- One of the most written, spoken, heard, debated, and passionately exchanged viewpoints in the context of a largely Agri-based country like India is the monsoon rains. India is endowed with a large swathe of landscape spread around the length and breadth with more than 50% of the population indulging in agriculture speaks volumes about the dependency factor. The farming community desperately looks up to the Rain gods to bless them with bountiful yields every year is a common phenomenon witnessed around the country. The irrigation-based agricultural activities are not only largely restricted because of the limited availability of water but also dependent on monsoon rains for recharging of aquifers as also other means of storing the precious resource.
PC: CivilsDaily
- Thus, the Indian farming community cannot be faulted for looking up to the government authorities for providing minimum support prices for their produce, which often is the point of conflict of late between the two. Yes, certain produce is water intensive, which only adds to the charged atmosphere when the farming community seeks further support, but the government considers fiscal prudence as the guiding factor. Little wonder that the farming community resorts to agitation like blocking the highways, fasting indefinitely, setting up pickets, and conducting rallies to force the authorities to yield to their demands. As is their wont, the political parties would fish in the troubled waters to further their own parochial considerations is an undeniable fact too.
PC: Vecteezy
- Adding to the woes of the farming community is the increasingly erratic weather vagaries plaguing the country, leaving the administration and other stakeholders perennially tense. The environmental degradation perpetrated by humanity with gay abandon over the last few decades courtesy of humongous developments/growth all around have further exacerbated the already grave situation for the farmers. The unseasonal rains, cloudbursts, heatwaves, shorter winter and monsoon months, and inputs cost consistently heading northwards have singed the agriculture industry big time. The governments – both the central and the states – have rallied around the farming community by offering subsidies on power/seeds/fertilizers and other necessities.
PC: Mint
- However, the labour costs have gone up considerably, and the absence of the steady availability of water will only add to the woes of the farming community. This is where the farmers and the general public alike will look heavenwards, hoping that rains will be bountiful. The Indian Meteorological Department will soon be coming out with monsoon predictions for the ensuing monsoon months. All eyes will be on the IMD’s forecast, which would not only go a long way in enabling the administration to gear up with adequate measures to help the farming community but also ensure water availability for other purposes like drinking water as well. Will the upcoming monsoon months bring cheer to all concerned? Let’s pray that the Rain gods will be merciful.
