Indian Government’s policies and initiatives in agriculture and its impacts

Abstract

Agriculture is the major occupation for the majority of population in India since time immemorial. Today, agriculture employs 47% of the country’s workforce. Agricultural and allied activities account to almost 14% of India’s GDP. India ranks 2nd globally in cultivation output. Despite all these positive outlook, there are frequent instances crop failures and farmer hardships that come to the limelight. In contrast, it was announced by the government of India that it will double the farmers’ income by the year 20221. But, achieving such a goal is not an easy task. Numerous factors from the input side as well as market forces determine the income of a farmer. Making an impact in one of these factors alone cannot make significant changes in the fate of farmers. In order to make a sustainable and lasting impact on farmers’ income, the approach should be multipronged i.e. targeting multiple parts of agricultural value chain. Minding this, the government of India has introduced many schemes which showcase a multidimensional approach to farmers’ issues. The objectives of this report is analyzing some of the schemes’ implementation vis-a-vis the stated objectives, their progress and see how these schemes help in doubling farmers’ income.