RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Rural  development:  Key  issues  -  credit  and  marketing  -  role  of  cooperatives; agricultural  diversification;  alternative  farming  -  organic  farming

Rural Development

Rural development means an action-plan for the economic and social upliftment of rural areas.

Objectives of rural development:

1. Increasing productivity of agricultural sector.

2. Generating alternative means of livelihood in rural sector.

3. Promoting education and health facilities in the rural areas.

 KEY ISSUES IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 

1.Development of human resources

  It can be improved through following  measures

• Proper attention to literacy and

• Better Health facilities for the physical growth

2.Land reforms

   It includes the following objectives:

• Elimination of exploitation in land relations;

• Actualisation of the goal of land to the tiller’;

•Improvement of socio-economic conditions of rural poor by widening their land base;

• Increasing agricultural productivity and production.

3.Development of productive resources

Development of the productive resources of each locality to enhance opportunities of employment (particularly other than farming)

4.Infrastructure development

• Improvement in electricity, irrigation, credit, marketing and transport facilities (including construction of village roads and feeder roads to nearby highways)

5.Special measures for poverty alleviation

  Around 30% of total population is still below te poverty line. So, there is a serious need for taking serious steps for alleviation of poverty and bringing significant improvement in living conditions of weaker sections.

                       RURAL CREDIT

Rural credit means credit for the farming communities. 

Sources of rural credit in India.

1. Non-institutional sources are money lenders, traders and commission agents, landlord, relatives and friends.

2. Institutional sources are as follow:

(i) Co-operative credit societies.

(ii) Commercial Banks

(iii) Regional Rural Banks

(iv) NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.) (established in 1982)

(v) Self Help Groups (SHGs)

Role of Co-Operative Credit Societies:

Rural Credit cooperatives are the oldest and most extensive form of rural institutional 

financing in India. The major thrust of these cooperatives in the area of agricultural credit is the prevention of exploitation of the peasants by moneylenders.

The primary objective of the co-operative is to liberate the India peasantry from the clutches of moneylenders and to provide them credit at low maximizing their income.

               AGRICULTURE MARKETING

Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer.

Defects of agricultural marketing

(i) Inadequate warehouses

(ii) Multiplicity of middlemen

(iii) Malpractice in unregulated markets.

(iv) Lack of Adequate finance

(v) Inadequate means of transport and communication.

Measures adopted by the government to improve marketing system.

(i) Regulation of markets.

Regulated markets have been organized with a view to protect the farmers from the malpractices of sellers and brokers.

(ii) Co-operative agricultural marketing societies.

The aim cooperative marketing is to realize fair price for farmers products . under this , marketing societies are formed by farmers to sell the output collectively and to take advantage of collective bargaining , in order to obtain better price.

(iii) Provision of warehousing facilities.

(iv) Subsidised transport.

(v) Dissemination of marketing information.

(vi) Buffer stocks and minimum support price        (MSP)

(MSP) : to safeguard the interest of farmers government fixes the minimum support prices of 24 agricultural products like wheat, rice ,maize , cotton, sugarcane pulses , etc…

(vii) Public Distribution System (PDS)

(viii) Alternative marketing channels

(ix) Improvement of physical Infrastructure

The government aims to provide physical infrastructure facilities like roads , railways , warehouses , godowns , cold storage and processing units.

              AGRICULTURE DIVERSIFICATION

                            

The need for diversification arises because:

(i) There is greater risk in depending exclusively on farming for livelihood; and

(ii) To provide productive sustainable livelihood options to rural people. 

Benefits of Diversification

. To provide supplementary gainful employment;

• To enable them to earn higher levels of income; and

• To enable rural people to overcome poverty and other troubles.

Diversification in agriculture activities-

It has the two aspects.

1. Diversification of crop production refers to a system of multiple cropping rather than mono cropping. It may also mean a shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming.

It has the three advantages:

(i) It lowers the risk of farmer on account of failure of monsoon.

(ii) It enhances the scope for commercialisation of farming.

(iii) Minimise the market risk arising due to price fluctuation.

2. Diversification of productive activities imply a shift from crop farming to non-farming areas of employment. Non-farm areas of employment include.

(i) Animal husbandry.

(ii) Fisheries.

(iii) Horticulture.

(iv) Cottage and household industry.

(v) Poultry

vi) Apiculture

It has following advantages:

1. Reduce the risk from agriculture sector.

2. Provide ecological balance.

3. Provide sustainable livelihood option to

    people living in village.

Need of agricultural diversification  for sustainable livelihoods

There are two major problems in agriculture; when ensuring sustainable livelihood is concerned. The first problem is over-dependency on cropping to earn livelihood. The second problem is  overcrowding of labourer in farming, many people suffer from disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment. This does not ensure sustainable livelihoods for many. Hence, diversification in agriculture is essential.

Importance of animal husbandry, fisheries and horticulture as a source of diversification

These activities will help in ensuring alternate sources of income to the farmers. These activities are also more sustainable compared to farming which involves just two major cropping seasons in a year.

                       ORGANIC FARMING

                      

Organic farming is a farming method that involves growing and nurturing crops without the use of synthetic based fertilizers and pesticides.  

Advantages of organic farming:

(i) Inexpensive process.

(ii) Generates income.

(iii) Healthier and tastier food.

(iv) Solves unemployment problem.

(v) Environment friendly.

Limitation of Organic farming:

(i) Yields from organic farming is less than modern agricultural farming in initial years.

(ii) Organic produce have shorter shelf life than sprayed produce.

(iii) Choice in production of off-season crops is quite limited in organic farming.

ORGANIC FARMING & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Organic farming does not carry the risk of soil pollution or groundwater pollution. Risk of harmful chemicals reaching our body through food is also minimized if we use organic farm produce. Thus, organic farming is the way which can be sustained in the long run. It can be said that organic farming promotes sustainable development.