Farmers in India: A study to identify their problem and finding Solutions

The current turmoil in Madhya Pradesh and farmers’ suicide forced to think about the farmers’ situation. I tried to find out the reason and the solution of this issue in India.

This problem was persisting for a long time, farmers used to take their life due to drought, huge pest problems and heavy production of the crops. After launching the MNREGA program, commonly known as 100 days work, by Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government made the situation worse. I will try to elaborate the reason step by step.

To produce a crop what are the factors involved- Water, Seeds, Fertilizers, Pesticides, labor costs, Loans. Costs of all these factors are increased by many folds.

Water is an important factor for agriculture. The amount of the water needed is purely depending on the crop the farmer is harvesting. Most of the places in India, the farmers are dependent on the monsoon. If the monsoon is not good in a particular year then the crop production are downsized or abandoned. Water is a natural source which cannot be controlled but with a proper management, the dependency can be reduced. Here, I can give an example of the work of Anna Hazare in Maharastra where he started harvesting the water resulting in an increase of the water reserve and improve the agriculture, although the method he used is not applicable in all parts of India. Currently, there are many techniques used in many parts of India where the field is not flooded but the water is distributed by drop (Drip irrigation), by this technique less amount of the water is required for agriculture. Recently, Ayappa Masagi’s Water Literacy Foundation (See Link1, Link2) is doing an excellent job to harvest water and direct ground water recharging.

Seeds are the important part in agriculture. Many farmers are using their own seeds got in the previous harvest which may not be the ideal way, but I feel that is a good way to go on. The same practice has been used by generation and there was no problem in that. If farmers can preserve their own seed then it will be the best way to save some costs. Also, Govt. Of India can intervene in this issue by controlling the rate of the seeds in the market like controlling essential drug prices. Govt. should understand that farmers are the backbone of India which should be stabilized. A Farmers co-operative can play important role in this matter. I will discuss the formation of Co-operative in later which is very much important for the farmers’ existence.

The Chemical Fertilizers and pesticides are utter nonsense to continue. Farmers believe that if they use more pesticides and fertilizers that will help them to get more yields but using regularly and periodically they are practically decaying the soil’s health. Instead, it is ideal to use the bio-fertilizers (From garbage and cow dung) and herbal pesticides (Mixing Neem and other herbs with cow urine). Also, cultivating one cycle of the leguminous plant (member of the pea family) can help them to control the growth of the pests and improving the soil health. Please refer the Timbaktu video (Video Credit- Black Ticket Films)

Labors are an important part in the agriculture as most of the farmers can’t manage the field by their own family members which at the end surge the price of the total agriculture cost.  MNREGA program, a 100 days work program for the rural people of India to ensure minimum days of the job, plays a dreadful effect on the agriculture. The MNREGA program absorbs the available labor in the market and increases the labor costs (Simple Economics law, when there is more demand for the product and limited supply which forces to swell the products price), same happened here. Think that UPA and later NDA Govt. spent millions money but what was the output, this lead some people to earn easy money and politicians, Govt. Employees some local goons benefited by showing more no. of people participated whereas fewer people worked on that project.

Farmers can get rid of the labor issues by forming a Co-operative, the aim of co-operative will help them to buy different types of equipment and it will be easy for the co-operative to get Govt. subsidies and loans from the banks. Using more agricultural machine will help them to curve the labor cost and dependence on the human resources. Request to Govt. Of India to abolish or modify the inhuman MNREGA program to save the farmers.

The farmers are getting loans. In general, from the local bodies who charge them high-interest rate and resulting less amount of profit from agriculture or a huge loss. The Co-operative formation by the farmers can help them to solve this issue and it will be easy for the Govt. to distribute the subsidies in the time production loss due to drought or due to any other natural calamities.

Products Marketing:

To get the optimum benefit from their products, the farmers should form a Co-operative as they can’t take care of so many things, it needs a professional involvement. As most their products should be sold otherwise it will be the waste. To reduce this problem we can come up with many solutions like selling directly to the consumers and getting a better price, selling them to the bigger stores like Reliance Fresh, Big Bazaar, Metro Cash and Carry etc to get a good rate of their products and get a high return. Also, there is another way of getting good profit like storing them in a cold storage and selling them in an odd season.

The Farmers Co-operative can start their own brand like Timbaktu and sell their products in Govt. owned market, Big retail stores, small retail stores which can get them a high return on their products although it needs a better brain and managerial involvements. Another way to generate good revenue by producing packaged products from their brand and selling to the big or small retailers or even exporting out of India.

In this method, the farmers and the consumers will be benefited as the middleman will be wiped out from the production line to the supplying to the consumers. There will not be any hue and cry for water, seeds, no products selling or even Bank loan waive off. A proper chain should be built to overcome this issue. Even a good funded Farmers market can be best solutions of this problem. 

Request to Narendra Modi-led Govt. of India to spend some money in agriculture to build cold storage, farmers market (Linking the farmers with the big retailers and the consumers), using the MNREGA to build infrastructure like building trenches, lakes, direct water recharging and its maintenance). If you can do this then the farmers world will be changed and our India will be free from water and food problem and that day the common people and 55 percent farmers will say Modi ki jai Ho.