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Friday, Aug 25, 2006

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National

Expert group to go into farmers' indebtedness

Special Correspondent

Minimum support price for kharif paddy raised; Vidharbha-like package for other identified districts also

NEW DELHI: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday announced in the Rajya Sabha a bonus of Rs. 40 a quintal in the minimum support price (MSP) of kharif paddy, raising it to Rs. 650 a quintal. He said the Vidharbha Rehabilitation Package for Farmers would be replicated "very soon" in the identified suicide-predominant districts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

He also announced the setting up of a four-member expert group headed by R. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development and Research, Mumbai, to look into the issue of indebtedness of farmers and suggest measures to provide relief to them. The group would submit its report before November 30.

Replying to a short duration discussion on farmers' suicides and MSP, Mr. Pawar said the Government, in raising the MSP for paddy, had taken the point of higher input costs to farmers particularly due to the increased price of diesel.

Low attendance

Presiding over the discussion, held through lunch hour, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat expressed dismay at the low attendance and was seen making a head-count. Less than 30 members were present. "Members were keen to raise the issue but when the Minister is replying the attendance is low. Members, particularly Congress members, should ensure that there is better attendance during such important discussions," he remarked.

Low investment

In his one-and-a-half-hour long reply, Mr. Pawar said the crisis in the farm sector was due to low investment, low productivity, shrinking landholdings, drought, crop failure, inadequate irrigation, the burden of loan on farmers, defaulting farmers turning to private moneylenders who charged high interest rates, unremunerative prices for produce, lack of market access and lack of supplementary incomes for farmers.

He said suicide by farmers was not a recent phenomenon but before 1995 there was no separate record on them. After 1995, the Home Ministry records showed that of the one lakh suicides every year, the farming community accounted for 12 to 16 per cent. Suicides were happening in every State but in the last two years the incidence in six districts of Vidharbha in Maharashtra, six in Karnataka, three in Kerala and 16 in Andhra Pradesh had been highlighted. "Often the money taken for crop loan is diverted for social needs like education, health and weddings. However, since complaints had been received from several parts of the country, the Radhakrishnan Expert Group has been set up."

The Minister favoured a policy of need-based imports and exports in the agriculture sector and defended the use of genetically modified crops and seeds. "We must conserve the traditional seeds but should modify and adapt to the changes in the world to raise productivity. That is why we are amending the Seeds Bill."

He said Bt (transgenic) cotton was useful in irrigated regions but in areas which were drought-prone, it was risky to go for this variety. "There may be some instances (of failure) but that Bt cotton was bad has not been proved so far. This does not mean the technology was bad or the seed was bad, although I do agree that the price of Bt cotton could be lower."

On the impact of globalisation on farmers, Mr. Pawar said that after agreements with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries, imports of plantation crop produce were on the rise hurting local farmers. Kerala was the richest State but because of export of pepper, coffee, rubber, cardamom from SAARC countries, suicides were happening there. "We will talk to neighbouring countries on this."

Loan waiver demand

The Minister did not give any commitment on the unanimous demand from members for countrywide loan waiver on farm debts as had been done for several industries, but reminded that the Government had brought down the interest rates from 9 to 7 per cent on loans up to Rs. 3 lakh.

He said that for the 11th Plan, six panels had been set up for making recommendations on marketing reforms, irrigation, dryland farming, crop-specific productivity, credit and risk management and animal husbandry. A Regulatory Authority Bill was before Parliament for regulating the forward market commissions.

Mr. Pawar asserted that the spending on the Vidharbha package for farmers, with a special emphasis on completion of irrigation projects, was in addition to the budget outlay.

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