A Shift in Approach Towards Income Enhancement of Agricultural Households Through ‘Doubling Farmers Income’ in Uttar Pradesh

In India, majority of its households depend significantly on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood. It forms the backbone of the economy by providing food security for a vast majority of low-income, poor and vulnerable sections of society. But the Indian farming is changing rapidly and significant shifts have been noticed during the last few decades. Farmers are now earning more from wages than from crop cultivation, indicating that cultivation is becoming less lucrative. The agrarian structure of India also has been undergoing a process of reduction in the size of farms and an increase in the marginalization of holdings for the past several decades. The marginal and small holdings, even if having a high productivity level, are not able to generate sufficient income to sustain the farm households. Keeping in view in 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target of ‘Doubling Farmers Income’ (DFI) by 2022-23’, through which the approach of the government to the farmers’ welfare has shifted from Raising Agricultural Output (RAO) to Income Enhancement (IE). The performance of Uttar Pradesh; the state where every fifth farmer in the country comes from, is crucial for the success of this shift in approach. In this regard, the present paper especially focuses on the state of Uttar Pradesh and investigates the underlying causes of the low level of income of agricultural households, despite being endowed with relatively rich natural resources and climate. This paper also seeks to assess the performance of the country as well as the state in meeting the Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) targets. The paper also suggests the farmers’ friendly policies and an appropriate strategy to achieve this challenging target set within the due course of time.