WHAT THE FARMERS NEED – PART VIII

GOOD MSP (Minimum Support Price) FROM THE GOVERNMENT & MARKET LOBBY

The series – “What the Farmers Need” have helped find to an extent a voice among the local leaders and other NGOs in Vidarbha on the issues that I have been raising through the blog... I am glad about this sudden change and to a large extent I am thankful to each one of them for raising the issues of what the farmers actually need to cultivate better and continue farming. The change in attitude is welcoming indeed! More and more people should join in to spread awareness about what will benefit the farmers of, not only the Vidarbha region but also nationwide.

Minimum Support Price – MSP as it is popularly known is usually governed by the State Agriculture Department and is monitored overall by the Agriculture Ministry. MSP is the price that is controlled by the government so that farmers get a suitable price for their produce. However, the fact remains that almost every year the MSP decided by the State Government is never in favour of the farmers. While the farmers toil hard in hot sun, high temperatures and heavy rains... it is the market traders and hoarders who benefit the most because of government policies...

Last year, 2010 – 2011, the cotton harvest was better than previous couple of years because Vidarbha received 25 % excess rainfall... yes, to an extent crops were damaged (which increased the rates further) due to untimely rains but most of the farmers were happy to sell their White Gold to private traders instead of government procurement agencies in Vidarbha. One will be shocked to know that the MSP for cotton was decided at Rs. 3000 / - per quintal... while private traders paid handsomely in the range that many farmers fetched as high as Rs.6500 / - Plus per quintal from the minimum of Rs. 4000 / - onwards. The faulty decision of the State Government to pay peanuts to the farmers saw an adverse effect and farmers flocked towards the private traders to sell their cotton at a much better price. In Gujarat, farmers fetched up to Rs. 7000 /- plus per quintal...

Now, such a phenomenon doesn’t happen for every crop or every year... the reason for the private traders to pay higher price was due to washed out cotton production in all the neighbouring countries (China, Pakistan, Bangladesh & others) which had resulted in shortage in the international market. Quick to gauge the international market trends, the traders were quick to grab hold of all the cotton from farmers... farmers and traders were both happy while the loser State Government just kept watching silently without realizing how the market had driven the price higher than the MSP. During such an instance the farmers will not complain but when the same situation changes in the opposite direction, the farmers will be at heavy losses and then the depression sets in and many succumb to the pressure to end their lives, unable to pay their debts.

When the rainfall is good, the yields are better and then the market collapse because of excess crops... in such cases the MSP plays a major role in saving the farmers’ hard work... however, it is the middlemen, traders and the end stores who benefit the most and not the farmers, who should actually be the real beneficiaries... the faulty government policies have made many farmers and their children to quit farming because if your hard work is not fetching you reward, give me one good reason as to why the farmers should continue farming... it is very easy to blame the farmers for the failure of crops and that they are leaving farming for city jobs... the reality on grounds are stark and if your final produce cannot even fetch your initial investment... any businessman will tell you – “It is simply not worth!”

The Market Lobby is also so strong that they control the price when the produce is harvested according to demand... if the crops are in plenty, the market lobby buys at a cheaper rate and when the produce is in short supply, the rates get higher as it happened in case of cotton mentioned above. MSP should be so calculated that irrespective of the produce, the farmers should benefit rather than the traders and end stores, who sell the produce at much-much higher rates that a farmer really gets... so the MSP should be decided to benefit the farmers and not kill them... however, it never really happens...

... to be continued...