Fertiliser, labour cost biggest challenge for Indian farmer: Bayer

High cost of fertiliser and labour remains the biggest challenge of India's smallholder farmer, suggests a survey carried out by German agri-science major Bayer CropScience among 2,056 Indian smallholder farmers who are part of the company's customer base.

While 42% of them expect changing weather to reduce their crop yields, 31% say it will result in higher pest pressures. Their focus is on mitigating risks, prioritising financial security through insurance (26% respondents) and infrastructure (21%), the company states.

Bayer released the findings of its survey as part of the findings of a larger global "Farmer Voice" survey it did on 800 farmers representing large and small farms from Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Kenya, Ukraine, and the United States in equal numbers. When asked about the future, 60% of the India-specific survey respondents say they would benefit most from access to digital technologies and modern crop protection. Indian smallholders remain optimistic as 8 in every10 farmers feel positive about the future of farming, Bayer says.

Unlike Indian respondents, 71% of the respondents of the 'Farmer Voice' global survey say that climate change already has a large impact on their farm, and even more are worried about the impact this will have in the future and 73% say they have experienced increasing pest and disease pressure. On average they estimate that their incomes had reduced by 15.7% due to climate change in the past two years. One in six farmers even identified income losses of over 25% during this period. Three-quarters of the farmers globally (76%)are worried about the impact that climate change will have on their farms.

"Farmers are already experiencing the adverse effects of climate change on their fields and at the same time they play a key role in tackling this huge challenge. This is why it is so important to put their voice front and centre. The losses reported in this survey make the direct threat climate change poses to global food security crystal clear. In the face of a growing world population, the results must be a catalyst for efforts to make agriculture regenerative," Rodrigo Santos, member of the board of management of Bayer AG and president of the Crop Science Division, says.

Over half (55%) of the respondents of the Farmer Voice survey placed fertiliser costs among the top three challenges, followed by energy costs (47%), price and income volatility (37%), and the cost of crop protection (36%). The importance of fertiliser costs was most apparent in Kenya, India, and Ukraine.