80-of-india-s-marginal-farmers-suffer-crop-losses

In the past five years, a report released on Tuesday found that 80 per cent of small-scale farmers in India experienced crop losses due to extreme weather conditions.

 

The survey, which was carried out by the Forum of Enterprises for Equitable Development (FEED) in partnership with the Development Intelligence Unit (DIU), involved 6,615 farmers from 21 different states.

 

The results showed that the main reasons for crop damage were drought (41 per cent), irregular rainfall such as excessive or out-of-season rains (32 per cent), and the early or late arrival of the monsoon (24 per cent).

 

The report stated that almost 43 per cent of the farmers surveyed lost at least half of their standing crops.

 

The irregular rainfall significantly affected rice, vegetables, and pulses. In the northern regions, paddy fields often remained flooded for over a week, destroying newly planted seedlings.

 

Conversely, insufficient rainfall delayed the planting of various crops, including rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, groundnuts, and pulses, in states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and West Bengal.

 

The report, however, failed to address the consequences of fluctuating temperatures.

 

In 2022, early heat waves had a detrimental effect on India's wheat crop, resulting in a production decrease from 109.59 million tonnes in 2021 to 107.7 million tonnes. Consequently, the country, which is the world's second-largest wheat producer, imposed an export ban.

 

Once again, the heat in 2023 impacted wheat output, causing the official production target to decrease by nearly 3 million tonnes.

 

According to the Climate Transparency Report of 2021, a temperature rise of 1 to 4 degrees Celsius could lead to a 10 to 30 per cent reduction in rice production and a 25 to 70 per cent decrease in maize production.

 

In India's agricultural sector, small-scale farmers, who own less than one hectare of land, make up the largest proportion, accounting for 68.5 per cent of all farmers but only possessing approximately 24 per cent of the total crop area.