{"id":103880,"date":"2017-12-25T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-25T12:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=103880"},"modified":"2017-12-24T17:20:52","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T17:20:52","slug":"the-seeds-of-discontent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/12\/the-seeds-of-discontent\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seeds of Discontent"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Farmers\u2019 Day – 23\u00a0Dec 2017<\/em>
\nHis speech if of mortgaged bedding,<\/em>
\nOn his kine he borrows yet.<\/em>
\nAt his heart is his daughter\u2019s wedding.<\/em>
\nIn his eye foreknowledge of debt<\/em>
\nHe eats and hath indigestion<\/em>
\nHe toils and he may not stop <\/em>
\nHis life Is a long-drawn question<\/em>
\nBetween a crop and a crop <\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\n-Rudyard Kipling, The Masque of Plenty<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

23 Dec 2017 – <\/em>As the world transitions away from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, help for small farmers will become key to the stating aims of ending poverty and hunger and promoting sustainable development.<\/p>\n

In India, small and marginal farmers\u2014those who work on less than two hectares (five acres) of land\u2014constitute 80% of all farm households, 50% of rural households and 36% of the total of all households. Sadly, the plight of these farmers is very distressing. Agricultural productivity levels have been stagnant for the past ten to fifteen years. An estimated 70% of the country\u2019s arable land is prone to drought, 12% to floods, and 8% to cyclones. India\u2019s top policy think tank, NITI Aayog, recently found that the agricultural sector is 28 years behind in its expected development.<\/p>\n

Today, India\u2019s small farmers have little access to technology and modern irrigation techniques. This makes them one of the groups\u00a0most vulnerable to climate change. For poor farmers, farming is grinding physical work, largely supported by the entire family.\u00a0From threshing and bundling to separating the grain by hand, crops have to be planted, picked, harvested and hauled by hand.\u00a0Yet, each new generation is being pushed to do this in increasingly smaller plots of land.<\/p>\n

According to the 70th Situation of Agricultural Households in India, conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 90%\u00a0of India\u2019s farmers have less than two hectares of land. The survey says the average farm household makes less than Rs 6,500 a month from all sources of income. These farmers are only kept afloat by government financial and by the periodic forgiveness of farm loans.<\/p>\n

To improve their lives, farmers need a way out of agriculture and into the manufacturing or services sector. In fact, most small-scale farmers would happily sell their land if only they could be provided alternate employment. The\u00a0main source of India\u2019s developmental failure since 1947 has been its inability to move the huge mass of people involved in agriculture into industry and the services sector. As the share of agriculture in the national output falls, any crisis hurts those dependent on agriculture disproportionately.<\/p>\n

Two decades ago, the government embraced the global marketplace and began cutting farm subsidies as it\u00a0liberalised\u00a0the old managed economy. This caused farmers\u2019 costs to rise as the tariffs that had protected their products were lowered. Many farmers switched to new genetically engineered cotton seeds which are resistant to a deadly pest called \u2018bollworm\u2019 and produced far higher yields and healthier crops with less use of pesticides. The seeds can be more productive and became\u00a0standardised\u00a0in many regions of Maharashtra. However, they can be three times more expensive to maintain than traditional seeds.<\/p>\n

Years of market-oriented reforms have unleashed a wave of capital and entrepreneurialism across India. High-end sectors such as information technology have made impressive strides leading to adulatory portrayals of India at home and abroad as an economic juggernaut. Despite this success, the benefits of reform have yet to extend to the hundreds of millions who toil away on the land. The government has slashed or phased out subsidies for some crops, shredding a key part of the safety net. The result is a growing social crisis.<\/p>\n

Peasants borrow loans from moneylenders at exorbitant rates of interest in order to buy expensive transgenic seeds and high-cost fertilisers\u00a0that allow them just to feed themselves and their cattle. They hope for better yields in the future, but this time never quite comes. Eventually, many farmers find themselves in a debt trap as they keep pursuing the vain mirage of a golden crop bonanza. Owing more than they earn, the steadiest of these workers have become gamblers at the highest of stakes, betting their land and their lives on a better crop. As debt mounts, many farmers are now taking a permanent escape from the physical and emotional pain by ingesting deadly pesticides.<\/p>\n

Economic reforms and the opening of Indian agriculture to the global market over the past two decades have made small farmers vulnerable to unusual changes and fluctuations.\u00a0The small farmers must now compete with the larger industrial farms, which are well-endowed with capital, modern irrigation and supplementary businesses to buffer them against any adverse market shocks. Small-holding farmers are now faced with what has been called a \u2018scissors crisis\u2019, which is driven by rising costs without a commensurate increase in output value.<\/p>\n

The Green Revolution was a success, but it came at a heavy price. It relied on high-yield seeds, fossil fuels for\u00a0fertilisers, modern methods of plant breeding and the massive use of pesticides and equipment. A heavy dependence on irrigation led to large-scale water mining. This did increase agricultural productivity for a time but it also depleted the soil and consumed far too much water. The Indian states that were the front-runners during the Green Revolution now suffer from soil degradation, groundwater depletion and contamination along with declining yields.<\/p>\n

M S Swaminathan, who pioneered the Green Revolutions, and other nutrition experts are calling for a dramatic shift in the approach to agriculture. They argue that, instead of industrial-scale, high-tech agriculture, farming should become closer to nature and involve intelligent plant breeding and a return to old crop varieties.\u00a0\u201cFormerly, the farmers were depending on 200 to 300 crops for food and health security,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0says Swaminathan,\u00a0\u201cbut gradually we have come to the stage of four or five important crops, wheat, corn, rice and soybean.\u201d \u201cThe Green Revolution\u00a0did not eliminate hunger and malnutrition.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Today, Swaminathan speaks of an \u2018evergreen revolution\u2018,<\/em>\u00a0which combines the best of both high-tech and environmentally sound agricultural practices.<\/p>\n

Vandana Shiva, a prominent opponent of modern agricultural engineering, is calling for a return to diversity in agriculture.\u00a0\u201cMost of our traditional crops are full of nutrients,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she explains. Farmers who have made the switch to modern corporatised agriculture, she explains, give up their traditional seed only to be forced to buy the commercial varieties, which often come with license fees in perpetuity. She recommends field crop-rotation, and the fostering of vegetable and fruit gardens and small family farms primarily geared toward nutrition instead of maximised profit.\u00a0 Crop rotation techniques ensure that no single botanical crop family has predominance in the rotation, hence pests do not build up as they tend to be specific to certain crop families.<\/p>\n

A crop failure, an unexpected health expense or the marriage of a daughter are perilous to the livelihood of these farmers. An adverse weather change, for example, can lead to a drastic decline in output and the farmer may not be able to recoup the costs of planting. Sometimes, farmers have to attempt to plant seeds several times because they may go to waste by delayed or excess rain. The problem has depressed yields and rural consumption\u00a0nationwide\u2014a heavy economic drag on a nation where two-thirds of the\u00a0population still lives in the countryside.<\/p>\n

Small and marginal farmers also do not have access to institutional credit. Most of them depend on village moneylenders, giving them loans to cover the costs of planting and feeding the family in the expectation of future crop sales. Credit histories and collateral may serve to qualify middle-class customers for loans, but most rural smallholder farmers have neither.<\/p>\n

Small farmers also need to revive some traditional farming practices that have been lost in the rush of new technology. Land levelling, mulching, and crop diversification are all practices that improve soil health and reduce the excessive spend on fertilisers and chemicals. These inexpensive practices help to preserve soil nutrients, prevent erosion, suppress weeds, and increase fertility. Crop residues that are generally burnt in the field\u2014which contributes to local air pollution\u2014can be used productively as mulch. Also, there would be no need for expensive diesel\u00a0gensets\u00a0for\u00a0tube wells\u00a0if farmers adopted proven irrigation technologies, such as the drip-and-sprinkle method.<\/p>\n

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) makes another hard revelation. During the last decade, the bloated debt of Indian agricultural households has increased almost 400%, while their undersized monthly income has plummeted by 300%. Unsurprisingly then, the number of heavily indebted households increased steeply during this period. Most farmers have become victims of the endemic phenomenon of a downward slide on the social ladder, by which the farmer became a sharecropper, then a peasant without land, then an agricultural\u00a0labourer, and then is forced off the land. Social mobility for farmers is becoming an\u00a0unrealisable\u00a0dream.<\/p>\n

A prudent and effective strategy for small farmers is to form clusters for mutual self-help where those growing the same crops can come together in\u00a0organised\u00a0groups to receive joint training, buy in bulk and sell their produce as a single body. Organising smallholding farmers into groups is a key component of strengthening this part of the agricultural sector because of the confidence, support and market power such\u00a0organisations\u00a0can provide.<\/p>\n

Despite their huge overall numbers, small farmers are not a solidified group and have not developed their negotiating power. According to Ashutosh Varshney, Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences at Brown University, social divisions among the rural population have been the main reason why India\u2019s rural voters have failed to push for policies that boost rural incomes. Varshney\u00a0argues\u00a0<\/strong>that the large size of this population and its heterogeneity limits its influence on public policy. Farmers\u2019 refusal to give precedence to their economic interests over their other ethnic and caste loyalties have limited their influence over public policies.<\/p>\n

However, the government can still make important progressive interventions. Certifying seed and making such seed more available can ensure that money is not lost buying fakes. The government should also provide proper modern storage\u00a0so that crops do not end up rotting before they reach the market. Complementary investments in transport infrastructure, irrigation, and farmer credit were essential to Asia\u2019s 20th-century green revolution, which laid the foundation for the region\u2019s subsequent economic breakthrough. The same basic approach, updated for today\u2019s new social and environmental realities, can help to restart the progress in rural India and spread the economic revolution to the poorest parts of rural Africa.<\/p>\n

The government needs to revamp its services so that farmers have access to latest technology and field practices. The agricultural universities must be involved in creating tailored educational programmes that serve the diverse needs of India\u2019s rural population.\u00a0 Small farmers need to learn how to work with limited land in a productive and environmentally friendly way. They do not only need better plant species but also up-to-date guidance on how to grow them. They do not need high-tech tractors controlled by satellites, but they do need access to regional databases that provide information on soil quality. They also need access to affordable capital so that they no longer pile up unmanageable debt loads.<\/p>\n

In a post on his Gates Note blog, Bill Gates said that it was critical to protect small farmers in the world\u2019s poorest countries because they produce a large and growing share of the world\u2019s food supply and because they face the greatest risks from climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the world\u2019s poorest farmers, life is a high-wire act\u2014without safety nets. They don\u2019t have access to improved seeds, fertilizer, irrigation systems, and other beneficial technologies, as farmers in rich countries do,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Gates writes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indians believe in\u00a0\u201cUttam\u2014Kheti, Madhyam\u2014Vyapar, Neech\u2014Naukri.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0as the country\u2019s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, said in 1947,\u00a0\u201cEverything can wait, but not agriculture.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 However, what India is witnessing today is exactly the reverse. While all the other sectors of the economy are surging ahead, agriculture is the only one which is in decline. Within this self-perpetuating cycle of rural misery, wrapping a noose around the neck is the all-too-easy exit for an increasing number of smallholding farmers. While these deaths might bring about a personal escape for some, they leave behind crippling emotional, financial and physical burdens for society.<\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Moin Qazi<\/em>, PhD Economics,\u00a0PhD English,<\/em> is a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a><\/em> and author of the bestselling book, <\/em>Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance sector for almost four decades in India and can be reached at moinqazi123@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

23 Dec 2017 – In India, small and marginal farmers\u2014those who work on less than two hectares (five acres) of land\u2014constitute 80% of all farm households, 50% of rural households and 36% of the total of all households\u2026 Within this self-perpetuating cycle of rural misery, wrapping a noose around the neck is the all-too-easy exit for an increasing number of smallholding farmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":83401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}