Farming must be treated as a market-based enterprise and made viable on its own terms
The week-long farmers’ march which reached Mumbai earlier this month, on the anniversary of Gandhi’s Dandi March of 1930, was unprecedented in many ways. It was mostly silent and disciplined, mostly leaderless, non-disruptive and non-violent, and well organised. It received the sympathy of middle class city dwellers, food and water from bystanders, free medical services from volunteer doctors, and also bandwagon support of all political parties from the left to the right.
Beyond lip service
Indeed, even the Chief Minister of Maharashtra said he supported the cause (not the march), but as head of government his job was to address their issues, not to agitate. The most remarkable thing about the march was that it was successful. The State government agreed to all the demands, including pending transfer of forest land to Adivasis, expanding the scope of the loan waiver and ensuring higher prices for farm produce. There was ceremonial signing of acceptance of the demands, although the Chief Minister said that he had tried to dissuade the farmers from undertaking the gruelling 200 km march itself.
The farmers, however, were determined to march to make a point, and to ensure that they received firm (signed) and publicly visible commitment, rather than assurances and lip service.
Recurrent farmers’ agitations in the last few years across the nation lead us to ask: why have we come to this pass, that only extreme distress and street protests alert us to the deep and chronic problems of agriculture? Not all agitations have been peaceful or successful. Last year, in Haryana and Rajasthan they tried to block highways which led to traffic chaos. In Madhya Pradesh, in Mandsaur district, the protest turned violent, led to police firing and deaths of farmers. The electoral outcome in Gujarat too was a wake-up call (if any was needed) to the ruling party to pay attention to rural and agrarian distress.
It is not as if governments of the day have not paid attention. Over the years and decades, there have been numerous committees, reports and commissions with extensively researched policy recommendations. Yet farming is a story of recurring distress. This implies that the recommendations are not working and need a paradigm change, or there is a huge gap in their implementation — or a bit of both. The most comprehensive recent blueprint for reforms and rehabilitation of the farm sector is the report of the National Commission on Farmers, chaired by M.S. Swaminathan. That report is already over 10 years old. Several of its ideas are yet to be implemented. For instance, decentralising public procurement of food grain to the lowest level possible, and setting up of grain banks at the district level.
What is the priority?
The “farm problem” of India is a huge mountain, but it is surmountable. The biggest priority is to reduce the workforce which depends on agriculture for its livelihood. There is considerable underemployment and low productivitybut farmers are unable to exit to other livelihood options. This points to the obvious conclusion, that the solution to the farm crisis lies largely outside the farm sector. If job opportunities abound elsewhere, then we should see an exodus out of farming. That points to the urgency of accelerating industrial growth and improving the ease of doing business.
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