A task force on agriculture, set up by the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog or NITI Aayog, has suggested a number of measures intended to raise agricultural productivity and make farming lucrative. What are these suggestions? Critically comment on them. (200 Words)

Ans:-The task force on agriculture set up by the NITI Aayog has suggested the following to reform the agriculture sector-

1.Careful use of GM technology to produce varieties of pulses and oil seeds.

2.Replacing MSP mechanism with a deficiency payment system.

3.Easy land leasing to allow farmer with non viable land holdings to exit the farming sector and consolidating these non viable land holdings to make them viable.

4.Encouraging ' contract farming'.

5.Adopting a cooperative model for fruits and vegetables similar to that adopted in case of milk.

6.Deregulating the urea subsidies and providing direct subsidies to the farmers.

7.Enabling farmers to frequently upgrade their seeds.

8.Judicious use of Essential Commodities Act so that investment in storage facilities is not deterred.

9.Making food processing industry a major export industry.

10.Encouraging agriculture research with the help of private investment.

However-
1.Reservations about the GM technology still exist and their impact on ecology has still not been fully brought out.

2.Deficiency Payment system may act as a disincentive for farmers to work hard and its impact on tribals and casual labourers will be limited.

3.Providing cash subsidies to the farmers will not be viable unless each one of them has a bank account.

4.Leasing land from small farmers without proper rehabilitation will make his survival difficult as agriculture is a livelihood issue in India.

5.Contract farming may lead to exploitation of the illiterate farmers if the contracts are made to the disadvantage of farmers.