The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was constituted on November 18, 2004 under the chairmanship of Professor M.S. Swaminathan. The Commission was tasked with understanding the cause of farmer distress and rise in farmer suicides. NCF was mandated to frame a medium-term strategy to ensure universal food security by enhancing productivity, profitability, and sustainability of major farming systems in the country.
The Swaminathan Commission identified certain causes for farm distress. These are:
Recommendations
Some of the major recommendations of the committee include-
The commission concluded that farmers needed to have assured access and control over basic resources including land, water, bio-resources, credit and insurance, technology and knowledge management, and markets.