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Intensive Farming Responsible For
Farmers' Suicides : Devinder Sharma

By Pradeep Baisakh

17 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org

POSCO steel is a water guzzler. If they are beneficial to us, they should be beneficial to South Korea also, why then they are coming to India ?

Devinder Sharma, Journalist, Food Policy Analyst and an anti-GM crop activist speaks to Pradeep Baisakh on issue of farmers' suicide, role of Micro Finance Institutions in it, water conflict between industry and agriculture sector, the role of farmers union etc in the country with special focus on Odisha.

Q: Odisha is not much known for farmers' suicide the way we hear it in Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh etc. But of late such cases are being reported in the media. What's the reason?

A: When you look at the issue of farmers' suicide, it's an indication of the crisis that exists in the agriculture sector. This is linked to the monoculture and the intensive or industrial farming model that has been implemented in the country. Vidarva has been in the news on the issue of farmers' suicide because there is one NGO namely Vidarva Jan Andolan Samiti which regularly compiles the figures of farmers suicide and feed to the media. Unfortunately there are no such NGO elsewhere to do similar job. So we do not get the real picture of other areas where condition is equally bad. If suppose, this NGO stops sending figures out, our impression on Vidarva as the suicide belt of India will also start disappearing.

The primary cause of the suicide is the destruction of natural resources. Due to the intensive model of farming, soil has been destroyed and ground water level has plummeted. Inputs like use of fertiliser and pesticides have destroyed the environment so on and so forth. Unwanted technologies have added to owe. The input cost e.g. the cost of the seeds, fertilisers and pesticides have gone up whereas the output cost has remained same more or less in last twenty years (reckoning the inflation factor). So what does the farmer do in such condition but to commit suicide?

In Odisha the suicide rates are not as high as in Maharastra or Punjab . That's because Odisha still follows the sustainable farming model which used to be practiced before.

It has not adopted the ‘intensive farming model' that the green revolution areas have adopted. The lesson here is very clear. If you want the farmers to commit suicide you push them for the intensive farming model. Odisha is now at the crossroads. It has to choose if it wants the farmers to die or to live for ever with the sustainable farm model.

Q: Can you explain what intensive or industrial farming model is?

A: There is organic matter in the soil. The effort should on how the organic matter is released to plant in a sustainable manner. Under the intensive farming model use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and hybrid seeds are promoted. But when we add chemical fertiliser it upsets equilibrium of micro-organism in the soil. The organic matter in the soil should be at least 2%. 4% content is considered very well. In Punjab it is 0.1-0.2%. This is due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers. In this condition unless one uses chemicals there is no production. In order to get the same production that the farmer was getting 10 years before he has to use double the chemicals he used then. The soil is gasping for breath. The need of the hour is to regenerate the soil. Odisha has luckily not done that damage to it soil.

Look at the water use for instance. When we grow High Yield Variety (HYV) of rice, an average of 5000 liters of water is needed for production of 1 kg of rice. In contrast, for raising hybrid rice, one needs about 7000 to 7500 litres of water (Hybrid seed is commercial seed and is generally used once. For the next season the farmer has to purchase new seeds. In case of HYVs, farmer can reuse the seed). Till now about 3% of the cultivable rice areas are under hybrid seeds. Now the government is pushing the use of hybrid seeds under it Rastriya Krishi BikasYojana. As a result water mining will take place and the water table will plummet leading to a drought like situation and this is due the conscious government policy. So what will the farmers do in such conditions?

Q: In many of the cases of farmers' suicide, there is a linkage with the loan taken from the Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Are MFIs responsible for the situation?

A: There is no denial that micro finance is a killer. MFI concept is financially imprudent as it takes money from the poor for building GDP of the country. It looks very attractive under the garb of disbursing credit at as cheaper rate to build capacity of poor and alleviate poverty. In reality it does the other way round. The model exists globally. By giving ten thousand rupees with an exorbitant average annual interest rate of 24% which may go up as high as 48% with a weekly or monthly recovery of instalments, how poverty can be reduced? There actually is nothing a better crime than this.

If a car loan costs 8% and house loan 8.5 to 9% , how can poor people be charged a rate of 24%? And see the hypocrisy; now the MFIs have gone to RBI to ask plead for repayment of the loan in 5-6 years, whereas they recover loans from people in every week or month. Is it not crime? I think be it BASIX or SKS micro finance companies, these people should be put behind bars for sucking the blood of the poor.

The idea of building capacity of women through micro finance is also so cruel. If anyone like you and me take an interest with 24% annual interest with weekly or monthly recovery of instalments, I guarantee all of us will fall into below poverty line. The story that some women have succeeded by MFIs with this percentage loans is unconvincing. The so called money lenders earlier also have helped people and there were success stories. If they are branded as criminals why not these MFIs? This is nothing other than organised money lending.

Q: People also are taking multiple credit?

A: The cycle is so designed that in order to repay people have to take multiple credit so falling into multiple trap. When the poor women cannot repay, they comes under so much of pressure that they are left with no other option but to commit suicide. If you look ate the farmers suicide that is taking place, it has a direct correlation-ship with the functioning of the MFI.

For nano car TATAs were given loan at rate of 1% annual interest when it was planned in Singur , West Bengal . The poor women should also be given loan with less than 1% so that at the end of the year she can drive a nano.

Q: In many cases of farmers ' suicide, the relatives of the victims allege that coercive methods are used by MFIs to recover loan and creates a situation where the person is forced to commit suicide. Has the government done enough on the issue?

A: Andhra has brought about a law to regulate the role of MFIs. The centre is brining another law which will override the Andhra law. So the centre is protecting the MFIs. There has been a global euphoria in favour of the MFIs. I think the noble prize was wrongly given to Mohm Yunus. I must be keen to know when Yunus himself had taken any loan of 24% interest; or in India for that matter the heads of SKS or BASIX MFIs!

The RBI is soft on MFIs and is part of the crime. Instead of stopping the business the RBI has been prompting it. The former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been supporting this policy.

Q: Farmers in Western Odisha districts like Balangir and Kalahandi, which are also part of the KBK (Undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput) region, have started using BT cotton seed for cotton farming. Is it legal? What will be the impact of the entry of BT seeds to Odisha agro-market given that's it has been a killer seed in Andhra Pradesh?

A: I think it does not matter of this is legal or illegal. The governments all over the country are supporting BT cotton or genetically modified cotton. Under public pressure they may say something, but basically they all are in the bandwagon of these companies.

KBK as an area is in news for long. We all know what has gone wrong in KBK, which is otherwise naturally very rich. Early in 1990s when I visited the area, people had started shifting to the cash crops. My view is the farmers should also have to take a portion of responsibility for what happened with them. Normally we blame the government. But we do not blame the farmers. If in last fifteen years more then 2.5 lakh farmers have committed suicide much of the blame also goes to farmers. They have gone equally greedy and wanted to be rich overnight and did all wrong things. They say that they have been taken for a ride while purchasing a particular type of seed, this is not believable. I think as a community they must come together to understand what has gone wrong. Look at the farmers union. Are any of them taking the issue of farmers' suicide seriously?

In KBK region also farmers have tried to be rich overnight. There is always a government pressure through various ‘Kishan Melas' to adopt a particular model of farming or promoting a particular brand of seed. But the farmer should know what seed they are using and what would be its effect.

There is one farmer Subhash Sharma in Vidarva who has 16 acres of land. He grows organics crops; does not use any chemical fertilisers or pesticides and still makes good profit. He gives a annul holidays of 50 days and annual bonus to his labourers. If one farmer can do this, why cannot others? Farmers should go back to the model of farming based on their original knowledge.

Q: If the conflict between on water between industry and agriculture real? Or we have sufficient water resources to afford for both the sectors?

A: The conflict on water is now all pervasive. In Gujrat, Andhara Pradesh, Punjab conflict is witnessed on the issue of water distribution. Odisha is going to be major problematic area because the companies will divert a lot of water being used by the communities. Most of the companies which originate in other Asian countries are coming here for water only. For example, POSCO (A South Korean steel giant which is going to make huge investment in Odisha) originates from South Korea which has a terrible water crisis. Crisis there is so precarious that this is one country in my knowledge (there may be other countries) which actually erected underground dams for preserving water level. Therefore if they permit companies like POSCO to guzzle water then there will be no water left for the communities. Therefore they are sending the companies to other countries. But we think these companies are very beneficial. If they are beneficial for us, then they should also be beneficial for them also. Why then they are coming to India ?

Q: Despite a large number of cases of farmers' suicide why the farmers union have not been successful in taking up the issue and improve upon the situation?

A: There was a time when the farmers union were doing very well. The prominent farmer leaders are Narayan Swami Naidu in Tamil Nadu, Sarad Joshi, a national scale leader, Mahendra Singh Tikayat in North India , Dr Sunilam in MP and others. They were popular and had a lot of support from the farmers. But over the years most of the farmer's leader stared getting into elections. That is where the process of weakening of the farmers union started. Narayan Swami Naidu fought election and lost. Then his movement fizzled out. Similarly Sharad Joshi fought lections and lost. His ‘Chetkari Sangatahan' lost its sheen and there are almost no followers now. The gentleman is now in the bandwagon of Mansantos, the infamous seed company. Similarly Mahendar Singh Tikayat's original Bhartiya Kishan Sangathan has fragmented to so many splinter groups. He is very sick now and his son entered into politics and lost deposits. This is the beginning of the end of the farmers' movement. I have a feeling that the way Trade Union leaders failed the workers movement similarly the farmer leaders have failed the farmers' movement. Every farmer leaders had political ambitions.

2.5 lakh farmers committed suicide, but not a single farmer leader has the guts to come and sit on fast. On one occasion I had offered them that I will go on fast on the issue and you join. Then gradually farmers will join from across the country, but none accepted my offer. The farers are in search of honest farmer leaders who can lead them and rescue from the current agro crisis.

The author is a Freelance Journalist based in Bhubaneswar . He can be contaced through e mail: [email protected]




 


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