By Kirtana Padmakumar Menon

Although modern modes of production in Indian agriculture have resulted in higher profits and a burgeoning GDP, they’ve also contributed to growing environmental and social concerns, hampering efforts of community development in India.

Between 2001 and 2011, over 9 million farmers left the profession, citing high investment costs, poor returns, and a lack of a robust credit and insurance system as their main reasons. According to a report by P Sainath, an award-winning journalist and editor of the People’s Archive of India, there were almost 3 lakh farmer suicides in India between 1997 and 2013.

The agriculture sector is the largest employer in India, employing a whopping 70% of the country’s workforce. Traditional agriculture in India was about self-sufficiency and community development; however, modern agriculture in India is driven by increased profits and market-driven production.

The impact of the changing modes of production in Indian agriculture can be broadly divided into three main categories:

  • Economic Impact
  • Environmental Impact
  • Social Impact

Although the sector in India has enjoyed higher profits and a faster turnaround time due to modern methods and resources, there are growing issues about the environmental and social impact of the new modes of Indian agriculture.

Economic Impact on the Agricultural Community 

The first major regulations in Indian agriculture began in the 1960s. The newly formed government of independent India sought to increase the production of traditional crops like wheat, barley, and maize by using modern machinery and High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds (Source: This piece by Paul Ehrlich Bourlag and the Green Revolution). Although these measures saw a lot of success in states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana, the policies failed in areas with less water availability and pushed small-scale farmers into debt.

The next major agricultural policy reform happened in 1991 when the Indian government pushed for higher private-sector involvement in key industries. This reform completely transformed the Indian agriculture sector from a state-run sector into a market-driven one.

India saw an increase of approximately 3% in agricultural production (Source: India Budget) in the next year due to the new market-based production methods.

As of 2024, traditional crops like wheat or maize have been replaced in many places by fruits and vegetables, as the market need for them grows. Although the market-driven agricultural policies helped increase overall production, many farmers could not cope with the higher initial investment, leading to increased wealth disparity among farmers.

In theory, the 1991 reforms were meant to allow farmers easier access to markets and the freedom to choose crops that would result in higher profits. While these reforms did democratise the agriculture sector to some extent, they also penalised farmers who were limited in their choice of crops because of poverty or climate issues.

Environmental Impact of Changing Modes of Production in Indian Agriculture

Modern agriculture production methods rely heavily on gasoline-powered machinery and harsh pesticides and fertilisers. These contribute heavily to environmental pollution in India.

Some of the biggest environmental concerns created by modern agriculture production methods include:

  • Deforestation: Cultivating land for agriculture involves cutting down trees and shrubs to create flat fields. 
  • Pollution: Modern farming methods include the use of harsh pesticides and fertilisers that wash away into nearby water bodies or soil. Large gasoline-powered vehicles like combine harvesters also produce toxic substances — like carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons — and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Water Consumption: Agriculture accounts for a large amount of freshwater usage. With the rise in global water shortage, the agriculture sector has come under scrutiny for the amount of water it uses.
  • Soil compaction: A study on modern farm vehicles published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal posited that heavy farm machinery might cause soil compaction to the same degree as Sauropods, affecting soil quality and it’s ability to grow crops for decades at once.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the livestock sector worldwide is responsible for up to 14% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (Source: Family Farming Knowledge, FAO). In India, land development for agriculture results in forest areas and natural habitats getting disturbed or destroyed, as the need for agricultural goods rises.

India has lost over 2.33 million hectares of trees between 2000 and 2023 (termed The Great Indian Tree Cover Loss), an area equal to the entire state of Meghalaya. As a result, activists are reluctant to continue felling trees for new agricultural land or developmental projects.

Climate change is another growing environmental concern. Multiple accounts have shown that erratic and unseasonal weather patterns have devastated crops globally.

In India, the main problem is regular heatwaves and unseasonal rains.

On 29th May 2024, according to the Indian Meteorological Department temperatures reached record highs in Mungeshpur, Delhi, at multiple days over 50°C. Extreme heat not only damages crops, but also destroys soil quality and leads to increased health risks among farmers and those who labour out in the open all day, threatening any goals of community development in India. 

Farmers across the country reported that the weather became too hot to work in during the late mornings and afternoons. As a result, they were forced to take long breaks, decreasing overall productivity.

According to a report by the Development Intelligence Unit and the advocacy group Forum of Enterprises for Equitable Development, 80% of marginal farmers are affected by adverse climate effects.

Community Development in India, and Why we need to look at Farmers

One of the biggest areas affected by the changing modes of production in Indian agriculture is the social fabric of Indian farmers, and our responsibility to the development of the agrarian community.

A large majority of Indians have been engaged in agriculture for generations. However, agricultural trends in the last couple of decades are slowly driving small-scale farmers out of the industry, after the 1991 Liberalisation, Privatisation, and Globalisation (LPG) model of modern Indian economics created a new class of Indian landowners. 

However, when the Indian government began pushing policies for the use of heavy machinery and HYV seeds, many poorer farmers found that they could not afford this initial investment. As a result, these farmers took out loans, often at high interest rates, to purchase these seeds and machinery. The collateral offered in exchange? Their land.

The high cost was not an issue for those who enjoyed higher yields, but some farmers across the country failed to deliver the expected results and couldn’t repay their debt to the bank. These farmers lost their land as it was seized to satisfy their debt, and promptly sold to wealthier farmers, who would then hire the previous owners to continue working on the land.

In this way, poorer farmers became employees of wealthier farmers, creating a new tenant class and concentrating land ownership in the hands of a few.

This increase in wealth disparity has also led to many poorer farmers giving up agriculture entirely. They then migrate to the larger cities in search of menial jobs, contributing to a city’s population density problems.

But not all are able to escape, creating the farmer suicide crisis. When harassed by moneylenders and bankers, a distressingly large number of farmers chose to take their own lives.

According to a 2023 report by the National Crime Records Bureau of India (NCRB), 11,290 farmers have committed suicide due to financial concerns in 2022 alone. A farm labourer dies by suicide every hour in India. 

Conclusion

Unfortunately, most agriculture regulations in India were made for short-term benefits or to solve immediate problems temporarily. For example, the 1991 economic reforms were made with the understanding that India needs to become a part of a global economy. But the needs of small and marginalised farmers weren’t taken into account when setting up a system to help them with the high costs of the initial investment into their business.

Agricultural experts have also recommended investment into drip irrigation systems—to reduce water wastage—and seeds with higher yields, among other measures to improve the state of agriculture in India.

For the holistic development of the farming community in India, and to persist in the face of climate change and global markets that enjoy government subsidies, Indian farmers need a robust, long-term system that prioritises all farmers, regardless of current income levels, weather patterns, and access to new technology.

 

Featured Image by Jeevan Singla from Pixabay