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Friday, Feb 25, 2005

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Improving the farmers' lot

By G. Venkataramani

The first report of the National Commission on Farmers provides a blueprint for strengthening the agriculture sector.

THE NATIONAL Commission on Farmers has focussed on the "actionable and affordable" while formulating its action plan to "save farmers and farming." Its first report, submitted to the Union Agriculture Ministry at the end of December, adopted a "business plan approach" towards this end.

The report, titled "Serving Farmers and Saving Farming", has dealt in depth on various issues including the challenges, threats, priorities, and uncommon opportunities. Malady-remedy analysis, ways to enhance agricultural competitiveness using a basket of choices, and the critical role of education and health care were also highlighted.

Other needs identified were: a water policy for agriculture; a national science and technology alliance for rural livelihood security; soil health management; and technological upgrading of farm practices through development of Computerised Farm Advisory System (CFAS).

In a recent interview, the NCF Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan, said the report "is designed to serve both as a wake-up call to the nation on the deteriorating farm conditions, as well as on the opportunities available to enhance our global agricultural competitiveness and to overcome the scourges of endemic and hidden hunger now affecting nearly 25 per cent of our population by August 15, 2007, which marks the 60th anniversary of our Independence."

Prof. Swaminathan said: "Our agriculture is at the crossroads economically, ecologically, technologically, socially and nutritionally. A `business as usual approach' in the farm sector now will lead to an unprecedented human calamity, the beginning of which we are now witnessing in the form of suicides by farmers in several parts of the country, including Punjab, which is the heartland of intensive agriculture.

"Ensuring the income, work and livelihood security of farming families through enhancing the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the major farming systems, strengthening the food and nutrition security of the nation, imparting value addition to the time and labour of assetless agricultural labour families through technological and skill empowerment, ensuring gender justice and equity in all agricultural development programmes, and involving panchayati raj institutions in fostering environmentally sustainable agricultural progress have been the basic principles in the approach of NCF to fostering agrarian prosperity and rural livelihood and ecological security.

"Based on consultations with State Governments as well as discussion with farm and tribal women and men and media representatives, a few areas were identified for priority public policy support and financial allocation in the Union and State budgets for 2005-06. A business plan approach was adopted while developing the immediate `Save Farmers and Farming Action Plan', since we are aware that our proposals should not merely be desirable, but should be actionable and affordable.

"We would like to stress that agriculture being a State subject, State Governments also have the responsibility of providing adequate support particularly to meet the needs of location-specific agricultural problems."

Prof. Swaminathan stressed that public policies likely to result in "ecocides" (ecological suicides), should be avoided. Pandemics such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis needed to be checked, if Indian agriculture was not to experience the kind of human disease-induced setback currently occurring in several countries in Africa. Based on such considerations, certain key areas were identified by NCF for adequate support in the Union and State budgets of 2005-06.

One such key area was the life-saving support for farming families experiencing acute distress. The causes for the distress are diverse and there is no simple or single remedy. "Our immediate suggestions relate to risk management through a basket of insurance options, and streamlining of delivery systems relating to credit and other entitlements. At the same time, a beginning can be made in the 150 districts identified for the National Food for Work Programme to form a consortia of public and private sector agencies for assisting resource poor farm women and men to strengthen their livelihood security through additional on-farm and off-farm income," Prof. Swaminathan said.

The areas of importance are productivity and livelihood enhancement in rained areas; small farmers' horticultural estates; enhancing the productivity of cotton and the global competitiveness of the textile industry; and women farmers and farm labour. Making every village a knowledge centre; building a sustainable nutrition security system; and employment generation were other priorities. "In the ultimate analysis, a sustainable end to hunger can be achieved only by providing opportunities for every woman and man to earn their daily bread. A detailed strategy for creating additional skilled jobs through horticulture, cotton, energy plantations, animal husbandry, bio-fuels and biomass utilisation is being developed," Prof. Swaminathan said.

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