With India’s highest farm growth for a decade, Shivraj Chouhan should’ve been sitting pretty. He’s struggling because our farm economics & politics is broken.
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What an irony indeed !
India and its states very rich in resources but for the sinister designs-intentions, lack of strong political will-power responsible for the bad and sad state of affairs !
During the poll campaign, NaMo and Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan had been echoing and singing pro- farmers stance and policies !
This pro-farmer balloon very badly stand punctured in light of Mr.Shekhar Gupta’s hard hitting story !
Kudos to Shekhar Sahib for exposing the chinks in the policies and programmes of BJP to better the lot of farmers proving ultimately to be just hollow ploys and popular slogans !
very learned comments – the sad fact is we need to cut the population in general and that involved in agriculture in particular. We are surplus producers of every commodity – if we so desire. No political party has the guts and desire . Some populations are vote banks for the BJP and others for multiple parties.
FDI in retail, to begin with, along with dismantling the APMCs. The global fall in commodity prices, not limited to oil, is hurting Indian farmers and there is no solution. For the government to buy agricultural commodities – apart from the wheat and required to feed the PDS – at above market price without having the infrastructure to store and then sell them is folly. Some change in cropping patterns, valuing water more highly, is also required in drought prone areas which are growing sugarcane. Without these underlying problems being solved, changing governments will not help.
I guess the important word is, “margins”. There must be a big output boom in MP’s agriculture as the author says, loaded tractor trolleys, wall to wall adjoining warehouses all along the highways etc, but the point is, is enough “money” coming into the farmer’s pocket? Apparently not, and that is at the bottom of their discontent.
Governments will have to take a tough decision both at the state and central levels either to CONTROL the farm-input price chain, or the farm-output price chain.
The former would mean government controlled and LOW prices of fertilizers, seeds, diesel and electricity for farmers. Government will also have to fix the farm labour’s wages and also pay the labourers itself, not leaving them to the mercy of farm owners.
Controlling the farm-output price chain would mean NATIONALIZATION of the entire farmer-to-end-consumer network. This will be truly revolutionary. Actual consumers of rice, wheat, vegetables in small and big towns and cities will be very happy because there will be no traders and last-mile vendors who artificially jack up prices, the farmers too will be very happy because there will be no market “operators” to exploit them.
Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist,Barnala(Punjab)
What an irony indeed !
India and its states very rich in resources but for the sinister designs-intentions, lack of strong political will-power responsible for the bad and sad state of affairs !
During the poll campaign, NaMo and Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan had been echoing and singing pro- farmers stance and policies !
This pro-farmer balloon very badly stand punctured in light of Mr.Shekhar Gupta’s hard hitting story !
Kudos to Shekhar Sahib for exposing the chinks in the policies and programmes of BJP to better the lot of farmers proving ultimately to be just hollow ploys and popular slogans !
Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist
Pom Anm Nest,Barnala (Punjab)
very learned comments – the sad fact is we need to cut the population in general and that involved in agriculture in particular. We are surplus producers of every commodity – if we so desire. No political party has the guts and desire . Some populations are vote banks for the BJP and others for multiple parties.
… wheat and rice …
FDI in retail, to begin with, along with dismantling the APMCs. The global fall in commodity prices, not limited to oil, is hurting Indian farmers and there is no solution. For the government to buy agricultural commodities – apart from the wheat and required to feed the PDS – at above market price without having the infrastructure to store and then sell them is folly. Some change in cropping patterns, valuing water more highly, is also required in drought prone areas which are growing sugarcane. Without these underlying problems being solved, changing governments will not help.
I guess the important word is, “margins”. There must be a big output boom in MP’s agriculture as the author says, loaded tractor trolleys, wall to wall adjoining warehouses all along the highways etc, but the point is, is enough “money” coming into the farmer’s pocket? Apparently not, and that is at the bottom of their discontent.
Governments will have to take a tough decision both at the state and central levels either to CONTROL the farm-input price chain, or the farm-output price chain.
The former would mean government controlled and LOW prices of fertilizers, seeds, diesel and electricity for farmers. Government will also have to fix the farm labour’s wages and also pay the labourers itself, not leaving them to the mercy of farm owners.
Controlling the farm-output price chain would mean NATIONALIZATION of the entire farmer-to-end-consumer network. This will be truly revolutionary. Actual consumers of rice, wheat, vegetables in small and big towns and cities will be very happy because there will be no traders and last-mile vendors who artificially jack up prices, the farmers too will be very happy because there will be no market “operators” to exploit them.