Expressing uncompromising opposition to commodity exchanges in agricultural produce on grounds that it adversely affects both farmers and consumers, Narendra Modi said India needs to concentrate upon reducing the import of agricultural products and increasing exports in order to resolve some of the pressing issues in its agrarian crisis. Devoting his third ‘Chai pe Charcha’ exclusively to farmers’ crisis at Yavatmal in Maharashtra on Thursday evening, the BJP leader expressed an open mind towards Genetically Modified seeds, a debate that is likely to intensify with the formation of the new Government.
Answering a question from an Odisha farmer regarding BT Brinjal which is being stoutly resisted by farmers fearing damage to native varieties through cross-pollination, the Gujarat Chief Minister said, “On GM seeds there are various views. It helped in Gujarat and in parts of Maharashtra where BT Cotton is being grown”. Advising farmers to trust science with the proviso that nothing should be done which could harm farmers or their future generations and push them to die (commit suicide), he said foolproof plans should be put in place before new technologies are implemented. For this, he said, the State should set up model farms where farmers could go and interact with agricultural scientists and see the progress of particular seeds and crops.
The focus, he said, must be on value addition. The cotton industry should concentrate on integrated development, from picking up the cotton and producing the yarn, thread, cloth and garments near the production centre, and then selling in the national and international market. Such an approach could give massive scope to the cottage industry. Moreover, edible oil from cotton seeds has immense health value and the demand for it is increasing; thus there are multiple values that can be derived from a single crop.
In sharp contrast to the gathering at Wardha earlier in the day, the mood of the gathering was sombre, even poignant, as the families of farmers who had committed suicide in 32 districts of the State came to apprise the BJP leader of their sufferings and rampant indebtedness over the years, which had prompted their breadwinners to commit suicide in despair. The State Government, they said, had provided no relief notwithstanding the dimensions of the crisis, and now all their hopes were vested in his assuming the reigns of office in Delhi. Narendra Modi sat with the families and solemnly heard them pour out their hearts; taking care not to violate the Model Code of Conduct, he promised nothing specific but managed to leave them with hope.
Prior to this meeting with the families of victims, Narendra Modi addressed farmers across the country (the ‘Charcha’ was beamed across 1500 centres) and answered their questions directly. He said the agrarian crisis is a national tragedy and not a political issue, “We need an agricultural policy and system which does justice to farmer and prevents suicides in future; I sympathise with the affected families who have lost members in this tragedy”.
Replying to a question on drip irrigation, Narendra Modi said that sugarcane farmers often made the mistake of believing that excess water and fertiliser produced higher yields, whereas Israel had improved its agricultural productivity with drip irrigation which saved water, reduced wastage, and saved time and energy in caring for the crop. In Gujarat, he informed his audience, drip irrigation had been extended to 7 lakh ha. and the water table had risen by 12 metres.
Sympathising with West Bengal farmers who remain dependant on rainwater for irrigation, the Gujarat veteran said that there was urgent need to develop agricultural infrastructure in the country, and besides irrigation, emphasis must be placed on the development of warehouses, cold storage, transportation to the market, and online data collection in real time. He said besides developing small and efficient local storage systems as in the past when families were able to successfully store grains for years without spoiling, there must be adequate urban storages for farmers who brought produce to the cities and were forced to sell it at throwaway prices because of a slump in demand.
The attitude of Governments at the Centre and in States to leave farmers to their own fate is wrong and needs to be changed, he stressed. The State will have to step in and monitor the availability of good seeds, timely availability of fertilizers, and the changing needs for crops at various times. Agricultural universities must step forward and work with farmers to reduce the imports of agricultural produce like pulses and oilseeds; they must take their research from the laboratories to the land.
India is an agricultural country, Narendra Modi said, echoing the sentiments of farmers who attended the interaction, and unless we increase the purchasing power of our villages, we cannot stimulate economic growth. A lot of land is unfit for agriculture, but can be improved with enhanced irrigation facilities and infrastructure, for which a farmer-friendly government is imperative. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s river grid initiative must be taken forward, he said, pointing out that progress in extending irrigation lifted Madhya Pradesh out of the category of BIMARU States, and this was attracting educated youngsters to take to agriculture as a profession.
Another national imperative, he said, is to use satellite technology for measuring land properly, and this exercise should be done every 30 years so that changes in the topography, such as when a river changes route, can be known. There must equally be regular testing of the soil every two years to ascertain its nutritional status. In Gujarat, soil health cards are maintained to improve productivity.
Agricultural land should be divided into zones and appropriate insurance schemes designed for farmers; banks must be made to give loans to farmers to pay the premium. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had begun a system of Kisan Credit Cards, but the progress on this front has since slowed down. He regretted that farmers had problems getting loans from banks, though this was one of the pretexts given to justify bank nationalisation. Only by making it compulsory for banks to give loans to farmers could they be freed from the exploitation of loan sharks, he said, and pointed out that when the rich default on loans the banks let them off, but run after the poor and harass them.
Regarding the plight of sugarcane farmers in some States, he said that in Gujarat the sugar industry is run through cooperatives and care has been taken to ensure that there is no scope for exploitation. Each factory is linked to specific villages and the produce has to be purchased at the determined prices. Since farmers run the cooperatives, there is no problem.
Soyabean, he said, holds the key to fighting malnutrition and is in demand by the pharmaceutical industry. Regretting that farmers are not getting remunerative prices for their produce, the Gujarat veteran said there is need to make the Agricultural Price Marketing Commission more proactive.
Advocating the intelligent use of technological interventions, he said even a field like animal husbandry could benefit from technology. For instance, Gujarat had provided advanced shearers to sheep herders whose wool recovery improved dramatically. Similarly, the Railways need to give priority to transporting perishable commodities over industrial goods.
Previously, agricultural experts Kishore Tiwari and Dr Satish Chandra discussed the agrarian crisis with the assembled farmers across the country and conveyed some salient issues to the BJP’s Prime Ministerial contender. These include the failure of Government horticulture officers to advise farmers correctly on seeds and techniques, and to link the farmer to the market. A more serious crisis was remunerative pricing and the defective price fixing mechanism that does not cover input costs which the farmer buys at market price though he is expected to sell at wholesale rates. There was a consensus that the concept of Minimum Support Price needs to be changed and sustainable price adopted. Both farmers and experts concurred that farming is a high risk profession, and while Pay Commissions are set up for Government servants, no thought is spared for farmers who are paid once a year at harvest time. It was also suggested that land acquired by the State and not utilised for the purpose for which it was acquired should be restored to the farmers and not sold to middle men for profiteering.
Niticentral.com, 21 March 2014
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/03/21/agrarian-crisis-a-national-tragedy-narendra-modi-201984.html