| Agrarian crisis:
insights of the farmers |
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| Among the serious
problems confronting them, farmers see access
to water, credit, technology, and market as
the most important. |
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| MAO TSE-TUNG is
credited with instructing agricultural officers
that "before advising farmers, listen to them."
The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) has
been following this advice by holding consultations
with farm women and men in different parts of
the country. As a part of the consultative process,
discussions were held with a large number of
farmers and farmers' organisations from the
Cauvery delta at Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, on
June 22, 2005. Their advice on what needs to
be done to halt the expanding agrarian crisis
is summarised in this article, since their views
are of national relevance. |
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| Among the serious
problems confronting farmers, access to water,
credit, technology, and market are the most
important. Farmers can prepare alternative land
use plans only if they know in advance whether
or not water will be available. Unfortunately,
the State Land Use Boards are not structured
to assist farmers with pro-active advice on
land use. Since land use decisions are also
water use decisions, it is essential that farmers
have access to proactive advice based upon the
best available information on meteorological
and marketing factors. |
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| Urgent action needed
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| Urgent action is
also needed in the following areas. Modernisation
of the water delivery system. Renovation of
farm ponds, tanks and wells, and implementing
immediately the suggestion given by the NCF
in its first report that credit subsidy may
be provided for renovating a million wells during
this year. The policy of the Government should
be to foster a "store water and grain everywhere"
movement. This will help also to conserve local
grain such as ragi and other millets and thereby
enlarge the composition of the food basket.
The Rural Godown and Community Food Bank schemes
should be implemented speedily. |
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| Since most of the
rainfall in our country falls within 100 hours,
there is need for a mandatory water-harvesting
programme. Tamil Nadu's example in this respect
could be emulated by other States. |
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| Drainage and irrigation
should get concurrent attention. At the moment
drainage has become a serious problem in many
irrigated areas. |
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| Water going into
the sea should be harvested. Techniques of storing
water in the aquifer should be popularised.
A water literacy movement should be launched.
|
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| Micro-irrigation
with the help of drip, sprinkler and other methods
should be adopted on a wider scale. This can
be facilitated through an integrated subsidy-cum-low
interest loan system. |
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| Water saving methods
of rice cultivation such as the System of Rice
Intensification (SRI) adapted from Madagascar,
should be perfected and popularised through
lab-to-land programmes. |
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| Farmers realise
that the Cauvery Tribunal is now finalising
its report. Land and water use planning should
be done for the Cauvery basin as a whole so
that farmers in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
benefit from the available water in a fair and
equitable manner. |
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| The Thanjavur delta,
once regarded as the granary of Tamil Nadu,
is becoming Prosopis land, like Ramanathapuram
district. This should serve as a wake-up call
to political leaders. |
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| The interest rate
on loans taken by farmers is now 9 per cent.
This should be brought down to 4 per cent immediately.
|
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| Insurance and contract
farming: A more effective insurance system for
individual farmers should be developed in conjunction
with the National Horticulture Mission. In particular,
there is need to cover banana, coconut and other
crops with insurance. The Horticulture Mission
should give the highest priority to good seeds
and planting material and improved post-harvest
technology. A code of conduct should be developed
for contract farming; at the moment the contract
is often one-sided with farmers at the losing
end. |
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| Tsunami-affected
farm and fisher families: Over 5,500 hectares
of good farmland has been damaged in Tamil Nadu
by the tsunami. In some cases, sea water is
still standing in crop fields. In other cases,
there is a heavy deposit of sand and clay. Various
ad hoc remedies are being suggested. Farmers
need a carefully designed and scientifically
sound agronomic rehabilitation strategy. |
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| In the case of fisheries,
artesenal fishermen are afraid that far too
many mechanised boats will now be deployed for
fishing. This will further aggravate the already
prevailing unsustainable exploitation of the
sea. Fisher women and men would like scientific
training on all aspects of fisheries ranging
from capture to consumption. For this purpose
a "Fish for All Training and Resource Centre"
may be set up at Nagapattinam on the pedagogic
principle of techniracy, ie., learning the latest
technical skills by doing. |
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| Improving linkages
between lab and land: Extension services have
become ineffective and hence the recommendations
of the NCF in its first report that 50,000 farm
schools may be established in the fields of
small farmers, who are role models for other
farmers, needs to be implemented without further
delay. Again, as suggested by the NCF, there
is need for introducing immediately a post-harvest
technology wing in every Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
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| An effective method
of providing useful agricultural implements
on a nominal rent needs to be introduced. There
is also need for a grid of reliable soil testing
laboratories for identifying micronutrient deficiencies.
Hidden hunger in the soil caused by micronutrient
deficiencies is an important cause for the rapid
decline in factor productivity. |
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| Prawn culture is
causing considerable ecological and social problems
to delta farmers. The growing conflict between
aquaculture and agriculture should be reconciled
soon. There is need for an aquarian policy that
will help to harmonise mechanised and artesenal
fishing and agriculture and aquaculture. |
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| Crop diversification:
Although cotton, sunflower, soybean, various
pulses and vegetables are all being recommended
in the place of paddy, market access is often
uncertain. Hereafter, staff of agricultural
universities and departments should present
their data on the basis of net income per hectare
and not gross yield. |
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| Animal husbandry:
For farmers, livestock and livelihoods are intimately
interrelated. They are facing serious problems
of deficiency of fodder, feed and veterinary
pharmaceuticals. Farm animal productivity can
go up only if these basic needs are met. |
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| Unfortunately, many
of these responsibilities are divided between
agricultural and veterinary departments and
the agricultural and veterinary/animal science
universities. A farming systems approach in
research, education, and extension is urgently
needed. |
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| Farmer-centric marketing
systems: Farmers welcome the market reforms
recently initiated by the Government of India.
All department officials should be instructed
that their advice to farmers should be based
on a careful study of market and income opportunities.
There must be a method of ensuring minimum support
price for the substitute crops recommended in
the place of rice. |
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| Organic farming:
Both research and extension in the field of
organic and natural farming need intensification.
Unfortunately, there is no premium price for
organic produce. Also there is no effective
certification machinery. Unless these deficiencies
are overcome, farmers may lose in yield, but
not gain in income. |
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| Dry farming: Rainfed
areas are neglected. The various technology
missions that are supposed to help farmers appear
to be ineffective and inactive. There must be
a convergence of technology missions, like those
dealing with cotton, pulses and oil seeds in
a watershed, so that dryland farmers can derive
integrated support. |
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| World Trade Organisation:
The Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive
Alliance has assured Indian farmers that their
interests will be protected. There is no level
playing field in the agriculture sector in the
world today between capital, subsidy and technology-driven
agriculture, and small farmers struggling to
survive without such support. Adjustments in
tariffs should be made continuously to protect
farmers' interests. The growing import of pulses
and oil seeds is hurting farmers in dry farming
areas where these low water requiring crops
are cultivated. |
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| Subsidies are needed
for purposes of spreading new technologies.
However, subsidies should not lead to self-defeating
results like the unsustainable exploitation
of the aquifer since these hurt farmers in the
long term. It is better to provide credit at
low interest rates and also promote programmes
such as renovation of wells and tanks on the
basis of interest subsidy. |
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| Disaster management:
There is need for establishing a village knowledge
centre in every village that can give training
in disaster management as well as in other vital
areas relating to health, government schemes,
and markets. The bio-shield programme should
be promoted all along the coast. In addition
to mangroves, casuarinas and other crops, vetiver
cultivation should be promoted on a large scale.
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| New deal for women
in farming: Farm women require help in the area
of credit and women-friendly implements. They
are denied facilities such as credit and extension
because they do not have patta to land. |
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| Engendering agricultural
policies is an urgent necessity. Women's self-help
groups will be sustainable only if there are
backward linkages with technology and credit,
and forward linkages with market and management.
Special training centres for equipping rural
women and men in organising and operating sustainable
SHGs should be established. |
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| The Ministry of
Agriculture should be re-designated Ministry
of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. This will
help to emphasise that farmers' well being should
be the bottom line of all agricultural policies.
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| Our consultations
reveal that farm families are in a mood of despair.
They do not know what the future holds for them.
They constitute over two-thirds of India's population
but are yet to receive adequate support both
from policy and investment. If farming as a
profession and as a way of life is not to collapse,
there is need for attention today to their needs
in the areas of water, credit, technology, market,
and land and aquarian reforms. |
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| Source : The Hindu,
27 June, 2005 |
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