what are the reason for farmers struggle with uncertainty
Answers
Answer:
1. Two years of drought
Two successive years of drought (2014, 2015) have taken a toll on the farm sector. The government has allocated significant funds for the sector but slow implementation of projects has not eased the pain. Drought in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have also added to farmers’ woes.
Explanation:
only real uncertainty in farming is weather. Crops and livestock are alive and growing. Farmers are dependent on reasonable weather cycles to produce decent products. No rain during summer months would mean poor pollination of corn. A wet Spring would delay planting, reducing yield.
Even these uncertainties can be minimized, at least in the United States, by buying crop insurance. With crop insurance, a farmer is insured to have a guaranteed minimum amount of revenue per acre.
Crops and livestock are commodities. The selling price is well known in advance by looking at the commodity markets. Things like corn, soybeans, beef, pork, oil, gold…etc are all priced for the next couple of years. I could sell corn I expect to harvest in October of 2019 today.
The only other uncertainties would be a person’s health and a farmer’s machinery. Most farm tractors, combines and implements are very complicated machines, doing rough work. Breakdowns are common, some are easy fixes and some take a long time, weeks or months. As machinery modernizes, they rely more on computers and electronics to function. These are things that are not easily diagnosed and often require an equipment dealer to come out and repair. Now a farmer is waiting on a dealer’s schedule.