Farmers’ Grievances
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
The Supreme Court appointed high-power committee to resolve grievances of farmers agitating at Shambhu border has in its interim report significantly stated that stagnancy of agricultural production for three decades coupled with spiralling debts in Punjab and Haryana have created a distressing situation for farmers. The report is would further examine whether legal sanctity to minimum support price (MSP) could boost productivity.
As per the 11-page report, it’s estimated the debt of farmers increased manifolds in 2022-23—while in Punjab it was Rs 73,673 crore, in Haryana it was Rs 76,530. Obviously, the challenge is to make agriculture viable and sustainable by experimenting on various available options. “Declining net farm productivity, rising production costs, inadequate marketing system and shrinking farm employment have contributed to the deceleration in farm income growth. Small and marginal farmers along with farm workers, are the most affected and vulnerable segments of this economic squeeze”, it rightly observed.
The report further said Punjab has not escaped the ‘suicide epidemic’, evident among farmers in some other states. The state witnessed 16,000 suicides by farmers, mostly small and marginal and landless farm workers between 2000 and 2015 and in the last five years of the past decade figures remain more or less the same. The panel noted: “As a matter of fact, rural society as a whole is under severe economic stress. At the national level, 46% of total workers are absorbed in agriculture whose share in income is only 15%,” it said. “Not only this, there’s a very high rate of disguised unemployment and a large number of unpaid family workers. A significant proportion among them is working-poor.”
Though some steps have been taken such as the rationalisation of all agri-related centrally sponsored schemes into two umbrella schemes, having 18 components with total proposed expenditure of over Rs 1 lakh crore, it can’t be denied the condition of the agriculture sector remains much to be desired. There are plans that PM Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana will promote sustainable agriculture, the other Krishonnati Yojana will address food security and agricultural self-sufficiency by increasing productivity of farm produce, including oilseeds.
In another major development, to make the country self-reliant in oilseeds production, theUnion Cabinet approved the ‘National Mission on Edible Oil-Oilseeds’ with an outlay of Rs 10,103 crore during 2024-25 to 2030-31. Focus on NMEO-Oilseeds will be on increasing productivity through innovation and technological interventions and bringing more areas under oilseeds cultivation. This is necessary as currently the country is reliant on imports which account for around 57% of domestic demand for edible oils
Apart from these, the launch of a National Mission on Natural Farming has seen the increase in subsidy to Rs 20,000 per hectare for farmers willing to shift from green revolution techniques to natural farming. Undoubtedly, the green revolution that required costly inputs – high yielding seeds, chemical fertilisers and tubewell irrigation — steadily lifted food production and helped the country become self-sufficient in the 1990s. However, it has had adverse side effects such as excessive fertiliser run-off, excessive pesticide use, degradation of land and salinity through excess irrigation. This as well as high cost of production has encouraged experts to seek solutions in natural farming. There have been instances where natural farming has been able to get more or less the same yields, not just in India but in other countries like Japan, and the costs of production are much less.
There has been much talk of organic farming, a close cousin of natural farming, which, however, lays no claim to high yields. But organic products have a large Western market and are exported at fancy prices by many countries. India too has a niche market for organic products, but this is much too small for the vast mass of farmers who feed the country. Though Punjab farmers are still interested to continue with the green revolution, obviously for getting the MSP and high yields, there is need for experimentation and the national mission is expected to carry out innovation at various places and popularise the same. The ICAR and other research institutions have a vital role to play and ensure the maximum possible yield that natural farming can give by adopting practices followed in other countries.
There must be a balance between high productive agriculture with pesticides and chemicals and natural farming. India has high potential for exports and new markets need to be exploited. For this, natural farming based on organic methods of cultivation must be promoted. It has also to be seen if through natural farming, at least two crops could be cultivated in one year. Technologies need to be developed and, if necessary, foreign collaborations may be solicited.
Another aspect for seriously considering natural farming is the crisis we face in water resources. It’s well known that there has been an urge for quite some time by agricultural experts to shift to dryland farming due to scarcity of water in certain regions of the country. Rice needs about 4000 cubic metres of water per tonne for irrigation. In fact, of the total agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in India, close to 18% is contributed by rice cultivation. Added to this, free electricity has meant that the water table in paddy growing areas in Punjab and Haryana has been depleted at an unsustainable rate.
As per the Central Ground Water Board (2020), of the assessed farm blocks in Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, over 78%, 69% and 60% were overexploited for water respectively. Besides, the standing water used for rice cultivation has been heavily concentrated with fertiliser and pesticide runoffs and causing cancer among a section of farmers. It has accelerated soil erosion and desertification of fertile lands in these states, which can also be attributed to the incentives offered by MSP.
It’s a fact that agricultural system continues to be led by smallholder producers, farming on small plot sizes (less than 1.5 ha) and with heavy reliance on rain-fed irrigation. It’s necessary these producers are helped in using soil and water resources as also fertilisers in creating resilient and adaptive systems. Accelerating R&D in developing new climate-resilient crop varieties, enhancing oilseed production and protection to climate shocks are welcome as these will offer better resilience and adaptation to the agricultural sector and thereby close to 50% of India’s population that continue to depend on it as an important source of livelihood.
Experts have voiced the need for following a balanced approach in the farm sector in the changing landscape of Indian agriculture, mainly due to food shortages having disappeared. The other aspect of the issue is land degradation due to excessive use of pesticides and chemicals. It is well known that vagaries of weather and climate change cause a significant negative externality on soil desertification, inadequate water availability as also farmers’ incomes. Keeping in view these aspects as also the environmental concerns, there is obviously a need to formulate a sustainable approach to agriculture.
In evolving this approach, consideration has also to be given on basic income support and remunerative prices. Thus, the onus must be on the ICAR, which in consultation with the premier institution, to evolve a strategy or roadmap in this regard for the next five years or so. — INFA