Looking back 2022: Agricultural schemes not implemented efficiently in Haryana, say experts

Tribune News Service

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, December 26

The state government this year claimed to have given thrust to the growth of the agriculture sector to fulfil its promise to double the income of farmers. However, farmers continued to struggle with the issues of profitable minimum support price (MSP), adequate compensation for crop damage and draining out standing water etc.

The farmers were also not able to venture out of the wheat-paddy cycle to adopt innovative farming in an attempt to supplement their income.

An important contributor to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the government had also proposed a budgetary allocation of Rs 5988.76 crore to the agriculture and allied sectors, an increase of 27.7 per cent in this year’s budget in March.

The Economic Survey Report of the Haryana Government indicated the importance of agriculture in Haryana when it stated, “Though the economic growth of the state has become more dependent on the growth in industry and services sectors during the past few years, the recent experience suggests that high Gross State Value Added (GSVA) growth without sustained and rapid agricultural growth was likely to accelerate inflation in the state, jeopardising the larger growth process.” The ESR stated that as per the advance estimates for 2021-22, the GSVA from the agriculture sector had a growth of 2.6 per cent.

Farmers, especially in the Hisar region, resorted to agitation, demanding compensation to the crop loss in the kharif season due to untimely rains and pink bollworm in cotton. Though cotton production registered over 30% increase compared to last year, experts said much needed to be done.

Dr Ram Kumar, former director of extension education, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (HAU), Hisar, stated that despite many pro-farmer schemes, meagre benefits were reaching farmers.

“The availability of quality seeds is a major issue. Fertilisers should be given to farmers when needed in the fields. The government came up with a good scheme on micro-irrigation, but it’s ridden with flaws in implementation. The allocation of existing water in various areas of Haryana needs to be handled in a better way,” he stated while putting up some issues that required the government’s attention. He said the government institutions were unable to provide quality seeds to the farmers for crops like cotton (kharif) and mustard (rabi). “As a result, farmers are falling prey to the private players in the seed market. There are examples in Haryana and Punjab where farmers had to face crop failure due to poor quality seeds,” he stated.

A farmer of Bahbalpur village in Hisar district, Ramesh Kumar, said he had been facing crop loss for two consecutive years in cotton.

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#Agriculture #Minimum Support Price MSP