Thirty farmers on an average, according to government data, kill themselves every day in India바카라mostly after finding themselves trapped in a vicious circle of debt. And now the government has offered the Indian farmer some more freedom of the market. In this free market, somebody who owns less than 1 hectare of land and produces around 22 quintals of rice per season, for example, competes with those who own over 5 hectares and produce over 110 quintals. The farmer can choose the buyer, but the buyers바카라a commission agent, a corporate giant, a startup or the government바카라get to determine the price.
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Another domain of India바카라s policy brush with free market in agriculture has been contract farming. Going by the controversies triggered by such attempts, the experience hasn바카라t been good. Last year, for instance, PepsiCo sued farmers in Gujarat for Rs 1 crore for illegally growing and selling a potato variety registered with the company. The case was withdrawn only after the state government intervened.
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All these years, Indian farmers have been protected by the government through various legislation and mechanisms. The 바카라farm bills바카라 recently passed by Parliament바카라the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, the Farmers바카라 Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the the Essential Commodities Act (Amendment) Bill바카라seek to modify the rules and regulations around sale, price and storage of crops. These legislation, awaiting the President바카라s assent, will allow private players to hold stocks of essential commodities for future sales바카라something done so far only by government agencies like the Food Corporation of India. The government will intervene only if there is a 50 per cent rise over the previous year바카라s price in case of non-perishable goods and a 100 per cent rise in case of perishable goods.
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Farmers incur several costs to grow crops. Besides the cost of seeds, pesticides, power and irrigation, which are accounted for, the farmer also puts in his and his family바카라s labour, takes loans and spends on transportation to the mandis, among other costs. For decades, farmers have been demanding three things that successive governments have failed to provide: assured price that covers all the incurred costs; assurance of fair deals despite the vagaries of weather, a demand growing in significance especially due to climate change; and a minimum guaranteed income.
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The vast majority of farmers in India work small landholdings of less than 1 hectare, and face other challenges such as lack of storage, crushing debt, dependence on monsoons and changing weather patterns. The farm bills bring the free market into the precarity of small farming, leaving farmers worried about how it will play out in the persistent battle for their livelihood. The government hopes that the concept of 바카라farmer producer organisations바카라 (FPOs) will empower farmers in the emerging situation바카라a plan to set up around 10,000 FPOs is already on the agenda and was announced in the Union budget.
