Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Distress in abundance -Anupama Katakam

Distress in abundance -Anupama Katakam

Share this article Share this article
published Published on May 22, 2017   modified Modified on May 22, 2017
-Frontline

Low prices following a bumper crop and the State government’s inability to procure much of the yield leave tur farmers in Maharashtra in a quandary.

DROUGHT or abundance, farmers seem to be perpetually doomed in Maharashtra. The most recent crisis unfolding in the agrarian segment is the crashing prices of pulses, particularly tur dal, and the inability of the State government to procure the entire crop. Adding to the problem is the decrease in import duties and a continued ban on tur exports. These have begun to take a toll on farmers.

Maharashtra is the largest tur dal producer in the country and has, therefore, been hit hard, particularly the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. Farmers and agriculture experts in the State say that if tur is not procured within the next few months, it can lead to serious problems in an already distressed rural economy.

In a belated move, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appealed to the Centre to extend the deadline for procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) to the last week of April, but the Centre refused. Following this, he announced a Rs.1,000-crore package for the beleaguered farmers and promised complete procurement. Unfortunately for the State, this move, while giving some respite, came a tad late. According to informed sources, most farmers have sold their crop to traders at extremely low prices to get rid of their stock. In fact, they said, the Centre refused to extend the deadline because it believed it was traders and not farmers who were selling the stock to it.

Boosting cultivation

Here is the irony and an indicator of how poorly the farmer is treated. As a result of consecutive years of drought, farmers in Maharashtra mainly involved in cash crops such as sugarcane and cotton were encouraged by the State government to grow pulses, especially tur, which do not require substantial rainfall. Many farmers increased the area under tur cultivation. A good monsoon in 2016 led to a record production of 20.35 lakh tonnes. However, instead of reaping the benefits, farmers saw prices crash owing to the abundance and the government decision to halt buying at an early date as procurement targets were quickly met.

According to the State Department of Agriculture, the area under pulses increased by 30 per cent in 2015-16. The department had estimated the tur yield at about 11.70 lakh tonnes this year. But the bumper crop resulted in chaos in the procurement process and distress among farmers.

Before 2015, the production of tur was low and the rate had risen to Rs.12,000 a quintal, causing a different type of distress, said S. Narwade, a professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Tuljapur in Marathwada. The government began to import tur to reduce prices and simultaneously urged farmers to increase the area under cultivation of pulses. “Unfortunately, a combination of factors has led to the current crisis,” Narwade said. Large imports, which the Centre refuses to reduce, have warped the policy on tur cultivation, he added.

“We also believe the Centre via NAFED [National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited], the main procurement agency, was given certain targets. The procurement begins from western Maharashtra and moves east towards Vidarbha, which harvests in February, the end of the season. Perhaps the targets had been met early as the crop had been so successful. They did not have the resources by the time procurement reached Vidarbha,” Narwade said.

“The Centre’s target for all pulse procurement is 10 lakh tonnes. Within this, five to six lakh tonnes is tur. Maharashtra this year had overshot the target by many times,” said Yogesh Thorat of the Maharashtra Farmers Producers Company (MAHAFPC), also a procurement agency. “Mistakes in supply chain management and the huge stocks were largely responsible for the problem. Additionally, the government should not have assured farmers it would pick up the entire stock. It just could not have happened when the target itself was so low,” Thorat added.

Owing to the fluctuation in the prices of pulses, the Agriculture Ministry decided this year that it would keep a buffer stock similar to what is done with wheat and rice. Unfortunately, because the yield was so high, the machinery has been unable to store the crop, leading to farmers holding too much, Thorat said. “The only positive in the crisis is that the prices of pulses have stabilised to some extent.”

Please click here to read more.

Frontline, 26 May, 2017, http://www.frontline.in/the-nation/distress-in-abundance/article9688406.ece?homepage=true


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close