Sandeep Dularia is a farmer from Rajasthan’s Dudu. He owns 4.5 acres of land. Since 2022, Dularia has been reaping profits up to Rs 600,000, six times higher than his profits till 2021.
Despite having groundwater levels as deep as 350 to 400 feet in his arid state, Dularia has been able to make agriculture a lucrative option for livelihood through a convergence of government schemes and subsidies. This sets him apart from an overwhelming majority of farmers who struggle to make farming a profitable venture.
With India being primarily an agrarian economy, history has shown that investing in agriculture has produced favourable results — food shortage was successfully overcome by the Green Revolution through heavy subsidisation of agricultural cost inputs like fertilisers, seeds, and quite prominently, electricity to power irrigation pumpsets.
However, on the flipside, the Green Revolution has led to the emergence of groundwater depletion as pumpsets and tubewells have become popular.
Rajasthan is a drought-prone state with a low water table and yet has a primarily agrarian population. The state, however, has invested in addressing this depletion of groundwater and has introduced a number of agricultural subsidies to combat this issue.
The example of Dularia is testament to this effort. Dularia belongs to a marginalised community which is classified as a Scheduled Caste (SC).
He resides in the Devla village located on the outskirts of state capital Jaipur.
His primary source of livelihood has been agriculture for decades. Through subsidies offered in the state, Sandeep set up two polyhouses, and also invested in drip irrigation systems, mini-sprinklers, plastic mulching, farm ponds, and solar water pumps to maximise his output.
The farmer was able to sustain this investment with ease as at least a 45 per cent subsidy on micro irrigation technologies was offered to small and marginal farmers under the PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana.
Within a span of three years, Dularia has invested about Rs 25,00,000 on his agriculture expenses. Through this investment, he has been able to more than triple his earnings per season, especially through crops like cucumbers which are grown all year round thanks to the polyhouses.
Sandeep was able to finance these polyhouses through the National Horticulture Mission as it offers 75 per cent subsidy. This technology has been proven to be his most lucrative investment. Dularia started his first polyhouse in 2022, and has been able to invest in two more such polyhouses, with each costing Rs 6,00,000 after subsidy.
Recently, the farmer has also invested in a solar water pump under the PM KUSUM scheme launched by the Government of India in 2019 which has helped him to stop using electric water pumps, and hence, avoid an annual expense of Rs 20,000 for its maintenance.
Additionally, if water pumps were needed on a different patch of land, Sandeep would have had to apply for an electric water pump, which would cost up to Rs 3,00,000.
Electric water pumps would also mostly work at night, as agricultural loads in Rajasthan are supplied according to a time table, leading to farmers having to irrigate their fields at night during fixed slots. This investment in water pumps has helped Dularia irrigate his land during the day with almost zero maintenance costs.
When compared with other agrarian states like Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan has a lower water table. However, the importance given to agriculture has helped Rajasthan become a major contributor of foodgrains in India.
Through convergence of schemes and proper investment towards implementation of these technologies, Rajasthan has been able to provide avenues to make agriculture more profitable for its farmers while also catering to the issue of depleting water levels.
It is to be noted that the knowledge dissemination network in Rajasthan also had to be strong to ensure farmers like Sandeep who live in the outskirts of the state capital, get access to information to these schemes.
To ensure this, the Horticulture Department in Rajasthan regularly conducts knowledge dissemination workshops to raise awareness about the various schemes and subsidies offered by the Central and State governments.
The inclusion of micro irrigation technologies in farmers’ irrigation habits, enabling farmers to invest in technologies, and proper knowledge dissemination channels have helped farmers in Rajasthan increase their profits. The state can be seen as a successful model to be replicated in areas with higher water tables as well, where flood irrigation is currently the norm.
Similar subsidies under the PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana scheme are offered in other agrarian states such as Haryana and Punjab.
However, the level of dissemination varies greatly in these states when compared to Rajasthan.