Debananda Thapa alias Taichun (38) of limtikra village in Kubedega panchayat under Bheden block in Bargarh district was found last Thursday lying unconscious in his paddy yard. He had consumed pesticides and was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). He could not recover and succumbed later in the day. His fields were reportedly infested by “Chokoda” pests (brown plant hoppers). The farmer had raised paddy on three acres, and 2.5 acres out of this was under sharecropping. He had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 70,000 to meet the expenses of agricultural operations. The entire crop having been destroyed, he was driven to committing suicide.
Meanwhile, another farmer Ashok Pradhan of Handisankri in the Bhatli area in the same Bargarh district attempted suicide. He has been admitted in the DHH and his condition was reported to be critical. His family members claimed that debt and crop loss prompted him to take his life.
Instances are recurring and increasing in number relating to the maladies and destitution of the farming community. Official sources still do not admit of any of the suicides to be attributable to failure of agricultural operations.
There are also reports of there being no procurement of flax seeds (locally known as Alasi) by Government agencies from tribal cultivators. Rampur block in Kalahandi district alone produces more than a thousand tonnes of flax seeds a year. The Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha (TDCC) was the agency procuring these seeds while paying an appropriate price to the cultivators. In such a vital sector, the Government agencies have now stopped procuring flax seeds. This inevitably drives the tribals to sell the crops to unscrupulous middlemen and traders at throwaway prices because of distress sale. The mechanics of the system operate in an expected manner. Poverty drives the farmers to take advances from brokers ahead of festivals and other occasions. The produce is sold after harvest as per the price fixed by the brokers. The closure of the procurement centres appears to be an unthinking and insensitive step. No alternate arrangement has been made. If there was an adequate procurement arrangement with appropriate minimum support price, this area could have expanded cultivation of flax seeds. This would ensure a supplemental income of the tribal families. Alasi cultivation takes place mostly on lands that are otherwise not so well-located and not so fertile. The present maladies are bound to lead to impoverishment of tribal farmers.
We, thus, have a scenario of impoverishment of the farming community leading to the extreme situation of suicides. Some immediate drastic measures are needed. The US and the EU are currently supporting agriculture the way they promoted industry in the 1930s. They are using latest technology to maximise output, high tariffs to discourage imports and massive subsidies to push exports. China has acquired large tracts of land to grow food and avoid food imports from the US and Oceania. The FAO of the UN says that most developing countries will be dependent on imports from developed countries for their increasing food requirements by 2030. Some structural changes are overdue to transform agriculture into an “industry” with built-in provisions of social security. Indian agriculture still has low productivity, low quality awareness, and there are rising imports. Alongside, we have the lofty proposal of the ruling party at the Centre of doubling income of the farmers. Recent history shows that in 2014-15, agricultural income has substantially decreased. Mechanised farming is not feasible in more than 65 per cent of land holdings as they are of uneconomic size of less than one acre. Most farmers cannot buy any quality seeds and they lack the expertise of the latest knowhow because of economic constraints. The cumulative impact of these causes leads to low crop yields for most of the farmers. Exports, quality control mechanism and awareness are not adequate. It is not advisable to buy from any market source and increase exports. Quality regulation of food in most countries is quite rigorous. This necessitates evaluation and recordkeeping at different stages of farming, storage, transportation, packaging, etc. Agricultural exports in India have been sluggish and agricultural imports have increased. India produces five per cent of the global production of grapes, but its share in global exports is a meagre 1.6 per cent. In the case of banana, the share in global output is 30 per cent, but export is less than 0.4 per cent.
On the other hand, the import of agricultural produce in India has increased six times in the last two decades. Edible oil, pulses and apples, kiwi fruits, almonds and cashews account for 73 per cent of India’s agricultural imports. The imports of edible oil is at $ 10.9 billion, pulses and kiwi fruits, almonds and cashew is in the range of $ 3 billion and the import of pulses is in the range of $4.2 billion. There is a need for increased in production so that we can get rid of the stranglehold of imports.
In a recent brainstorming of professionals dealing with agriculture, some recommendations emerged for reforming the farming sector. There are five of them which need to be highlighted. The first is to encourage contract farming in a pervasive manner. Contract/Corporate farming ventures (CFVs) form a large share of India’s exports. A CFV takes land on lease from a group of farmers and pays an agreed amount and shares its profits with them. It also supplies inputs and expertise to farmers and supervises production and buys the entire product. Application of latest technology and scientific knowhow is facilitated, leading to CFVs having a higher yield of rice, wheat, cotton, potato, tomato, groundnut, marigold and other flowers, poultry and milk. It is not easy to start a CFV for it requires, amongst other things, an adequate linkage between the buyer and the producer. As of today, CFVs have covered less than three per cent of the arable areas. There could be simplification of maintenance of land records and land pooling laws; and there should be systematised contract farming arrangements. Second, the topmost agricultural universities (at least a dozen of them) should be converted into centres for excellence. They will be region-specific catalysts providing more effective techniques to enhance crop yields, creation of integrated supply chains and harmonised increased production for import substitution and increased export. Third, we should ensure active monitoring of the Government schemes. In case of the Pradhan Manti Fasal Bima Yojna, it is reported that more than half the States did not pay the premium on time. Implementation of these schemes has to be energised and made more effective. Four, create a few thousand farmers’ centres in each sub-district. The farmers can meet their needs from insurance companies, seed and equipment suppliers and buyers and banks, etc. There should be free water, soil and nutrient testing labs. Five, there should be diversion of funds towards drip and sprinkler irrigation. Micro irrigation has been found to be more efficacious than irrigation though open canals and flood irrigation systems. Our budgetary emphasis is not on micro irrigation.
For ensuring such structural overhauling of the agriculture sector, the involvement of the top and the bottom has to be synchronised and harmonised. We being a young country, the youth power must be meaningfully involved in these activities and cause a shift for the better. To enable smooth operations of these modalities, we require involvement of all sections of the society, more so the urban elite. But no section can be left uninvolved. This certainly concerns us all!
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha.jayantdas@hotmail.com)