A CRYING SELFLESS AGRICULTURE !!!
a brief outline of the great Indian satire
India since the green revolution in the 1970's has been steadily recording immense success in the food production charts. The expected food grain production this year 2011-2012 is supposed to reach around 250 mn tonnes exceeding the annual target of 245 million tonnes. The agriculture sector has made India self sufficient but in somewhat weird terms. We have grains rotting in the warehouses of FCI yet millions starve with grievous hunger and pain. A paradox it seems, the contrasting conditions which prevail over the entire agriculture sector. Much has been credited to the mismanagement ranging from provision of agricultural inputs to the post harvest handling of the products, from the lack of long term vision while employing the MSP prices for agricultural produce to the heavy dependence upon the inefficient and corrupt network of the PDS (public distribution system). Even the MNREGA has been infested by soul-less middlemen who cherish on the pilferage of the crucial aids being provided to the deprived farmers of our nation. Credit facilities to the farmers are on a decline, land holdings are shrinking, remuneration is not at par with the produce, market information is inadequate, there is a shortage of water supplies and an unending list of associated problems which tend to hammer down the potential of Indian agriculture which as a matter of fact is contributing only 15.7 % to the gdp of India whereas employing nearly 60% of the entire 1.21 billion Indian population.
Why should i care???
well why not? we all depend on agriculture...ours is an agrarian economy, each one of us is familiar with the plight of the farmers. We have seen them, heard about them or even had first hand encounter with them. The hard work and labor that they provide selflessly, blindfolded towards the goal of sustaining themselves and this nation is exemplary. Imagine a well informed farmer who has been empowered to achieve the best for himself resulting in the overall growth and development of the agricultural sector. This would be accompanied by an upsurge in rural development, better infrastructure of agricultural processing and above all the satisfaction of the farmer community.
(1)MANHOLES IN THE SYSTEM
Policies: policies framed towards the betterment of rural india is now hampering its development in all 3 dimensions.For example MNREGA which guarantees employment to the rural unemployed for 100 days has been linked to many problems. Farm labour has been snatched away for other manual work, increasing the cost of produce and driving food inflation. A correct timing of the employing of the labour during non-harvest seasons has been totally sidelined and unplanned projects taken up throughout india. Labour inavailibity during crucial farming seasons was a problem which has been further aggregated by the exploitation of the MNREGA. The labourers are employed, made to work very hard for days and are not paid accordingly. In some cases the corruption and scams has been so rampant that the labourers get neary 1/10 of what they should have been getting. This SUPERBLY HAPPY atmosphere prevailing in the rural india has been driving away the youth towards urban areas wherin they can find themselves jobs instead of slogging beneath the hammer of agricultural burden. This migration is a case of immense worry. Judging by the astronomical pace of indian population explosion, who would feed the millions???
The APMC ( agricultural produce marketing committees) act in various states of India has been a complex situation. Many times depriving the farmers of profits and from availing risk mitigation. Contract farming and other agri business ventures which promise a dynamic futures contract driven agro market faces numerous hurdles by the APMC act which needs to be ammended in many states. APMC rgulation has resulted in an inefficient network which has further contributed to the already chaotic management.
Attitude: the attitude of the bureaucracy is like a concerned mom, who acts only when the kid gets his head ripped off or a leg blown away. Steps related to subsidies and credit regulations are taken in a haste to provide immediate damage control instead of future mitigation. Farmer suicides takes place in A.P., microfinancing institutions brought into the picture, steps related to fixing the ceiling of interest rates and norms related to the industry are put on table in the assembly, rules laid down and the product of the entire drama = "TOTAL COLLAPSE OF A ONCE THRIVING AGRI-FINANCE INSTITUTION". One common point pasted to each of these proceedings was "DONE WITH HASTE", not devising policies, thinking about the future but alas spearheading what was in mind over the matter.Even huge subsidies are provided for the irrigation facilities being provided, without taking into notice the beneficiaries.
