‘Do Farming and Be ill-fated...!’

  • Prakash Pohare

Farming has truly become a profession for the ill-fated. If you find the title a little annoying... read on and let it be even more annoying...

In 1947, my grandmother had grown 50 quintals of cotton in 10 acres. At that time, selling one quintal of cotton could buy 3 tolas of gold. A ‘tola’ comprised 12 grams at that time. Similarly, 6 grams of gold could be bought by selling one quintal of jowar. That means - my grandmother had then sold 50 quintals of cotton and had bought 150 tolas i.e. 1 kg 800 grams of gold. Since there were no special costs for farming in those days, so the loan did not have to be repaid. We are traditional farmers, so my father and I are well-versed in agriculture and we know the economics of farming pretty well.

The Cotton Monopoly Scheme was launched in 1972. At that time, the price of cotton was Rs. 275 per quintal and gold was at Rs. 180 per tola.18 grams of gold could be bought by selling 1 quintal of cotton then. My father bought only 900 grams of gold by selling 50 quintals of cotton and even he did not have any debts to repay, because the Green Revolution had not happened then. However, this year I myself could sell one quintal of cotton and buy only one and a half grams of gold. Nothing was left in hand after taking out the cost of cultivation. Because in my grandparents’ time, the land was ploughed with oxen, the seeds were derived from the house itself, the fertilizers were derived from the house, the labour was cheap, so the expenditure was not that much. In my present times, the cost of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, weed killers, diesel and wages have increased wildly. Because of this, farming has become a loss-making deal these days. Considering agriculture on this scale, by selling one quintal of cotton, the farmer bought 36 grams of gold in 1947 (cost zero), 18 grams of gold in 1972 (cost negligible). But today, only one and a half grams of gold can be bought in one quintal of cotton, but it becomes very expensive and on top of that there is an added burden of the debt and the interest. Compared to 1947 and 1972, today farmers are being looted in many ways and only chemical companies are getting rich.

Now let’s have a look at its international results. Very few people would know that when the country got independence, the value of one dollar was equal to one rupee, which has increased to 82 rupees today which implies that we have become 82 percent poorer. Similarly, India’s share in world GDP at the time of independence was 27 percent (today it is 3 percent) and agriculture’s share in India’s GDP was then 50 percent, (today it has come down to 17 percent). It means that at that time our primary agriculture business was the best business and today it basically runs on rain water and nature only. So how did the damage happen? Let us have a look at that...

The production cost of agriculture was zero in 1947 and 1972 which has increased wildly today. Same is the case with all other crops except sugarcane. Because earlier, fertilizers and seeds were available to the farmer at home or in the surrounding area which eliminated the cash requirement altogether. It was a cashless transaction. In short, there was no need to bring any goods from the market by paying money to do farming. Indigenous seed was preferred because it could be used repeatedly. Farmers were not aware of hybrid seeds. They were assured that indigenous varieties could be used for many years. If we consider the cost of labour and the cost of harvesting, what was needed for daily food was given as wages in kind in the form of grain. That’s why the laborers were also happy along with the farmer. Hard work was considered as God’s grace and food earned through hard work was considered divine. Other things or facilities were bartered for food according to one’s requirements. There was real happiness and satisfaction in the standard of living of the families of the labourers. No one wanted to be free from this system at that time. Today, farmers keep running to the laborers’ homes to bring laborers to their fields for harvesting. Husband-wife duos are given employment for Rs. 500 to 700, yet the mentality of taking advantage of free schemes keeps the laborers in a pitiable condition. Even today the laborers have to show their plight to the whole world by queuing up for free ration in the name of cheap food grains.

In the sixties, the ‘hybrid seeds of the Green Revolution’ were sown and all the economic calculations of the farmers were reversed. Supply increased more than demand. It was warmly welcomed in the beginning. Because there was a shortage of food grains in the country in the late sixties. The time had come to ask for food grains from the American government. At that time, the policy planned to become self-sufficient in agriculture by increasing food production in our own country was named ‘Green Revolution’. Even more ridiculous is the paradox that the policy of that Green Revolution was also prepared by American scientists. The first successful experiment of this policy took place in Mexico and later it was exported to India and the Green Revolution started. While developing India was able to emerge from starvation due to the Green Revolution, the country’s economy got a temporary boost, but farmers are currently bearing the brunt of that Green Revolution. Healthy food has almost disappeared from the human diet. Due to the increasing use of chemical fertilizers and medicines, people are suffering from fatal diseases. The land has become barren, water has been drained and forests have been cut down. In the name of ‘Green Revolution’, farmers were taught methods of advanced agricultural production by providing high yielding seeds. Heavy investment was made in agriculture at the government level. Irrigation facilities were proffered. Cheap chemical fertilizers and pesticides were made available initially. After the Green Revolution, the production of food grains increased rapidly in the country. It reduced dependence on foreign countries for food grains. Wheat production increased seven-fold in 40 years, but we have paid a heavy price for this policy in the form of health damage - all due to the Green Revolution.

The ‘Green Revolution’ increased the cost of production for the farmers. Due to increase in the prices of diesel and increase in the use of tractors in place of oxen in agriculture, the cost of ploughing and reaping has increased. Due to non-availability of bulls, there is no option to plough the field according to the cost of the tractor. Prices of fertilizer increase by 30 percent every year. Along with the increase in the cost of agricultural inputs, fertilizers and seeds, the cost of labour i.e. wages has also increased significantly. Every year, the price of agricultural produce should be determined by the increase in the cost of pesticides, herbicides, electricity, water, machinery and the amount spent on Rabi, Kharif crops etc., but this is not being done. Further, the annual increase in the cost of harvesting should be twice the cost of production collected by the Agricultural Prices Commission in the following year; this much expenditure is increasing year-by-year. It was because of the ‘Green Revolution’ that agriculture has been thrown from the first position to the third position as compared to the manufacturing and service sectors. New seeds were sown through the ‘Green Revolution’, which destroyed the indigenous varieties. There was a record production of food grains, rice and wheat in the country. Even today, the business of hybrid seeds in India is estimated to be around 25 thousand crore rupees. Excluding pulses and oilseeds, our country today produces enough food grains to feed 1.40 billion people. However, it has a bad effect on the farmer. Today the farmers of India are not getting reasonable price of their food grains because the people of India have more and more stored grains...!

Cotton has been eclipsed in a way after the ‘Green Revolution’. Today, the situation has changed a lot for cotton as compared to the example I gave in the beginning. Today the price of cotton is Rs. 8,500 to Rs. 9,000 per quintal which implies that cotton is being bought from the farmers at the rate of only Rs. 85-90 per kg. Apart from this, billions of rupees are earned on products like cloth, oil, sarkipaind etc. By taking cotton from the farmers at a cheap price, cloth is made from it and then that cloth is sold at the rate of thousands of rupees per meter. A shirt is made from 400 grams of cotton. The minimum price of a shirt from a branded company like Linen is above Rs. 2000. For a shirt costing Rs. 2000 for 400 grams, the farmer gets only Rs. 60-65. In other words, the condition of the cotton farmers has become like that of a ‘commodity’.

In fact, the historical reference to India as the ‘Golden Bird’ was literally true, as evidence of the origin of the ‘cotton’ crop in India five thousand years ago can be found in the history of the ‘Indus Civilization’. Cotton has been at the centre of India’s history since antiquity. Even when the British ruled India, India was a leader in cotton production and trade. Cotton grown in India was traded internationally by measuring gold in tonnes. The indigenous cotton cloth here was the heritage of the upper classes and the rich. Rao, Umrao’s body was covered with cotton cloth. Indian cotton fabric had once been an ‘Ideal fabric’. Cotton and weaving from it were of high quality. However, after the ‘Green Revolution’, the same ‘White Gold’ is bought at cheaper rates.

Although there are many reasons behind this serious problem of decline in agricultural production, but the primary reason for this is the seeds used in agriculture. For this, the words of Saint Shrestha Tukaram Maharaj ‘Shuddh Bijapoti Fiji Rasal Gomti’ should be considered again and again. Between 1947 and 1972, rural areas were home to the seeds. Later, hybrid seeds (H-4 and Varalakshmi) came. Sometimes 8 and sometimes 10 sprays of pesticides were done on them and the farmers started to become sicker and poorer. Later, gradually BT technology came with many problems in the life of farmers. For the first few years, production shot up magically. Then it slowed down. It has been like this for the last decade and is declining now. On the contrary, Haryana and Punjab, the symbol states of Green Revolution, are now showing the bad effects of Green Revolution. Toxic chemicals have reduced soil fertility across the country. The effect of pesticides has now become negligible. The poison is affecting crops and people. Due to excessive use of water, measures like borewells have depleted the ground water reserves. It has gone below the danger sign. The Green Revolution became a nightmare after the land became barren.

The effect of all this is in front of everyone to see. At some point of time, a farmer who bought 3 tolas of gold by selling 1 quintal of cotton, who had previously kept fixed deposits in banks, was considered prestigious at that time to have a ‘deposit in a bank’. Even bankers used to plead with the farmers to become ‘depositors’ with them. However, after the ‘Green Revolution’, all this dignity of the farmers was destroyed. Due to modern BT technology, money is being wasted in farming. The farmer, in front of whom the banks used to plead for deposits, first withdrew his own deposits, then mortgaged his wife’s money, which later became the money of the moneylenders. Then he took a loan from the bank. He now was forced to be at the mercy of the banks to be able to repay the interest of the usurers and do farming. Till now, the farmers were under banks’ debt and now they have started to queue up in front of the banks for loan waiver. In this way, once the ‘donor’ has now become a ‘beggar’ and has started committing suicide out of desperation.

Despite this, a lot of hue and cry is created in the society in the name of farmers. If the cost of production of agricultural commodities is assumed, then the definition of ‘inflation’ does not apply here. The rate of growth of Wholesale Price Index for many types of agricultural commodities has remained ‘negative’ during the last twelve years. Even the base price has not increased. However, if vegetables and other agricultural produce become costlier in the cities, a lot of hue and cry is created. When the prices of food grains, milk, fruits, vegetables go up a little, then there is brouhaha against ‘inflation’ in the cities. The media puts headlines like farm goods, milk, pulses or fenugreek juice, coriander have become expensive. Cartoons are made on this. Toothpaste, Tea, Shampoo, Soap, Powder, Cosmetics, Bakery Items, Maggi, Spices, Soups, Soft Drinks, Ice Cream along with Packing, and Malls, Movies, Mobile Recharge, Scooter/Car Servicing, Hotelling, TV, Cable Recharge , weekend trips, incidentals/gifts, clothes, etc. - no matter how expensive they become, but when the prices of agricultural products and vegetables go up a bit the society starts bombarding with slogans like ‘the economy of housewives collapses’, ‘the back of the common man is broken’ ‘inflation skyrocketed’, ‘onion is crying’ etc. That is, due to the exploitation of farmers for the last several decades, the urban consumer class is getting ‘Achhe din’ and a kind of increased income. But still ‘bad days’ are here only for the farmers! Take any crop you may - whether irrigated or dry; The result is the same...! The only difference lies in the way they deal with the situation according to their individual condition but it is certain for both of them to suffer..!

When Modiji came in 2014, he announced to double the farm income by 2022, but instead of doubling the income, he doubled the expenditure and there has been very less increase in the prices of agricultural commodities, so in Modi-era, the farmers have experienced ‘Bad Days’ instead of ‘Good Days’!

In short, I am sorry to say today that farming has become a fool’s business! Many people may be offended by my words. I am also ready to face their anger. However, in this context, I am ready to publicly discuss and debate with any farmer as well as any leader and similarly consider in detail whatever I am proposing. So, if anyone gets angry after reading this article or feels that my knowledge is incomplete, please let me know. I am ready to come on their stage to communicate. Tell me who is ready?

(The author is the Editor-in-chief of ‘Dainik Deshonnati’, Hindi daily Rashtra Prakash)