Doubling of Farm Incomes in India

While addressing a farmers’ rally in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed a desire to double the income of farmers by 2022, which also happens to be the 75th anniversary year of India’s independence. While this goal is certainly noble, the set of institutions that are supposed to help in achieving this goal appear to be oblivious to this dream. Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh has appointed a committee to review the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). When one reads the terms of reference of this important committee, dated 13 February 2017, which contain 10 agenda items, not even a single item has a mention of the Prime Minister’s dream of doubling of farm incomes. Some desired connection is missing in the policymaking in New Delhi.

The present or the future ICAR review committees need to pay attention to the following three critical issues in designing research agenda for doubling of farm incomes (I have already raised these issues in two letters published in the EPW: “Pulses, Udta Punjab and Nutrition” [9 July 2016], and “What about Water Quality?” [31 December 2016]):