(a) whether the Government has received any information on farmers leaving the job of farming in search of other employments due to losses being incurred by them; and
(b) if so, the steps taken by the Government to make farming a profitable venture so as to address the said problem and check migration of farmers?
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) & (b): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 290 DUE FOR REPLY ON 1ST JANUARY, 2019.
(a): The shift in workforce from primary (agriculture) sector to secondary and tertiary sectors is a normal phenomenon of the development process experienced by countries across the world and the same is true for India as well. As per the Census data, numbers of cultivators have declined from 127.3 million in 2001 to 118.8 million in 2011. The share of workforce engaged in the agriculture sector (comprising of cultivators and agricultural labourers) has come down from 58.2 per cent in 2001 to 54.6 per cent in 2011. The reasons for this shift include, inter-alia, better employment opportunities in industry and services sectors, increasing urbanization etc. However, the foodgrain production in the country has continued its upward trend and reached a record level of 284.83 million tonnes in 2017-18 (4th Advance Estimate).
(b): In a market economy like India, movement of people for better economic opportunities is inexorable. However, several steps have been taken by the Union Government to improve the economic conditions of farmers and making agriculture attractive to farmers. These include, inter-alia, implementation of schemes like, National Food Security Mission, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Soil Health Card, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Neem Coated Urea, creation of a unified national agriculture market (e-NAM), etc. Further, Government has increased the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all notified agricultural crops the season 2018-19 with a return of atleast 50 percent over all-India weighted average cost of production. The Union Cabinet has initiated an Umbrella Scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA) in September, 2018, which envisages a holistic arrangement for assurance of remunerative price environment for farmers to increase agriculture production and productivity.
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