the farmer gets his due

in the last few days A news attracted the attention of the nation. This news was related to a farmer from Maharashtra. Farmer Rajendra Tukaram Chavan had gone to sell his onion crop at Solapur mandi in Maharashtra. The weight of the crop was a little more than five quintals. When there was talk of giving onion only Re 1 per kg in the market, the farmer got the first blow. Then the farmer was given a check of only 2 rupees after deducting the commission of transport, wages, freight and agent. That too was after 15 days. That means the total cost of 512 kg onions is only Rs 2! This is the ground reality that in the 75 years of independence, governments of many parties came and went, but the condition of the farmers could not be improved as much as it should have been. In February 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to double farmers’ income by 2022. This deadline has passed.

After the announcement of the Prime Minister, the Doubling Farmers Income Committee was formed on 13 April 2016 under the leadership of 1984 batch IAS officer Dr. Ashok Dalwai. According to the latest report prepared by the National Sample Survey Organization regarding the income of the farmers, the average monthly income of the farmer families of India has reached Rs.10,218. But the contribution of income from crops in this is only Rs 3,798. Out of this, he spends Rs 2,959 only on crop production. That is, his net income from farming is only Rs.839 per month. If you calculate daily then about 28 rupees. Now you yourself guess what is the condition of the farmers. Some big farmers may be in profit, but the economic condition of 86 percent small farmers is very bad. His income is not even that of a government peon. Like onion the story is of tomato farmers in Telangana. Farmers are saying that pluck tomatoes and take them as much as you want. Apart from onion, tomato, potato has also faced the same cruel reality. Some other vegetables will also have the same fate! In these circumstances the farmer will not commit suicide, so what is the option before him? Farmers are trampling crops under their tractors or throwing them on the roads. This is not a waste of onions, tomatoes, but a crushing blow to the economy. The income of an onion farmer is not even Rs. This is a symbolic figure of how cheap agriculture is or how cruel the agricultural market is. We and the Government of India are well aware of the dominance of the middlemen in the farmers’ market. While being the Union Food Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan surprised the government by making a statement to this effect. Today he is not among us, but another cruel reality has come to the fore.

There is also one aspect that if the income of the farmers has increased, then the expenditure on agriculture is also increasing rapidly. In November 2021, the government had told that if you earn Rs 10,218 every month, then Rs 4,226 is spent. Every month the farmer spends Rs 2 thousand 959 on sowing and production and Rs 1 thousand 267 on animal husbandry. That is, the farmers do not have even Rs 6,000 in hand. Due to such low earning, the farmer is forced to take loan. In the year 2021, the Finance Ministry had told that till March 31, 2021, farmers have an outstanding loan of more than Rs 16.80 lakh crore. At that time, the Finance Ministry had also made it clear that at present there is no proposal to waive the loans of the farmers.

The consumption of onion in India is more than 150 lakh tonnes and the production is more than 200 lakh tonnes. Despite this, onion has been imported. We have not been able to understand this business. Onion is being sold for Rs 3512 per kg in the Philippines. Onion is being sold at 240 in America, 250 in South Korea, 200 in Taiwan and Japan, 190 in Canada and 180 rupees in Singapore. If we talk about our own retail market, the average price is Rs.30-35. Then why are the farmers not being given the right price for their crops?
Two of the top five states with the highest average income in the country are from the Northeast. Jharkhand is the state with the lowest monthly income of farmers in the country, where the monthly income of farmers is only Rs 4,895. That is, almost half of the national average. Rs 5,112 in Odisha, Rs 6,762 in West Bengal and Rs 7,542 in Bihar. The monthly income of farmers in ten states of the country is less than the national average income ie Rs 10,218. So some states have nominally higher incomes than the national average. For example, the average income of farmers in Uttar Pradesh is Rs 8,061. That is, in the year 2015-16, there was an increase of only Rs 3 from the national average and at present it is Rs 2,157 less than the national average. These figures are telling that the condition of the farmers of the country is bad. When the country is celebrating the ‘Amrit Kaal’ of independence, then the government should take rapid steps towards doubling the income of the farmers.

The writer is an accredited freelance journalist.

Rajesh Maheshwari