FIND out the difference between the life style of farmers in the USA and India. Prepare a speech on the basis of your finding
Answers
India:
Most farmers have small holdings which are not economical. Such small holdings are not suitable for mechanisation.
Most farmers are not educated and shy of trying new technologies.
Irrigation is wanting in more than 60% of the net- sown area. It means a majority of the lands are rainfed and are single cropped per annum. Uncertain and erratic monsoon plays havoc in the life of farmers. Insurance schemes are wanting in redressing the farmers’ sufferings due to natural calamities like cyclone, floods or drought.
Storage facilities for agricultural produces are very inadequate in India. The storage and processing facilities for perishable produce like fruits and vegetables is negligible and are lost without consumption.
Organised marketing for grains is also short of the need. Marketing is in the hands of wholesale merchants and intermediaries and farmers get a raw deal as they cannot fix the price for their production. The landless agricultural labourers pose a problem as agriculture still a seasonal operation in many parts of India. At the same time, there is a shortage of labour during peak seasons of sowing and harvest.
Electric power and fertilizers are subsidised to various extent in different States.
But no minimum price support for most of the crops
USA:
In the USA the individual farm holdings are very large and mechanisation is the norm there. No dependence on paid labour. All farming techniques - multiple cropping, mixed cropping and quality seeds, good extension machinery, Storage, processing and marketing facilities exist.
Marketing is well organised.
Government support to farmers in India is wanting in many areas when compared to what is prevailing in the USA.