Year of the New-Age Farmer

Policies in place for more sustainable, innovative and technology-driven farming in 2023

- TARANNUM MANJUL

T HE YEAR GONE BY was once upon a time a target date for doubling the Indian farmer's income, but that was before a deadly virus turned the world topsy turvy. As a war rages on in the world's wheat bowl in eastern Europe and food security once again tops the agenda of governments, hazarding a prediction for the year ahead is like gazing into a brittle crystal bowl that could crack with the next drought or flash flood on the agrarian plains of India.

What we do know is that the Fourth Advance Estimates of the Union Ministry of Agriculture peg foodgrain production at 315.72 million tonnes, 4.98 million tonnes higher than the foodgrain output in 2020-21. India is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, its second largest producer of rice after China and accounted for around 14.14 per cent of the world's total wheat production in 2020.

The Union government has never let up on its policy focus to ensure better returns for the country's "annadatas" - the food growers. Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar recently announced that more than Rs 2.16 lakh crore had been deposited directly into the bank accounts of the farmers so far. Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Rs 1.24 lakh crore has been given to the farmers in lieu of crop loss. The year 2023 will see more and more farmers benefitting from these schemes.