Economic Survey 2019-20: Odisha Farmers Giving Up Farming, Find Out Why

According to the Economic Survey 2019-20, the situation of farmers in Odisha is becoming worse day-by-day, forcing them to give up the profession.

The survey has revealed that farmers in the state are quitting farming for lack of irrigation facilities, inability to invest capital and lack of enough incentives.

The survey states that the present scenario can be changed by implementing certain policies that benefit the miserable farmers. As per the survery, “This trend can be changed through policies like contract farming and higher incentives to farmers for optimum use of land.”

In 2018-19, the total area under cultivation had declined to 53.32 lakh hectares, whereas fertile land with no crops sown had increased to 10.77 lakh hectares. Rise in fallow land has been mostly witnessed in Western Odisha, a region that has witnessed maximum suicides by farmers over the years.

In 2005-06, the cropping intensity in Odisha was 157 per cent; in 2018-19 it dropped to 156 per cent.

The BJD government’s KALIA scheme has no provision for incentives to farmers to encourage them to use their land appropriately, says the report.