Despite knowing the problem, both the state and central governments have failed to address the crisis that UP’s potato farmers are facing.
Devi Singh (46) grows potatoes in the rabi season in Saras, a village of 1,200 people in Mathura, part of Uttar Pradesh’s potato belt. In 2017, he suffered massive losses as the price of potatoes in the wholesale market fell well below the cost of production. Last Thursday, he sat glued to the television screen at the village tea stall listening to Arun Jaitley as the finance minister announced the 2018 Union Budget. “Aalu kisanon ki awaz Dilli tak pahonchi thi is bar. To humein yakeen tha ki vitt mantri humein kuch raahat denge (This time the voice of potato farmers had reached Delhi. Therefore, we were sure that the finance minister will grant us some relief),” said Singh.
However, Singh was left disappointed when Jaitley’s speech ended. “Kuch bhi nahi kiya humare liye. Bade-bade wade karke chhod diya. Humara jo nuksan hua hai uski bharpayi ka koi zikr nahi. Yahaan aalu kisan barbaad hue ja raha hain aur kisi ko parwah nahi hai (Nothing has been done for us. Only big promises have been made, nothing else. There was no mention of compensating us for the losses that we have incurred. Potato farmers are being ruined and nobody cares),” he said.
Singh was not too impressed by Jaitley’s announcement of ‘Operation Green’ to deal with the problems faced by potato, onion and tomato growers. Outlining that “these perishable commodities pose a challenge in connecting farmers and consumers in a manner that satisfies both”, the finance minister announced an allocation of Rs 500 crore for ‘Operation Green’ that “shall promote Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management”.
“Jab ho jaye tab batana. Abhi to ghoshna hui hai, fir committee baithegi, fir plan banega, fir kayi saal bad kuch hoga. Humara jo nuksaan abhi ho raha hai uska kya? (Tell me when it happens. Right now it has been announced, then a committee will be formed, then a plan will be made, then after many years something will happen. But what about the losses that we are incurring right now?)” asked Singh.
Ashok Gulati, an agriculture economist, believes that Operation Green is a step in the right direction. “This has been the need for a long time. So the fact that they have announced this is a step in the right direction. However, we have to wait and see what the final blueprint of the scheme is. The plan has to come. It will take time, no doubt. Right now, it’s only initial seed money,” Gulati told The Wire.
Agricultural policy expert Devinder Sharma believes that enough has not been done for horticulture crops. “First, they have not spelt out anything. They first have to come up with a plan. No one knows how long that will take. Then, the allocation of Rs 500 crore is nowhere close to being enough. This year, in Punjab alone, farmers had tothrow away Rs 250 crore worth of potatoes. Similarly, this has happened in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and several other states. So it’s not a small problem that can be taken care of by a meagre allocation of Rs 500 crore,” Sharma said.
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