Government should scale up infrastructure, increase collection and trade centres (mandis) so that a farmer gets satisfactory returns for his efforts
Dr Joe D’Souza
The Modi 2 government today is facing the prospects of a massive recession in the economy. The GDP of our country has slummed from 8 to as low as 5, and it is declining still further. The manufacturing sector today is in the doldrums. Car manufacturing units are in the dumps. Even the FMCG sector is not doing too well and the 85-year-old Parle biscuits company has closed shop in Mumbai. Even the multinational Hindustan Unilever, a blue-chip company has shown 35% in its profitability. As of now, it appears that only agriculture can come to the rescue of the economy.
Ours is an agrarian country, mainly depending on agriculture and fisheries to sustain itself. From 91 per cent dependence on agriculture in 1947 at the time of Independence, today it is around 67 per cent since industrial growth and commerce have created livelihoods to sustain the economy.
All the 1.33 billion people in the country depend on agricultural productivity. Without food, fodder, fibre and fuel we would be unable to sustain ourselves and it is the 500 million farmers, who help India to be self-sufficient in agricultural productivity. If we take into account the ancillary units that service the farming sector, agriculture and fisheries constitute 600/800 million of our supporting population. With the ever-growing Indian population, agriculture would remain our core economic sector although it contributes just 19 per cent of the GDP.
In the uncertain fifties of the last century, India depended on America and other European countries for aid to keep low the deaths due to starvation. Today, the country produces surplus rice, wheat and pulses and the credit goes entirely to our farmers - 200 million of whom live below the poverty line and shockingly thousands have committed suicides. Many are suffering from health-related issues, year after year.
The farmers in India are a marginalised and an exploited section of the society. The farm sector has remained ignored by the political class. Farmers’ income has remained stagnant, whilst the cost of production has been rising steeply. As a result, farmers have been unable to pay back the loans procured from banks, financial institutions and money lenders. With the growing interest burden on loans, and the rising prices of inputs in the form of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, labour, and transportation, farmers are unable to keep margins as the middle man in the trade from the farms to the consumers often profits the most. The trader often buys tomatoes from the farmer for Rs 3 per kilo and by the time the consumer receives it is Rs 40 at the retail shop. Being perishable, most crops can’t be stored for a better price, thus distress sales are often the order of the day. So the farmer is a victim during droughts and also a victim if production is high as the prices slump when the production is high and there is a glut due to a bumper harvest.
Farmers, especially the marginalized poor amongst them, remained victims of pestilences, poor rainfall, soil fatigue, glut and falling prices due to overproduction and rising costs of fertilizers and other inputs, poor storage facilities and political indifferences.
Of late, due to losses, farmers have resorted to violence, mostly because they are not being heard. The Government of the day, be it the UPA of the past or Modi 2 of today has found loan waivers as a soft option to write-off loans from banks by farmers as a quick knee jerk action. However, loan waivers are not a holistic or healthy solution to the farmers’ woes. Loan waivers do not improve the quality of life of a farmer, but prolong his misery. Prevention is better than cure. The Government as a facilitator of agriculture should help farmers during the period of the production and ensure their empowerment through free education, providing quality seeds, fertilizers, offering support price to sustain his efforts and care for his family. It would be advisable for the Government to carry out health checks of the soils and crops as well as of the farmers and their family by and large.
The farmers by and large prefer to go in and sow crops which yield higher profits and neglect low cash crops. Thus, all farmers grow one crop, predictably as the prices are high at that point of time of their taking the decision. Sadly when every farmer goes for just cultivating one crop there is excess production beyond demand, leading to distress sales and lower income. The Government should advise farmers towards growing other crops and incentivize diversity in crop selection and cultivation, avoiding both gluts in production as well as scarcity in supply and low production of a crop desired.
The need to control inflation, price rise, is healthy but it should never be done at the cost of the farmer. The Government should scale up infrastructure, increase collection and trade centres (mandis) so that a farmer gets quick and satisfactory returns for the efforts he has put in to grow the crops.
Even the Food Corporation of Indian godowns are not scientifically oriented or maintained. Rodents and pests account for 30% food loss and wastages. Rains, pilferages and manipulations account for the loss of other 10-15 per cent of our production. All these factors add on to make growing crops uneconomical and less remunerative. With a growing population, the low levels of farm holdings, modest use of technology, poor yields, poor seeds, poor sanitation, uncertain irrigation practices add up to make the life of a farmer very difficult.
Today, the common man of India pays less for his food but does not mind spending a huge sum on casinos, entertainment and dances or recreational clubs, bars etc. We must pay and sacrifice to make farmers happy in their production efforts and avoid the business of resorting to the sick loan waivers, which help neither the producer, the Government nor the public at large. As of today, we must realize that neither black money has come back nor our banks are healthy as their NPAs have increased significantly. We cannot afford to neglect agriculture and continue to place our farmers under stress and strains of both weather and economic uncertainties.
