Indian Farmers' plight

I am a farmer from Karnataka.

I state my views for your consideration on the recent surge of suicides by Farmers- no particular State of Union of India is considered. You may publish it if you find it worth.

Farm Economics

Global warming has brought in a change in climate. Vagaries of Monsoon in a tropical country like India compel us to continually change pattern of crop management periodically. Neo-classical agriculture has to incorporate multi crop pattern instead of today’s emphasis on low-effort/high-financial-yield cash crops like sugar cane. This is in the interest of sustainability of soil, water and farmer himself. Further, natural resource crunch is getting acute globally and will become critical in the near future of a decade  or so. Unless immediate steps are taken, yield per acre will continue to fall. Since farmer-community is a tradition bound society, habits die hard.

With progressive reduction in land holdings, the law of marginal returns has set in with no economies of scale to bank upon. Labour migration to urban area and paucity of family working hands are indeed resulting in to paucity of farm inputs.

Cities get electricity and water, two critical inputs for farming, on priority, good- no objection. But then, robbing the poor to give the rich is the Robinhood in reverse. If this is the model of economic development that we have chosen, then there is no need to cry over the farmers’ woes and plight.

Absence of options (biodiversity, multi-culture vs. mono-culture, natural resources) is frightening.  Afforestation with indigenous variety of trees has to be accorded top priority. Department of Social Afforestation is rendered conspicuous by absence due to legal hurdles and archaic implementation of the schemes. The food processing industry, which provides relief from ‘produce-perishability’, needs pumping in of appropriate technology with very little, or better, without the use of fossil fuel based energy.

Having no options is a ready recipe for poverty and misery.

Future looks bleak for the next generation of most farmer-families. They are disposing of the land and scouting for ‘greener pastures’ in urban setting (sic!) to come out of vicious economic cycle.

Farm Society

Due to the very nature of their activities, farmers are demographically, geographically located in relatively remote regions. The ubiquitous television and mobile phones, however, have opened up large image and information flows to these regions. The new imagery is fuelling desire and wants that were remote till now. Easy and cheap availability of transportation is making the trips to urban areas more frequent, adding fuel to frustration arising out of stark disparity. This has, obviously, led to increase in aspirations for life and style of what they see in person and view on electronic media.

The need to upgrade the living has become urgent and compulsive. Short term transient pleasures are dominant over long term lasting happiness.

The weddings and religious functions have to be performed with loans drawn from loan-sharks. Religious rituals in particular are ghastly polluters of nature and human mind. Easy availability of alcohol and rampant consumption are destroying family peace and budget. Lady of the house, the decisive factor in our culture, is vulnerable to both hedonism and spouse's debauchery. It is hard to find willing brides for grooms working in the farming communities- a side effect of abominable life.

The social milieu is stressful, status marginalized.

Rural environment

Education: Education imparted in rural areas is mediocre and superfluous, bearing no impact on the livelihood. Appropriate skills for local applications are overlooked which otherwise would bring in financial relief. The schools and colleges in rural setting are run as dilapidated factories of cheap and disposable input for urban life. What little literacy one's child acquires, is generally meant for seeking government jobs, preferably uniformed ones. Here too, the entry to these jobs has to be bought out-increasing the debt burden.  Due to changing mores of family and social values, there is no guarantee that the Farmer's government-employed son now will take care of him, his wife and the miniature Farm. 

The conflict in new and old generations of farmers is fracturing the filial bonds. The traditional wisdom is compromised.

The very education that is supposed to pull the farmer out of the quagmire is in fact sinking him. Individual's emotional quotient is waning.

Government role: These vulnerable, un-organised folks are then pitted against callous and inhuman Government and Semi government (Banks etc.) officials who are temporarily assigned to these areas. Some of these officials may be good but they are helpless since they make up a link in a chain of unscrupulous hierarchy of rural officials. The accountability of these officials for their misdeeds is nil after they are transferred. While subsidies are announced with fan fare, tragedy of these schemes is their lack of reach and inherent, interim nature of patchy alms. Farmers are accosted with antipathy instead of being assisted with empathy. This is against the wisdom that you do not dole out fish to a hungry man, instead teach him to fish- he will never die of hunger.

Market: The middle men as members of agriculture-produce supply chain comprise of ruthless opportunists. The farmers-to-consumers channel is but a dream. With money power, the middlemen dictate terms with impunity on farmers while manipulating government policies. State and Central Governments are helpless observers. On each occasion I took the farm produce to market I have been fed with mis-information by these people.

Media: The farmers' ordeal and misery get only adverse publicity in the media. The farmer-on-the-brink identifies his woes with peers. He gets no counselling, no inspirational speech, no motivational programme, no help, no guidance. He is left to fend for himself.

Long-term insecurity is, indeed, leading to hopeless situation. The farmer is besieged and future holds no dream for him and his family.

Measures suggested:

The income generation year around should be the mantra of neo-classical agriculture with emphasis on the following principles of

Knowledge & skill based farming techniques,

WE probably have higher proportion of doctorate holders in agricultural universities than in any other fields. What is the outcome? –more of farmers’ suicides?

The relevance and quality of research, delivery of knowledge is abjectly lacking.

Surely, information is not enough, it has to transform into wisdom for a robust and practical outcome. This pathetic nature of knowledge delivery mechanism must improve into widespread and comprehensive dissemination of data and processes. A Pune based Newspaper conglomerate is doing just this, though at a price- they also run a vernacular language daily solely for the benefit of farmers. A positive outcomes of farmers efforts, their success stories, women’s dominant role in panchayat samities is being shared and distributed. This does make inspirational reading.

Technology is not a panacea- in fact a new technology creates new problem areas.

Technology and its gadgets, marvels should be viewed as a circus tiger;- if trainee controls the tiger well it performs to his commands and obeys him, otherwise it will tear him to pieces. Farming community must take every new technology with a pinch of salt, with skepticism, but should never be scared of learning.

Modern skills have to fuse in with the traditional wisdom – bullock cart is an example. Instead of use of bullock cart with pneumatic tyre, a solid recycled rubber wheel (currently in use) can be further reinvented to carry higher load using local skills and material. The sandals that farmers wear need being looked into for appropriate design and material changes. A-bare-foot-veterinary Doctor is the dire need of the times where a cheap and prompt cattle and farm animal health care is needed.

Farmer interacting Façade: All the constituents/agencies interacting with Farmers would have to be specially trained to understand and respond to the complaints, problems and woes of the farming community as a whole and farmer as an individual. The lack of trust in the minds of the farmer has to be addressed to by appointing an elected member from the farming community interacting with the Government nodal agencies.

By holding the Government officers at Tehsil and village level accountable for farm output and farmer wellbeing with quantified and verifiable objectives, the 3-year tenure type posting can be made fruitful for the farmer.

In short special efforts are needed to sensitise the rural bureaucracy, banking and insurance sector and other agencies like middlemen etc.

Status to be accorded to moderation in wants,

The trickiest issue here is the Human aspirations – the difference between greed and need. The lady of the house can make the difference- her temperament, demands and value/belief system are the decisive factors for the well being of the family. Mother, wife, sister empowered with dignity of labour, set of family values and sense of moderation can bring about intended change in entire human personality and behavior.

The self esteem to be maintained in the adverse circumstances of inadequate modern material possessions is difficult. You need to be philosopher- the faculty only the lady of the house can provide.

Empowerment of Rural family even within the available limited resources can be made possible only if their attention is diverted from their wants of material possessions to more exalted role of provider, creator of wealth (easier said than done!). This is the job of social scientists to tackle.

In fact, human race can save itself from extinction with this one single measure.

Sharing of resources between urban and rural communities.

The image of farmer as provider is obscure as a result of globalization. The intermediaries, like branded food products/processors are visible and asserting..

However, if ecological sustainability of his actions can be brought to farmer’s attention, he has capacity to save the mankind and our home we lovingly call Rock-III from Sun and Blue planet etc. The role a farmer can play to increase environmental consciousness amongst the urban folks is significant. This can be tapped through agro-eco-tourism, increased partnership between educated Urban middle class and enlightened Elites- these classes may also transfer financial input in return of tax benefit or can become ‘visiting farmer’ with limited ownership. Fiscal policies aimed at fostering the co-operation between city dwelling senior citizens and farmers can be worked out. Sensitive youth from urban area may be given certain credits in their academics if they contribute time and verifiable efforts on farms.

Farmer must be given an identifiable social role of friend and mentor of Earth community.

Community farming- contiguity based,

The contiguity and uniformity of produce can be two criteria that can come handy when grouping the farmers in to community. This Group has to have socio-economic character like a self-help group. For example, farmers will pay for un-impeded electricity supply by contributing together in a group. A sense of belongingness is to be encouraged. Even crop insurance may be paid collectively. Water management may follow a schedule of time and quantity distribution with mutual agreement. Farm machinery sharing, currently a loose rental arrangement, can be made more formal with guidelines. Cattle and other farm animals can share a bare-foot-veterinary doctor

In such a case, Farmers Producers Company is a good tool but is complicated to initiate in to viable action

A rural bhishi (is there an English word for this?)-frankly i do not know how it works but am aware of its purpose- may be instituted with the help of local nationalized bank. This group may be given a quasi-legal status. When a farmer looks only at his miserly land holding he is despondent, but when he views a larger area of neighbourhood, he may find a ray of hope.

What it means is: one, weaving of Rural community together in to a more cohesive social unit and two, creating new economic development model with ecological consciousness.