Page 10 - Lessonnote_Change and Development in Rural Society

Negative Impacts

o Contract farming of export-oriented products such as flowers and gherkins also means that
agricultural land is diverted away from food grain production.
o Contract farming has sociological significance in that it disengages many people from the
production process and makes their own indigenous knowledge of agriculture irrelevant.
o In addition, contract farming caters primarily to the production of elite items, and because it
usually requires high doses of fertilisers and pesticides, it is often not ecologically sustainable.

Aspects of Globalisation of agriculture

o The entry of multinationals into this sector as sellers of agricultural inputs such as seeds, pesticides,
and fertilisers.
o The government has scaled down its agricultural development programmes, and ‘agricultural
extension’ agents have been replaced in the villages by agents of seed, fertiliser, and pesticide
companies. These agents are often the sole source of information for farmers about new seeds or
cultivation practices, and of course they have an interest in selling their products.
o This has led to the increased dependence of farmers on expensive fertilisers and pesticides, which
has reduced their profits, put many farmers into debt, and also created an ecological crisis in rural
areas.

Problems faced by the Farmers

• While farmers in India for centuries have periodically faced distress due to drought, crop failures,
or debt, the phenomenon of farmers’ suicides appears to be new. Sociologists have attempted to
explain this phenomenon by looking at the structural and social changes that have been occurring
in agriculture and agrarian society.
• Many farmers, who have committed suicide were marginal farmers, who were attempting to
increase their productivity, primarily by practising Green Revolution methods.

Several risks
▪ The cost of production has increased tremendously due to a decrease in agricultural subsidies,
▪ The markets are not stable, and many farmers borrow heavily in order to invest in expensive inputs
and improve their production.
▪ The loss of either the crop (due to spread of disease or pests, excessive rainfall, or drought), and in
some cases, lack of an adequate support or market price means that farmers are unable to bear
the debt burden or sustain their families.
▪ Such distress is compounded by the changing culture in rural areas, in which increased incomes are
required for marriages, dowries and to sustain new activities and expenses, such as education and
medical care (Vasavi 1999).
Agriculture for many is becoming untenable, and state support for agriculture has declined
substantially. In addition, agricultural issues are no longer key public issues, and lack of mobilisation
means that agriculturists are unable to form powerful pressure groups that can influence policy
making in their favour. Suicides of farmers is basically associated with debt, as well as, natural
disasters, resulting in the failure of agricultural produce.Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Gram
Uday se Bharat Uday Abhiyan and National Rurban Mission are some of the schemes of the
Government of India, which may provide unified help to farmers all over the country. These schemes
are also helpful in providing quality life to rural India.