| |July 202119POLICIES & TAX REGULATIONS- THE CURRENT FARMING & AGRICULTURE SCENARIO IN INDIATHOUGHT CENTRAL Inputs by Dr. Malini Saba, Founder & Chairman, Saba Industries & Saba Family FoundationsFARMING IS NOT JUST AN OCCUPATION, BUT A SERVICE TO THE NATION. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE PRESENT AGRICULTURAL SCENARIO? HOW CAN THE CURRENT STATUS OF FARMING BE ENHANCED? Farming is one of the most widely followed occupations in our country. In India, about 58 percent of our population is dependent on this sector for their survival, while their produce is responsible for feeding about 16.8 percent of the total world's population. But these facts do not present the full picture. The truth is that in the past few years, our ag-ricultural scenario has witnessed a downfall. While earlier it contributed 61 percent to our GDP, today, its contribution has reduced to only 19 percent. This is mainly because of the many factors spiralling around the slowdown in the growth rate of output, which in turn is leading to declining farmer's income and resulting in farmer's distress. Now, in order to enhance the present farming status, efforts should be made to increase the growth rate of output, for which there is a need for sustainable management of resources like land and water.AS AN INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER, WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES & REGULATIONS ON FARMERS' CONCERNS AND AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT?The government is framing its policies and regulations with the main objectives of raising the productivity of inputs by providing farmers with HYV seeds at low prices and intro-ducing new irrigation projects for protecting the interest of underprivileged agriculturists by proving them with subsi-dized food access, offering them MSP for their produce, and Dr. Malini Saba,Founder & Chairman
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