Hoshangabad, Dec 3 (ANI): The statistics for farmer suicides in India are as striking as they are shameful. One farmer suicide every 30 minutes in 2009, screamed a NYU School of Law report earlier this year. If one accepts that many suicides also go unreported, even this shocking statistics is perhaps an under-estimation. Why, then, would another three suicides, this time in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad District, be newsworthy?or one, the suicides took place during the peak festive season. At a time when people across India were celebrating and wishing each other a prosperous and joyous season, two farmers committed suicide in October, during the early days of the harvesting season. For another, this took place in a district considered to be one of the most prosperous and blessed districts in the state, irrigated richly due to the Tava Project.
Damage to the harvest of soybean - and ultimately their dreams - led the broken farmers to take this extreme step. Hoshangabad was the first district to start producing soybean, bringing prosperity to the initially skeptical farmers. Things worsened rapidly thereafter, with the agrarian crisis escalating in this Narmada bathed region, bringing it at par with Vidarbha and Andhra Pradesh, where farmers die every single day.
On 11th October, Kamal Gaud, 32, of Nanpa village, Dolaria Tahsil, ended his life by consuming sulfas pills. Reason: his 17 acres of land had only produced 15 quintals of soybean; less than a quintal per acre. The family was under a huge government loan of Rs.3,10,000 with Rs. 2,45,000 borrowed from the State Bank of India on Kisan Credit Card and the remaining Rs.65,000 from Nanpa Grameen Sakh Sahkari Sanstha.
The day after this incident, Ramsingh Rajput, 62, a veteran farmer from Ratwada village in the same Tehsil, chose a more excruciating way to end his life - he set himself ablaze after pouring kerosene on himself. His reason: three acres of Ram's land produced a mere quintal of soybean.
The loan, however, was acquired from friends and relatives and not the government. To play down the magnanimity of this suicide, the district administration claimed in its report that Ram was suffering from mental illness.
The claim was fiercely rejected by Ram's neighbors and relatives.
Mishrilal Beda, 54, a farmer from Chapadgrahan Village of Sivni Malva Tahsil, carried a debt of Rs 50, 000. He did not have enough money to pay the laborers who worked on the three acres of land he owned, yielding only two quintal of Soybean. Before giving up, he tried to borrow money from villagers and tide over the immediate crisis but nothing worked out. Unable to cope, Beda too ended the anguish by swallowing sulfas pills.
These farmers hailed from the prosperous agricultural sect and belonged to the small and medium category of farmers. Most of the farmers of the region planted soybean which was destroyed by excessive rain. Four other farmers hailing from the eastern part of Bankhedi, Pipriya and Suhagpur Tahsils also ended their lives.
In recent years, Soybean crops have been badly hit with productivity showing a visible decline. Improved varieties have not helped: the average production of Soybean this year, at 29 kg to 2 quintal per acre, presents a shocking contrast to the 1994 statistics of 18 quintals per hectare. If farmers are to be believed, then one type of soybean does not last for more than 3-4 years as it loses its capability to germinate.
Soy was first introduced to Europe in the early 18th century and to British colonies in North America in 1765, where it was first grown for hay. In India, Soybean was first introduced in the district of Hoshangabad thirty years ago, in the hope that it would cover the protein deficit that characterized Indian food.
Soon after its production, pomace, providing high protein value, was exported while the oil was consumed here. As an outcome, farmers chose not to grow traditional crops - pulses and oilseeds. Here the production of crops of corn, millet, tuar, local paddy, green gram, urad and groundnut either dropped drastically or simply disappeared.
This crisis became severe when India accepted the open market policy in 1995 under World Trade Organisation. Under this, import of agricultural goods was permitted at reduced tax. This led to the import of edible oil as production of Soybean requires huge investments. The change in police made the farmers suffer huge losses.
Seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides required during the cultivation of Soybean are exorbitantly expensive, as is mechanized farming. This takes the cost even higher. Plantation of Soybean is benefitting several foreign companies who have earned huge profits from the pockets of Indian farmers .
Horrifying statistics provided by National Crime Record bureau show that 8298 farmers committed suicide during 2004-2009 in Madhya Pradesh alone. This translates to four farmers committing suicide every day. Even so, the issue is not covered adequately by the mainstream media, busy as it is with its "24*7" sensational news reporting.
The family members of the deceased farmers have received little help from the Government. Those who feed the nation are dying of hunger. The only ray of hope for such families is crop insurance. The previous National Crop Insurance Plan benefitted the farmers only for the first few years of its inception. This year, a weather-based crop insurance plan was implemented under which the soybean plantation insurance premium was deducted for 49,175 farmers. But, after losses were incurred, the amount repaid was far below even the premium paid.
Is there any alternative? Farmers are in a fix. Investment cost has increased and production is decreasing. Changing climatic conditions have led to irregular monsoons, which adversely affects the crop. Pests have always been a problem in the survival of the crops. To battle all this, the Government of Madhya Pradesh has formed an organic policy to encourage organic farming. The need of alternative farming is being felt greatly. Some people are testing these alternatives in Hoshangabad district.
Not many years ago, our farmers used to work in fields with dung as fertilizer, local seeds and ox for ploughing. They have not completely forgotten the mix cultivation of wheat and channa. New experiments and novel techniques like Madagascar could be used to increase the produces. Jawar could be replaced with Soyabean as an experiment. Local seeds and dung fertilizers is suitable for local conditions, which has been suggested by agricultural scientists.
We can only progress if our agricultural industry stays in sync with the other development strategies. This requires few effective policies instead of several ineffective ones. Our ministers should listen to the cries of rural agricultural land and not what they assume is correct. The faith of the farmers in the government policies should be given a new chance, a new direction.
The Charkha Development Communication Network feels that this is the only way to put an end to the tragic agitation. An attack on the Agriculture Minister may not yield dividends, as was evident a few weeks ago, but it certainly has a sharper 'sting' than yet another farmer suicide By Baba Mayaram (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
