Indian Agriculture – What are the realities behind the questions?

Q. What is the core issue for farmers in India?

The farmers in India are poor, period.

 Though around 50% of the Indian population is engaged in farming, the average around one-third of the average nonagricultural income.

 Farmer income:

Average Income per household: INR 77,112 (USD 1,079)

Per Capita Income (India): INR 134,000 (USD 1,876)

Average Farmer Income/ Average Income = 57%

Figure 1: The ratio of income per nonagricultural worker to income per cultivator (Source: Niti Aayog, estimation using data from CSO and NSSO).

Q2. Is the farmer's income entirely agriculture?

ü No, a significant part of the income nonagricultural.

According to the Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households (SAS) for the year 2012-13, the average annual income of farm households from the farm as well as non-farm sources was INR 77,112.

ü 60% of the total income of an agricultural household was derived from farm activities (cultivation and farming of animals) and 40% was derived from non-farm sources (wages, salary, non-farm business, etc.).

ü In absolute terms, cultivation generated an annual income of INR 36,938, and livestock provided INR 9,176, per agricultural household.

ü So the split of the agriculture incomes is as follows: Cultivation – 28.6%. Livestock – 19.89%, Non agriculture ~ 40%.

Q. How is the farmer's distribution of income?

Figure 2: The farmer income varies from state to state, the following shows the distribution of income by state.

We can see the almost 1:5 difference in income between Punjab and Bihar even among the farmer families.

As a result, a large number of the farmers are below the poverty line. And the percentages in respective states follow the same trend as the income.

Figure 3: Farm households with income below poverty lines (2011-12)

Q. What are the reasons for low farmer income?

Figure 4: Over the years, the agricultural sector has grown much slower than the services sector, and slower than the manufacturing sector.

Figure 6: Over the years the people dependent on the sector is not going down significantly.

Productivity:

India is the fourth-largest producer of agricultural production in the world (after China, the USA, and Brazil), with some of the top rankings in critical areas:

Figure 7

 And production is significant across a range of products.

Production (2019-20)

ü Food grain                                  295.67 Million MT

ü Horticulture                               320.48 Million MT

ü Milk                                             208 Million MT

ü Sugar                                           26.46 Million MT

The livestock population of around 535.78 million

Figure 8: Annual Production – Foodgrains and Others: Million Metric Tonnes.

Figure 9: Annual Production – Milk, Eggs, Wool, Meat, Fish.

However, India lags significantly in productivity across the board.

Figure 10: Comparative Yield of select crops across countries (kg/ ha)

 Small Landholdings:

Agriculture land in the country is constant, but people who are dependent on the sector is increasing over a period.

 The transition of agricultural labor to the service sector (where English mostly a requirement) and manufacturing (which is increasingly using automation). Also, the recent migrant crisis has shown that most urban migrants have not been able to build a stable financial and social ecosystem in their new geography.

As a result, we have extreme fragmentation of arable land:

ü 86% of landholdings are less than 2 hectares.

ü Farmers make up 60 percent of the Indian population; farming 18 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Marginal farmers comprise 85 percent of the total population of farmers.

Figure 11: The above gives a sense of the number of households in each category. 85% of the farmers are either marginal and small farmers, with less than 2 hectares (5 acres).

Figure 12: The above shows that about 85% of Indian farmers have landholding of fewer than 2 hectares. The average landholding is 1.08 acres.

Lack of credit:

Agriculture has a few characteristics:

1. The farmer produces, consumes his/ produce, and sells the surplus.

2. The farmer is a seller of their products, but the farmer is not a businessman. It is primarily because of – i. Lack of resources ii. Unlike other businesses, the sell transaction is not through the year but only when the produce is harvested.

3. Most farmers have small landholding, small produce, and a small surplus to sell. They sell at the farm gate, where almost 85% of produce offtake happens.

4. The farmer is in perennial debt – he takes a loan to buy fertilizer, insecticides, seeds (if needed) and expects a good monsoon, no locust attacks, a good harvest, and except for the ones where there is scope to store (cereals, pulses), hope for a good market price post-harvesting.

5. Farmer thus work in an environment of extreme uncertainties and is a perennial cycle of debt which they pay pack post-harvesting. But the cash flow is never enough, and so it is a continuous cycle of indebtedness.

 However, credit availability is a significant challenge. 

Figure 13: Summary of credit sources.

 The lack of adequate credit availability has created permanent indebtedness for the farmers, and while the average income of a farm household is around INR 77,00 the average debt is INR 108,000.

 Q. What is the quantum of subsidy to the agriculture sector? What are the impacts?

Figure 14: The trend of agriculture subsidy.

 Agriculture is a strategic sector and is significantly subsidized across the world. This is very critical in the Indian context, whereas we saw before 85% of the farmers are marginal and small ones, and having a perennial challenge of managing fixed input costs with uncertain produce. However, the subsidy has created many distortions:

1.       The fertilizer subsidy in India is Urea-based, and this had led to the overuse of nitrogen. There are many cases where now nitrogen has sipped into the underwater streams, apart from changing the topsoil composition.

2.       Power subsidy, coupled with power quality (voltage fluctuations as well availability) has made farmers go for the “always on pumps” model. This made water levels go down perilously.

3.       The irrigation subsidy also creates similar wastage as in 2, where farmers on the upstream use more water than needed as there is no market mechanism to penalize.

4.       The use the insecticides & pesticides, while not subsidized, but promoted has significantly altered the ecosystem.

 As a result many places of India, especially the Green Revolution zones (Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, and parts of Rajasthan), which is called the breadbasket of the country, have a situation where water levels have gone down, the topsoil has been damaged and productivity improvement has stalled, nitrogen has seeped into groundwater, and farmers are exposed to multiple ailments.

 There are few more institutional and structural challenges which we will be discussing in details in the latter part of the document:

1.       Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and their availability for certain produce (to support Public Distribution System – PDS) in certain states because of the functional Agricultural Producers Marketing Committee (APMC) Mandis, and the corresponding distortion of overproduction, procurement, and storage of rice and wheat.

2.       Since rice and wheat need a disproportionate amount of water, it is having an impact on the water tables of especially the breadbasket states. This is an additional challenge for a water scarcity country like India.

3.       The overproduction of rice & wheat also has distorted the market. We today are exporting cereals, with implications like export of rice means exporting 5,000 liters of water which was needed to produce this. At the same time, we are importing crude palm oil from Malaysia, which is produced in India would have saved foreign exchange and increased farmers’ income.

 Q. Does India produce sufficient food?

Though India is a leading agricultural producer, given the productivity challenges we still do not have enough food, and the right food for our people. Some salient points:

ü The 2020 Global Hunger Index ranks us at 94 out of a total of 107 countries. 

We rank significantly behind Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

ü A 2018 Indian Express report estimated that over 300,000 Indian children die every year from nutrition-related ailments, or in other words, hunger.

ü In 2011-12, there was a 30 percent gap in the actual and the recommended dietary energy intake of people living in rural India. That year, the gap was 20 percent in urban areas.

ü In the last two decades, only 10 percent of the country’s investment was in the agriculture sector despite 50 percent of the rural workforce engaged in agriculture.

 India fares poorly in terms of food availability, even when compared with our neighbors (2015 food availability kg/ person)

India                          177.9

Bangladesh              200

China                         450

USA                            1,100

Figure 15: While there is an increase in foodgrain production, the availability per capita has reduced:

 Q. What are the challenges in availability? How are we bridging the gaps?

Studies have shown that as the prosperity of the population improves, it becomes from basic carbohydrate-based foods (like cereals) to protein (pulses, meat), fat-based foods (milk, milk products), and then to exotic food.

The same trend also has been seen in India. Many in the middle and high-income groups have moved beyond the basic cereal-based food.

 However, our average calorie intake is now 2,200 kcals per person per day, which is 12% lower than the EAT-Lancet reference diet’s recommended level. That when interspaced with wide income disparity, India still figures high on the Hunger Index (94th of 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index).

 However, as discussed above in brief, the interplay of institutional structures like MSP, PDS, APMC, etc., along with the changing food patterns has created some distortions – exports and imports. Let us look at the trends.

Figure 16: Agriculture exports and imports.

 We now have a particular challenge where:

1. We are exporting cereals like rice and wheat, while there is still a nutrition gap. And in the process depleting groundwater by cultivating water-hungry crops.

2. We are exporting pulses, while there is a significant reduction in the pulses (and hence protein intake of the population because of the high price), but making it available beyond the Public Distribution System (PDS) with a subsidized price will collapse the market for the producers.

3. We are both exporting and importing sugar because of demand-supply mismatch, the pressure of the sugar lobby (which has significant political backings) for higher returns, as well inadequate storage facilities. We need to also note that sugarcane also has a separate MSP structure which distorts the markets, and it is also one of the most water-hungry crops (apart from rice, cotton, soya, and wheat).

Q. What are the other major challenges of Indian agriculture?

Farm to the plate is a significant challenge, as most farmers are small and marginal with no storage facility, and the intermediaries to are small players. This coupled with a lack of a robust supply chain for perishable goods (cold storage networks, refrigerated transportation systems) results in a significant loss of productivity.

Figure 17: Losses in the harvest and post-harvest operations.

Source: Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana (CIPHET)

 Q. In summary, what are the scenario of Indian agriculture?

ü Though around 50% of the working population in India is engaged in agriculture, it contributes only 16-18% of the GDP.

ü This is coupled with the fact that India is a very densely populated country (the USA with one-fourth of our population is having seven times more area). This has resulted in the fragmentation of the cultivable lands.

ü The size of the average operational holdings in India is 1.08 hectares. The number of S&M (Marginal & Small – which is less than 5 acres of cultivable land) holdings is 146 million.

ü As a result, Indian farmers have very small holdings and extremely small international standards. By the Indian definition of 2 acres as cut off for small & marginal farmers, 86% are in that bracket. Going by the global benchmark of 10 acres, 99% will be S&M farmers.

ü Though India has attempted land reforms over the years to ensure equitable distribution of land, the consolidation of land with a smaller number of families continues. The top 10% of the households are now cultivating almost 50% of India’s total cultivable lands whereas the bottom 50% are cultivating less than 0.5% of India’s cultivable lands.

ü Like most countries across the world, Indian agriculture is significantly subsidized. It is given at two ends – inputs (fertilizer, insecticides/ pesticides, electricity, water) and output (Minimum Support Price – MSP).

ü The subsidies have distorted agriculture in multiple ways:

Application of subsidized ammonia made Nitrogen seep into groundwater.

Cheap electricity resulted in uncontrolled pump use, dropping groundwater level.

Over application of insecticides has reduced the fertility of topsoil. Also, it has entered the food chain.

Availability of water at no cost also increased the production of guzzler crops like rice (1 kg of rice needs 5,000 liters of water).

MSP has increased the production of low food value crops, while we are importing high-value crops.

 Q. What is the Minimum Support Price (MSP)?

ü MSP system started with an MSP for wheat in 1966-67,

ü MSP is decided by The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) since 2009.

ü This is to purchase directly from the farmer.

ü As of now, CACP recommends MSPs of 23 commodities, twice a year. This includes even non-food crops too.

ü Alauddin Khalji pioneered the idea of price control, and control of hoarding to maintain a large army.

The 23 commodities are:

7 bowls of cereal (Paddy, Wheat, Maize, Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Barley, Ragi)

5 pulses (Gram, Tur, Moong, Urad, Lentil)

7 oilseeds (Groundnut, Rapeseed-Mustard, Soyabean, Sesamum, Sunflower, Safflower, Nigerseed)

4 commercial crops (Copra, Sugarcane, Cotton, Raw Jute)

Q. How is MSP calculated?

MSP calculated based on Swaminathan Commission report:

A2: the actual expenses paid by farmers in cash and kind for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, paid labor, irrigation, etc.

A2+FL: the A2 cost along with an adjustment for the costs of unpaid family labor (given traditional Indian farming practices involve families).

C2: A2+FL along with all other production costs, including loans, rentals, cost of land, and other fixed capital assets, i.e. a comprehensive cost of production.

 ü The commission suggested 1.5 times of C2 to make agriculture remunerative.

ü Successive governments have promised this but did not fulfil it.

ü The current government placed an affidavit to the Supreme Court that it is not possible. This has also been opined as untenable by the experts.

ü So, farmers in India do not get a return on the land they hold. And they cannot use it for any other purpose than agriculture.

ü Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) is not a statutory body but attached to the office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. This means that there is no legal compulsion for the government to procure crops at MSP, and it cannot be imposed on private traders either.

ü The CACP recommended in 2018 a legislation that would give farmers a right to sell their crops at MSP. However, this recommendation was not accepted by the Centre.

ü Sugarcane farmers are entitled to some sort of MSP under the law because of an executive order under the Essential Commodities Act, which requires the fixing of a ‘fair and remunerative price’ for sugarcane, which is determined by the CACP’s MSP recommendation.

ü Government procurement under MSP is only done largely for wheat and rice, given their importance for the PDS system. The National Food Security Act 2013 creates an obligation on the government to ensure the PDS system provides grain at a subsidized rate, hence this demand.

ü It is the minimum price for any crop which the government considers as remunerative for farmers and hence deserving of support.

ü It is also the price government agencies pay whenever they procure a particular crop.

ü The government now fixes MSP for 23 crops but is not legally bound to pay these even if open market rates for the said produce are ruling below their announced prices.

ü Centre procures about 30 percent of the wheat and rice produced in India and about 6-7 percent of other crops, at the MSP under this system.

 Q. What is Swaminathan Commission?

The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) is an Indian commission constituted on 18 November 2004 under the chairmanship of Professor M.S. Swaminathan to address the nationwide calamity of farmers suicides in India. The NCF submitted five reports in December 2004, August 2005, December 2005, April 2006, and October 2006. The reports contain suggestions to achieve the goal of "faster and more inclusive growth". It also included the suggested formula for the calculation of the MSP.

Q. What is the MSP trend over the years?

Figure 18: MSP trends over the years.

 The MSP over the years has not kept pace with either the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) or Consumer Price Index (CPI).

ü In 1970, the minimum support price of wheat was INR76/ quintal. 45 years later, in 2015, it became 1400, which was a jump of 19 times.

ü During this time (Basic + DA) of government employees went up by 120 - 150 times, for University and College professors by 150-170 times, 280-320 times for the school teachers.

 This has an impact on the overall farmer income too, resulting in the sort of disparity we saw between farm and nonfarm income at the beginning of the document.

 Q. What are the key takeaways for MSP policy?

ü The 2015 Shanta Kumar Committee found that only around 6 percent of farmers sell their crops at MSP rates. Other farmers are either unaware or lack the access to MSP-system. Only the ‘big’ farmers in north-western states have benefited from this MSP-procurement system.

ü More than 85 percent of wheat and paddy are grown in Punjab, and 75 percent of the two crops in Haryana, are bought by the government at MSP rates according to data from the Agriculture Ministry.

ü According to the National Sample Survey’s data from 2012-13, only 13.5 percent of paddy farmers benefited from the MSP system, and only 16.2 percent of all paddy farmers in India availed of it. Only 32.2 percent of paddy farmers were even aware of the system, 39.2 percent for wheat farmers. 

ü 40-60% of PDS-grains are siphoned off to the black market, says NSSO report (2011). FCI transports 25 lakh gunny-bags every day so imagine the scam! Best States Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu; Most Bogus: Manipur, Diu-Daman, Delhi.

ü For the last 4-5 years, FCI has stored double the grains than prescribed buffer limits. It resulted in a shortage in the open market and thereby inflation, and also rotten grains due to FCI’s limited Storage capacity.

ü 8-12% was the food-inflation in recent years, YET Government did not release grains from its FCI-warehouses to increase supply and curb inflation.

ü 58% of subsidized foodgrain doesn’t reach BPL families. (Planning commission, 2005).

ü 1.15 lakh Crore is the official budget allotment for implementing the food security act, to cover 67% of Indians (2014-15).

ü Yet only 11 states have so far implemented the food security act. Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra Chandigarh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. Other states are given time extensions because they are yet to even identify the beneficiaries.                

ü 9 crores are the number of agricultural households in India. 3/4th of them not even aware of the MSP system. (NSSO, 2012).

ü Centre procures about 30 percent of the wheat and rice produced in India and about 6-7 percent of other crops, at the MSP under this system.

 Q. What is Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)?

ü APMC is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.

ü There are about 2,477 principal regulated markets based on geography (the APMCs) and 4,843 sub-market yards regulated by the respective APMCs in India.

ü The whole geographical area in the State is divided and each one is declared as a market area which is managed by the Market Committee (APMC) constituted by the State Government.

ü Once a particular area is declared as a market area and falls under the jurisdiction of a Market Committee, no person or agency is allowed to freely carry on wholesale marketing activities.

ü The items covered under APMC are decided by the respective state governments.

ü In almost 18 out of 36 states and Union territories, agricultural reforms in the form of permitting private markets have already been allowed. More than 20 states have allowed contract farming, and around 19 states have enabled the direct purchase of agricultural produce from the primary producer by ‘processor/bulk buyer/bulk retailer/exporter’.

ü For the upcoming Rabi Marketing Season 2020-21, there are 21,269 procurement centers, while for the procurement of Paddy for the Kharif Marketing Season, there are around 64,500 centers.

 Q. Is APMC the same in all the states?

No, it varies significantly. It has evolved over the years through powers entrusted with the states as part of the state list. 

Figure 19: A summary APMC status by the states.

 Q. What is National Food Security Act (NFSA)?

ü It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services Scheme, Public Distribution System, and maternity entitlements.

ü The Midday Meal Scheme and the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme are universal.

ü The Act targets coverage of two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).

ü Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS) are entitled to 5 kilograms (11 lb) per person per month of cereals at the following prices:

Rice at ?3 (4.2￠ US) per kg

Wheat at ?2 (2.8￠ US) per kg

Coarse grains (millet) at ?1 (1.4￠ US) per kg.

ü Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

 Q. What is Public Distribution System (PDS)?

ü National Food Security Act (NFSA, 2013 did expand the reach of the PDS. The NFSA, 2013 mandated that 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population shall be provided subsidized grain through the PDS. There are two ‘entitled’ categories of ration cards under the NFSA – Priority and Antyodaya (poorest of the poor) (‘NFSA cards’).

ü As per NFSA norms, among Priority households, each member is entitled to 5 kgs of grain per month at Rs. 2/kg for wheat and Rs. 3/kg for rice. Antyodaya households get 35 kg/month at the same price, irrespective of family size.

ü The governments primarily buy only rice and wheat. Nearly 89 percent of the rice produced by the farmers in Punjab is procured by the government. In Haryana, it is 85%.

ü Farmers in Punjab and Haryana face no price risk and price risk and are incentivized to grow paddy and wheat.

ü But the nation has been facing a shortage of pulses and the wheat and rice instead have been a surplus in FCI’s godown.

ü Also, rice is a water-intensive crop, and farmers from areas with water shortages grow it as there is an MSP assured in the end. Continuous adoption of rice-wheat cropping system in North-Western plains of Punjab, Haryana, and West Uttar Pradesh has resulted in depletion of groundwater and deterioration of soil quality, posing a serious threat to its sustainability," says a government study.

ü For the upcoming Rabi Marketing Season 2020-21, there are 21,269 procurement centers, while for the procurement of Paddy for the Kharif Marketing Season, there are around 64,500 centers.

Q. What is the PDS procurement trend over the years?

Figure 20: The proportion of Procurement of Rice over the years by the states.

Figure 21: The proportion of Procurement of Wheat over the years by the states.

Figure 22: Production vs Procurement of Rice by FCI over the years.

Figure 23: Production vs Procurement of Wheat by FCI

Figure 24: Production vs Procurement Target of Rice in Lakh Tonnes over the years.

Figure 25: Production vs Procurement Target of Wheat in Lakh Tonnes over the years.

Figure 26: Target vs Procurement - Rice in Lakh Tonnes over the years.

Figure 27: Target vs Procurement - Wheat in Lakh Tonnes over the years.

 Q. What is Essential Commodities Act (ECA)?

ü The ECA was enacted in 1955 and has since been used by the Government to regulate the production, supply, and distribution of a whole host of commodities that it declares ‘essential’ to make them available to consumers at fair prices.

ü If the Centre finds that a certain commodity is in short supply and its price is spiking, it can notify stock-holding limits on it for a specified period. The States act on this notification to specify limits and take steps to ensure that these are adhered to. Anybody trading or dealing in the commodity, be it wholesalers, retailers, or even importers are prevented from stockpiling it beyond a certain quantity.

ü A State can, however, choose not to impose any restrictions. But once it does, traders have to immediately sell into the market any stocks held beyond the mandated quantity. This improves supplies and brings down prices. As not all shopkeepers and traders comply, State agencies conduct raids to get everyone to toe the line and the errant are punished. The excess stocks are auctioned or sold through fair price shops.

ü On 14 March 2020, the Union Government brought masks and hand-sanitizers under the act to make sure that these products—key for preventing the spread of COVID-19—are available to people at the right price and in the right quality during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. As of 1 July 2020, however, the Government has removed masks and hand-sanitizers from its Essential Commodity List.

Q. What are the new Farm Laws? What are the benefits and concerns?

Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020

1.       Expands the scope of trade areas of farmers produce from select areas to "any place of production, collection, aggregation".

2.       Allows electronic trading and e-commerce of scheduled farmers' produce.

3.       Prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess, or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for the trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside trade area’.

Advantages:

ü Defeat the monopoly cartel at the APMC mandi and sell the produce anywhere to anyone

ü Opportunity to get the best prices from anywhere, and find buyer options

ü Mandi cartelization will be reduced

Concerns

ü With private Mandis paying no taxes, can give higher prices initially with the eventual death of the APMCs/ Mandis.

ü Discontinuation of MSP over time. In the interim, reduction of FCI procurement.

Farmers having options to sell only to some oligarch.

 Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020

1.       Provides a legal framework for farmers to enter into pre-arranged contracts with buyers including mention of pricing.

2.       Defines a dispute resolution mechanism.

Advantages

ü Early locking of produce and price

ü Working capital loans (as an advance)

ü Market knowledge

ü Less transportation cost and wastage, as sell at specific APMC mandi not mandatory

Concerns

ü The ability of farmers to enter in contract

ü Dispute resolution – it talks of administrative mechanism, and not access to the courts.

ü There is no restriction for farmer stocking, and given the right facilities (cold storage, etc.) they can themselves bargain better prices.

 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020

1.       Removes foodstuff such as cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds, and oils, from the list of essential commodities, removing stockholding limits on such items except under "extraordinary circumstances"

2.       Requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce be based on price rise.

Advantages

ü Expected to stop knee-jerk disruptive interventions by the authorities.

ü Investments in value chain infrastructure (Indian agricultural produce faces up to 40% wastage from farm to plate)

ü Export boost, import substitution with cultivation more aligned to the market needs

ü More healthy food (like millets instead of rice/ wheat)

ü Environmentally friendly cultivation (fewer water guzzlers like rice)

Concerns

ü Stocking by a select few with deep pockets and manipulation of the markets

 Q. What are the key takeaways from the farm laws?

ü A set of laws with good intent.

ü However introduced and passed in a haste, with limited stakeholder involvement.

ü Too sudden with requisite change management.

ü Concerns of continuation of APMC/ Mandis, MSP, and FCI procurement.

ü Farmers are concerned about dealing with corporates.

ü Redressal system restricted and with bureaucracy.

ü Primarily affects Punjab and Haryana who sells Wheat and Rice substantially to FCI at MSP.

ü Only 6% of farmers are benefitting from MSP.

ü In any case, 85% of the produce is being sold at the farm gate, and hence it is a private transaction.

 Q. What are the reference documents?

1.                   The state of Agriculture in India – Tanvi Deshpande, 2017.

2.                   National Commission on Farmers – 2006.

3.                   https://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/poverty-inequality/a-review-of-the-coverage-of-pds.html#:~:text=This%20increases%20the%20overall%20PDS,the%20projected%20population%20for%202020

4.       https://factly.in/part-1-food-grain-procurement-by-fci-what-do-the-numbers-tell/

https://factly.in/part-2-how-much-of-the-rice-wheat-produce-in-the-country-is-procured-by-the-government/

5.       https://factly.in/explainer-what-is-the-role-of-fci-in-food-grain-procurement-food-security/

https://mrunal.org/2015/02/shanta-kumar-report-fci-restructuring-buffer-stock-food-security.html#217