Farmers Movement Archive

Remove systemic bottlenecks

AMID the Covid crisis, the Centre is contemplating reforms in the agriculture sector. The government claims that the farm sector has been functioning smoothly amid the countrywide lockdown and there will not be much impact on its growth in the current fiscal, unlike other sectors, even as various stakeholders have different opinions on it.A couple of stakeholders differ from the government’s point of view, while some say the latter’s steps may lead to revolutionary changes in the farm sector.“Yes, the current crisis is in an opportunity to bring in agri reforms. There are issues such as lack of awareness about technology among marginalised farmers and fixing of the rate of their produce by the government or middlemen. Increasing input cost and negligible rise in MSP, unprecedented weather conditions, no long-term plan for crop diversification with reasonable remuneration by the government are among the other factors impacting agriculture,” says Amit Aneja, a farmer from Baras village in Karnal district.He says middlemen are minting money due to farmers’ limited access to cold stores. “Agricultural produce, especially vegetables and flowers, are perishable. Farmers do not get a remunerative price for their produce. I request the government to focus on developing cold stores,” he adds.Farmers believe the ongoing labour crisis is a major challenge. “We somehow managed to harvest wheat, but now are facing problems in paddy plantation. The government should ensure the availability of labour in states like Haryana and Punjab, which contribute a lot to the Central pool,” says Mahtab Kadyan, a Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader.He demands a check on the sale of spurious seeds and chemicals that cause losses to farmers. Rattan Mann, president, BKU, says electricity should be given uninterrupted to the agriculture sector during paddy-sowing. He says the government should implement the Swaminathan Commission report without further delay.Dr Virender Singh Lather, a retired scientist from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Karnal, says the government must emphasise on agriculture marketing reforms, mainly keeping a check on spurious seeds, lowering the agricultural input cost, and the procurement of farm produce at the MSP. “The farm sector suffered losses to the tune of crores of rupees in the past around 50 days of the lockdown in sub-sectors such as floriculture, poultry and dairy. Wheat farmers are still waiting for their turn to sell their produce in Haryana due to the new restrictions on procurement,” he adds.He says the government should bank on e-NAM or the National Agriculture Market platform to eliminate middlemen. “Presently, e-NAM is being used negligibly across the state. It should be implemented properly for providing benefits to farmers,” he observes.The Union government wants to strengthen the role of farmer producer organisations (FPOs) to bring vibrancy to the agrarian economy, but the FPOs consider ‘inspector raj’ a big hurdle. “FPOs should be freed of red tape and encouraged for the marketing of secondary products of agriculture: dal, pickles, fruit juices, honey, ghee, mustard oil, flour, gur etc. The FPOs must be given loans without any hassle which will help in encouraging other progressive farmers to form FPOs,” says Vikas Chaudhary, a director of Pro Grovers Producer Company Ltd, a FPO based in Taraori.Soil fertility at stakeDr Gian PrakashBhargava, a retired scientist of Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, regards salt-affected soil as a major challenge.“A significant number of farmers depend on salt-affected soil to earn their livelihood. The government is working on improving the fertility of such soil, but there is a need for greater efforts and also to push ongoing projects to restore soil fertility,” he says. He suggests that the government should utilise poor-quality groundwater with residual sodium carbonate in conjunction with judicious use of gypsum.

The Tribune

2020-05-11