The Hindu : Front Page : Package for farmers in 31 districts proposed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2006

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Package for farmers in 31 districts proposed

Gargi Parsai

Prime Minister expected to make announcement during his Vidarbha visit this week

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to announce a rehabilitation package for farmers in suicide-prone districts of four States when he visitsVidarbha, in Maharashtra, on Thursday. Farmers' suicides have shown a spurt in the region over the past two years.

The Union Agriculture Ministry has proposed a Rs. 121210-crore rehabilitation package over five years, which is likely to be finalised on Tuesday.

For this year, the Ministry has proposed a figure of about Rs. 1100 crore. Of the 31 districts identified for intervention, 16 are in Andhra Pradesh, six each in Maharashtra and Karnataka, and three in Kerala. The package includes complete institutional credit cover to farmers, one-time settlement on repayment of loans by small and marginal farmers, launch of pilot Modified National Agriculture Insurance Scheme which will provide cover for crops, farmers' health and assets, enhancement of seed replacement rate to at least 50 per cent for various crops, schemes for irrigation, water harvesting and check dams.

It calls for a shift from mono-cropping to multiple cropping agriculture in the drought-affected regions. For supplementary income, the proposal is to help farmers initiate livestock, dairying, poultry and horticulture ventures with enhanced subsidy. The extension services are to be strengthened and marketing opportunities would be enhanced.

The package proposes bringing larger areas under hybrid seeds, particularly cotton, maize and coarse grains, and for integrated pest management. In Andhra Pradesh it is proposed to enhance the area under maize and in Maharashtra replacing the cotton crop with pulses. For Kerala, the emphasis is on improving productivity of plantation crops.

The Ministry's proposal, made in March when Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar announced the package in his reply to demand for grants in Parliament, was mired in financial constraints.

However, at the recent meeting of the Agriculture Coordination Committee, it was decided that the Centre should intervene in a visible manner.

By linking its proposals with NABARD, Bharat Nirman programme, the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the Agriculture Ministry has limited its spending to about Rs. 1100 crore this yearfor the package.

According to official sources, between 2001 and 2006, as many as 5,910 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka, 1,835 in Andhra Pradesh, 981 in Maharashtra and 201 in Kerala.

Countrywide, between 1995 and 2003, 9.26 lakh farmers are reported to have committed suicide according to statistics put out by the Home Ministry.

The main causes are reported to be indebtedness, crop failure, and other economic and psychological reasons.

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