Report Summary
Swaminathan Committee on Farmers
(October 2006)
Background
The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was
constituted on November 18, 2004 under the
chairmanship of Professor M.S. Swaminathan. The
Terms of Reference reflected the priorities listed in the
Common Minimum Programme. The NCF submitted
four reports in December 2004, August 2005, December
2005 and April 2006 respectively. The fifth and final
report was submitted on October 4, 2006. The reports
contain suggestions to achieve the goal of faster and
more inclusive growth as envisaged in the Approach to
11th Five Year Plan.
Terms of Reference
The NCF is mandated to make suggestions on issues
such as:
(a) a medium-term strategy for food and nutrition
security in the country in order to move towards the
goal of universal food security over time;
(b) enhancing productivity, profitability, and
sustainability of the major farming systems of the
country;
(c) policy reforms to substantially increase flow of rural
credit to all farmers;
(d) special programmes for dryland farming for farmers
in the arid and semi-arid regions, as well as for
farmers in hilly and coastal areas;
(e) enhancing the quality and cost competitiveness of
farm commodities so as to make them globally
competitive;
(f) protecting farmers from imports when international
prices fall sharply;
(g) empowering elected local bodies to effectively
conserve and improve the ecological foundations for
sustainable agriculture;
timeliness of institutional credit, and opportunities for
assured and remunerative marketing. Adverse
meteorological factors add to these problems.
Farmers need to have assured access and control over
basic resources, which include land, water, bioresources,
credit and insurance, technology and knowledge
management, and markets. The NCF recommends that
Agriculture be inserted in the Concurrent List of the
Constitution.
Land Reforms
Land reforms are necessary to address the basic issue of
access to land for both crops and livestock. Land
holdings inequality is reflected in land ownership. In
1991-92, the share of the bottom half of the rural
households in the total land ownership was only 3% and
the top 10% was as high as 54%.
Table 1: Distribution of Land
Land Holding
% of Land
hold
Land less
11.24
Sub-margin holdings (0.01-0.99 acres)
40.11
3.80
Marginal holdings [1.00-2.49 acres]
20.52
13.13
Small holdings [2.504.99 acres]
13.42
18.59
Medium holdings [5-14.99 acres]
12.09
37.81
Large holdings [15 acre +above]
2.62
26.67
100.0
100.0
Source: Table 1 of the Fifth NCF Report based on Some Aspects of
Household Ownership Landholdings-1991-92. NSS Report-399
Some of the main recommendations include:
Distribute ceiling-surplus and waste lands;
Prevent diversion of prime agricultural land and
forest to corporate sector for non-agricultural
purposes.
Ensure grazing rights and seasonal access to forests
to tribals and pastoralists, and access to common
property resources.
Establish a National Land Use Advisory Service,
which would have the capacity to link land use
decisions with ecological meteorological and
marketing factors on a location and season specific
basis.
Key Findings and Recommendations
Causes for farmers distress
Agrarian distress has led farmers to commit suicide in
recent years. The major causes of the agrarian crisis are:
unfinished agenda in land reform, quantity and quality of
water, technology fatigue, access, adequacy and
% of
Households
Set up a mechanism to regulate the sale of
agricultural land, based on quantum of land, nature
of proposed use and category of buyer.
Irrigation
Out of the gross sown area of 192 million ha, rainfed
agriculture contributes to 60 per cent of the gross
cropped area and 45 per cent of the total agricultural
output. The report recommends:
Promotion of conservation farming, which will help
farm families to conserve and improve soil health,
water quantity and quality and biodiversity.
Credit and Insurance
Timely and adequate supply of credit is a basic
requirement of small farm families.
The NCF suggests:
A comprehensive set of reforms to enable farmers to
have sustained and equitable access to water.
Expand the outreach of the formal credit system to
reach the really poor and needy.
Increase water supply through rainwater harvesting
and recharge of the aquifer should become
mandatory. Million Wells Recharge programme,
specifically targeted at private wells should be
launched.
Reduce rate of interest for crop loans to 4 per cent
simple, with government support.
Moratorium on debt recovery, including loans from
non-institutional sources, and waiver of interest on
loans in distress hotspots and during calamities, till
capability is restored.
Establish an Agriculture Risk Fund to provide relief
to farmers in the aftermath of successive natural
calamities.
Issue Kisan Credit Cards to women farmers, with
joint pattas as collateral.
Develop an integrated credit-cum-crop-livestockhuman health insurance package.
Expand crop insurance cover to cover the entire
country and all crops, with reduced premiums and
create a Rural Insurance Development Fund to take
up development work for spreading rural insurance.
Promote sustainable livelihoods for the poor by
improving (i) Financial services (ii) Infrastructure
(iii) Investments in human development, agriculture
and business development services (including
productivity enhancement, local value addition, and
alternate market linkages) and (iv) Institutional
development services (forming and strengthening
producers organisations such as self-help groups
and water user associations).
Substantial increase in investment in irrigation
sector under the 11th Five Year Plan apportioned
between large surface water systems; minor
irrigation and new schemes for groundwater
recharge.
Productivity of Agriculture
Apart from the size of holding, the productivity levels
primarily determine the income of the farmers.
However, the per unit area productivity of Indian
agriculture is much lower than other major crop
producing countries.
Table 2: Comparative Yield of Select Crops in
Various Countries (Kg/ha)
Crop
Country
Paddy
Wheat
Maize
Groundnut
Sugarcane
India
2929
2583
1667
913
68012
China
6321
3969
4880
2799
85294
Japan
6414
2336
USA
6622
2872
8398
3038
80787
Indonesia
4261
2646
1523
Canada
2591
7974
Vietnam
3845
2711
4313
1336
65689
Source: Table 3 of the Fifth NCF Report based on Agriculture At a
Glance [2002] Ministry of Agriculture
In order to achieve higher growth in productivity in
agriculture, the NCF recommends:
Substantial increase in public investment in
agriculture related infrastructure particularly in
irrigation, drainage, land development, water
conservation, research development and road
connectivity etc.
A national network of advanced soil testing
laboratories with facilities for detection of
micronutrient deficiencies.
Food Security
The Mid-term appraisal of the 10th Plan revealed that
India is lagging behind in achieving the Millennium
Development Goals of halving hunger by 2015.
Therefore, the decline in per capita foodgrain availability
and its unequal distribution have serious implications for
food security in both rural and urban areas.
The proportion of households below the poverty line was
28% in 2004-05 (close to 300 million persons).
However, in 1999-2000, the percentage of population
consuming diets providing less than 2400 kcal
(underlines definition of below poverty line) per capita
per day was almost 77% of the rural population. Several
studies have shown that the poverty is concentrated and
food deprivation is acute in predominantly rural areas
with limited resources such as rain-fed agricultural areas.
every village should aim at Jal Swaraj with Gram
Sabhas serving as Pani Panchayats.
The report recommends:
Implement a universal public distribution system.
The NCF pointed out that the total subsidy required
for this would be one per cent of the Gross
Domestic Product.
Reorganise the delivery of nutrition support
programmes on a life-cycle basis with the
participation of Panchayats and local bodies.
Eliminate micronutrient deficiency induced hidden
hunger through an integrated food cum fortification
approach.
Promote the establishment of Community Food and
Water Banks operated by Women Self-help Groups
(SHG), based on the principle Store Grain and
Water everywhere.
Help small and marginal farmers to improve the
productivity, quality and profitability of farm
enterprises and organize a Rural Non-Farm
Livelihood Initiative.
Formulate a National Food Guarantee Act
continuing the useful features of the Food for Work
and Employment Guarantee programmes. By
increasing demand for foodgrains as a result of
increased consumption by the poor, the economic
conditions essential for further agricultural progress
can be created.
Prevention of Farmers Suicides
In the last few years, a large number of farmers have
committed suicide. Cases of suicides have been reported
from states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh. The NCF has underlined the need to
address the farmer suicide problem on a priority basis.
Ensure availability of quality seed and other inputs
at affordable costs and at the right time and place.
Recommend low risk and low cost technologies
which can help to provide maximum income to
farmers because they cannot cope with the shock of
crop failure, particularly those associated with high
cost technologies like Bt cotton.
Need for focused Market Intervention Schemes
(MIS) in the case of life-saving crops such as cumin
in arid areas. Have a Price Stabilisation Fund in
place to protect the farmers from price fluctuations.
Need swift action on import duties to protect
farmers from international price.
Set up Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) or Gyan
Chaupals in the farmers distress hotspots. These
can provide dynamic and demand driven
information on all aspects of agricultural and nonfarm livelihoods and also serve as guidance centres.
Public awareness campaigns to make people
identify early signs of suicidal behavior.
Competitiveness of Farmers
It is imperative to raise the agricultural competitiveness
of farmers with small land holdings. Productivity
improvement to increase the marketable surplus must be
linked to assured and remunerative marketing
opportunities.
The measures suggested by NCF include:
Promotion of commodity-based farmers
organisations such as Small Cotton Farmers Estates
to combine decentralised production with
centralised services such as post-harvest
management, value addition and marketing, for
leveraging institutional support and facilitating
direct farmer-consumer linkage.
Improvement in implementation of Minimum
Support Price (MSP). Arrangements for MSP need
to be put in place for crops other than paddy and
wheat. Also, millets and other nutritious cereals
should be permanently included in the PDS.
MSP should be at least 50% more than the weighted
average cost of production.
Availability of data about spot and future prices of
commodities through the Multi Commodity
Exchange (MCD) and the NCDEX and the APMC
electronic networks covering 93 commodities
through 6000 terminals and 430 towns and cities.
State Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee
Acts [APMC Acts] relating to marketing, storage
and processing of agriculture produce need to shift
Some of measures suggested include:
Provide affordable health insurance and revitalize
primary healthcare centres. The National Rural
Health Mission should be extended to suicide
hotspot locations on priority basis.
Set up State level Farmers Commission with
representation of farmers for ensuring dynamic
government response to farmers problems.
Restructure microfinance policies to serve as
Livelihood Finance, i.e. credit coupled with support
services in the areas of technology, management and
markets.
Cover all crops by crop insurance with the village
and not block as the unit for assessment.
Provide for a Social Security net with provision for
old age support and health insurance.
Promote aquifer recharge and rain water
conservation. Decentralise water use planning and
to one that promotes grading, branding, packaging
and development of domestic and international
markets for local produce, and move towards a
Single Indian Market.
Employment
Structural change in the workforce is taking place in
India albeit slowly. In 1961, the percentage of the
workforce in agriculture was 75.9%. while the number
decreased to 59.9% in 1999-2000. But agriculture still
provides the bulk of employment in the rural areas.
The overall employment strategy in India must seek to
achieve two things. First, create productive employment
opportunities and second to improve the quality of
employment in several sectors such that real wages rise
through improved productivity. The measures to do so
include:
Accelerating the rate of growth of the economy;
Emphasizing on relatively more labour intensive
sectors and inducing a faster growth of these
sectors; and
Improving the functioning of the labour markets
through such modification as may be necessary
without eroding the core labour standards.
Encourage non-farm employment opportunities by
developing particular sectors and sub-sectors where
demand for the product or services is growing
namely: (i) trade, (ii) restaurants and hotels, (iii)
transport, (iv) construction, (v) repairs and (vi)
certain services.
The net take home income of farmers should be
comparable to those of civil servants.
Bioresources
Rural people in India depend on a wide range of
bioresources for their nutrition and livelihood security.
The report recommends:
Preserving traditional rights of access to
biodiversity, which include access to non-timber
forest products including medicinal plants, gums
and resins, oil yielding plants and beneficial microorganisms;
Conserving, enhancing and improving crops and
farm animals as well as fish stocks through
breeding;
Encouraging community-based breed conservation
(i.e. conservation through use);
Allowing export of indigenous breeds and import of
suitable breeds to increase productivity of
nondescript animals.
(Prepared by Kaushiki Sanyal on December 7, 2006)
DISCLAIMER: This document is being furnished to you for your
information and exclusive use only. The opinions expressed herein are
entirely those of the author(s). PRS Legislative Research (PRS)
makes every effort to use reliable and comprehensive information, but
PRS does not represent that the contents of the report are accurate or
complete. This document has been prepared without regard to the
objectives or opinions of those who may receive it.
