Father of Indian Green Revolution weighs in on farmers protest debate, says 'farmers dissatisfied with procurement price & unable to repay loans'

Eminent geneticist and Chairman of National Commission on Farmers (NCF) M S Swaminathan on Tuesday took to Twitter amid the ongoing farmers protests in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to express concerns about the future of farmers in the country.

In a series of tweets Swaminathan, known to be the father of green revolution in India, highlighted that despite of a bumper crop this year, farmers are not satisfied with the procurement price. As a result of this they are unable to pay their loans.

The procurement price issue, is rooted in the Modi-government’s 2016 banknote demonetisation and the cash crunch that followed.

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After the Modi government announced demonetisation on November 8 last year, many experts experts thought the cash crunch would impact farm produce as it was right at the start of the rabi sowings.

An Indian Express article says the experts were proven wrong. A good monsoon after recurring droughts for years and the timely onset of winters motivated thefarmers to sow, even if they had to borrow capital.

The report adds that farmers tackled the cash shortage by replacing cash with deferred payments to purchase seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. And the informal credit networks that were established ensured a bumper crop, the report says.

Farmers, however, bore the brunt of demonetisationwhen they received lesser pricesfor their harvest, the report says.

Swaminathan in his tweets talkedabout the same problem.

He went on to say that without repaying the debts, farmers will not get a fresh credit for the next (kharif) season and this is why they are demanding loan waivers and remunerative procurement price.

Swaminathan added that though loan waivers are necessary theydon't provide a "secure long-term credit system". He stressed that there should beabalance between short term gains like immediate loan waivers and benefits of long term structural changes like improving agricultural infrastructure.

He also said that the Modi governmenthas "implemented several Farmers’ Commission recommendations".