Who is a farmer?

Who is a farmer?

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar failed to solution that question when it turned into asked in Parliament remaining week. The authorities’s ambiguity has serious implications for the design and beneficiaries of the schemes meant to assist them, consisting of its flagship PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi).

The query changed into posed inside the Rajya Sabha by using BJP MP Ajay Pratap Singh who also requested whether or not any survey were performed to discover the range of farmer households.

Watch who is a farmer?

Sorry, the video participant failed to load.(error Code: 101102)

Agriculture a nation issue, says Minister

In a written response, the Agriculture Minister evaded giving any definition of a farmer and as a substitute said agriculture is a nation challenge. He furnished facts at the number of agricultural landholdings and stated that the Centre gives income help to all farmer families who personal cultivable land, that is, through the PM-KISAN scheme.

Also examine

A street to monetary revival runs thru agriculture

In the discussion that followed, MPs talked about that the quantity of land holdings do now not always equate with the quantity of farming families. It changed into stated that dairy farmers, fisherfolk, fruit and flower growers, as well as landless agricultural employees who domesticate the land belonging to others, would not healthy into a slender definition in which farmers are related to ownership of land by myself.

In fact, there's a clear and comprehensive definition available in the country wide policy for Farmers, which became drafted by using the national fee of Farmers headed by M.S. Swaminathan and formally authorized with the aid of the Centre in 2007 following consultations with the States.

It says, “For the purpose of this policy, the time period ‘FARMER’ will discuss with a person actively engaged within the financial and/or livelihood hobby of growing crops and producing different primary agricultural commodities and will encompass all agricultural operational holders, cultivators, agricultural labourers, sharecroppers, tenants, poultry and farm animals rearers, fishers, beekeepers, gardeners, pastoralists, non-corporate planters and planting labourers, as well as men and women engaged in various farming associated occupations consisting of sericulture, vermiculture and agro-forestry. The time period may also consist of tribal families / people engaged in shifting cultivation and within the series, use and sale of sweet sixteen and non-timber wooded area produce.”

The policy emphasises the need to significantly growth the internet earnings of farmers and expand support offerings for them, the usage of that comprehensive definition.

Also read

The PM-KISAN scheme was operationalised on February 24.

A scheme for farmers that has no longer reached most farmers

Farmer leaders and researchers point out that the definition of a farmer is not simply a philosophical or semantic query, but rather has practical implications.

Planned dragging of the feet, says Yogendra Yadav

“there's a planned dragging of the toes to keep away from this pre-present reputable definition that's there in black and white,” stated Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav, who also heads the Jai Kisan Andolan, regarding the Agriculture Minister’s evasive response. “I suppose there may be a deliberate try to fudge it to break out obligation for the welfare of all farmers.”

He stated that maximum schemes supposed for farmers’ welfare, together with the procurement of wheat and paddy at minimum support costs, are efficiently to be had most effective for land proprietors. Even in death, folks who paintings on the land won't be identified as farmers for the purposes of counting farmer suicides.

In keeping with Census 2011, there are 11.8 crore cultivators and 14.4 crore agricultural people.

“In practice, individuals who cultivate or work at the land but do now not personal it are excluded from access to agricultural credit score and hobby subvention for farm loans. Crop coverage and loan waivers visit loanees so they may be ignored of that as nicely. Get right of entry to to subsidised crop inputs is hard with out identity as farmers. Inside the occasion of crop failure, reimbursement is most effective given to proprietors. Direct profits aid schemes such as PM-KISAN are restrained to proprietors,” stated G.V. Ramanjaneyulu, government director of the Secunderabad-primarily based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. He stated tax exemption is typically claimed with the aid of owners who supply an unverified affidavit that they domesticate the land.

Additionally examine

Farm labourers at a paddy field in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir shows approximately land holdings in India

“there may be a need to convert the M.S. Swaminathan fee’s definition right into a felony and actionable device for identification. Already, the sales department is supposed to annually record who's definitely cultivating each piece of land. In an technology of GPS, GIS and Aadhaar, this must now not be that hard. It honestly takes political will,” said Dr. Ramanjaneyulu. Apart from including inclusion standards apart from land-ownership, the Centre have to upload exclusion criteria so absentee landlords are not noted. “otherwise, the farmer who genuinely takes the danger gets no assist, but those who deal with land as an funding or hypothesis get all the blessings,” he stated.

60%-70% of farmers are definitely girls: reviews

“Linking the identification of a farmer to land possession has devastating results for another class: women farmers. Some research estimate that 60%-70% of farmers are clearly ladies, but their names are not often on possession documents,” mentioned Devinder Sharma, an agriculture scientist and meals coverage expert.

Assuming that land ownership makes a farmer is one of the reasons why simplest 37% of this year’s PM-KISAN’s price range has been utilised after seven months, and why officials estimate a third may be left unspent on the end of the yr. The authentic estimate of beneficiaries become 14.5 crore, primarily based at the variety of landholdings. But, simplest 7.5 crore farmers have benefited so far. “If the budget is available, why now not increase the definition of farmers beneath the scheme and supply the benefit to all those who want it?” requested Mr. Sharma.