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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Why do farmers go marching? -Aarati Krishnan

Why do farmers go marching? -Aarati Krishnan

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published Published on Mar 26, 2018   modified Modified on Mar 26, 2018
-The Hindu

Farm distress is increasingly being triggered by excess output and falling prices, but policy fixes are yet to address this

Why are Indian farmers perpetually in revolt? The question has been raised by many after the recent farmers’ march to Mumbai and simmering rebellions across the States in recent years.

No doubt, agriculture is one segment of the economy on which vote-conscious governments haven’t skimped on outlays. Over the years, Central governments have allocated ever-rising sums towards procurement, input subsidies and rural employment schemes, while States have periodically announced loan waivers.

But that farmer protests have persisted, and even intensified, perhaps shows that many of these schemes aren’t addressing the right set of problems. The reasons for agricultural distress have changed quite dramatically in recent years.

From shortage to plenty

A few years ago, farmers seeking to register their protest used to do so beside wilted crops and parched farmlands.

But in the last couple of years, farmers from Mandsaur to Salem have given vent to their angst by dumping vast quantities of unsold produce — tomatoes, grapes, onions and milk — on lakebeds and national highways.

Historically, agricultural distress in India has been linked to truant monsoons, input shortages and lacklustre yields which frequently put growers on the road to penury.

In recent years though, it is surplus output and unremunerative prices that have decimated farm incomes more often.

Trends in India’s agricultural output over the last twenty years present an eye-opener to this problem of plenty.

For an extended period from 1998-99 to 2009-10, India’s rice output stayed stuck at 85 million tonnes to 95 million tonnes, with drought years such as 2002 and 2004 seeing sharp downward blips.

As consumption hovered at 80 to 90 million tonnes in this period, shortages were more frequent than surpluses.

But after climbing to 105 million tonnes in 2011-12, India’s rice production has stayed well above the 100 million-tonne mark for the last six years, even scaling110 million tonnes in 2016-17. With offtake still stuck at about 90 million tonnes, there’s been persisting excess stock in the market. As a result, in the last five years, wholesale prices of paddy have crept up at a 2.4% annual rate.

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The Hindu, 25 March, 2018, http://www.thehindu.com/business/agri-business/why-do-farmers-go-marching/article23349948.ece?homepage=true


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