1. Agrarian change and impact on farmers
G. V. Ramanjaneyulu

2. Agrarian Change
• Changes in Agriculture Practices
– High external input agriculture
– Mono culturing of crops, varieties and genes
– High use of chemicals
– Shift to irrigated farming and neglect of rainfed crops
• Changes in Economic policies
– Decreasing subsidies and public support
– Increasing cost of credit, inputs
– Non-remunerative prices
– Increasing living costs due to state with drawl from providing
basic services
• Changes in access to resources
– Productive resources (Land, water and seeds ) getting alienated
– Increasing tenant farmers
– Seeds becoming proprietary technologies

3. India: home of family farms
• Between 1960-61 and 2003, the total number of
operational holdings increased from 50.77 million to 101.27
million.
• During the same period, the total operated area declined
from 133.46 million hectares to 107.65 million hectares.
• Thus average operated area declined from 2.63 hectares to
1.06 hectares.
(NSSO, Some Aspects of Operational Land Holdings in India,
various issues)
• increasing absentee landlordism
• India is the home of worlds largest farm laborers and land
workers

4. Shifts in cropping patterns
Million ha
No Crop 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2010-11
1 Rice 37.6 40.1 42.7 44.7 42.1
2 Wheat 18.2 22.3 24.2 25.7 29.2
3 Jowar 17.4 15.8 14.4 9.9 7.1
4 Bajra 12.9 11.7 10.5 9.8 9.4
5 Maize 5.8 6 5.9 6.6 8.5
6 Other cereals 9.9 8.3 5.5 3.3 2.1
7 Gram 7.8 6.6 7.5 5.2 9.2
8 Tur 2.7 2.8 3.6 3.6 4.4
9 Cotton 7.6 7.8 7.4 8.6 11.1

5. Monoculturing crops, varieties, genes, trees & animals
• Today Cotton, Maize, Paddy, Sugar Cane are the only crops
whose area increasing
• Within crops 80% of the production comes from few genetic
backgrounds
• Increasing area under hybrid crops in areas not suitable like
rainfed areas, hill regions
• 99 % of the cotton with bt genes to fight four major
pests..several others in pipeline
• Promotion of water intensive orchards in rainfed areas
• Promotion of cross bred animals, buffaloes in rainfed areas

6. Bt cotton yield increase
700
Before Bt Cotton After Bt cotton 140%
600
70% increase only 2% increase
554
521 524 517 120%
503
500 470 472 481
90% 100%
399 84% 85% 85%
400
80%
308 302 62%
300 278
60%
41%
200 40%
18%
100 20%
6%
0% 0% 0% 1%
0 0%
Data for % area under BT for 2010-11 and 2011-12 are estimates
and for 2005-06 is interpolated Yield in kgs per hectare % area under BT

7. Pesticides poisoning past, present and future
• Acute poisoning effects
• Agriculture workers killed
• Chronic poisoning effects
• Children growth effected
• Effect on reproductive health
• Pesticides increased costs of cultivations
• Rs. 1000 to 15000/acre
• Ecological Disturbances
• Beneficials killed, pest shifts
• Pest resistances, pest resurgences
• Poisoning of resources
• Soils
• Water
• Milk
• Food (NIN study found18 pesticides
found in Vegetables in
Hyderabad, 2012)

8. (‘000 crore)
Fertilisers 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Indigenous Urea 7.79 8.52 10.24 10.65 12.65 12.95 17.97 17.58 15.08 13.31
Imported Urea 0.00 0.00 0.49 1.21 3.27 6.61 10.08 4.60 6.40 6.98
Sale of decontrolled
fertiliser with concession to
farmers 3.23 3.33 5.14 6.60 10.30 12.93 48.56 39.08 33.50 29.71
Total Fertiliser Subsidy 11.02 11.85 15.88 18.46 26.22 32.49 76.60 61.26 54.98 50.00*
* Revised estimate is 90.00 th cr

9. Fertilizer issues
• Fertilizer use efficiency less than 50%
• Factor productivity of fertilizer coming down
• Fertilizer production largely dependent on
Petroleum products and prices fluctuate with
them
• Phosphotic and Potash reserves coming down
• Increasing micronutrient deficiencies resulting
in newer diseases

10. Depleting natural resources
• Increasing dark zones due
to groundwater depletion
• 30 % of soils are reported
to be saline by the recent
study by ministry of
environment
• New water policy

11. Whose Self Sufficiency?

12. Farmers income and expenditure
Reducing incomes
• Increasing costs of cultivation
• Reducing Subsidies
• Fluctuating Market Prices
• Inflation has double impact
Increasing living expenditures
• With drawl of public sector from providing basic
services
• While total development expenditure as a share of
GDP was fourteen and a half per cent in 1989-90, it
was 5.9 per cent by 2005.

13. Income and Expenditure of farmers
Land Category Total Income Expenditure Percent of
holding (Rs/month) (Rs/month) farmers
<0.01 Landless 1380 2297 36 %
0.01-0.4 Sub marginal 1633 2390
0.4-1.0 Marginal 1809 2672 31 %
1.0-2.0 Small 2493 3148 17 %
2.0-4.0 Semi-medium 3589 3685 10 %
4.0-10.0 Medium 5681 4626 6%
>10.0 Large 9667 6418
Total 2115 2770 All
farmers
Source: Report “On Conditions Of Work And Promotion Of Livelihoods In The Unorganised Sector” Arjun Sen
Gupta Committee, 2007

14. Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure
Range (in Rupees)
Bottom 10% pop Rural India
Urban India
10-20 % pop
20-30 % pop
30-40 % pop
40-50 % pop
50-60 % pop
60-70 % pop
70-80 % pop
80-90 % pop
90-100 % pop
All
Source: National Sample Survey 66th Round, 2012

15. 66th NSSO survey: creating employment or unemployment?
• UPA government generated only 2 million jobs between
2004 and 2009 against Planning Commission’s target of 58
million jobs between 2007-12.
• the employment rate has actually declined in the five year
period ended 2009-10 to 39.2 per cent from 42 per cent in
2004-05. during this 5 year period, only 2 million jobs were
added compared with 55 million who joined the workforce
aged between 15-59 years.
• 25.1 million people lost their self-employment
• The report by NSSO also shows an increase in the number
of casual workers by 21.9 million, while growth in the
number of regular workers nearly halved between 2004-05
and 2009-10, compared with the previous 5 year period. .

16. Unremunerative prices
• MSP determination is faulty and unscientific.
• Governments keep the prices low to ensure cheap labor
and cheap inputs, and food security for poor
• Minimum Support Prices are announced for 25
commodities but market intervention only for rice,
wheat, cotton
• Agricultural prices don’t account for living costs of rural
families. Rising inflation has double impact on farmers
with increasing living costs & decreasing incomes
• Removal of quantitative restrictions and allowing
cheaper imports
• Restrictions on exports on certain crops depressing local
market prices

17. Paddy: Cost of Cultivation and MSP (Rs/q) in AP
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Cost of cultivation rs/q Msp rs/q

18. Comparision of Costs and MSP
Crop Cost/quintal Cost/quintal Recommended
(CACP est.) (State govt est.) MSP
Paddy 896 1270 1080
Jowar 1393 1145 980
Maize 935 1114 980
Tur 2373 3668 3100
Groundnut 3185 3324 2700
Sunflower 2799 3439 2800
Cotton 2579 3828 2900
Moong 2974 3480 3400
Source: CACP Kharif Price Report,, 2011-12

19. Real Prices lower than MSP (2010-11)
Crop MSP M.P. Maha - Gujarat Rajasthan
rashtra
Paddy 1000 850 785
853
Jowar 880 500, 851
601
Maize 880 860 793
Bajra 880 620
700
Source: CACP Kharif Price Report,, 2011-12

20. Prices to Farmers
during 2010-11 and 2011-12
Crop 2010-11 Rs/Quintal 2011-12 Rs/Quintal
Cotton 6500 3600
Turmeric 14000 4000
Chillies 12000 5500
Redgram 5000 3500
Blackgram 5200 3500
Bajra 4000 2000
Jowar 2500 1800
Onion 16000 2500
Sweet Orange 75000 60000

21. Reducing institutional credit
• The share of agricultural credit in total bank lending nearly doubled from
around 10% in the mid-1970s to about 18% in the late 1980s.
• The share of agricultural credit in total bank lending declined from the
peak of 18% in the late 1980s to about 11% in 2005, the decline has
continued since then.
• Rural branches of commercial banks has declined from 51.2% in March
1996 to 45.7% in March 2005.
• Data also shows that the share of agricultural credit cornered by farm sizes
of more than 5 acres has increased
• Tenancy is informal and tenant farmers do not get access to credit
(GOI, 2007).
• The NSSO’s 59th round tells us that while 26 per cent of farm households
were in debt in 1991, that figure went up to over 48 per cent – almost
double by 2003
• In states like AP the indebtedness is 82%, Kerala has 64% , Karnataka has
62%

22. Total 270,940 in 17 years
Source: NCRB 1995-2010

23. • two-thirds of
the suicides are
occurring in
half-a-dozen
States that
account for just
about one-third
of the country’s
population

24. Farmers ‘ Suicides in India: Gender distribution
Year Male Female Total
1995 8295 2425 10720
1996 10897 2832 13729
1997 11229 2393 13622
1998 12986 3029 16015 • 19 per cent or nearly one-
1999 13278 2804 16082 fifth households in this
2000 13501 3102 16603 country are women-headed
2001 13829 2586 16415
2002 15308 2663 17971
2003 14701 2463 17164
2004 15929 2312 18241
2005 14973 2158 17131
2006 14664 2396 17060
2007 14509 2123 16632
2008 14145 2051 16196
2009 14951 2417 17368
2010 13592 2372 15964
2011 12071 1956 14027
Total 228858 42082 270940

25. Farmers Suicides Distribution, 2010
Female Male Total %
upto 14 years 12 4 16 0.63
15-29 years 165 563 728 28.83
30-44 years 137 824 961 38.06
45-59 years 40 573 613 24.28
60 years &
above 41 166 207 8.20
Total 395 2130 2525

26. State Farmer Suicides Difference (2nd Avg-1st Avg)
1995-2002 2003-2010
Andhra Pradesh 1590 2301 +711
Assam 155 291 +135
Karnataka 2259 2123 -136
Kerala 1292 1071 -221
MP+Chhattisgarh 2304 2829 +525
Maharashtra 2508 3802 +1294
Tamil Nadu 992 866 -126
Uttar Pradesh 640 531 -109
West Bengal 1426 990 -436
The table only includes States whose annual averages have risen or fallen by over 100 farm
suicides between the to periods. It also treats Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as one unit
for data purposes.
Source: NCRB Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India Reports 1995-2010

27. Further worsening….
• GM technologies in all crops and animals
• Increasing public sector with drawl from research,
extension, marketing
• Reducing subsidies
• Futures trading has become mantra …including
FCI planning to enter
• FDI in retail
• Banking correspondents system to disburse loans
and subsidies
• Increasing weather vagaries

28. http://www.csa-india.org
http://www.krishi.tv
http://www.agrariancrisis.in
http://www.sahajaaharam.in
http://www.indiaforsafefood.in
Ph. 040-27017735, mobile : 09000699702
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