Economic Survey Advocates for Agricultural Reform to Enhance Productivity
The Economic Survey suggests Indian farmers should transition from overproduced crops that deplete water and energy resources, emphasizing the need for policy changes to boost productivity. The aim is to balance soil fertility, market dynamics, and agricultural growth, contributing to India's GDP and global food supply.
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- Country:
- India
The latest Economic Survey issued on Friday highlights a critical need for Indian farmers to move away from cultivating overproduced crops that strain water and energy resources. The survey advocates for reforms aimed at improving land and labor productivity in agriculture.
In a call for policy shifts, the survey stresses the importance of guiding farmers away from practices that impair soil fertility through the imbalanced use of fertilizers. It presses for measures that steer agricultural activities towards sustainable and growth-oriented practices, ensuring a stable trajectory for the sector.
Furthermore, the survey underlines the necessity of allowing farmers access to clear market price signals while implementing mechanisms to protect susceptible households from market volatility. Such policies would support the sector in achieving a stable growth rate of 5%, potentially contributing significantly to India's Gross Value Added (GVA) and fostering agro-based entrepreneurship for enhanced food security and global contribution.
The document identifies substantial untapped growth avenues within the agriculture sector. With appropriate policy interventions, overproduction issues concerning cereals could be curtailed, and underproduction of pulses and edible oil addressed, thereby maximizing the sector's potential, which currently accounts for 16% of India's GDP for the fiscal year 2023-24.
Conclusively, the survey posits that well-structured policies can unlock vast growth opportunities within the agriculture sector, promising sustainable development and an expanded role in the global food supply chain. (ANI)
(With inputs from agencies.)