horizontal integration of vertically structured programmes. Also suggest credit-linked insurance schemes which can protect resource poor farm families from unbearable risks. Further, suggest methods of strengthening and streamlining the National Horticulture Development Board. Suggest measures for enhancing the quality and cost competitiveness of farm commodities so as to make them globally competitive through providing necessary facilities and application of frontier science and promote quality literacy for codex alimentarius standard, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures among farmers through reorienting and retooling extension machinery. Also suggest methods of providing adequate protection to farmers from imports when international prices fall sharply. Recommend measures for the credit, knowledge, skill, technological and marketing empowerment of women, taking into consideration the increasing feminization of agriculture and the proposed conferment of right to land ownership. Suggest methods of empowering male and female members of elected local bodies to discharge effectively their role in conserving and improving the ecological foundations for sustainable agriculture like land, water, agro-biodiversity and the atmosphere with priority attention to irrigation water. Consider any other issue, which is relevant to the above or is specially referred to the Commission by Government. The Commission is to submit a medium term policy for food and nutrition security in the country in order to move towards the goal of universal food security over time within the next three months and to submit its recommendations on other Terms of Reference as soon as practicable and in any case on or before 13th October, 2006. The Commission, however is permitted to submit interim reports on any of the Terms of Reference it deemed fit or expected of it. [Ministry of Agriculture Resolution No.8-2/2003-Policy(ES) dated 18th November, 2004] COMPOSITION OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON FARMERS The composition of the reconstituted National Commission on Farmers is as under:- Chairman Prof. M.S. Swaminathan Full-time Members Dr. Ram Badan Singh Shri Y.C. Nanda Part-time Members Dr. R.L. Pitale Shri Jagadish Pradhan Ms. Chanda Nimbkar (Yet to join) Shri Atul Kumar Anjan Member Secretary Shri Atul Sinha [Ministry of Agriculture Resolution No.8-2/2003-Policy (ES) dated 18th November, 2004] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 1 - FROM CRISIS TO CONFIDENCE Our agriculture is in a state of serious crisis. The rate of growth in food production has fallen below population growth rate. To achieve a 4% growth rate in agriculture, we must aim at a 8% growth rate in horticulture and animal husbandry. This calls for higher investment in irrigation, animal husbandry, fisheries, post-harvest technology, rural energy supply and communication. The investment in agriculture has stagnated at 1.3% of GNP during the last three Five Year Plans. If we place faces behind figures, over 400 million children, women and men belonging to families with small and marginal holdings, as well as landless labour families are in deep distress. 2. Several solutions offered in our first report on implementing a Million Wells Recharge Programme, establishing a network of advanced soil testing laboratories, setting up Farm Schools in the fields of farmer achievers, strengthening the post-harvest technology and quality literacy wings of KVKs, organizing Small Holders Horticulture Estates and Cotton Estates to harness the economies of scale, large scale demonstrations to initiate a productivity revolution in pulses, setting up a Livestock Feed Corporation of India, convergence of appropriate Technology Missions around a Watershed or the command area of an irrigation project, need to be implemented without further delay. 3. Enhancement of small farm productivity coupled with assured and remunerative marketing opportunities is the most effective means of reducing rural poverty. Among the immediate steps needed to prevent farmers’ suicides are - credit reform to enhance the total amount available for farm loans, a reduction in interest rates, linkages with technology and market and reduction in dependence on the informal sector for loans; a corpus (on the line of calamity funds) for assisting farmers affected by crop losses; expansion of crop insurance to cover the entire country and all crops; Cultivation of water intensive cash crops in “dark and grey zones” should be regulated; there should be appropriate legislation to regulate and deter the sale I of spurious seeds and chemicals; implementation of MSP for coarse cereals and pulses, which are the primary crops in rainfed drylands across the country; 5. It would be prudent to introduce a Farmers’ Livelihood Security Compact, consisting of the following integrated package of measures: i) Set up State level Farmers’ Commission for the purpose of ensuring dynamic government response to farmers’ problems. ii) Conduct Census of Suicides to have a proper understanding, assessment of reasons and count of suicides iii) Initiate a Paradigm shift from Micro-finance to Livelihood Finance iv) Debt survey to take into account newer forms of credit and indebtedness and newer forms of bondage v) Decide on cut-off for Debt waiver in consultation with Panchayats and farmers’ representatives in the distress hotspot areas. vi) Examine revival of lapsed insurance policies; there are provisions in the insurance laws that allow LIC to revive them. vii) The integrated family insurance policy (Parivar Bima) recommended by NCF in its first report deserves to be examined and introduced to begin with, in dry farming areas. viii) Revision in import policies, measures to expand farm exports and conduct of quality literacy programmes. ix) Swift action to overhaul the ryuthu bazars or farmers’ markets. Most of these are presently controlled not by farmers but by traders, from whose control they must be released. There is also need for introducing focused Market Intervention Schemes (MIS) in the case of life- saving crops such as cumin in arid areas. x) Agricultural and Animal Sciences Universities could form Hope Generation Teams (like NSS) of young male and female students who could stay in the distress villages during vacations and extend both technical and psychological support. xi) There is need for establishing Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) in the farmers’ distress hotspots operated to the extent feasible by the wives or children of the farmers who had unfortunately taken their lives. These VKCs could be linked to a Block level Village Resource II Centre (VRC) with the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The VRC-VKC grid could provide dynamic and demand driven information on all aspects of agricultural