Events
& Issues
New Delhi, 9 May 2018
Farmers’ Blockade
WILL GOVT YIELD, RAISE MSP?
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
The farm sector is up
in arms and has announced a 10-day crop blockade of the country’s cities from
June 1 if the Government fails to raise the minimum support price as demanded
and waives all crop loans. A forum of 110 farmers’ bodies also announced a
countrywide general strike on June 10, if the demands aren’t met, i.e. 1.5
times the production cost, calculated after including unpaid family labour,
land rent and fixed capital assets.
The M. S. Swaminathan
Committee report recommended an MSP 50% higher than C2 which includes land rent
and fixed capital assets over and above unpaid family labour. In the last Budget,
the Centre declared that the MSP “for unannounced kharif crops” would be at
least 1.5 times the production cost but did not specify how this cost would be
calculated.
Meanwhile, the
discontent amongst the community started last year with various leaders
demanding loan waivers and implementation of the Swaminathan recommendations.
This was followed by a series of waivers in UP, Maharashtra and MP after
farmers organised mega rallies and violence erupted in rural areas. The loan
waivers temporarily placated the farmers who had been facing distress ever since
money got sucked out of the rural economy due to demonetisation. However, their
main grouse that farming has become unremunerative and States need to step in
to raise prices and create rural infrastructure remained.
Experts and officials
in Agriculture Ministry opine that using the A2 plus FL formula to arrive at a
price of 1.5 times the cost would not mean any great benefit to the farmer. In
wheat, the cost of production in 2017-18 by Jaitley’s A2 plus FL formula worked
out to Rs 817 a tonne and Rs 1256 by the Swaminathan formula. The MSP for
wheat, which stands at Rs 1735 a tonne represents over 112% increase over the
A@FL cost and a 38% increase over the C2 formula.
The Government has to
seriously consider the pricing formula as the farming community is very big in
the country and they cannot be deprived of remunerative returns. Unless this is
done, production would fall and people would start crowding the cities for jobs.
Research, over the
years, technology, no doubt, helped in raising production and productivity and
this needs to spread across the country. The much talked about Green Revolution
was confined to two states in North India. There is talk of the need for a
second green revolution, covering the Eastern States where productivity even
now is quite poor compared to national and, of course, international
standards.
The ‘lab to land’
approach has been in the air for more than two decades, or even longer, but now
it appears that the Government is seriously interested in making this a
reality. It is understood that from last year, around 20,000 agricultural
scientists have been directed to divide their attention between research and
extension education to fulfil PM’s dream to revitalize the farm sector.
The new mandate was
extended to about 6,000 scientists functioning at the different centres of the
ICAR and over 15,000 scientists working with State agricultural universities
under the Mere Gaon Mere Gaurav programme.
It envisages scientists to “select villages as per their convenience and remain
in touch with the villages and provide information on technical and related aspects in a time frame through
personal visits or on telephone”.
Groups of four
multi-disciplinary scientists each would be constituted at these institutes and
universities. Scientists are expected to perform the functions with the help of
Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Agriculture
Technology Management Agency, both already mandated with extension work. At the
national level principal scientists of Agricultural Extension of ICAR would be
nodal officers. But in spite of all this, such KVKs are quite insufficient and
there is need to set up more such units with a target of covering at least one
in two contagious districts.
Harnessing the right
technology along with proper pricing is the need of the day and calls for
urgent action. This could offer multiple issues in agriculture sector providing
most needed relief to distressed farmers, cutting costs, inefficiencies,
corruption and costs. The government’s Pradhan
Mantru Fasal Bima Yojana is one glaring example crying for such a solution.
Another targeted application can be creating data bank for all water bodies
village wise with actual volumes etc.
Another aspect of
technology is cutting delays in getting payout when their crops are destroyed.
By embracing the right combination of technology and human intelligence,
farmers can be paid at least 75 to 80% within 24 hours in best case scenario
and a week at the latest compared with months or even years of delay.
Experts are of the
opinion that diversification of crops is necessary to improve profitability. A
study recently concluded that crop diversification in rice fields increases the
cropping intensity with additional returns and generates more employment opportunities.
It is particularly relevant to Assam as rice is the major crop which occupies
2.5 million hectares of land area.
If farmers’ income
has to rise, the dependence only on agriculture has to change and they need to take
up animal husbandry, poultry, fisheries, food processing, agri-related to rural
industries for augmenting income. Farming by nature is seasonal and hence there
is already disguised unemployment even in the best of times.
Integration of
horticultural plants with field crops like rice and also pulses become
extremely important to achieve inclusive growth so that together it can boost
production of agriculture sector. The main objective is to grow rice, pulse,
kharif and rabi vegetables on the same field during the same period, contributing
towards nutritional security and ensure soil sustainability in the long run.
Agricultural
scientists note the main advantage is that vegetable crops grown on the soil
columns can make effective use of the resources applied on rice fields with
reduced requirement of irrigation which makes it cost effective. Thus,
horticulture sector being an important component of high value agriculture, its
economic importance is increasing due to the rise in demand at national and
international markets.
Finally, unabated
global warming may pose an ‘existential threat’ to some countries in
Asia-Pacific region, the ADB warned in a report last year. It stated that drastic
changes in weather, crop, fisheries and health patterns may reverse current
development gains and degrade the quality of life for tens of millions of
people in the region. Examining multiple impacts of global warming, it cited
earlier studies that predict crop yield declines, including 5% dip in rice
yields in south India by 2030s and an 8% reduction in wheat across India with a
one degree Celsius rise in temperature.
Thus, admittedly the
farm sector is in dire crisis and urgent action is critical. But it has lot of
potential and exports could be increased from just $30 billion presently to $100
billion. If Indian farming becomes smart through proper support, it can easily
overtake China whose farm GDP is around $one trillion. For this to become a
reality agricultural scientists should be involved in working out a strategy
jointly with technical experts and also social scientists.
Undeniably, the farm
sector is important to the economy not just for increasing yields but also generating
jobs, all of which could lead to rural transformation. With the Government
paying attention in improving social and physical infrastructure in the
villages, there could be a sustainable and balanced development in future.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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