There is glut in sugarcane, in rubber, in cotton, in potato, in wheat; and now the news comes that milk prices are crashing worldwide.
According to a news item in Indian Express, worldwide, prices of milk and its various products like milk powder, butter, etc., are falling, and therefore in India also dairies are paying less to the farmers who supply milk to them.
Only industrialisation can save farmers. Need is to take people off agriculture. Productivity of land is increasing because of better irrigation techniques; and development of canals, etc., are opening ever more areas to more production (Western Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, for example). Therefore, prices of agriculture produces are falling. At the same time, because of increase in population, more persons are dependent on land. Therefore, income per head is falling.
The only solution is industrialisation of India so that people are taken off land, and incomes per head increase.
Land acquisition bill must be passed immediately. And whatever it takes to make India number 1 on ease of doing business index (currently it is 142nd) must be done.
Read the definitive article on the subject by Anang Pal Malik here.
