Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Keep food out of WTO: farmers

Special Correspondent

`Impose Quantitative Restrictions to prevent dumping of cheap and subsidised goods'

COIMBATORE: The Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers' Movements has urged the Union Government to keep agriculture and food sector out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations, as they would result in "serious crisis" to the Indian farming community. National food sovereignty should be protected and food security should be seen as "national security," it pleaded.

In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, K. Sellamuthu, president of the Tamil Nadu Farmers' Association (a constituent of the Coordination Committee), alleged that the very structure of the WTO rules distorted trade against small farmers, against food sovereignty and against justice.

Raise import duties

He lamented that dumping of agricultural commodities had led to depression in the domestic farmgate prices resulting in deep agrarian crisis and increase in the number of farmers' suicides because they could not earn even their principal capital investment.

Hence, he pleaded that Quantitative Restrictions should be reimposed to prevent dumping of "artificially cheap and subsidised products" by corporations, destroying the farmers' livelihoods and the nation's food security. And import duties should be enhanced.

To ensure fair price for farmers, a minimum procurement price should be fixed for all produce and no procurement or import should be allowed below that price.

Besides, such a price should be fixed before the sowing season. Farmers should be allowed to sell their produce in all types of markets without payment of toll. The cooperative milk societies should procure all the milk produced by the farmers.

The memorandum appealed to the Union and State Governments to write off all the loans obtained by the farmers from formal and informal financial institutions. The Governments should prohibit alienation of land, livestock, agricultural equipment and houses of farmers on account of debt traps as done in Punjab through the Land Alienation Act during colonial times.

The genetically engineered seeds and foods must be completely banned in India and no import of such seeds, plants and foods should be allowed. Besides, the Central Government should fix the accountability of the companies for huge losses incurred by Bt.cotton farmers so far.

It opposed the policy of privatisation and commercialisation of water resources and handing over of management of water supply to multi-national corporations. ."

Subsidised electricity

Its demands include round-the-clock supply of subsidised electricity for farmers, representation for farmer leaders in the Agricultural Pricing Committee of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, fixing of price on the basis of cost of production and cost of living, withdrawal of all cases against farmers involved in civil disobedience agitations in the country, promotion of agro-based industries, encouragement for organic farming and change in government's policies to make it "farmer-centred".

"The Government should also withdraw all the perverse incentives to agro-chemical industry and chemical agriculture."

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