Costs of paddy-wheat fixation
NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand has urged farmers to move beyond MSP-backed paddy and wheat, citing sustainability concerns. Since the Green Revolution, these crops dominate 38% of cropped area, straining water, subsidies and fiscal resources, prompting calls for diversification.
NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand recently urged farmers to shift to crops not covered under the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The implicit message is scale down the unabated expansion of paddy and wheat cultivation. Why has this call emerged now?
Since the Green Revolution of the late 1960s, Indian agriculture has steadily drifted into an overwhelming reliance on just two crops — paddy and wheat. This strategy once helped India overcome food shortages and build buffer stocks, but its long-term consequences have been far more complex.
Today, these two crops occupy about 38 per cent of India’s 220 million hectares of gross cropped area, but consume a disproportionately large share of water, fertilizers, pesticides, electricity, subsidies and procurement resources. The appeal reflects the growing concern over the unsustainability of this imbalance, both fiscally and environmentally.
To Read more about Rice News continue reading Agriinsite.com
Source : The Hindu Business line
