Farmer Income Grew By 37 Per Cent Between 2012 and 2016: NABARD Survey

The National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD) All India Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) has found that farmer incomes increased by 37 per cent between 2012 and 2016, Financial Express has reported.

Farm income has risen from Rs 77,977 in 2012-13 as revealed by a previous NSSO survey to Rs 1,07,172 in 2015-16 as revealed by NAFIS. The average monthly income of India’s rural households was Rs 8,059 in 2015-16 while the average expenditure was Rs 6,646. Punjab (Rs 23,133), Haryana (Rs 18,496)and Kerala (Rs 16,927) have the top three monthly incomes whereas Uttar Pradesh (Rs 6,668) is the least among all states.

The survey covered close to 40,000 households across 29 states. The survey collected data on asset base of farmers; household expenditure on production and consumption; and financial inclusion aspects including credit, savings, insurance, remittances, payments and pensions.

Contrary to general perception, the survey found that only 48 per cent of villagers were completely dependent on agriculture. Farm households earned from different sources including livestock and labour apart from cultivation. Average debt (Rs 1,04,602) of farmer households was higher than that of non-farm households ( Rs 76,731) even though farmer incomes were marginally higher in comparison to non-farm counterparts.

Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar who released the report claimed that the rising income revealed by the survey was in sync with falling absolute poverty in the country. The data collected through this survey will be crucial for designing policies aimed at doubling farmers income by 2022.