Deepening agrarian crisis — the way forward

Indian agriculture is facing a crisis of an unprecedented scale. Two back to back droughts, fast depleting ground water, weather events such as heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu, low productivity of small-scale farming and declining rural wages clearly point to a deepening crisis. According to many experts, the agricultural growth, which is limping along at less than one percent might actually dip further this year. This does not bode well for a sector that still employs half the Indian population.

This discussion will explore the following key questions:

• What are the deeper causes of this growing crisis?

• How much the present crisis accounts to institutional barriers comprising governance, the quality of public systems, and economic policies?

• How are Centre, states and designated institutions geared up to the crisis?

• Is there a way to transform this critical sector that still caters to the livelihoods of half of the population?

The discussion will be chaired by Mr. Surendra Singh, former Cabinet Secretary and Honorary Advisor, ORF.

Speakers 

Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog and Director, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research

Prof. Abhijit Sen, JNU and Former Member, Planning Commission

Dr.  J.  P.  Mishra, Advisor (Agriculture), NITI Aayog

Mr. Mohan Kanda, Former Secretary, Agriculture, Government of India

Dr. Shivendra Bajaj, Executive Director, Association of the Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Focus Group (ABLE-AG)

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