Socio-farm Inclusion

Agricultural infrastructures like irrigation, roads, bridges, electrification, market and rural literacy determines the magnitude and nature of agricultural output. Good infrastructure support raises farm productivity and lowers farming cost. It is acknowledged that infrastructure plays a lead role in multiplying the economy with agriculture growth. Above all, rural roads  have received significant attention and emphasis. A number of programmes are being  launched under employment generation and poverty alleviation programmes of central and state governments to achieve the goals of rural connectivity, aiming the entire hamlets or unconnected habitants to be connected with the main road. But the roads for connectivity to farm land from the hamlets or villages are mostly taken by the villagers themselves through MNREGA . The roads link communities and their agriculture fields to the main transport system and markets. A step ahead from social inclusion to socio farm inclusion. Improving rural roads reduces transport cost and stimulates marketing.

A number of other benefits of this inclusion can be marked like:

Changes in cropping pattern:  Improved road connectivity to the farm leads to change in cropping pattern towards cash crop. It is seen in rural area of Bihar farmers shifted to sugarcane, potato and other vegetable crop from wheat and paddy crops. That further increased the cropping intensity via increase in mechanization and introduction of short duration cash crops

Inclusion of urban farmers: It is seen that major land owners’ lives in nearby town with family and pay less attention towards agriculture and it leads to a huge shortfall in productivity. Most of them are seasoned farmers who visit their farm in weekends or once in a month. They cultivate a crop an year with the help of local labourers. The improved road systems encourage them to breakup the isolation from villages and their farm.

Increase in yield and saving of wastage: The increased use of organic manure, fertilizers and seeds resulting in increase of yield because of road infrastructure and road has reduced the wastage due to reduction in distance and time in transport of perishable crops like vegetables.

In order to create durable and permanent assets, MGNREGA in Bihar expended 49 percent of its total expenditure in rural connectivity in last five years and connected major part of agricultural land to the habitants of rural Bihar.