Agriculture nightmare in Madhya Pradesh
Sachin Kumar Jain
The production cost of grains, vegetables and fruits has gone up by 350 percent due to the modernization of agriculture. Society could not respond to this increase but now multinationals again have taken over by entering in to retail market. Big companies are now the key players in the open market. It means small vegetable venders have to fight air conditioned showroom of Reliance and Waal mart.
The Madhya Pradesh government has started giving importance to irrigation in its 10th five year plan. The new budget states that in the context of the extreme dependence of our agricultural economy on the monsoons the importance of developing irrigation is clear. In the 10th five year plan under a variety of projects the irrigation capacity is being increased by 0.58 million hectares. In the 9th five year plan the irrigated land area had been increased by 0.096 million hectares, whereas now the government is fixing a target of 0.7 million hectares of additional land to be irrigated. In Madhya Pradesh now 98% of wheat is irrigated, but only 20 % of pulses and 22 % of rice is irrigated.
Size of Land Holdings: A challenge – The total number of land holdings in Madhya Pradesh is 66.37 lacs. And on an average one farmer has 2.5 hectares of farm land. Because of the small size of land holdings the land has not been developed and there is lack of uniformity in the agricultural practices followed.
In 1961-62 farmers in M.P. had an average farm size of 4.1 hectares, which came down to 3.4 hectares in 1981-82 and got reduced further to 2.3 hectares in 1995-96. At the same time 40 % of the farmers had an average farm size of 0.40 hectares. This shows directly that the number of marginal farmers with very small farm sizes is increasing. Results of the seventh round of Rural Labour Survey show that the number of farm laborers with land in 1987 was 49 % and this went up to 57 % in 1999-2000. Analysis shows that because of low production farmers with very small land-holdings are being forced to become laborers.
Farm Land and Production - Of the total fallow land in the country, 19 % lies in Madhya Pradesh. The time period of one crop production in the state varies from 150 to 180 days and at present only 24 % of the farm land is irrigated. Under these circumstances there is a big need to treat the fallow land in the state, since without such treatment we shall only be able to irrigate only 55 % of the land using both the surface and sub-surface water sources. We can also use the principle of community farming for this purpose. One hectare of farm land in Madhya Pradesh produces 1058 kgs of rice, whereas the average rice production per hectare in the country is 2051 kgs. And in the case of wheat the state is 840 kg below the national average.
In the last two decades the state and society has been faced with different forms of water crisis. On the one hand the resources and potential for irrigation have become a matter of existence for farmers. At the same time, looking at the means of irrigation that have been developed, it seems that farmers are giving up surface irrigation. In M.P. in 1960-61 canal irrigation accounted for 48 % and surface irrigation for 61 % of the irrigation. This came down to 29 % and 31 % respectively in 2002-2003 respectively. During the same period the use of ground water for farming went up from 39 % to 69 %. Only 27% of total agricultural land is irrigated and still agriculture is a gamble of monsoon for farmers in Madhya Pradesh. So now Madhya Pradesh is a state facing most serious salinity, fluoride and nitrate problem in the ground water.
As now seeds and fertilizers have become a commodity of the global market so farmers have lost their control and knowledge about it. In last three years low quality seeds and duplicate seeds have vanished life of thousands of farmers. This new developing phenomenon has taken live of 2 farmers in 2006-07. It is just a beginning. One of the senior ministers of Madhya Pradesh Government made very serious negative remarks in the assembly on 25th July 2007 about the intensions of the farmers as electricity power consumers regarding payment of bills, which clearly sounds that State have no faith in the farmers. Moving forward to for analyzing the degree of protection farmers have, it alarming that in Madhya Pradesh farmers have been compensated by Rs 1.00 against the loss of R. 7.00 due to natural calamity, diseases or low quality seeds sold in the market. The indicators show that on the one side farmers will have no more protection from the state and on the other side they will have to face multinational companies entering in to the production and retail sector. We can observe some important points from studying the development process in post-independence India. One of them is that in our country the potential and sources of development have not been distributed evenly. Some sections of the society have gained more and others have gained much less. After 60 years of independence sense of inequality is getting new shape.
Showing posts with label Agriculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agriculture. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Farmers in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh: Farmers do not enjoy freedom
Sachin Kumar Jain
After 60 years of independence 3.2 million farmers of Madhya Pradesh do not enjoy freedom. They live in indebtedness and devoting their lives not only to the money lenders but also to their own government to pay off their loans. Agriculture, in a real sense, has been the life-line for Madhya Pradesh. Some years ago when college students wrote an essay on the state they began with the sentence Madhya Pradesh is an agricultural state. Three-fourth of the population here is dependent on agriculture or agro related activities for its livelihood and it is this uniformity that keeps society threaded together.
Today agriculture is no more a simple means of livelihood anymore, but has become a task full of challenge and risk. A latest survey by the National Sample Survey Organization on the indebtedness of farmers shows that of the 6.4 million farmers in Madhya Pradesh 3.2 million are in debt. On an average each farmer in M.P. is under a debt of Rs.14,128. And because of the bank formalities and the inhuman recovery processes his trust in the government’s financial institutions has gone down. It is worth noting that even today 40 % of the loans in this ‘agricultural state’ are taken by farmers from non-governmental sources. Unfortunately for last one and half decade agriculture community has faced opposition of state and ruthlessness towards them. What to expect more from the state when even they do not have any plan to make farmers free from loans.
Reviewing the status of agriculture sector we reaches to a conclusion that even in the 60 years of independence we could not priorities and define the concept of development according to the social needs. We find that at present since the government has accepted a policy of economic liberalization and following the Global economy, instead of internalizing local economy and considering agriculture in a sensitive manner it is being treated as another element of the open market. The farmer himself is now a consumer in the market instead of a producer. We can consider for our reference the budget speech of the finance minister of Madhya Pradesh for the year 2006-2007, in which he said that “the importance of expensive inputs for increasing production has gone up in the sector of agriculture, but instability of outputs is also increasing due to the vagaries of the climate. Due to globalization of the economy, where on the one hand new possibilities of development have opened up, we are also faced with new challenges.” He does nor answers that who will directly face the challenges and with whom state will stand for. Undoubtedly changing cropping pattern, Mechanization and entry of Multinational companies in Agriculture sector have become new challenges for farmers after Monsoon. Madhya Pradesh is one of those few states who have welcomed contract forming and that is why 5 big multinational companies are now have stared deciding what will be produced in MP!!
Various analyses shows that in 1960-61 the contribution of agriculture in the state’s gross domestic product was 59.9 percent, and at that point 79.3 percent of the population was dependent upon agriculture. We find that whereas by 2001 the contribution of agriculture to the gross house-hold product has come down to 25.8 percent (that is a decrease by 32 percent), even now 72.9 percent of the population is dependent upon it. That is a decrease by only 8.6 percent. In M.P. between 1960 and 1980 the rate of growth in agriculture remained at 1 percent, whereas the average growth rate of agriculture in the country was 2 percent, which was twice that of the state.
The tenth plan period is on and it is the state’s target to increase the food production to 17.850 million tons per year during this period. In 2003-04 the production level was 15.872 million tons. Similarly, the government had set a target of increase of 13.95 million tons in the production of coarse grain, and a target of 3.896 million tons in the production of pulses. However, when we analyze the policies on a practical plane we come to two conclusions. The first is that the government is not really promoting food production. It actually wants that farmers take up cash and market crops such as BT cotton, Tomato and Soyabean along with Jatropha for meeting special consumer class needs of diesel. This will be economically profitable for the government. At the same time, at a policy level, the government is agreeing to Contract Farming (anubandh kheti) in the production of food, vegetables and fruits. Private companies are considering entry into the farming sector. The two issues are linked to each other. The farmer should earn money and then go to the market to buy grains. But perhaps it will be a catastrophe to forget the truth that we are trying to break down food security and the production cycle to increase the flow of money in the market.
Increase in the state’s population has been accompanied by an increase in the need for food, but the food production is going down. Since 1960-61 the food production in Madhya Pradesh is constantly falling within the total production. Whereas the food production in 1960-61 was 63.6 % of the total farm produce, it has come down to 48.4 % at present. During the same period non-food products have gone up from 14.3% to 27.9%. Within grains there has been a big fall in the production of wheat and maize (bajra). And the production of soyabean that was zero percent in 1960-61 has gone up to 17.6 % of the food crop in 2002-03. It essentially shows that farmers have no possible support from the State for duo-protection, protection of farmers and the agro-economy. Now it has been decided that State will provided low interest loans (@7%) as shown in various publicity hoardings but the system is not ready to permit them to implement such promises.
Farmers in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh: Farmers do not enjoy freedom
Sachin Kumar Jain
After 60 years of independence 3.2 million farmers of Madhya Pradesh do not enjoy freedom. They live in indebtedness and devoting their lives not only to the money lenders but also to their own government to pay off their loans. Agriculture, in a real sense, has been the life-line for Madhya Pradesh. Some years ago when college students wrote an essay on the state they began with the sentence Madhya Pradesh is an agricultural state. Three-fourth of the population here is dependent on agriculture or agro related activities for its livelihood and it is this uniformity that keeps society threaded together.
Today agriculture is no more a simple means of livelihood anymore, but has become a task full of challenge and risk. A latest survey by the National Sample Survey Organization on the indebtedness of farmers shows that of the 6.4 million farmers in Madhya Pradesh 3.2 million are in debt. On an average each farmer in M.P. is under a debt of Rs.14,128. And because of the bank formalities and the inhuman recovery processes his trust in the government’s financial institutions has gone down. It is worth noting that even today 40 % of the loans in this ‘agricultural state’ are taken by farmers from non-governmental sources. Unfortunately for last one and half decade agriculture community has faced opposition of state and ruthlessness towards them. What to expect more from the state when even they do not have any plan to make farmers free from loans.
Reviewing the status of agriculture sector we reaches to a conclusion that even in the 60 years of independence we could not priorities and define the concept of development according to the social needs. We find that at present since the government has accepted a policy of economic liberalization and following the Global economy, instead of internalizing local economy and considering agriculture in a sensitive manner it is being treated as another element of the open market. The farmer himself is now a consumer in the market instead of a producer. We can consider for our reference the budget speech of the finance minister of Madhya Pradesh for the year 2006-2007, in which he said that “the importance of expensive inputs for increasing production has gone up in the sector of agriculture, but instability of outputs is also increasing due to the vagaries of the climate. Due to globalization of the economy, where on the one hand new possibilities of development have opened up, we are also faced with new challenges.” He does nor answers that who will directly face the challenges and with whom state will stand for. Undoubtedly changing cropping pattern, Mechanization and entry of Multinational companies in Agriculture sector have become new challenges for farmers after Monsoon. Madhya Pradesh is one of those few states who have welcomed contract forming and that is why 5 big multinational companies are now have stared deciding what will be produced in MP!!
Various analyses shows that in 1960-61 the contribution of agriculture in the state’s gross domestic product was 59.9 percent, and at that point 79.3 percent of the population was dependent upon agriculture. We find that whereas by 2001 the contribution of agriculture to the gross house-hold product has come down to 25.8 percent (that is a decrease by 32 percent), even now 72.9 percent of the population is dependent upon it. That is a decrease by only 8.6 percent. In M.P. between 1960 and 1980 the rate of growth in agriculture remained at 1 percent, whereas the average growth rate of agriculture in the country was 2 percent, which was twice that of the state.
The tenth plan period is on and it is the state’s target to increase the food production to 17.850 million tons per year during this period. In 2003-04 the production level was 15.872 million tons. Similarly, the government had set a target of increase of 13.95 million tons in the production of coarse grain, and a target of 3.896 million tons in the production of pulses. However, when we analyze the policies on a practical plane we come to two conclusions. The first is that the government is not really promoting food production. It actually wants that farmers take up cash and market crops such as BT cotton, Tomato and Soyabean along with Jatropha for meeting special consumer class needs of diesel. This will be economically profitable for the government. At the same time, at a policy level, the government is agreeing to Contract Farming (anubandh kheti) in the production of food, vegetables and fruits. Private companies are considering entry into the farming sector. The two issues are linked to each other. The farmer should earn money and then go to the market to buy grains. But perhaps it will be a catastrophe to forget the truth that we are trying to break down food security and the production cycle to increase the flow of money in the market.
Increase in the state’s population has been accompanied by an increase in the need for food, but the food production is going down. Since 1960-61 the food production in Madhya Pradesh is constantly falling within the total production. Whereas the food production in 1960-61 was 63.6 % of the total farm produce, it has come down to 48.4 % at present. During the same period non-food products have gone up from 14.3% to 27.9%. Within grains there has been a big fall in the production of wheat and maize (bajra). And the production of soyabean that was zero percent in 1960-61 has gone up to 17.6 % of the food crop in 2002-03. It essentially shows that farmers have no possible support from the State for duo-protection, protection of farmers and the agro-economy. Now it has been decided that State will provided low interest loans (@7%) as shown in various publicity hoardings but the system is not ready to permit them to implement such promises.
After 60 years of independence 3.2 million farmers of Madhya Pradesh do not enjoy freedom. They live in indebtedness and devoting their lives not only to the money lenders but also to their own government to pay off their loans. Agriculture, in a real sense, has been the life-line for Madhya Pradesh. Some years ago when college students wrote an essay on the state they began with the sentence Madhya Pradesh is an agricultural state. Three-fourth of the population here is dependent on agriculture or agro related activities for its livelihood and it is this uniformity that keeps society threaded together.
Today agriculture is no more a simple means of livelihood anymore, but has become a task full of challenge and risk. A latest survey by the National Sample Survey Organization on the indebtedness of farmers shows that of the 6.4 million farmers in Madhya Pradesh 3.2 million are in debt. On an average each farmer in M.P. is under a debt of Rs.14,128. And because of the bank formalities and the inhuman recovery processes his trust in the government’s financial institutions has gone down. It is worth noting that even today 40 % of the loans in this ‘agricultural state’ are taken by farmers from non-governmental sources. Unfortunately for last one and half decade agriculture community has faced opposition of state and ruthlessness towards them. What to expect more from the state when even they do not have any plan to make farmers free from loans.
Reviewing the status of agriculture sector we reaches to a conclusion that even in the 60 years of independence we could not priorities and define the concept of development according to the social needs. We find that at present since the government has accepted a policy of economic liberalization and following the Global economy, instead of internalizing local economy and considering agriculture in a sensitive manner it is being treated as another element of the open market. The farmer himself is now a consumer in the market instead of a producer. We can consider for our reference the budget speech of the finance minister of Madhya Pradesh for the year 2006-2007, in which he said that “the importance of expensive inputs for increasing production has gone up in the sector of agriculture, but instability of outputs is also increasing due to the vagaries of the climate. Due to globalization of the economy, where on the one hand new possibilities of development have opened up, we are also faced with new challenges.” He does nor answers that who will directly face the challenges and with whom state will stand for. Undoubtedly changing cropping pattern, Mechanization and entry of Multinational companies in Agriculture sector have become new challenges for farmers after Monsoon. Madhya Pradesh is one of those few states who have welcomed contract forming and that is why 5 big multinational companies are now have stared deciding what will be produced in MP!!
Various analyses shows that in 1960-61 the contribution of agriculture in the state’s gross domestic product was 59.9 percent, and at that point 79.3 percent of the population was dependent upon agriculture. We find that whereas by 2001 the contribution of agriculture to the gross house-hold product has come down to 25.8 percent (that is a decrease by 32 percent), even now 72.9 percent of the population is dependent upon it. That is a decrease by only 8.6 percent. In M.P. between 1960 and 1980 the rate of growth in agriculture remained at 1 percent, whereas the average growth rate of agriculture in the country was 2 percent, which was twice that of the state.
The tenth plan period is on and it is the state’s target to increase the food production to 17.850 million tons per year during this period. In 2003-04 the production level was 15.872 million tons. Similarly, the government had set a target of increase of 13.95 million tons in the production of coarse grain, and a target of 3.896 million tons in the production of pulses. However, when we analyze the policies on a practical plane we come to two conclusions. The first is that the government is not really promoting food production. It actually wants that farmers take up cash and market crops such as BT cotton, Tomato and Soyabean along with Jatropha for meeting special consumer class needs of diesel. This will be economically profitable for the government. At the same time, at a policy level, the government is agreeing to Contract Farming (anubandh kheti) in the production of food, vegetables and fruits. Private companies are considering entry into the farming sector. The two issues are linked to each other. The farmer should earn money and then go to the market to buy grains. But perhaps it will be a catastrophe to forget the truth that we are trying to break down food security and the production cycle to increase the flow of money in the market.
Increase in the state’s population has been accompanied by an increase in the need for food, but the food production is going down. Since 1960-61 the food production in Madhya Pradesh is constantly falling within the total production. Whereas the food production in 1960-61 was 63.6 % of the total farm produce, it has come down to 48.4 % at present. During the same period non-food products have gone up from 14.3% to 27.9%. Within grains there has been a big fall in the production of wheat and maize (bajra). And the production of soyabean that was zero percent in 1960-61 has gone up to 17.6 % of the food crop in 2002-03. It essentially shows that farmers have no possible support from the State for duo-protection, protection of farmers and the agro-economy. Now it has been decided that State will provided low interest loans (@7%) as shown in various publicity hoardings but the system is not ready to permit them to implement such promises.
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