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The Agrarian Crisis in Vidarbha
by Vasant Futane
(organic farmer and Sarvodaya activist from Vidarbha)
The agrarian crisis experienced in Vidarbha is mounting all over India. Its original
deep-rooted cause is the intentional destruction of agricultural and rural self-
sufficiency by government policies and programmes that foster market
dependence.
Much of our rural population is now dependent on urban industries, both for daily
needs, as well as farm inputs. Time-tested, traditional practices in farming,
housing, cooking, health, have been eroded, resulting in near total dependence
on the market. Government policies are still framed to increase such dependence,
resulting in severe exploitation of farmers and the rural populace.
Destruction of traditional, self-sufficient farming system
Before the ‘Green Revolution’, not a single external input was needed in the
farming system in Vidarbha, or elsewhere. Farmers used their own seeds and
manures. Local carpenters and blacksmiths produced farm implements, transport
carriages and housing materials. The village shoemaker tanned leather and
delivered a finished product. Spinners, weavers, health-workers (vaidyas), etc
were all components of the village economy, enriching each other. This system
had the least chance to concentrate economic power to exploit. It was
decentralized, non-polluting, and with minimum consumption of non-renewable
energy. Transport reliance for basic needs was minimal, and the ecological
footprint was close to zero.
It is true that Indian agriculture had suffered under exploitative colonial rule. But
India’s first agriculture minister, KM Munshi, emphasized the restoration of the
fertility and hydrological cycles in each village and bio-region. Consequently,
Indian agriculture saw significant recovery in the first two five-year plan periods,
with creditable improvement in both aggregate production and productivity. Bio-
diverse, self-reliant and self-sufficient farming was still the norm.
The well-known Gandhian economist, Dr JC Kumarappa, dwelt deeply on the
subject of self-sufficiency and sustainability in his book, ‘The Economy of
Permanance’. His views had been invited by Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru,
but his prescription for a Gandhian model of gram swaraj (village self-sufficiency
and self-governance) was not adopted. The nation was instead steered down the
path of centralized, giant industries, and a spurt in urbanisation. This resulted in
splitting the country into ‘rural Bharat’ and ‘urban India’. Agriculture and the rural
sector became a mere ‘raw material’ and potential market for the increasingly
urbanizing and industrializing India. Rural Bharat’s independent well-being and
self-sufficiency were not just neglected, but willfully undermined. This is the root
cause of the agrarian crisis in Vidarbha, and elsewhere in India. Farmers’ suicides
are just the tip of the iceberg.
We may have all heard much about the growing misery and indebtedness of the
once prosperous Vidarbha farmers, trapped in an industrial, mono-cultural system
of agriculture, oriented to a distant market, rather than their own basic, local
needs. With the spread of Bt cotton, and the near total loss of local varieties of
cotton, the vulnerability and helplessness of the Vidarbha farmer has heightened
further. But as we have seen, the deeper roots of Vidarbha’s agrarian crisis date
back to the Green Revolution, and even earlier, to a policy favouring urbanization
and industrialization at the cost of rural self-sufficiency and welfare.
The alarming situation in Vidarbha can become even worse in the near future, as
Vidarbha is being used as a power hub. Irrigation water is being diverted to
thermal power plants, coal mining, and cement, paper industries, threatening
agriculture and depleting and polluting water bodies and land. Farming too is
becoming more export-oriented to the detriment of domestic local and national
needs.
Instead of nutritious groundnut, the cultivation of soyabean is promoted by the
state agriculture department. While groundnut and other pulse-legumes nourish
the soil, and provide nutritious food for humans and fodder for farm animals, yet
soya is promoted by the government. Why? It is only to earn dollars. Soyabean
cake is a protein-rich cattle feed, and every kilogram of it is exported. Not a single
kg is used in India. Soya cultivation and export thus cause great recurring loss to
soil fertility. In agriculture, recycling is the key to restoring and sustaining soil
fertility. Cultivation of groundnuts and other legumes are an appropriate answer
to enriching our soils. But this issue is totally neglected by our politicians,
economists and agricultural scientists, who seem unconcerned about the fertility
drain caused by a rapacious system of ‘deficit industrial agriculture’.
Subhash Sharma, a wise organic farmer of Vidarbha, warns us that “no country
with infertile soils can maintain her freedom.” We need to ponder deeply on this
crucial matter.
Denuded forests, the disappearance of grasslands, and the uneven, wasteful
distribution of irrigation water to non-priority areas are other important causes of
our agrarian crisis.
Widening economic disparity is a major issue causing mounting social tension.
The 5th Pay Commission has created a serious disparity. A 4th class government
employee is able to enjoy a better standard of material life than a 25 acre dryland
cotton grower. A school-teaching couple can afford to maintain a four-wheeler,
but not a hundred acre dryland farmer. Such a farmer, who has to struggle to
even meet the costs of his daughter’s marriage, becomes stigmatized by society.
This is not a minor but major issue, reflecting the current agrarian crisis.
Aggressive Marketing
The media is extensively used by MNCs for aggressive marketing, creating
unnecessary demands in farming. Farmers are not able to realize that they are
trapped by agro-service centres into losing both money as well as soil fertility.
They are fooled again and again by misleading or blatantly false advertising and
marketing campaigns. It will be a great help if radio and TV stop advertising
agricultural inputs. But can we do it?
A sustainable farming system and un-degraded/unpolluted environment are a
must for food security. It is essential to think of quality as well, not just quantity.
Unfortunately, politicians are playing a game of cat and mice with farmers.
Generally, one can find every village split into 3 or 4 groups with distinct party
alignments. The politicians are not interested in uniting people, but rather
fragmenting them with narrow agendas. In such a situation, undertaking
collective activity for the common good of the village is extremely difficult. Even a
decade ago, the situation was not so serious. Now, gram panchayat elections are
fought on a party basis, unlike in the past. The external supply of liquor and
money for fighting elections, has become routine. Government schemes are used
to favour party cadre, rather than benefit the general public. All this further
intensifies corruption. If the village can be cleansed of such narrow party politics
that fragment and corrupt, there is yet hope of renewing the agricultural
economy and self-sufficiency of the rural sector. A fresh ecological outlook that
looks at the whole, instead of just parts, is needed both in farming and in society.