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How profitable is farming

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Which crops are profitable...How much is input costs as a percentage of output... What is the typical landholding...Interesting analysis...I will try farming as a hobby..How about you Does it pay to be a farmer in India?

Does it pay to be a farmer in India?

Pl see the graphs in the link as I am unable to paste the graphs on account of some technical issue..Interesting & educative graphs too

Rukmini S Does it pay to be a farmer in India? - The Hindu

Does it pay to be a farmer in India?
What the data shows on farm incomes, and whether farmers can make ends meet

How profitable is farming? The answer to this most fundamental question about Indian agriculture can be found in the National Sample Survey Office’s new survey of India’s agricultural households.
The average farm household makes Rs 6,426 per month. Where does this money come from? Farm households do a mix of jobs, the data shows.

How much exactly does growing a crop earn a household? The chart below shows the value of the harvested crop for a household that predominantly grows that crop, over a six-month agricultural season. Sugarcane is by far the most profitable crop to grow, while paddy (or wheat in the first half of the year) brings a household around Rs 30,000 for a six month season.

Who are most farmers selling their crops to? First of all, over half of wheat and rice grown is not sold at all, and is purely for the farm household’s consumption. Of what is sold, the vast majority is sold to the private trader, and not the state-run mandi or procurement agency. Among those who sell to the procurement agency, a minority report having got the Minimum Support Price for their produce.
Farmers often talk about the high – and rising – costs of inputs, including water, seeds and pesticides. So how does the output they earn compare with the inputs they put into the land?
Input costs work out to nearly 30 per cent of the total output an average farm household gets from a crop.

Among inputs, fertilizers are the most expensive, followed by labour.

Does this income get the family through the month? For this, I compared income and consumption expenditure for farm households by the size of their landholdings.

As you can see, a farm household needs to have at least 1 hectare of land to make ends meet every month. But given that over 65 per cent of households have less than one hectare of land, this means that two out of three farm households are simply not able to make ends meet.

Unsurprisingly, what this translates into is debt. Over half of all agricultural households are indebted, and these are not small debts; the average loan amount outstanding for a farm household in India today is Rs. 47,000. For marginal farmers, making under Rs 4,000 per month, which doesn’t even cover their consumption, loans of over Rs 30,000 must be extremely heavy burdens.
The southern states stand out for their level of indebtedness.

Who are farmers borrowing from? Marginal farmers rely chiefly on moneylenders, while those with bigger landholdings go to banks, the data shows.

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most farmers do not engage in farming alone. they add production of milk . it is not worth being a marginal farmer

. many of next generation try to head for cities in lean months for a living and engage in urban trades

but for the remaining affluent farmers with better land holdings it is pretty good life.

only they lack access to better medical care and better hgher edu. facilities

they might lack cheaper better credits and lack access to better marketing of their products besides feel the pinch of

higher cost of inputs .

for the smarter farmer, life is good. many can learn from punjab,haryana farmers who have turned farming into gold
 
Never ever try to be a farmer !!. Spare yourself theagony of junk rules, regulations, red tape, approvals, politician-mafiacontrol, thugs coming & spoiling your crops, etc.. they will do everythingto boot you out of farming.

In India, the best option is to get a Job, save as muchas possible, invest smartly & retire at the earliest & then focus onwhat you want to do in life. Bottom line is – less you interact with the Govt,you are better off – not only in India, anywhere else in the world as well.

Part time job or free lance consulting like writing onlatest technical advances etc… is the best if you are already retired. Parttime jobs can range from being Board Members, consulting for companies, tobeing insurance agent, writing articles, etc..

Business incl. farming is what I call a last resort – it isan option only if one is already retired, has made a lots of money, does notneed to earn for day to day living & is driven by high energy, tremendous motivation& lots of hard work, you can try your luck in maybe IT business by goingvia VC funding – only for IT, you will generally get VC funding. And mostimportantly remember, 99% of business fail in 1 to 5 yrs !!

 
most farmers do not engage in farming alone. they add production of milk . it is not worth being a marginal farmer

. many of next generation try to head for cities in lean months for a living and engage in urban trades

but for the remaining affluent farmers with better land holdings it is pretty good life.

only they lack access to better medical care and better hgher edu. facilities

they might lack cheaper better credits and lack access to better marketing of their products besides feel the pinch of

higher cost of inputs .

for the smarter farmer, life is good. many can learn from punjab,haryana farmers who have turned farming into gold
The best side business for farmers is politics. They are welcomed with open hands by political parties on account of their vote bank
 
Never ever try to be a farmer !!. Spare yourself theagony of junk rules, regulations, red tape, approvals, politician-mafiacontrol, thugs coming & spoiling your crops, etc.. they will do everythingto boot you out of farming.

In India, the best option is to get a Job, save as muchas possible, invest smartly & retire at the earliest & then focus onwhat you want to do in life. Bottom line is – less you interact with the Govt,you are better off – not only in India, anywhere else in the world as well.

Part time job or free lance consulting like writing onlatest technical advances etc… is the best if you are already retired. Parttime jobs can range from being Board Members, consulting for companies, tobeing insurance agent, writing articles, etc..

Business incl. farming is what I call a last resort – it isan option only if one is already retired, has made a lots of money, does notneed to earn for day to day living & is driven by high energy, tremendous motivation& lots of hard work, you can try your luck in maybe IT business by goingvia VC funding – only for IT, you will generally get VC funding. And mostimportantly remember, 99% of business fail in 1 to 5 yrs !!

Agree that you have to get a good price for your produce for which you have to depend on the Government...Choose those crops that have an international demand...Like spices (pepper, cardamom, cashew) & coffee..Even growing teak makes good economic sense..Put your best in whatever crop you are going to invest.....As you said it cannot be a single job..You have to have an alternate in case of an emergency
 
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As with any other business, farming has its own risks and rewards. DD pothigai, in its agriculture programme, interviews farmers, their crops, income and expenditure, facilities/grants available from the government and technical help from agriculture universities and research institutes.

Farming is profitable for the committed; all appearing in the programme with holding of 5 to 10 acres are happy with what they do and get. Many experiment with crop rotation, organic fertiliser and pesticide, drip irrigation and direct marketing.
 
I have a close relative , a TB farmer who is doing very well in.

dharmapuri district,

He has built a double storey farm house right in middle of his farm shifting from agraharam

He has converted urban income of his children into more rural land which he says is gold due to proximity to town

he has borewell, drip irrigation ,employs some permanent farm workers. he has cattle for milk, surplus of which he

markets. he gets his grains and vegetables from his farm, surplus of which he markets.

his only problem is good medical care.

He has a car and gets a driver on call when he needs to go to city.

he has no tax issues as all his income is out of agriculture.

He is educated only upto to bachelor level.

his status in the village community and financial status is far better than mine -a city bred with a number of degrees

. from elite institutions,high level govt job [both are of same age]. I wonder if I was foolish trying for excellence in

education and holding govt job
 
In some states at least, the landholding data give an erroneous picture; zamindars or large farmers have succeeded in splitting up their large holdings under benami or real names for obvious reasons.

Farm sector is doomed in India, because the western developed countries want India to be dependent on them for food. That will enable them to reduce their farming subsidied by transferring the burden on to India!

But nobody may dare to speak the truth.
 
India's biggest strength is farming and the Govt. would do well to mitigate the risks that farmers face now.

Organic home farming is the suitable option for those who have savings and have time to spare. At the least for home consumption, if not for commercial purposes.
 
there is money to be made in farming if you are basically a farmer and know farming and ready to work hard.

it is not for city bred and fly by night operators wanting to make a quick buck.

for them stock market and such options are there.

as vganeji has pointed out spices can be an option. Guar is an excellent item for commercial exploitation as it is guar

gum is used as lubricant in oil drilling. some have become crorepathis with guars.

if you want to speculate on farming, one can go spices market in cochin where there is a lot of trading in spices.

commodities market is the place for speculaters . without leaving the comfort of urban homes , one can play with

commodity trading and make some money too if one has a bit of intelligence and money
 
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