Examine the challenges faced by the cotton-producing farmers in the country. What measures are required to address these challenges?
Approach:
- Introduce your answer by elaborating on the current status of cotton production in India.
- In the body, mention various challenges faced by the cotton-producing farmers in the country and suggest measures to address these challenges.
- Conclude your answer appropriately.
India is the largest producer of cotton globally and accounts for around 25% of the total global cotton production. It is a crop that holds significant importance for the Indian economy and is a source of all three Fs, i.e., Food, Feed and Fibre. It plays a major role in sustaining the livelihood of an estimated 6 million cotton farmers. Due to its economic importance in India, cotton is also termed white gold.
Challenges faced by the cotton-producing farmers in the country can be seen as:
- Small land holdings: Most of the farmers in India have small landholdings, i.e., less than 2 hectares. These farmers are generally capital-starved and cannot make major investments in land improvement and modern inputs due to the rising cost of production of seeds, fertilizers, and labour, i.e., input costs.
- Decreasing yield: Although the average yield increased from 2015 to 2017, it is now stagnating because the use of fertilizers and pesticides is increasing. This causes deterioration of the quality and the productivity of the soil. Furthermore, not only are the pests becoming increasingly resistant to chemical dosage, but new pests have also started to appear.
- Inferior technology: The absence of modern technology in cultivation, as well as ginning, has affected the yield. Not only is the yield low, but if not taken proper care of, there is the risk of the cotton getting contaminated in the harvesting, marketing, and ginning stages.
- Unpredictable market prices: Fluctuating market prices for cotton and the inability to compete with the low prices on the global market due to subsidies given to cotton farmers in Western countries, are impacting cotton planters adversely.
- Climate change: The alterations in climate patterns have resulted in erratic and uneven rainfall, posing a threat to the health of cotton crops. Further, the increasing frequency of extreme weather phenomena such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes have the potential to wreak havoc on cotton cultivation.
- Pest attacks: Over the past 40 years, the cotton crop in India suffered the most due to insect attacks. A range of insects such as aphids, jassids, whiteflies, American bollworms, pink bollworms, spotted bollworms etc., have been ravaging cotton crops and causing hardship for cotton farmers.
Measures required to address the above-mentioned challenges include:
- Improving irrigation facilities and water harnessing is considered imperative for enhancing production and lowering its dependence on the monsoon. Drip irrigation systems should be popularized for better water management.
- Initiatives should be taken to increase awareness among farmers for the adoption of rainwater harvesting, soil moisture conservation techniques, and suitable agronomic practices in order to increase the utilization of rainwater.
- Land pooling and contract farming on the basis of one village one variety concept will not only decrease the input cost but will also increase the quality and yield of produced cotton and thereby income to the cotton farmers.
- Steps should be taken to provide necessary support to cotton farmers through training for best farm practices and promotion of indigenous technology for fast cotton picking.
- The cropping system of cotton must undergo a systematic change to a high-density planting system (HDPS). It is a new cropping system which accommodates more plants per unit area supported by technological inputs for weed management, mechanical picking and defoliation.
- The government-led policy paradigm on cotton must give way to progressive evidence-based policies on the pricing of seeds and safeguarding intellectual property rights (IPRs).
- Investing in research and development for developing cotton varieties that are not only resilient to pest attacks but also to climate variabilities.
Indian policymakers therefore must take cognisance of the challenges faced by the cotton farmers. The focus should be on adopting the latest innovative technologies and global best farming practices to enhance productivity, achieve sustainable quality cotton output and generate a genuine export surplus to feed the world market.
