Economic Survey 2018: Climate change may lower farm incomes by 20-25%

Survey calls for direct income transfer to farmers, suggests raising area under drip and micro irrigation

The 2017-18 Economic Survey while laying down  medium-term risks to Indian agriculture from climate change – it projects incomes to decline by 20-25 per cent in un-irrigated areas – does not dwell much on the immediate concerns of falling prices of farm produce and dwindling incomes.

At current levels of farm income, the Survey says, adverse impacts of climate change translates into more than a Rs 3,600 per year drop in income for the median farm household.

Quoting from the Manoj Kumar movie ‘Upkaar’, “Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle, ugle heerey moti” (My country’s soil, where crops grow like