“A small sugarcane farmer in western Uttar Pradesh, Shri Raghuvir Singh, is getting on with age and is thinking of selling his land and moving out of farming. He has two sons, both graduates and working in Gurgaon. He did not make his sons farmers because farming is hard work and is non-profitable. This is the story of most farmers in India. Wealth and security of the country comes from its land, and hence, what is needed is sustainable and high productivity agriculture.”

Source: Chaudhuri, Sriroop, et al. "Land degradation–desertification in relation to farming practices in India: An overview of current practices and agro-policy perspectives." Sustainability 15.8 (2023)

(a) High productivity in agriculture will help boost our country's industrial sector. Explain.

(b) Enumerate two major problems encountered by a majority of India’s farming community.

(a) The agriculture sector provides raw materials to agro-based industries like sugar industry, cotton, jute and textiles industries, tea and coffee industries. Hence, high productivity in agriculture means higher availability of raw material for such industries.

(b) Two major problems faced by majority of India’s farming community are:

1. Small Landholdings — Most Indian farmers have very small plots of land, making it difficult to adopt modern and mechanized farming methods, leading to low productivity.

2. Lack of Irrigation Facilities — Many farmers still depend on unpredictable monsoon rains. Inadequate irrigation infrastructure limits the ability to grow multiple crops or maintain consistent yields.