The Gaon bandh seems to be threatening to become a nationwide bandh as irate farmers continued to dump fresh produce from farms and thousands of litres of milk on the streets across seven states, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In short, no supplies for our big cities. Coming on the heels of the farmer’s march in Maharashtra recently, this just goes on to show the magnitude of farmers’ distress which might well become the barometer for the 2019 elections.
The farmers are demanding a complete loan waiver, minimum support price for their yield and an assurance of permanent minimum income. If you thought squashed tomatoes on the road in Nasik and the milk trickling down highways in Punjab were glaring visuals of wastage, you are mistaking the extent of the farmers’ anger who for long have been buried under piling losses or surplus production at times.
For example, there have been record production of pulses, sugar and garlic this year, the volumes far surpassing the capacity of even government-aided buys and pick-ups. With no forward linkages or advanced warehousing, processing and preservation facilities, the farmer is being left out in the hot summer sun to watch his perishables wither away to waste. India’s share in global production of tomatoes is around 11% and it produces more tomatoes than any other country, except China. Despite this, less than 1% of our tomatoes are processed, way below the average of 26% for the world’s top 10 tomato-producing countries, according to a latest report. Yet with tomato-based processed food consumption in India growing at an annual rate of over 30%, much of the pulp in sauces by MNCs comes from Chinese tomatoes! Poor supply chain management is costing us and loading the farmer further with bad debts on loans.
