Agriculture sector in distress due to extreme weather events, farmers need better protection measures: Experts at CSE consultation

“We are seeing an increased severity and frequency of extreme weather events. Farmers in India are facing the double blow of agrarian distress and extreme weather events as a result of climate change. A series of measures including better protection mechanisms are needed to support them,” said CSE’s Director General Sunita Narain. 

 

She was speaking at the National Consultation on Crop Loss Estimation, Relief and Compensation organized by CSE. 

 

Former Union agriculture minister Sompal Shastri, Narendra Bhooshan from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Yudhvir Singh from the All India Coordination Committee of Farmers, JS Parihar from Indian Space Research Organisation and CSE Deputy Director General Chandra Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from Jai Kisan Andolan were among those who attended the two-day consultation.

 

A report on the impact of extreme weather events on the farmers of India, Lived Anomaly - How to enable farmers in India to cope with extreme weather events will be released later in the day.

 

Speaking about the timeliness of the consultation, Yadav said, “I recently travelled from Karnataka to Haryana and met farmers everywhere who have suffered losses due to extreme weather events. I thought somebody should be documenting and discussing this, and then I learnt about CSE’s report and the consultation. This is very timely.” 

 

Former Union agriculture minister Sompal Shastri said the Indian economy was currently not buoyant and was experiencing low demand, particularly from the rural sector. “Around 62 per cent of India’s people depend on agriculture. Until the problems of farmers are addressed, the economy will not boom,” he said. 

 

Shastri said one of the biggest blows to farmers in recent times was unpredictable rainfall and other weather events. 

 

In a session which Shastri moderated, two important issues that needed addressing were: the current crop insurance system was not effective and was accessible to a small proportion of farmers and the relief and compensation rules and practices that were in use currently.

 

Shastri said around 60 per cent of India’s farmers were dependent on rain water for agriculture. “Farmers need to be provided with means of irrigation if they are to guard themselves against untimely or inadequate rain,” he said.

 

Speaking on behalf of farmers, Yudhvir Singh said that the current relief and compensation method being used in India was devised in 1863 by the British. “It was not for the purpose of awarding relief and compensation but for waiving lagan. It is a big surprise that India still uses such an old and inappropriate system for assessing crop loss,” he said.

 

CSE’s report Lived Anomaly is about what is happening to farmers in India because of extreme weather events, largely as told by farmers themselves. “Its basis is the winter–spring of 2015 and the aftermath. The report is also a peek into the future—what we should expect as our planet continues to heat up due to the incessant increase in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Bhushan.

 

The report is an assessment of the impact of the unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms in February-April 2015 on agriculture in India. It investigates the effectiveness of response measures—existing relief and compensation mechanisms in the country for farmers affected by such extreme weather events. The report highlights the need for urgent reforms in the agrarian sector, given the expected increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, and cites instances of advancements in crop damage assessment and crop insurance schemes that are more attractive to farmers.

 

Bhushan said what prompted the report was not just the degree of irregularity in 2015.  “This was the third year in a row when the rabi season was thrown out of kilter in large parts of India by deviant weather.  In 2013, five states were impacted and 0.35 million hectares (ha) of standing crops affected. In 2014, six states were affected and 5.5 million ha of crops, just a month away from being harvested, were damaged. In 2015, no less than 15 states were hit and 18.23 million ha of crops were damaged.”