BUMPER PRODUCTION- BOON

OR BANE FOR THE FARMER

Economics

DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL

Yash Dhir
11 ‘H’ ROLL NO. : 36
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my Economics teacher
(Anu ma’am) who gave me this golden opportunity for doing this project and
also provided support in completing my project.

Yash Dhir
11 ‘H’

Index

To be noted that:

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*index will filled once the project (hard copy) is ready in the following format
given below in the attached picture.

What is ‘bumper production?

 The term bumper crop has been used for generations to refer to an ample
crop yield. It is also used to denote a lack of storage space such as in a
barn, silo, or grain bin.

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  A bumper crop is a large crop of agricultural produce that has been
produced under optimal, yet rare, conditions, such as abundant rainfall, a
mild spring, an unseasonably long summer, an unexplainable lack of pest
infections, or a mild, frost-free autumn.

Factors responsible for a bumper

production
 The first factor is high rainfall or longer monsoons.
 Quality of the seeds
 Amount of land which can be cultivated
 Government schemes
 Weather or the temperature

How do the goods reach the consumers

after the harvest?
The procurement of the bumper crops involves several steps. For example; in
the case of wheat and paddy, the Food Cooperation of India (FCI) and State
Agencies buy the goods at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) which is declared
by the ruling government. The crops which are given by the farmers in the
stipulated procurement time and which conforms to the quality check prescribed

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by the government, are purchased at the MSP. The amount of the course
collected from the farmers is always according the Target Public Distribution
System (TPDS).
If a farmer gets better price at the market he can sell those crops directly in the
market to private traders.

How does the bumper production affect

the price of the crop in the market?
The change in price of the crop, which have a bumper production, varies from
crop to crop. As the supply increases on a large scale and the demand remains
the same, the goods are sold at a lesser cost than usual. Basic goods like rice,
wheat, etc. are burnt by a majority of the farmers because by selling the extra
produce their total revenue falls.

What are the

benefits of ‘bumper
production’?
 A good harvest is helpful for the
government to replenish its granaries for the Public Distribution System
and reduce the issues of hunger and malnutrition. 
 Another benefit is that it enhances the export possibilities due to rise in
the Supply availability as the possibility of domestic supplies to remain
above the total consumption improves.
  This also makes the country self-sufficient and lowers or eliminates the
necessity to import. 
 Rising export prospects and lower
imports in turn is beneficial in
adding the dollar
reserves therefore boosting the
nation’s economy on the whole.  

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  It also benefits the end users since they are able to get the food products
at affordable prices and able to reduce their food expenses. 
 The food inflation is also under control because of rise in food grain
production.
  

What are the demerits of ‘bumper

production’?
 With the increased supply of crops (like oilseeds. cereals and pulses) are
procured by the government, the fall in prices can never be ruled out,
which is generally dependent on the forces of demand and supply. As a
result this increases the possibility of affecting the farm income
adversely. All in all it poses a challenge for the government to maintain
the food prices at levels that can ensure farmers getting their due
profits, and not depriving consumers of the benefits of a bumper harvest
at the same time. 
 Another challenging issue for the government is that a very small
proportion of the produce is procured by government agencies and major
quantity is purchased by the private players. In our country the
prevalent system of selling the produce is such that the intermediary
gains are generally larger than the producer and the consumer. After
harvesting, the crop goes out
of the hand of the primary
producer (farmer) and is largely
manipulated by the intermediary
bodies or players. Under this
situation the primary producer or
farmer gets low
prices, while consumers often
have to pay high rates ultimately affecting the producer and consumer
adversely. 

What should be the steps taken by

the government to take control on a
bumper sale?
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 The bumper production at times leads to wastage of crops and farmers
unable to earn a good revenue even after extra production. The things that the
government should do in the case of a bumper production is that it shouldn’t
raise the MSP. Increase in the MSP leads to greater economics pressure on the
government and it also increases the carrying cost which in turn increases the
economic cost. Export deals should be encouraged and signed in advance so
that as soon as the crop starts arriving in the market, it can be shipped abroad
straightaway. That way the carrying cost will be minimized. Another thing
which the government can do is that to try and
increase the storing capacity so that the excessive
grains can be stored proper and can be sent to the
market when the demand increases and the
supply is the same, by doing this the consumers
need not buy those goods at a way higher price
than usual.

What made the bumper production

of sugarcane possible?
For decades sugarcane was a darling of farmers. The crop can endure
weather vagaries and gives fixed returns because it is procured by sugar
mills at prices fixed by the government. It is not sold in the open market.

The situation, however, has changed in recent years. Thanks to a new

seed variety, CO-0238, the country has witnessed bumper harvests in the
last three seasons, particularly in 2017-18. But sugar prices have fallen
because of the demand-supply miss-match and sugarcane farmers have
been incurring heavy losses. The variety was introduced in 2012 in Uttar
Pradesh, which produces nearly half of India’s sugarcane.

CASE STUDY 1:
Take the case of Ashok Kumar, a
farmer of Baghpat’s Malakhpur
village. He started using the seed
{CO-0238} in 2017 and saw a 25 per
cent rise in the yield in the very first
year. In 2015-16, the new variety

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 was sown in a little over 0.4 million hectare (ha) in Uttar Pradesh and by
2017-18 the acreage increased threefold, to 1.21 million ha, as per
Lucknow-based Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (IISR). Not only
does the seed have a higher yield, the recovery percentage of sugar from
it is also higher than the other varieties. Sugarcane production,
consequently, saw quantum jump. According to the Uttar Pradesh Cane
Development and Sugar
Industry Department,
sugarcane production in the
state increased from 148.7
million tonnes in 2016-17 to
182.1 million tonnes in 2017-
18. The sugar production by
mills also went up across the
country, due to which the sugar prices plummeted so much that the sugar
mills in India cumulatively owe Rs 22,000 crore to farmers for cane
supplied in 2017-18.

Q1. Was the bumper production boon or bane for Ashok Kumar?
Q2. What was the main reason for the bumper production?
Q3. What can be done to make the sugar mills pay the money back to
their creditors i.e. the farmers?
Q4. Why is the recovery rate of this variety of sugar? Because of the:
a) Seed
b) Soil
c) Weather
Q5. The production of sugarcane in U.P. increased 147 million tonnes in
2016-17 to _______ in 2017-18
a) 181.2 million tonnes
b) 182.1 million tonnes
c) 128.2 million tonnes

CASE STUDY 2:

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Ammar Zaidi, a farmer of Hardoi district’s Pihani village, says, “The
government has declared that the average yield in Hardoi is 755 quintal/hectare
(1 quintal equals 0.1 tonne) whereas I produced 1,200 quintal per hectare. Since
I cannot sell it to mills or in the open market, what will I do with it?” In such
cases, farmers illegally sell it to those who have “supply tickets” {Every season,
a district-level government officer surveys the sugarcane produced and,
depending upon the number and capacity of sugar mills in the area, gives a
“supply ticket” to every farmer denoting the name of the mill and the quantity
of sugarcane the farmer is supposed to supply to the mill. After the crushing
season is over, the mill is supposed to transfer the money to farmers’ bank
accounts within 14 days, failing which it should pay 15 per cent interest
annually on the amount, says the Union government’s Sugarcane Control Order
of 1966 }. “This will lead to black-marketing of sugarcane,” says Zaidi.

Q1. What is the effect of the supply ticket system on the farmers?
Q2. What can be done to make it possible for every farmer to have a
supply ticket?
Q3. What are your views
on the average yield
amount declared by the
government in Hardoi?
Q4. What is the average
yield in Hardoi declared
by the government?
a) 755 quintal/ hectare
b) 765 quintal/ hectare
c) 755 hectare/ quintal

CASE STUDY 3:

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 THIS YEAR LAST YEAR

PROFIT
PROFIT

INPUT INPUT

Everything is looking "rosy" on farmer Ravichandran 60-acre paddy field. The

rains have been more generous than last year to his village in Tamil Nadu's
Thanjavur district. Hybrid rice seed will yield 20% more grain per acre. But the
fourth generation farmer is still anxious. "I will make less money than last
year," he says.

Traders, who offered Rs 9 for a kg of paddy in August, are now reluctant to

offer Rs 7.50. The minimum support price at which Food Corporation of India
buys rice in Punjab and Haryana is Rs 10.80 a kg. Prices could dip further once
harvest begins in earnest.
"Last year, I spent Rs 11,500 per acre on cultivating rice and made a net profit
of Rs 4,000 per acre. This year, I've spent Rs 14,000 because labour wages and
diesel are more expensive. My net profit remains Rs 4,000 per acre, so my
returns have gone down," he says.

Q1. Bumper production is boon or bane for the farmers?

Q2. Does bumper production mean that farmers don’t get the price for which
they work so hard?
Q3. What makes the farmer put in more cash and receive the same profit?
Q4. What is the percentage on the increase in the yield of the hybrid rice?
a) 30%
b) 43%
c) 20%
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 CASE
STUDY 4:
In Maharashtra and Madhya
Pradesh, the farmers are on
the streets because a bumper
harvest fuelled by a robust
monsoon has led to a crop
glut. Prices of onions, grapes, soya-bean,
fenugreek and red chilli, for example,
have nosedived.
In most places, the governments have
been less than swift in paying the farmer
more for the crops - the government sets
prices for farming in India and procures
crops from farmers to incentivise
production and ensure income support.
Q1. Bumper harvest is said to give
higher returns to the farmers but why
does that not happen here?
Q2. Are the actions taken by the farmers
correct or not? If yes then why?
Q3. What can be the result of wasting crops on such a large scale?

Case study 5:
During normal conditions, farmers manage their produce by
dividing it between self-consumption, using it as seeds for future
cultivation, selling it at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) under

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the procurement schemes or in the Agricultural Produce Market
Committee (APMC) markets. But, the situation changes
significantly when good monsoon results in a bumper harvest.
When output increases by 10 per cent, prices collapse by more than
10 per cent and consequently the income from the crop for the
producer falls.
However, the fall in prices due to bumper harvest is not passed on
to the consumers. Somewhere between the consumer and the
producer, the effect of this fall is absorbed as larger profits by the
middlemen.
As and when a bumper harvest occurs, large quantities of produce
arrive in quick succession; government agencies are unable procure
the excess production as they are constrained by limited buying
capacity.

Q1. Do you agree that a few government policies play a role in making a
bumper harvest bane for the farmers?
Q2. Is a bumper harvest a boon or bane for the consumers/public?
Q3. What measures can be taken in order to give the profits earned to the
farmers and not to the middlemen?

What is the
conclusion
of a bumper
production?
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In most cases, a bumper crop is a boon to the farmer. They grow more in order
to increase the income from the sale. The availability of transport, demand of
that crop, storage facility availability, etc. also play an important in increasing
the income. As he is not the only one having a bumper production of that crop.
So, if the farmer’s crop is successful in reaching the market on time then there
are more chances to receiving a higher return. Most of the farmers do not
prepare well enough for the storage and the transportation of the goods.

Bibliography:
1. www.maximumyield.com
2. www.Krishijagran.com
3. www.Indiatimes.com
4. www.bbc.com
5. www.thehindubusinessline.com
6.

https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=159425

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