The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Remunerative prices can end agrarian crisis, say experts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
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Karnataka - Bangalore

Remunerative prices can end agrarian crisis, say experts

Special Correspondent

‘Farmers are giving up agriculture as it had become unviable’

World Development Report to be out on October 19
‘Nearly two million farmers have given up farming’

BANGALORE: Agricultural experts on Tuesday critically examined a draft of the World Bank’s World Development Report (WDR)-2008 on “Agriculture for development” and said the increase in public investment in agriculture and offering of remunerative prices for produce would address a majority of the problems confronting the sector.

M.V. Nadakarni, former Vice-Chancellor of Gulbarga University and honorary professor of ISEC, Bangalore, said member countries of the bank should discuss the report without prejudices since the farm sector had been facing several challenges on account of economic liberalisation. Nearly two million farmers came out from the profession as farming had become unviable and the number of small and marginal farmers had increased over the last few years, he said.

The bank had decided to bring out its second development report on agriculture after a gap of 25 years. The report would be officially launched on October 19. The report stated that of the world’s poor, 75 per cent were in rural areas and most were involved in farming. Agriculture was a source of livelihood for about 86 per cent of rural people.

The report argued that agriculture could play five essential functions for development: a source of overall economic growth, an instrument for poverty reduction, a business opportunity, a provider of environmental services, and a tool for food security.

R.S. Deshpande, head and professor, Agriculture Development and Rural Transformation Unit, ISEC, said there was no obligation on the part of the country to accept the recommendations made in the report. He quoted data from National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) said nearly 40 per cent of farmers expressed their readiness to quit from farming if they had been given alternative source of livelihood.

Instead of discussing the report, the experts and non-governmental organisations should deliberate on faulty policies pursued by the Union and State governments since 1950s, he said.

Time is of essence

Recalling the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s quote “everything else can wait but not agriculture”, Prof. Deshpande said the country had not developed its own agricultural models so far. The policy makers abandoned Mahatma Gandhi’s’ model and vigorously adopted industrialisation till mid 1960s. It was the former Prime Minister Lal Bhadur Shastri who shifted the focus from industry to agriculture, he said.

Stating that farm subsidies had not benefited small farmers, Prof. Deshpande said instead of integrating agriculture into the country’s development process, it had been used to serve foodgrains to the masses. Increase in remunerative prices and better marketing system would tackle the problems in the sector, he said.

Prof. Abdul Aziz, visiting professor, ISEC, said reasonable remunerative prices had been denied to farmers by “urban lobby” dominated by agri-businessmen. The level of poverty was more among small farmers and farming had become unviable for various reasons.

Devinder Sharma, president, Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security, New Delhi, criticised the report and said it was not bothered about the issues faced by farmers.

K.C. Basavaraj, vice-president, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, spoke.

Y.B. Ramakrishna, president, Samagraa Vikasa, Bangalore, presided. Dileep Kamath, president, Parivarthana, Belgaum, and a few farmers were present.

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