The killings during the protest in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh have once again brought the plight of farmers to the fore. Off and on, farmers' deaths have been making headlines for a short time before slowly fading into the deeper layers of people's memory. Each time, the news highlight the farmers' agony and disappear without the Governments finding any solution to the problem.
After all, is it too much that the farmers are protesting for? They are demanding Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and loan waivers among other things that are totally justified. The big question is, ' Why is it so difficult to facilitate the farmers who are producing essential commodities for the whole nation?' Their produce is essential for living and not a luxury item like a car or a television.
Although, the agricultural produce has a huge market in our country with a population of 1.2 billion, yet the Governments have failed to ensure that the farmers receive their remunerative prices. The conventional marketing system has been in place since decades and is primarily responsible for the pain that the farmers are going through, leading them to take even the extreme step of ending their lives at times.
The archaic system forces them to sell their produce at abysmally low prices, leaving them with only a fraction of the amount finally paid by the consumer. As a result, the farmers remain entwined in the vicious circle of debt throughout life.This is happening because the successive Governments have been partial to the industry and services and have largely ignored the agricultural sector that engages almost 60 per cent of Indian families as an occupation.
It is hard to assimilate the fact the manufacturing sector and the big companies have a bigger reach in the remotest ares of the country with their goods selling at a price of their choice. This is contrary to the farmers struggling to obtain even the basic price for their produce in most of the states.
ITC and Hindustan Lever are two such companies that have a presence in over 10 million outlets across India. There is hardly a village in the entire nation that does not have access to Hindustan Lever soap or ITC cigarette. One may argue and say that the farmers' produce is perishable in nature and, hence, has a limited reach and viability whereas what these companies make is mostly non-perishable and, therefore, has a higher shelf life.
But contrary to this argument, what the farmers produce is consumed quickly by the people with the entire country depending on them on a daily basis.What the agricultural sector needs urgently is a system whereby basic requirements of the farmers like water for irrigation, advanced technology and a good distribution system are available to them without any glitches. This can be done by integrating the highly fragmented Mandis into a single unit and connecting them electronically so that a buyer located in any part of the country is able to place an order in a mandi in any state. Such a system was first initiated in Karnataka but unfortunately, the scheme fizzled out as the buyers usually prefer to physically inspect the goods for quality before placing the orders.
One way to obtain the desired quality of goods is by adopting advanced technology and innovative farm practices. The Genetically Modified (GM) seeds are one such step in this direction that have been increasingly accepted worldwide. It is necessary that unpredicted attention is given to the agricultural sector at the state levelas it is not solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture but the State Governments as well.
Viable alternatives and options need to be offered to the farmers in terms of High-Yielding Varieties of seeds, good irrigation faculties and a fool-proof distribution system. For instance, every state has thousands of Government facilities like police stations and chokies, Government-run schools, petrol pumps and many such establishments that have abundant space and can be utilised for storage and distribution purposes thereby ensuringa higher shelf life and uniform quality.
The failure of the State Governments to provide a productive environment for the farmers and the agriculture on the whole has been detrimental to the growth of the sector. The general apathy of the system towards the agrarian community needs to change so that the double-income farmer becomes a reality and agriculture actually transforms into a sunrise sector by 2022 as envisioned by the Prime Minister.
After all, is it too much that the farmers are protesting for? They are demanding Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and loan waivers among other things that are totally justified. The big question is, ' Why is it so difficult to facilitate the farmers who are producing essential commodities for the whole nation?' Their produce is essential for living and not a luxury item like a car or a television.
Although, the agricultural produce has a huge market in our country with a population of 1.2 billion, yet the Governments have failed to ensure that the farmers receive their remunerative prices. The conventional marketing system has been in place since decades and is primarily responsible for the pain that the farmers are going through, leading them to take even the extreme step of ending their lives at times.
The archaic system forces them to sell their produce at abysmally low prices, leaving them with only a fraction of the amount finally paid by the consumer. As a result, the farmers remain entwined in the vicious circle of debt throughout life.This is happening because the successive Governments have been partial to the industry and services and have largely ignored the agricultural sector that engages almost 60 per cent of Indian families as an occupation.
It is hard to assimilate the fact the manufacturing sector and the big companies have a bigger reach in the remotest ares of the country with their goods selling at a price of their choice. This is contrary to the farmers struggling to obtain even the basic price for their produce in most of the states.
ITC and Hindustan Lever are two such companies that have a presence in over 10 million outlets across India. There is hardly a village in the entire nation that does not have access to Hindustan Lever soap or ITC cigarette. One may argue and say that the farmers' produce is perishable in nature and, hence, has a limited reach and viability whereas what these companies make is mostly non-perishable and, therefore, has a higher shelf life.
But contrary to this argument, what the farmers produce is consumed quickly by the people with the entire country depending on them on a daily basis.What the agricultural sector needs urgently is a system whereby basic requirements of the farmers like water for irrigation, advanced technology and a good distribution system are available to them without any glitches. This can be done by integrating the highly fragmented Mandis into a single unit and connecting them electronically so that a buyer located in any part of the country is able to place an order in a mandi in any state. Such a system was first initiated in Karnataka but unfortunately, the scheme fizzled out as the buyers usually prefer to physically inspect the goods for quality before placing the orders.
One way to obtain the desired quality of goods is by adopting advanced technology and innovative farm practices. The Genetically Modified (GM) seeds are one such step in this direction that have been increasingly accepted worldwide. It is necessary that unpredicted attention is given to the agricultural sector at the state levelas it is not solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture but the State Governments as well.
Viable alternatives and options need to be offered to the farmers in terms of High-Yielding Varieties of seeds, good irrigation faculties and a fool-proof distribution system. For instance, every state has thousands of Government facilities like police stations and chokies, Government-run schools, petrol pumps and many such establishments that have abundant space and can be utilised for storage and distribution purposes thereby ensuringa higher shelf life and uniform quality.
The failure of the State Governments to provide a productive environment for the farmers and the agriculture on the whole has been detrimental to the growth of the sector. The general apathy of the system towards the agrarian community needs to change so that the double-income farmer becomes a reality and agriculture actually transforms into a sunrise sector by 2022 as envisioned by the Prime Minister.
Resource:http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/business/can-farm-produce--be--distributed-like-itc-cigarettes.html
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