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Rice is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in India.

Rice is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions.

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The various institutional reform programmes introduced by the government in the interest of farmers are mentioned below:

(i)Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease. 

(ii)Establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest.

(iii)Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) schemes is introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers.

(iv)Moreover, special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers have been introduced on the radio and television.

(v)The government had also announced minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.

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Consequences of reduction of agricultural land: 

(i)India will turn in to food deficit from food surplus country.

(ii)India will face shortage of raw material for its agriculture based industries.

(iii)The poor farmers will become poorer and it will also lead to sharp rise in prices of the agricultural items.

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Considering the importance of agriculture in India, the Government of India has made concerted efforts to increase agricultural production.

(i)Establishment of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agricultural universities, veterinary services and animal breeding centres, horticulture development, research and development in the field of meteorology and weather forecast, etc. are given priority for improving Indian agriculture.

(ii)Food security policy has enabled the poor to have access to food. The focus of the policy is on growth in agriculture production and on fixing the support price for procurement of wheat and rice, to maintain their stocks. Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procuring and stocking foodgrains, whereas distribution is ensured by public distribution system (PDS). The FCI procures foodgrains from the farmers at the government announced minimum support price (MSP).

(iii)The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) are some of the strategies initiated to increase agricultural production.

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Under globalisation, the farmers in India have been exposed to new challenges.

(i)Despite being an important producer of rice, cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, jute and spices our agricultural products are not able to compete with the developed countries because of the highly subsidised agriculture in those countries.

(ii)Today, Indian agriculture finds itself at the crossroads. To make agriculture successful and profitable, proper thrust should be given to the improvement of the condition of marginal and small farmers. The green revolution promised much. But today it’s under controversies. It is being alleged that it has caused land degradation due to overuse of chemicals, drying aquifers and vanishing biodiversity. 

(iii)A few economists think that Indian farmers have a bleak future if they continue growing foodgrains on the holdings that grow smaller and smaller as the population rises. Indian farmers should diversify their cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops. This will increase incomes and reduce environmental degradation simultaneously. Because fruits, medicinal herbs, flowers, vegetables, bio-diesel crops like jatropha and jojoba need much less irrigation than rice or sugarcane. India’s diverse climate can be harnessed to grow a wide range of high-value crops.