Is Indian Farmer - Karna, Sacrificing Warrior?- External factors influencing the farmers present situation
Is
Indian Farmer - Karna, Sacrificing Warrior?- External factors influencing the farmers present situation
It is not utterly butterly great tasting
buttery spread. Unfortunately it is utterly bitterly catch 22 situation the Indian farmer is in.
With families shifting to towns in search of education, the family labour
component including the farmer has come down drastically. This results into increased
cost of production, low productivity & inconsistent quality of produce,
resulting in lower realization.
With incomes not matching with expenditure,
both for Agriculture & running the family, many of the farmers are getting
into debt trap. Gold loans, crop loans, Baniya loans, crop advances,
input loans what not, they are
desperate. Certainly this was not the situation of farmers till early 90s.
CASE STUDY:
I come from a family owned two acres of
land. We are two siblings studied in village school till 10th standard, my
brother did graduation in nearby town and I did my engineering from
Coimbatore & Management from Anand, Gujarat. I was reluctant go for
higher education, fearing the family financial position. What I am today is
because of my father's vision (He had no formal education).
He was very prompt in meeting my financial
needs and had surplus to extend our holding from two to seven acres, by the
time I completed PGDRM.
It was possible with his vision. Small
extent of Betel leaves & Banana plantations, Milch animals for regular
income. Paddy &Pulses to ensure food security and Turmeric, Sugarcane as
cash crops. The portfolio extend to 5 acres lease land.
Hard
working family, collective farming operations, consistent water supply from
tube well, Low input costs are major reasons for his success. As far as I
know he was never exposed to debit including the banking.
He had no bad habits, except occasional
Cigar. Highly respected for his hard work, collective action and particularly
for providing me with quality education. Local politicians had high regards
for him, because he never asked them for favors.
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This was the case with most of the farmers of
older generation. With passing of time,
lot of improvements in quality of life of farmers are expected.
But why he is pushed
into present confused situation? Whom to blame?
Corporate Education, Corporate Healthcare,
Many fold increase in seed cost, False prestige due to peer pressure & so
on - Can we blame these causes?
IS IT NOT THE
GOVERNMENT & GOVERNANCE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CAUSES?
WHY SHOULD FARMER
SUFFER FOR THE PROBLEM HE WAS PUSHED INTO?
INTELLECTUALS,
POLICY MAKERS WAKE UP. FIND WORKABLE SOLUTIONS TO THIS COMPLEX PROBLEM AND SAVE
OUR NATION FROM EMBARRASSMENT OF FARMER SUICIDES?
BGR - +919866889246
grbonthu@gmail.com
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