NEED to go in for covered storage space at different places to save stocks

Ferozepur, July 9, 2013: The farmer of Punjab is passing through serious crisis and in certain cases there have been suicides also in some part the country.  There are number of reasons for this state of affairs for the farmers.  Despite the increase in demand of foodgrains, the farmers are not getting the reasonable increase in the minimum support price.  The government is even importing the foodgrains frequently. One of the major reasons for decrease in the production is use of chemical fertilizers, reducing the fertility of the land. Apart from this, the stubble which despite ban, could not be stopped is also one of the cause for reducing the fertility of land. Another major factor is loss of foodgrain every year to the extent of 15 per cent due to rotting on account of storage on unscientific storage space.   India is lacking in covered storage space and Dr. Swaminathan in one of his report has proposed that storage space may be created at 150 centres or we may switch over to silos.

According to another agriculture expert, a retire District Manager, DKSahi from Punjab State Cooperative Marketing Federation, one of the largest cooperative institution in the Asia and popularly known as MARKFED, our country, if we talk particularly Punjab, is not having a long term planning of scientific storage.  Since setting up of ‘silos’ is a costly affair, we must go in for covered storage space at different places to save the stocks.

Punjab is also known as the food basket of India but to keep full the basket, it could only be possible if we preserve the stocks scientifically at least for one year, till the arrival of next crops.  For the purpose, we have to invite the private-public entrepreneurs to construction the covered scientific storage godowns.

Accordingly to another study, the storage charges being given to the owners are too less as against the investment on construction of godowns including the cost of land.  One cannot repay the loan to the bank over heavy investment with the meagre storage charges being paid.  The storage charges need to be revised in proportion to the investment keeping in view the minimum life span of the building and its renovation from time to time.

The other factor involved is natural calamities which are beyond one’s control as one has to bow before the orders of nature.  At the same time, the government is totally failure on the front of crop diversification which helps in increasing the production and fertility of the land.  The farmers are not switching over to the crop diversification because of the reasons as there are no arrangements, by the government, for the marketing of the products other than wheat, paddy, sugarcane.  To attract the farmers towards crop-diversification, they have to be given some allurement by way of subsidy or incentives.

In fact, the private companies like Nestle, Monsento and Kargil are having monopoly in the agriculture sector and exploiting the farmers’ community.  The contract farming has totally been a failure proposition on the part of the government as the private companies were giving much higher price than the government.  Thus, creating a hurdle in filling the ‘food basket; of India to its full capacity.

About five decades back, 90 per cent population of the country was dependent on agriculture.  Presently, about 60 per cent of population is residing in rural areas but some percentage of this are having their earning from the urban areas where they have established their small business houses.  It appears that in the coming few years, the percentage of people dependent on agriculture would further be reduced. 

The government must take initiative to improve the economic condition of farmers, people living in the rural areas apart from switching over to crop diversification, making arrangements for the marketing of produce of the farmers, taking care of the water level under the ground, tie-up with the multi- national companies to procure the produce of the farmers at the reasonable rates, one time settle of interest on loans of the farmers.

The state governments have to come out of the politics of the parties to come up with policies by studying at the root-levels to pass on the benefits of the approved schemes to the real beneficiaries. Merely winning in the election and completing the full term is not the qualification of good ruling political party but improving the economic condition of the people the country by rising above the politics is.

There are no short-cuts but time is always there to improve the things.