How will farmers be relieved from the climate?
India is considered an agricultural country. It is also called the backbone of the country’s economy. The government is running many schemes to help farmers, among which the Prime Minister Kisan Yojana is quite popular. In this case, farmers are given Rs 6,000 in three installments, but this financial help is not enough due to adverse weather conditions affecting farmers. For some time now, farmers are suffering from huge losses due to flash floods, extreme heat and heat waves due to climate change. Ramkishan, a farmer from Lakhimpur, is also facing such a problem. They say that their crops were ruined due to the extreme heat and heat wave that struck two months ago. At the same time, the yield is also being affected due to excessive rainfall. In such a situation, Ramkishan wants the Finance Minister to focus on measures to prevent damage caused by climate change in this year’s general budget. So that other farmers like him can get relief.
have adequate insurance
Banwari Lal, a resident of Hapur, is a farmer by profession. He says that due to climate change, weather-related risks have become a major threat. Since most of the farmers cultivate crops by investing all their savings, but due to poor yield, all the money is lost. Many a time we also fall into debt. To overcome this, the government should emphasize on creating a robust crop insurance system for farmers in this budget. So that their losses can be compensated.
The government should focus on agricultural research and development
Shyam Tiwari, a resident of Samastipur in Bihar, says that his father is a farmer, but due to his poor financial condition, he did not do his traditional work. Shyam says that the use of technology has increased a lot in the world, but the country is still very backward in agriculture. There is no strategy here to deal with the lack of accurate weather information and critical situations like floods and droughts. Giving the example of agriculture in foreign countries, he explained how special types of seeds and fertilizers are used there to increase crop production and protect them from the effects of weather. In India too, such things should be used keeping in mind the weather. Therefore, proper research on land, products and weather should be done here. They hope that the government will take some decision in this regard in the general budget of 2024.
Adequate provisions must be made for the storage of crops.
Farmers in the country often suffer losses due to lack of proper storage. Because they do not protect their crops during rains, their produce gets washed away. Also, due to lack of sufficient storage space, the crop starts rotting. In such a situation, Nitin Kumar from Babugarh says that the government should improve the storage system. Efforts should be made to ensure that its distance from the cultivation site is not too much, this will save the transportation cost. Also, organic farming methods like crop rotation, mulching and composting should be promoted.
How much damage has climate change caused?
According to a 2023 World Bank report, in 2022, heat destroyed crops across the country. Due to this, wheat production has declined significantly. The report estimates that India could lose up to 5% of its GDP by 2050 due to the impacts of climate change. Therefore, there is a need to work on climate-sensitive crop preparation technology and increase investment in its research.
