India Budget

Indian Agriculture, Farmer and The Budget 2007

India and its farmers

2007 Budget is almost ready and undergoing final touches on the FM’s anvil, the following are some untraditional ideas about a budget that will make the profession of agriculture viable and beneficial to all who are engaged in the job as well as all who consume the products out of agriculture. As we all know Indian farmers are not doing well and for a steady income however small it will be he will quit the farming and go leaving the land which so far gave him only cups of woes and marginalized him far from the developed world.

Farmer v/s consumer

The interest of a farmer should not be against the interest of the end user and the prosperity of the end user should never stand against the welfare of the farmer. At present the governments in the greed for caching votes is in search of quick-fix solutions by disbursing more and more bank loans to farmers. Loans are no solutions to the problems as they only push the poor farmer in to more and more debts – he is already immersed in debt. Writing off of loans is a bad precedent only to be a drain of public wealth.

A rotten machinery

There are a lot of government officials employed for the welfare of the farmers and the output of all these machineries are virtual nothing. They are good only for expending the allocations made for agriculture. The farmers are emotionally attached to their land however in-fertile it is, hence asking them to part with the ownership of this land for better style of living is not practical in the Indian background.

The facts, problems and solutions.

Ownership

The ownership being left to them why the management of the farms to be left to some efficient corporates, let us think of the pros and cons of such a radical action.

Money, money and more money

Good agricultural practices involving latest technologies require a lot of money and Indian farmers do not have that kind of money at their disposal neither are they equipped to deal that much cash. The best thing they know to spend money is to see their daughters married off in grandeur, buy some consumer items like TV, fridge, car etc or building a palace like residence.

Management

Managing farms (machineries, fertilizing, using of pesticides, engaging laborers etc) require cutting edge skills. Expecting poor illiterate Indian farmers doing all these with panache is nothing but wish full thinking.

Value addition and storage

Our farmer’s knowledge about value addition is a big zero, hence they sell it as harvested

And get the least value for their produce. Inventory control of machineries and scientific storage of produce require good knowledge and large amount of capital, which Indian farmers have never had it enough.

Marketing

Marketing of products is a high-skilled activity which calls for technical knowledge, marketing skills, and bargaining power, in this point how many Indian farmers score pass-mark? The bank managers knocking their doors for repayment, force them for distress sales.

Ownership v/s Management

Suppose on a trial basis government select the worst affected agricultural area (Vidarbha in Maharashtra for example where farmer-suicide is a common event) and invite tenders from good Indian corporates for managing farms in Vidarbha and a model agreement is reached with the entity which offers the best conditions for the farmers who own the lands (The ownership in no way is transferred to the company).

A transparent agreement.

When the complete process is transparent there will be no loop-hole for false accusations and as the company which offers the best to the farmers for the lowest rate wins, why should there be any complaints from any corner, if necessary changes have to be made in the laws, why can’t that be done? If not for the people why should be there a law making body and so many members who waste a lot of money?

No labor outsourcing!!!

All the laborers required must be met from local people as per the agreement, this will generate jobs and steady income to the farmers and through best agricultural practices the company also will stand to gain. If farming can be done in developed nations, it can be done here with one tenth of the cost and our farmers will not have to commit suicide and will not be forced to leave the profession leaving their land barren as it is done in Kerala.

Subsidy if any? No compensated.

In case any subsidy has to be paid to lure the companies? Most probably it will not have to pay for as modern farming is a profitable proposition and corporates will compete for the entry in to the new vista that has opened before them. Even if some subsidy has to be paid it will be compensated by the great savings in keeping a large army of agricultural officers without much use.

Walk out or stay

Suppose this experiment succeeds, the entire India will undergo a change and the idea will close the chapter of debt-ridden farmers from this land for ever, they will be getting double benefits one lease of the land and two the monthly wages for doing work for a reputed firm which pay them regularly. After the experiment for limited period the farmer gets back his land and he can lease it out to any firm for the terms and condition he can agree for his good.

Government only a facilitator

No permanent officials are required as government is only a facilitator, initial directions framing of laws and deputation of a top local officer as a mediator alone is required and farmers associations also can be a party for the transparency of the deal and better and efficient implementation, that is all for the government, it being not a good thing to be entrusted with day to day affairs of anything as corrupt officials will jump in to make a quick buck out of the sweat of the farmers.

Starving on a mine of gold

Illiteracy and ignorance of the farmers on the one side, a government-machinery devoid of any sympathy or ingenuity on the other side has so far left our farmers sleep with empty stomach on the treasure trove that their land actually is as the Arabs starved and toiled on the oil-treasure a century back. There must be someone to show them the actual value of the land they possess.

60 years went waste!!!

India got independence sixty years back but our farmers live in the chains of debt and tyranny of money lenders, what a shame to the government that rules! Discovering a new slogan for an election was what the politicians did so far.

An idea of the time

But Indian President and even Prime minister are not professional politicians for the fortune of the nation. It is hoped at least they may think about a radical change in the Indian farming. Shouting slogans like “Garibi Hatao” (ward off poverty) from roof-top was what the previous ones did. Industrializing agriculture is an idea the time of which has come. If the face of Indian industry has been changed by our entrepreneurs they can change the face of our farming also.

China India

China v/s India – The Price of Democracy ???

Liberation from whom?

After liberating itself from the clutches of Chairman Mao Zedong China was virtually flying to progress and prosperity, alas India had no Mao from whom it could be liberated as it was already liberated from the British and was at the cross roads of history getting ready for “a tryst with destiny” in the words of India’s first Prime Minister. Alas! a tryst with destiny it was not, a stagnation of destiny it turned out to be.

Poverty stricken, a status symbol !!!

It was the misfortune of India that poverty being signified as a symbol of greatness and affluence as a sin. Here people vie to be included in the “below poverty line” (BPL) status. Industries here try its level best to be as tiny as possible as big industries are frowned upon and punished by the so called “proletarian” governments. These small industries remain as a perpetual burden to the people and the nation as they never upgrade their technology or management skills, and keep their reputation of tax compliance to pitiable levels.

A dream team, but hands-tied

When the immediate neighbor China welcome multinationals with high technology and top management skills and reap rich harvests of prosperity, what makes India shy going global remains hard to understand. Prime Minister Manmohansingh, President APJ Abdulkalam, and Finance Minister Chidambaram make a dream team that can make any other nation jealous, but with the supports and threats of the left have tied the hands of these gentlemen to such a level they are forced to act and speak like hard core communists doing much harm to the progress of this nation. When China could lift its millions away from penury, it seems India’s left likes them to be in the “BPL” status for ever (progress may shrink their rank of havenots!).

Monolith v/s “heterolith”

When China is a monolithic state with one religion, language and culture, India remains Just the opposite, it is multilingual, multi religious, and multi everything. The game leaders play in an immature democracy harping language and caste is something unheard of in China.

A “casteist” government

Ending of poverty must be the prime target of the government which rules a nation with about 50% population living just hand to mouth existence. But winning next election seems to be the sole aim of the dream team. What else would be in the mind of the rulers who frequently talk about the caste details of the staff working for the corporate entities? China has a great relief as its government can rule freely without resorting to such low class moves as next election is not a concern for them.

Education, education and education

The backwardness in the rural areas can be solved only by education and education alone. The present state of government schools and the curriculum followed is not fit to produce employable population. Good private schools are located in towns and the fee they charge is unaffordable to BPLs (people of Below Poverty Line group). What our policy makers have done to address this problem is little nothing. Allowing rural students to study in good schools by granting scholarships have not entered in the heads of our strategists (It would be thrice cheaper than producing “obsolete scholars” with illiterate school masters” as it is done today.

Water! Water! Everywhere, nor any drop to drink!

When China has recognized the importance of English it was not shy to “import” teachers from Britain so that its students could learn good English. Politicians and some obscurantist elements still see English as a vestige of old British Empire and hence do nothing to improve the standard of English-teaching at the schools. As a result majority of the population remains unemployable when some sectors which are badly indeed of qualified staff. When BPO firms are toiling to meet man-power shortage, shipping services are pleading for permission to engage foreign staff to run their fleet. In a sea of unemployed they remain thirsty.

Blind leading the blind

How students with quality can be churned out of a school which is manned by faculty who are incapable of writing or speaking good language. Barring an elite few living in the towns and who can afford costly education, graduates who pass out remain unskilled and unfit for good jobs. What these governments have done to enable poor villagers to access quality education. The government which is ignorant of the value of real education is actually un-educating students! Leaving poor people to the mercy of government schools and destroying the future of the village children is not a credit to any government.

More and more loans

It is widely believed that giving more loans to farmers will increase the yield and the “wise” ministers and activists are arguing for allocating for more and more funds to the farmers. All the money ends up as dowry payments to their daughters’ marriage or acquiring luxury goods of no productive purpose. It is natural that these loans end up as NPAs (non-performing assets – a banker’s jargon). If forced to repay the loan the farmers may commit suicide, even now farmers are well-known for their death wish. An illiterate farmer cannot be expected to be much better either.

Corporatise it !!!

When corporates are ready to grab any opportunity that comes their way, why this cumbersome job of agriculture be left to the poor farmers who have no knowledge on modern farming or modern technologies? How a farmer who finds it hard to find both ends meet can invest heavily in agriculture? The corporates will and can pay more to the farmers than what they earn at present by managing their farms themselves.

A billion dollar question

The corporatisation of agriculture is accused as a cover for land grabbing is the politician’s argument, by framing effective laws it can simply be done by not changing ownership of the land. Through better agricultural management, capital inputs and farming techniques, the face of Indian agriculture will see dramatic changes. Will our politicians listen is the billion dollar question. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan! (victory to the soldier and victory to the farmer!)