Radhakrishnan Committee

Agriculture Indebtedness, Farmer Suicides

Roots of the Problem

1. slowdown in the growth of the agricultural in the past two decades
2. An excessive proportion of the population is dependent on agriculture, resulting in increasing pressure on land, decline in the availability of land per agricultural worker.
3. lead to increase in smaller holdings of land.
4. Increasing stress on water resources.
5. Wide disparities between different states as regards the productivity and growth in agriculture.
6. Lack of availability of credit to small and medium farmers.
7. The seed-fertiliser technology seems to have exhausted its potential and is no longer cost efficient.
8. Inadequate public investment in the agricultural sector has also resulted in limited extension services.
9. Depletion in the quality of soil, groundwater and the growing pollution of river and canal water.

PM’s Loan waiver Package

• Announced in July 2006, it was to provide relief and rehabilitation to farmers in 31 distressed districts across four states of

• Andhra Pradesh,
• Karnataka,
• Kerala
• Maharashtra.

Package is around 17000 crores,

• 11,000 crore as subsidy/grant
• remaining as loans to be implemented over a three year period.

The package includes a

• credit component,
• non-credit component which includes
• irrigation, watershed development,
• rainwater harvesting
• check dams
• extension services.
• aims to revive the livelihood base of the distressed farmers.

Problems in implementing the package :

• The package is universal in nature
• does not take into account the specificities of various districts
• the causes of distress vary across the districts.
• been no coordination between different agencies implementing the schemes.
• Some schemes have not been designed taking into account the felt needs of the households.
• Projects delayed due to problems in obtaining sanctions.

What is to be done ?

1. Agriculture needs to grow at 4%; long term growth to be sustained;
2. cropping intensity and yields must rise substantially
3. Additional investment in rural infrastructure,
1. irrigation,
2. agricultural research
3. extension;
4. greater focus on rainfed areas; plan for National Rainfed Areas Authority
5. More attention to marginal and small farmers;
6. promotion of allied activities,
7. development of rural non-farm sector,
8. organisation of small and marginal farmers through collectives like Self Help Groups, etc
9. Improvement in R&D in the farm sector
10. resurrect rural credit agencies in both geographical spread as well delivery mechanisms.
11. Need to improve institutional supply of credit as against the non-institutional supply (Money Lenders)
12. moderate price related risks (whether they be induced due to the weather or market fluctuations) via different tariff mechanism.