Farm Income return is going down & cost of production is going up. After independence the country was rated as a failed state which could survive on international food aid. The American Authors —wrote books on food situation in the country entitled houseful. We were living from ship to mouth. Farmer’s of Punjab including present Haryana took up the challenge and sacrificed all their resources (land, water, animal health & their own health to produce enough food for the nation. The political leadership didn’t bother to meet their expectations for the sacrifices they have made, they feel isolated, ignored & frustrated. Presently farmers are fighting for their survival, respectful place in the society. It is in their DNA to sacrifice & die for the nation, people should read history – during 1962 China attacked us, we were very poor and not able to provide suitable winter clothing to our soldiers. The then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru created National Defence Fund (NDF) and asked the people to donate. The total contribution was Rs 8 Cr. out of which 46% was from Punjab, gold donation (jewelry & coin) was 262 kg out of which 252 was from Punjab.
People do debate that farmers should be taxed,- he already pays taxes on farm machinery then diesel/ petrol, electricity, all agri inputs & consumable articles. — increase their income so that it qualifies for tax. Who pays tax Industry & Employees? Industries fix the price of their products but in case of farmers situation is different that’s why they demand a guarantee for the price of their product as per recommendation of Late. Dr. Swaminathan commission (C2+ 50%) on the other hand the employees get benefits from the government in the form of medical allowance, children education, annual increment, ADA, more than 150 days holidays in a year and salary is ensured irrespective of any natural calamity. There is not even a single day break for the farmer and he works under the open sky. At present food is not only for food security of the people but it is an issue of national security because there is turmoil in the world food producing countries. The food deficit will lead to chaos & instability in the country.
Irritants of the farmers: Why MSP should be a law – For ensuring better & stable returns for the farm produce. The production potential of the soil has gone down drastically (organic carbon less than 0.3% which is like hemoglobin in the human blood). The quality of agri inputs is a serious issue and the government is failing in its responsibilities to sincerely implement the various agri input acts like Seed Act, Fertilizer Act and Insecticide Act which has resulted in building resistance among pests and pathogens. The regulatory role is of the government where the government is a total failure; spurious agri inputs not only reduce the agriculture produce but also causes serious environmental issues. Inputs should be provided in required quantity, assured quality & timely availability which is again a question mark on the part of government as the farmers have to stand in a queue overnight for one bag of urea/DAP which is a recurring feature. Stray cattle (blue bulls wrongly called as cow), wild pigs etc are a big threat even for diversification. Availability and timing of electricity supply to tube wells – sharp fluctuations leading damage of motors a big disruption in the routine activities of the farmers. Why farmers should work during night for irrigation. The timing of electricity supply has to be regularized specifically in the afternoon/evening for efficient water utilization.
Policy Issue There is no agricultural policy in the country – What to produce, where to produce & how much to produce this should be in consonance with nature (soil, water & local climate-temp. , humidity, biological diversity etc).our focus is on to produce more with least concern of environment . Which crop, which animal, which agri forestry – horticulture trees, don’t grow everything everywhere, and grow what is economical as determined by climate which is very critical for sustainable growth?
Diversification In culture, religion, language and economics and agriculture is the basis of survival of a society. Diversity in agriculture is essential for health of the soil, people, animals and Nation. Check the losses due to climate change, disease epidemics, and diverse crops also essential for healthy, safe and clean food to the people of the nation. For any technology being even technically feasible and economically viable will find adoption when there is favorable public policies example-green revolution. The fall out of green is revolution environmental degradation of soil, water etc. Presently eating poison, drinking poison, breathing poison and sleeping with poison. The kind of food one eats affects his thought process, there was need for mid course correction during eighties when we became self sufficient in food but country’s leadership fail to do it. Inspite of regular hammering by agricultural scientist, who also emphasized policy change on Production planning, processing, value addition and marketing. There is a feb of natural farming/organic farming but no Policy –reduction in Production but there is no mechanism for compensation hence it will not find a acceptance on large scale. Take lesson from Srilanka, aim should be to produce chemical free foods. The indiscriminate use of the chemicals in farming has dames the health of people, animals and Nation as a whole – for example celiac disease, gluten allergy, diabetes (we are world capital of diabetes). Stunting growth of children (less than 3 yrs 36% of the world). Primarily due to eating of (wheat & rice) this supports diversification.
PM Samman Nidhi This is a cruel joke with the farmers (equal to 1 day wage in a month – twelve working days in a year) Present crop insurance policy is lop sided, heavily loaded in favor of insurance companies. The criteria compensation should be on ‘khasra’ basis example hail storm/locust. Attack, loss estimation unit area has to be different for different natural calamities. Provision of labour availability for farm operations should be the first priority under MANREGA. The problem of tribal area and its policy: The tribal region benefits not only the tribal people but is long-term benefit to the nation in the form of biodiversity particularly of medicinal plant, Vegetables & fruits.
Government needs think on the gap between what a producer gets and a consumer pays, take case of pulses and oil seeds where we are deficient and spent lot of money on import of oil if we take example of moong a farmer sells is produced at the most rupees 60kg only other hand if the consumer goes to market he has to pay a minimum of Rs 110 per kg that means there is almost 80% gap or the margin of the middle man part of the government to think on this and then make a policy to reduce this gap because the farmer is not only a producer but he is a consumer also. This will benefit the last man in the line, which is core of the government policies. Secondary the institutions which made the Green revolution is success like research institute extension agencies department of agriculture and the central police like MSP availability of inputs Bank credits FCI storage facilities extra need to be revisited and their priorities need to be refixed or changed in the context of changing environment. For example in mid sixties the approach was uni directional of hire production with least concern of environment. The police issues started from bottom to top make village as a unit and frame the production plans on the basis of its ecology rather than the police is frame in the corridors of ministries. The major stakeholders, the farmers has to be given considerable time to frame the police. The police should involve farming system approach that which means grain crops, horticulture, vegetables agro forestry and animal husbandry. There is a need to develop a consensus between the farmers and the government. There should be a bridge between the producer and the planners. At present there is crisis of confidence and the farmer have lost complete faith in the country’s political dispensation because of false promises and slogans. When we start the policy planning at village levels the first and foremost action of the government is to vacate all encroachment on the village common properties.
The climate change prediction send and alarm for droughts. In olden times the villages use to be self sufficient in their water requirement, there is hardly any pond in a village to store clean rain water. All ponds, drains and natural water bodies are infested with water hyacinth, an obnoxious weed.
There is a need to identify the best local breeds of cows, goat, sheep, pig and poultry. It is very easy and economically to maintain a goat of Jakharna breed which gives three to four liters of milk a day enough for a family. Brazil imported Gir and Kankrej breeds of cows from India and double their milk production potential where as we opted for Holstein and frezian cows. There are distinct advantages of our local breeds. The animals produce methane gas which contributes to climate warming. Therefore the non productive animals need not to be allowed to stray.
The constitution of CACP needs to be farmers oriented, and include farmers and agri economist as members with a continuation status. At present there is high degree of political interference in the management of agricultural Universities, research organization and extension agencies which a result seen lack of accountability and degradation.
Agriculture is our culture and festivals in the country from north to south east to west have a direct link with the agricultural activities like planting and harvesting time. Therefore to maintain our heritage, culture and national security, agriculture need to be taught from primary school as a compulsory subject.
We can’t dream of ‘ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT’ without agriculture
किसान एक ऐसा खिलौना है जिससे कभी प्रकृति खेलती है और कभी राजनीति. .!!
Healthy Agriculture — Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous Country