The Narendra Modi- led government will be assessing farmers’ income in the year 2022-23 using a broader perspective as compared to what is covered under agricultural gross domestic product (GDP), as per a draft proposal that was surveyed by Hindustan Times. In 2016, the government had promised to double their income.
According to HT, as per the new measure, the government will take into consideration base year 2016-17 to calculate farmers’ income. An official who had information about the matter told HT that one- third of a farm household’s income is “targeted as coming from non-farm sources, such as rural enterprises.”
With reference to the year 2015-16, agricultural families earned an income of Rs 107,172 from activities such as cultivation, livestock, non-farm activities and wages. Agricultural households account to 48 percent of the rural households, the HT report stated.
As per the draft proposal, the government will keep the ratio of share of farm to non farm income as 70:30, which earlier was 60:40. The schemes that come under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and release income transfers of Rs 6,000 per year to landed farming households will be included to calculate the farmers’ income, the HT report said.
Agricultural GDP Required to Grow at 10.4 Percent
While these are the focus points of the proposal, other measures, as per HT, include “creating farm clusters that specialise in specific crops to create a value chain, live stock and raring of small ruminates, scaling up of credit to rural self-help groups, rationalising interstate farm trade and abolition of mandi fees.”
The government had established the Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income in 2016, according to which, for the farmers’ income to double, the agricultural GDP was required to grow at a rate of 10.4 percent per annum in the period 2016-17 to 2022-23. However, the agriculture sector saw a growth of 2.9 percent a year during the first term of the Modi government, the HT report mentioned.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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