Farmers’ voices: the state of agriculture
Ramakant Yadav
, Allahabad districtI am a natural farmer and practice cow-based natural farming. We have seen that chemical farming is very expensive and recently water has been scarce in our area. Natural farming has given us very good results.
Narendra Singh Parma, Jhansi
Earlier my family used to be traditional farmers. When I did not get any job I also turned towards farming. I attended many meetings where new seeds and fertilizers were introduced. In the last two-three years, we started rice farming. But, of late, prices have fallen and now there is a drought.
Vijay Singh, Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh
In our region, wheat is the main crop along with mustard. We grow other oil seeds and lentils also. Last year has been very difficult; first because of frost and later because of the drought.
Vijendra, NOIDA
In our area, land is being acquired. You may know about this from the news. In my village Sadhopur, 75 per cent of the people are small farmers. 400 families are landless. Wheat is grown for our own consumption and the hay is used for fodder. Rice is grown for the market. The cost of rice from our calculations last year was Rs 1700 per quintal while the Minimum Support Price was Rs 1400/qtl. On the other hand, the out of pocket expenses, such as on health have increased. For instance, to get platelet tests done for dengue, hospitals charge as much as 10,500 rupees. If you are admitted, then the minimum expenditure is 20-30 thousand rupees. This cannot come from agriculture. So people take loans at 3% per month interest. Since government services are non-functional and hospitals lack infrastructure, so the farmer just about subsists.
Now when acquisition happens, the rate paid to us by the government is Rs 850 per square metre. The allotment of the same (to industry) is done at Rs 23000 per square metre by the development authority. The builder in turn charges upto Rs 50,000/sq metre. Once the area is notified, no land can be transacted in the area.
Now after taking this money, since most farmers do not have any other skills, some buy cars and other expensive items, and some get into trade. Many wheeler-dealers fool the farmers and cheat them out of their money, promising one thing or the other.
When you think of NOIDA, you will not think of poor people there, but close to 85 per cent of the people are working as contract workers. Companies will not hire local youth fearing unionism. The government has not opened any inter-college for villagers who have lost land; nor do they provide any health facilities. I myself come from a family of land losers. There is a deep feeling of alienation among us. For example, we have been sitting here from the morning and since we do not understand English, so we felt out of place.
There are some six development authorities working in the NOIDA area whose only job is to buy land from farmers and sell to builders, but they do not do anything for the benefit of land losers.
Finally, I also have a few questions about these kinds of gatherings: (a) How many agricultural scientists themselves do farming? (b) How many small farmers speak English?
This is another reason for why we feel alienated. One of the reasons for youth to be involved in crime and communal incidents is because upper caste youth feel ashamed to work as contract workers and thus get easily mobilized around crime and communal issues. Unless such issues are discussed in conferences like this one, this will keep on happening.
Rajeev Chandel, Allahabad
After Columbus, just as Europe plundered land, land is being grabbed in UP. Earlier the kingdoms were financed by agricultural tax, so they never completely destroyed agriculture. But now people are propagating a model where the symbols of progress are the Metro, Agra Expressway etc. These are the new symbols of their politics – Metro is their symbol of politics. When the BSP was in power, it had elephants as its symbol. The party spent over Rs 10,000 crore on that. Currently, in UP, 33 coal power plants are being built and land is being acquired for that. Imagine the impact on the climate because of these 33 coal-based power plants. We are opposing three of these projects. The first of these will be commissioned in a few months. These plants will draw water from the Ganga and Tons rivers and get coal from Jharkhand. The politicians think that more power consumption means more development. We are demanding development of alternative forms of power like solar power.
Agriculture is being neglected and farmers are cultivating out of compulsion. The next generation will leave it the day they get jobs in factories. We ourselves cannot imagine the future of agriculture – who will be the farmers of the future?
DISCUSSION SESSION
Q: I would like to know that in the context of NOIDA, if 85% are contract workers, is poverty in India really decreasing?
Q: Now that rice is being cultivated in UP, is female labour participation increasing in UP agriculture?
Q: My question is to Mr Chandel – please tell us more about the opposition to these coal-based power plants. Also if the coal is coming from Jharkhand, then do you have any linkages with groups protesting against coal mining in Jharkhand? In the context of land acquisition – is it that farmers don’t want land to be acquired at all or is it that they want the correct/market price for their land?
Vijendra: I think poverty is increasing. Our organization has helped many families by providing food, yet many deaths have occurred because of hunger. In my own family, at least one death can definitely be attributed to hunger. In my region, rice is being cultivated for the last 15 years. But, both male and female labour from the households have a much lower role to play {in its cultivation}. Farming is now done on contract.
The movement against land acquisition is about right money for land and not about protecting agriculture. There is very little support for education which has become so expensive and the same is the story in health. All kinds of expenditures are rising in NOIDA and there is no government support. This is a game of money and we are the losers in it. Crimes are increasing. There have been several cases of murder within families since one member did not want to sell and the others wanted to sell the land.
Chandel: When a company wants to acquire land, no farmer is consulted by the government. All surveys are done without any information being given to farmers. Then a notice is issued in newspapers about the acquisition and objections are invited from farmers. Farmers are mostly powerless against this process. There are public relations companies that spin rosy stories and convince farmers. Those who continue to oppose are coerced using police powers. So the law is designed and loaded against farmers who want to oppose acquisition. I have cases of sedition against me. I am even not allowed to enter my district.
A coal power plant needs lot of water. Ever since emissions have become a problem internationally, super-thermal coal plants are being built which waste even more water. We are in touch with our comrades opposing Coal India plants in Jharkhand and many cases are pending in front of the National Green Tribunal. These struggles are ongoing and if things continue like this then some day the Supreme Court will have to step in to control coal based plants, if they are interested in doing anything significant about pollution and environment. We ourselves have filed several petitions in the High Court and the National Green Tribunal.
Narendra: In our region, rice was not cultivated earlier, but once rice farming was introduced, farmers were advised to make bunds to hold moisture for paddy. As paddy cultivation increased, more and more women were employed from within the household since costs would be very high if external labour was employed. Additionally, in our region, most labour – both male and female – comes from Bihar (Rs 1000 per bigha for transplanting) while some local labour is also employed.
Q: In your region, what is the perspective of farmers towards their future in agriculture? It is commonly being said that farmers are not interested in agriculture; is this true for your region also? In some areas farmers just do not want to give up their land, but in your area farmers are giving their consent to land being acquired if the offer is at the right price. Why is this difference arising?
Q: What is the nature of state-level policies in your region since agriculture is a state subject?
Q: I am from NABARD. The government runs so many programmes and schemes, are any of them reaching the farmers? What can be done to improve them?
Vijay: Some benefits are accruing. For example, we received subsidized seeds last year. The yield was good. But this time because of the drought, farmers are facing several problems and the subsidy was also withdrawn by the government without any notice or consultation.
Narendra: Farmers have to buy all their inputs at the prevailing market price, but the price of the produce is not in their control. We ourselves buy seeds at Rs 2700 per quintal, but the produce will only sell for Rs 1200-1400/qtl. Last year, because of the hailstorms, there was not even enough grain left for seeds, so we had to buy the seeds from the market. All the documentation for compensation for loss from hailstorms was done, and the patwari and other officials took all the details, but no money has come to us as yet.
Q: Did the increase in price of pulses help the farmer?
Vijay: No, because most of it (tur dal) came from outside.
Vijendra: The struggle for land acquisition differs from region to region. In Delhi, it is about the right price for land. Elsewhere, farmers may not want to give their land at all.
The credit policies of NABARD are biased towards larger farmers. Most of the schemes are not accessible to small farmers.
Chandel: How policies affect and ruin farmers is not widely known among farmers. A few years back under the UPA, basmati rice was selling at Rs. 4200/quintal. Then the government changed and policies also changed. At the time, the prices had gone up because of exports to Arab countries. The new government at the Centre banned the exports and now the same basmati rice is selling at Rs 1400/qtl.
Now let’s see policies in UP. Between 2002-07, the government had said that any trader buying at below MSP would be booked under a non-bailable section of the law. Then the government changed and the minister who represented the trader lobby got this section annulled. Earlier in rice mills, out of 100 kg paddy bought by the miller, 55-58 kg of milled rice had to be given by the miller to the Food Corporation of India. The government increased this to 64 kg because the millers supported the opposition party. And so the mills closed down and farmers suffered.
Now take irrigation. The state budget is between Rs 100-200 crore! But, no new irrigation work or fresh maintenance of existing canal networks has been financed. So the capitalist system is being implanted here while agriculture is being uprooted. And all of this is by way of policies.
Q: Ramakantji, what were the initial obstacles you faced while initiating natural farming? What are the difficulties in organizing farmers for these kind of demands?
Q: Do any political parties support your struggles? Why are traders so well organized as compared to farmers?
Q: Between eastern and western UP, is there more divergence or convergence? Western UP once saw strong farmer movements.
Ramakant: Initially it was difficult. Even my own family opposed me when I wanted to shift to natural farming. But I persisted and now, once the results were seen, people are slowly taking up natural farming.
Narendra: Earlier we cultivated cane in our region, but the mill closed down and from then our problems started. Initially, there was some resistance and opposition to the closing down of the sugar mill, but soon the resistance disintegrated.
Vijendra: In western UP, because of Charan Singh, land reform benefitted Jats and Gujjars, but not the the other people. The later farmer movements were led by and benefitted the same set of castes. Other castes have not risen. Moreover, the movement also declined. So the agrarian movements in western UP have weaked because of casteism - those who benefitted earlier don’t allow other castes to progress.
Discussant: Farmers are not getting a fair price from either the market or the state. Take for instance in paddy, the actual cost of cultivation (including transactions costs) is higher than MSP! On top of that, because of the lack of appropriate health facilities, farmers are forced to spend large sums for which they have to borrow. There is a need to innovate at the farm level to move away from this chemical based agriculture.
Vijendra: To distribute Rs 5500 as compensation, a programme was organized where all district officials and leaders came and Rs 10,000 was spent on the tent etc. So these games are played every day.
Q: Do you think that a small farmer family can survive just on agricultural income even if the price issues are resolved? Do farmers want to move out of agriculture because of these reasons? Given how much farm yard manure would be required if we move towards organic farming in a major way, do you think it is possible at this point?
Q: If a centralized policy is replaced by the area approach at the block level, where the investment etc are planned at the block level with the consultation of representative institutions, and instead of increasing subsidies on fertilizers and so on, which do not benefit farmers at all, would that not be a good alternative?
Q: In your area, how is MGNREGA functioning? What do you think of its impact on farmers in your area?
Narendra: When Modiji came to power the slogan was ‘go to the village’. I don’t know if they meant ‘go to village to buy farmland’. Only the number of liquor shops have increased in our villages. And we know that the government won’t ban liquor.
Vijendra: Block level planning can work, as the example of Amul clearly shows. But I think that the times have changed since 1991 because now the government thinks of profits and not welfare. Though cooperatives have been discouraged, farmers can still come together to say, build a godown but for this the government will have to help.
If education, health and work are supported by the government, then this will be beneficial for all small holders. If education and health are common needs and government provided these facilities then small holders will benefit.
Ramakant: For small farmers, only natural farming will work in terms of costs involved. This has to be along cow-preservation. As far as yield is concerned, I have been doing natural farming on five bighas and my sugarcane weighs more than in nearby farms.
Chandel: In elections there is a new trend of booth management. Say in an assembly constituency there are 250 booths of which if one wins 180 booths then the constituency can be won. Instead of fighting elections on issues, new managers are more keen to find out who can be swung by alcohol and so on and how many votes are controlled by whom.
When MGNREGA was first introduced, wages increased to Rs 100 per day earlier. Now they are Rs 250 per day, i.e. Rs 7500 per month. Maybe this is why the rich people and industrialists have been complaining that cheap labour has disappeared and MGNREGA should be rolled back.
* Farmers: Vijendra, Ramakant Yadav, Narendra Singh Parma, Vijay Singh.
** Transcription from Hindi: Siddharth Joshi.