The Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), an affiliate of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), is currently developing an Early Warning System labeled as the “Farmers’ Distress Index”. This innovative system, a first in India, seeks to predict and prevent the spread of agrarian distress from a few farmers to the larger village or block level.
Understanding the Farmers’ Distress Index
The Farmers’ Distress Index aims to preempt potential disruptions that could lead to agrarian distress, such as crop loss, failure and income shock. There has been a rising trend of farmers’ exposure to shocks due largely to an increase in extreme climate events coupled with market and price fluctuations. These conditions have often driven farmers to desperate actions, including suicide. The index is intended to serve as a guide for the central government, state governments, local bodies, and non-governmental agencies to implement proactive intervention measures.
Monitoring and Identifying Distress
The development of the index involves a thorough process. News about instances of farmers’ distress, ranging from debt issues, suicides, pest attacks, droughts, floods, to migrations are gathered from local newspapers, news platforms, and social media. This information is then supplemented with telephonic interviews with small, marginal, and tenant farmers in the affected areas. These interviews include 21 standardized questions that are designed to detect early signs of distress.
Interpreting the Index
Following the interviews, the responses are mapped against seven indicators, which consist of exposure to risks, debt, adaptive capacity, landholding, irrigation facilities, mitigation strategies, and socio-psychological factors. Based on the compiled data and responses, the index assigns a value between 0 and 1 to delineate the level of distress; with values from 0 to 0.5 indicating low distress, 0.5 to 0.7 signifying moderate distress and anything above 0.7 representing severe distress.
Implications and Significance of the Index
The index also identifies the specific component contributing the most to farmers’ distress among the seven indicators in situations where the distress level is severe. Different agencies can then carry out interventions customised to prevent income shocks to farmers based on the severity of the distress. Some potential solutions include direct money transfer, and mid-term release of claims under the government’s crop insurance scheme in response to crop failures.
Government Measures for Mitigating Agrarian Distress
Various schemes have been initiated by the government to mitigate farmers’ distress. These include the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), electronic National Agricultural market (e-NAM), Soil health card, and Neem-coated urea. Notably, in the 2022 budget, several steps were taken in support of the agricultural sector including the Rythu Bandhu Scheme in Telangana and the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme in Odisha.
Overall, the implementation of the Farmers’ Distress Index holds great promise in mitigating income shocks for farmers and contributes to the overall well-being of India’s agricultural community.
