Why are farmers protesting despite bumper harvests? -Roshan Kishore
-Livemint.com Behind the rising tide of farmers’ protests lie several structural weaknesses facing the farm economy In a year when farm growth has crossed the 4% mark and official statistics show a record increase in production, one would have expected farmers to celebrate. Instead, farmers in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are out on the streets protesting, and in some cases, facing bullets from the local police. What explains this paradox? The answer might lie in several structural changes that India’s farm economy and polity have witnessed over the past few years. Three key factors stand out: rising price risks faced by farmers, especially horticultural producers, lack of adequate policy support, and a sense of betrayal among the land-owning community which had pinned its hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to usher a new era of prosperity or “achhe din”. In response to rising demand, the Indian farmer has now begun producing fruits and vegetables in much greater quantities than before, with horticultural output exceeding that of food grains for the fifth straight year. This change, however, has not been accompanied either by investments in warehousing facilities for perishables or by price support measures for fruits and vegetables, which could have minimized price risks that horticultural producers face today. Unlike wheat or rice, prices of items such as tomatoes or onions can crash sharply when there is a bumper crop. As the chart below shows, rising horticultural output has been accompanied by rising volatility. Please click here to read more. |
Livemint.com, 13 June, 2017, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/nhqKfNAkmrCvQCt1kjv1EN/The-paradox-of-farm-unrest-amid-bumper-harvests.html
Tagged with: procurement minimum support price Minimum Support Prices Horticulture Debt Burden Debt Relief debt waiver scheme Farmers' agitation Loan Waiver
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