India's sugar output is likely to scale record highs in the next marketing season, with farmers choosing to plant the crop despite falling prices and around 200 billion rupees ($2.96 billion) in delayed payments from mills for the current harvest.

Farmers such as Mohan Sawant, who this year planted cane on two acres of land, say they will be sticking with the crop in the marketing season that kicks off on October 1 as it still offers larger profits than alternatives such as wheat.

"Sugarcane gives me better returns ... I would wait for payment instead of getting lower profit from other crops," said Sawant in the district of Sangli, around 375 km south of Mumbai.

Industry officials and traders said that farmers' devotion to cane would drive sugar production to a fresh peak in the next marketing season. Although they said it was too far out to make estimates on the amount by which output would exceed the 32 million-tonne record expected in the current marketing season.

"It is difficult to give an exact production number right now, but certainly next year output would be higher than this year," said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF).

That output would likely stoke a glut that has weighed on local markets, potentially pushing the country to try to ship more of the sweetener overseas and dragging on global prices that have already fallen 17 per cent in 2018.

Farmers were cultivating cane on 4.87 million hectares as of last week, slightly higher than 4.79 million hectares at the same time in 2017, government data shows.

Apart from new plantings, large amounts of so-called ratoon crops will also be available due to the low cost of taking the second harvest, Naiknavare said.

Ratoon is the root stub of cane that remains after a first crop and can grow again for a second harvest.

Better late than never?

Local sugar prices have dropped over a quarter in the past year to their lowest since September 2015, dragged down by the supply glut.

That has made it "impossible" for mills to pay farmers on time for cane, said B.B. Thombre, president of the Western India Sugar Mills Association.

Mills have delayed payments for cane of more than 200 billion rupees, in some cases by as much as four months, said a government official, declining to be identified as he was not allowed to speak to media.

To reduce sugar stockpiles and support local prices, India made it mandatory for mills to export 2 million tonnes of sugar in March, but they have so far failed to ship large quantities due to lower prices overseas, industry officials said.

Exports need to be ramped up with government help as inventory is going to rise further in the coming season, said Ashok Jain, president of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association (BSMA).

The country could start next marketing year with carry-forward stocks of 11 million tonnes, said Jain.

But any move to increase exports could be hindered after fellow producers Brazil and Australia initiated a legal investigation into whether India's support for its sugar sector has violated World Trade Organization restrictions.

Industry officials and traders said that farmers' devotion to cane would drive sugar production to a fresh peak in the next marketing season.

India's sugar output is likely to scale record highs in the next marketing season, with farmers choosing to plant the crop despite falling prices and around 200 billion rupees ($2.96 billion) in delayed payments from mills for the current harvest. Farmers such as Mohan Sawant, who this year planted cane on two acres of land, say they will be sticking with the crop in the marketing season that kicks off on October 1 as it still offers larger profits than alternatives such as wheat. "Sugarcane gives me better returns ... I would wait for payment instead of getting lower profit from other crops," said Sawant in the district of Sangli, around 375 km south of Mumbai. Industry officials and traders said that farmers' devotion to cane would drive sugar production to a fresh peak in the next marketing season. Although they said it was too far out to make estimates on the amount by which output would exceed the 32 million-tonne record expected in the current marketing season. "It is difficult to give an exact production number right now, but certainly next year output would be higher than this year," said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF). That output would likely stoke a glut that has weighed on local markets, potentially pushing the country to try to ship more of the sweetener overseas and dragging on global prices that have already fallen 17 per cent in 2018. Farmers were cultivating cane on 4.87 million hectares as of last week, slightly higher than 4.79 million hectares at the same time in 2017, government data shows. Apart from new plantings, large amounts of so-called ratoon crops will also be available due to the low cost of taking the second harvest, Naiknavare said. Ratoon is the root stub of cane that remains after a first crop and can grow again for a second harvest. Better late than never? Local sugar prices have dropped over a quarter in the past year to their lowest since September 2015, dragged down by the supply glut. That has made it "impossible" for mills to pay farmers on time for cane, said B.B. Thombre, president of the Western India Sugar Mills Association. Mills have delayed payments for cane of more than 200 billion rupees, in some cases by as much as four months, said a government official, declining to be identified as he was not allowed to speak to media. To reduce sugar stockpiles and support local prices, India made it mandatory for mills to export 2 million tonnes of sugar in March, but they have so far failed to ship large quantities due to lower prices overseas, industry officials said. Exports need to be ramped up with government help as inventory is going to rise further in the coming season, said Ashok Jain, president of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association (BSMA). The country could start next marketing year with carry-forward stocks of 11 million tonnes, said Jain. But any move to increase exports could be hindered after fellow producers Brazil and Australia initiated a legal investigation into whether India's support for its sugar sector has violated World Trade Organization restrictions.

Indian sugar output likely to hit record next season as farmers stay sweet on cane

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Piplya Mandi village near Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh on June 6, the first death anniversary of six farmers who were killed in police firing during a protest there last year.

During his visit, Gandhi is will hold a condolence meeting-cum-rally, the Congress said on Wednesday.

The party, however, alleged that the district administration has given permission to the event by imposing 19 different conditions, one of which asks Gandhi not to make a "provocative" speech.

The opposition party alleged that the BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh wanted to disturb Gandhi's event through such conditions.

When asked, the district administration, however, said it was in the process of "amending" its previous order (in which the conditions were set).

The event is being seen as the launch of Congress's poll campaign in the state, which will witness the Assembly polls later this year.

"Rahulji is coming here to condole the deaths of six farmers at Pipliya Mandi, the epicentre of last year's farmers' unrest," MP Congress chief spokesperson Manak Agrawal said.

One lakh people are expected to take part in the meeting, he added.

Sharing a copy of the district administration's permission letter, Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, "The district administration has given its nod to the event with certain conditions like the maximum size of the tent spread for the rally can't be more than 15X15 feet, no loudspeakers above 10 decibel limit."

The letter also reads that the organisers shall be held responsible if the vehicles of anyone participating in the rally are stolen, he said, adding that "besides, the Congress was also asked to arrange for the security of the event".

"One of the conditions also says that the Congress chief should not make any provocative speech," Chaturvedi said.

He alleged that imposing such conditions was a deliberate attempt to stop Gandhi from reaching out to people.

MP Congress chief Kamal Nath in a tweet said, "The Shivraj Singh government, which did not allow Rahul ji to enter Mandsaur following the farmers' killing, again wants to disturb Rahul ji's meeting of June 6 and muzzle the voice of farmers by laying the conditions."

"Will the same conditions be laid for the meetings of Modi ji and all the BJP leaders in future?" he asked.

When contacted, district collector O P Shrivastava said, "We are amending the previous order related to the Congress event. Under the revised order, they can use the site as per their needs."

Tehsildar of the Malhargarh area of the district, Parasmal Kunhara said permission for the Congress rally was granted on four hectares of land.&nbsp

"They can use the land as per their wish. The conditions were inadvertently pasted on the order earlier," he said.&nbsp

Superintendent of plice Manoj Kumar Singh said the police would make security arrangements for the event.

"Holding a public meeting is their constitutional right. We will make all arrangements to maintain law and order. We have already detained 350 habitual offenders and criminals in view of this programme and such action is going to continue," he said.

Gandhi was detained in Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh en route Mandsaur in June last year to meet the families of the farmers killed in the police firing during their protest.&nbsp

The opposition party alleged that the BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh wanted to disturb Gandhi's event through such conditions.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Piplya Mandi village near Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh on June 6, the first death anniversary of six farmers who were killed in police firing during a protest there last year. During his visit, Gandhi is will hold a condolence meeting-cum-rally, the Congress said on Wednesday. The party, however, alleged that the district administration has given permission to the event by imposing 19 different conditions, one of which asks Gandhi not to make a "provocative" speech. The opposition party alleged that the BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh wanted to disturb Gandhi's event through such conditions. When asked, the district administration, however, said it was in the process of "amending" its previous order (in which the conditions were set). The event is being seen as the launch of Congress's poll campaign in the state, which will witness the Assembly polls later this year. "Rahulji is coming here to condole the deaths of six farmers at Pipliya Mandi, the epicentre of last year's farmers' unrest," MP Congress chief spokesperson Manak Agrawal said. One lakh people are expected to take part in the meeting, he added. Sharing a copy of the district administration's permission letter, Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, "The district administration has given its nod to the event with certain conditions like the maximum size of the tent spread for the rally can't be more than 15X15 feet, no loudspeakers above 10 decibel limit." The letter also reads that the organisers shall be held responsible if the vehicles of anyone participating in the rally are stolen, he said, adding that "besides, the Congress was also asked to arrange for the security of the event". "One of the conditions also says that the Congress chief should not make any provocative speech," Chaturvedi said. He alleged that imposing such conditions was a deliberate attempt to stop Gandhi from reaching out to people. MP Congress chief Kamal Nath in a tweet said, "The Shivraj Singh government, which did not allow Rahul ji to enter Mandsaur following the farmers' killing, again wants to disturb Rahul ji's meeting of June 6 and muzzle the voice of farmers by laying the conditions." "Will the same conditions be laid for the meetings of Modi ji and all the BJP leaders in future?" he asked. When contacted, district collector O P Shrivastava said, "We are amending the previous order related to the Congress event. Under the revised order, they can use the site as per their needs." Tehsildar of the Malhargarh area of the district, Parasmal Kunhara said permission for the Congress rally was granted on four hectares of land. "They can use the land as per their wish. The conditions were inadvertently pasted on the order earlier," he said. Superintendent of plice Manoj Kumar Singh said the police would make security arrangements for the event. "Holding a public meeting is their constitutional right. We will make all arrangements to maintain law and order. We have already detained 350 habitual offenders and criminals in view of this programme and such action is going to continue," he said. Gandhi was detained in Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh en route Mandsaur in June last year to meet the families of the farmers killed in the police firing during their protest.

Rahul Gandhi to hold rally on farmers' death anniversary in Mandsaur in June

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh today launched a scathing attack on the Modi government for its "disastrous policies" and "economic mismanagement", and said the country was facing crises that were avoidable.

Singh attacked the government over a series of banking sector frauds, saying the money swindled almost quadrupled from Rs 28,416 crore in September 2013 to Rs 1.11 lakh crore in September 2017.

"Perpetrators of these frauds meanwhile escape with impunity. The economic mismanagement of the Modi government, and I say this with great care and responsibility, is slowly eroding the trust of the general public in the banking sector," he said.

"Our nation today is experiencing difficult times. Our farmers are facing an acute crisis, our aspirational youth are not finding opportunities, and the economy is growing below its potential," Singh told reporters here.

He said the "unfortunate truth" was that each of these crises was "entirely avoidable".

"It pains me to see how rather than standing up to all these challenges, the governments response has been to stifle dissent when deficiencies are pointed out," he said.

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Noting that economic policy has a significant impact on the lives of people, he said it was essential that those tasked with decision making pay careful attention to policies and programmes and not act on mere whims and fancies.

"India is a complex and diverse country and no one person can be the repository of all wisdom," he said in an apparent dig at Modi.

He said every time an answer was sought for any of the "disastrous policies" of the BJP government, "all we hear is that the intentions are virtuous".

Singh said the intentions of the Modi government which it claimed were good, had resulted in "massive" losses for the country.

"Its lack of reasoning and analysis is costing India and our collective future."

The former prime minister said under the UPA governments the growth rate averaged 7 per cent. It was 8 per cent at one point of time despite turbulent global conditions, he said.

The NDA government, he said, clocked inferior growth rate despite a favourable international climate and low oil prices. In fact, growth rate under the NDA is lower in spite of the change in the methodology to determine it "which paints a rosier picture than reality", Singh said. 
According to Singh, two "major avoidable blunders" of the Modi government had been demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST.

He said the losses the economy suffered due to these blunders had severely hurt the micro, small and medium enterprises and resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. 
Besides, exports as a share of the GDP plunged to a 14 year low at a time when the global economy was reviving and exports of other Asian nations like Vietnam were growing substantially, he said.

Singh said petrol and diesel prices were at a "historic high" despite a fall in international crude oil prices because the Modi government had chosen to levy "excessive" excise duty.

"Instead of passing on the benefits of low prices to the people, the Modi government has punished the people," he said.&nbsp;

'Our farmers are facing an acute crisis, our aspirational youth are not finding opportunities, and the economy is growing below its potential,' Singh said

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh today launched a scathing attack on the Modi government for its "disastrous policies" and "economic mismanagement", and said the country was facing crises that were avoidable. Singh attacked the government over a series of banking sector frauds, saying the money swindled almost quadrupled from Rs 28,416 crore in September 2013 to Rs 1.11 lakh crore in September 2017. "Perpetrators of these frauds meanwhile escape with impunity. The economic mismanagement of the Modi government, and I say this with great care and responsibility, is slowly eroding the trust of the general public in the banking sector," he said. "Our nation today is experiencing difficult times. Our farmers are facing an acute crisis, our aspirational youth are not finding opportunities, and the economy is growing below its potential," Singh told reporters here. He said the "unfortunate truth" was that each of these crises was "entirely avoidable". "It pains me to see how rather than standing up to all these challenges, the governments response has been to stifle dissent when deficiencies are pointed out," he said. It pains me to see how rather than standing up to all these challenges, the governments response has been to stifle dissent when deficiencies are pointed out' × Noting that economic policy has a significant impact on the lives of people, he said it was essential that those tasked with decision making pay careful attention to policies and programmes and not act on mere whims and fancies. "India is a complex and diverse country and no one person can be the repository of all wisdom," he said in an apparent dig at Modi. He said every time an answer was sought for any of the "disastrous policies" of the BJP government, "all we hear is that the intentions are virtuous". Singh said the intentions of the Modi government which it claimed were good, had resulted in "massive" losses for the country. "Its lack of reasoning and analysis is costing India and our collective future." The former prime minister said under the UPA governments the growth rate averaged 7 per cent. It was 8 per cent at one point of time despite turbulent global conditions, he said. The NDA government, he said, clocked inferior growth rate despite a favourable international climate and low oil prices. In fact, growth rate under the NDA is lower in spite of the change in the methodology to determine it "which paints a rosier picture than reality", Singh said. According to Singh, two "major avoidable blunders" of the Modi government had been demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST. He said the losses the economy suffered due to these blunders had severely hurt the micro, small and medium enterprises and resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Besides, exports as a share of the GDP plunged to a 14 year low at a time when the global economy was reviving and exports of other Asian nations like Vietnam were growing substantially, he said. Singh said petrol and diesel prices were at a "historic high" despite a fall in international crude oil prices because the Modi government had chosen to levy "excessive" excise duty. "Instead of passing on the benefits of low prices to the people, the Modi government has punished the people," he said.

Our nation today is experiencing difficult times: Manmohan Singh

Farmers in Bihar's Rohtas on Sunday dumped tomatoes on roads and ran vehicles over them in a bid to protest over insufficient profits from the produce.&nbsp

Farmers stated that they hardly earn the profit and did not get fair and adequate prices from the produced tomatoes.&nbsp

The farmers said that they are not even getting wholesale rate of Rs&nbsp1 per kilogram for tomatoes and whereas the cost to bring tomatoes to the market comes at Rs&nbsp2 per kilogram.

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Rohtas based farmers threw away tomatoes on road & ran a vehicle over them alleging they didn't get fair and adequate prices for the product in the market said, 'we haven't even met our expenses & that's why we are protesting on road' <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bihar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bihar</a> <a href="https://t.co/nYCqwyyUxJ">pic.twitter.com/nYCqwyyUxJ</a>
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A farmer said, "I spent Rs. 50000 per acre to produce tomatoes and now I am not even getting Rs. 500 for tomatoes produced in an acre. We don't have any other option left than destroying tomatoes here only."

To register their protest, the farmers spilled tomatoes on road near Post Office square and ran their tractor trolleys over it. Some of them were seen crushing tomatoes with their feet.

The farmers said that they are not even getting wholesale rate of Rs 1 per kilogram for tomatoes and whereas the cost to bring tomatoes to the market comes at Rs 2 per kilogram

Farmers in Bihar's Rohtas on Sunday dumped tomatoes on roads and ran vehicles over them in a bid to protest over insufficient profits from the produce. Farmers stated that they hardly earn the profit and did not get fair and adequate prices from the produced tomatoes. The farmers said that they are not even getting wholesale rate of Rs&nbsp1 per kilogram for tomatoes and whereas the cost to bring tomatoes to the market comes at Rs&nbsp2 per kilogram. Rohtas based farmers threw away tomatoes on road & ran a vehicle over them alleging they didn't get fair and adequate prices for the product in the market said, 'we haven't even met our expenses & that's why we are protesting on road' #Bihar pic.twitter.com/nYCqwyyUxJ — ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2018 × A farmer said, "I spent Rs. 50000 per acre to produce tomatoes and now I am not even getting Rs. 500 for tomatoes produced in an acre. We don't have any other option left than destroying tomatoes here only." To register their protest, the farmers spilled tomatoes on road near Post Office square and ran their tractor trolleys over it. Some of them were seen crushing tomatoes with their feet.

Bihar: Farmers dump tomatoes on roads over inadequate prices

More than 24,000 government officials were among over one lakh ineligible applicants for the Maharashtra government's crop loan waiver scheme, a scrutiny has found.

While announcing the Rs 34,000 crore waiver scheme last year, the government had made it clear that government employees -- even if they are involved in farming -- will not get its benefit.

"More than one lakh applications were filed by people who do not comply with some or other criterion. Surprisingly, 24,221 of them were state government officials," a senior government official said Thursday.

Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had recently stated that names of some government officials were found in the list of loan waiver applicants, and these names were removed. But this resulted in need for more scrutiny and delay in the implementation of the scheme, he had said.

The official said that around 1.30 lakh applications were rejected as they didn't meet some or other criterion.

"One of the basic criteria was that beneficiary should not have any other major source of income apart from agriculture, and most of the rejected applicants had other sources of income, such as shops, government or semi-government jobs, or some were elected representatives," the official said.

The scheme is being implemented by the Cooperation Department. Interestingly, 9,262 rejected applications had come from the employees of the Cooperation Department itself, he said.

The scrutiny committee also found 14 cases where the applicant's spouse was a member of a Zilla Parishad or was an elected representative, the official said.&nbsp

While announcing the Rs 34,000 crore waiver scheme last year, the government had made it clear that government employees -- even if they are involved in farming -- will not get its benefit

More than 24,000 government officials were among over one lakh ineligible applicants for the Maharashtra government's crop loan waiver scheme, a scrutiny has found. While announcing the Rs 34,000 crore waiver scheme last year, the government had made it clear that government employees -- even if they are involved in farming -- will not get its benefit. "More than one lakh applications were filed by people who do not comply with some or other criterion. Surprisingly, 24,221 of them were state government officials," a senior government official said Thursday. Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had recently stated that names of some government officials were found in the list of loan waiver applicants, and these names were removed. But this resulted in need for more scrutiny and delay in the implementation of the scheme, he had said. The official said that around 1.30 lakh applications were rejected as they didn't meet some or other criterion. "One of the basic criteria was that beneficiary should not have any other major source of income apart from agriculture, and most of the rejected applicants had other sources of income, such as shops, government or semi-government jobs, or some were elected representatives," the official said. The scheme is being implemented by the Cooperation Department. Interestingly, 9,262 rejected applications had come from the employees of the Cooperation Department itself, he said. The scrutiny committee also found 14 cases where the applicant's spouse was a member of a Zilla Parishad or was an elected representative, the official said.

Maharashtra: Over 24,000 govt officials applied for crop loan waiver

The agriculture ministry will soon move a Cabinet note seeking approval for a new policy that aims to rope in both states and private firms in the procurement of other crops than wheat and paddy, for ensuring MSP to farmers, a senior government official said. The objective of the proposed policy is to improve the speed of response and effectiveness of procurement in cases when prices drop below the minimum support price (MSP).

The ministry has proposed three models — Market Assurance Scheme (MAS), Price Deficiency Procurement Scheme (PDPS) and Private Procurement and Stockists Scheme — after consultations with an informal group of ministers, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, as well as with state governments. “The agriculture ministry is preparing a Cabinet note on this. The policy aims to give liberty to states to implement either one of the models of procurement,” the senior government official said.

In case of MAS, the official said, it is to be implemented by state governments who can take immediate decisions on the basis of local conditions, to enter the market and begin procurement through their own state agencies or any other private agency authorised by states. States will be responsible for procurement and liquidation of the procured commodity. They would create a corpus fund for this purpose and make all logistics arrangements to handle the procurement.

The central government will compensate the operational loss, if any, on value of MSP, up to a maximum 30-40 per cent. The second model proposed under the policy is ‘Price Deficiency Procurement Scheme (PDPS)’ which is similar to the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana launched by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Under the PDS scheme, if the sale price is below a model price then the farmers would be compensated to the difference between the MSP and actual price, subject to certain conditions and ceiling.

The MAS and PDPS are primarily government-owned and driven schemes. The central government wants to bring in private sector players to supplement its schemes. Therefore the ministry, in the new policy, has proposed engagement of private sector in MSP-linked procurement through a transparent e-market platform.

States will be allowed to empanel private firms via a transparent bidding for the purchase of farm produce when prices fall below the MSP. The private firms will be given tax incentive and a commission.

According to sources, the monitory implication of the proposed policy will run into thousands of crores if all three schemes are implemented by all states in all MSP notified crops. Also, the existing Price Support Scheme (PSS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) will be discontinued once the new policy is in place, the sources added.

It may be noted farmers are under distress due to fall in prices of most commodities below the MSP in view of the bumper crop. In the Budget 2018, the government has announced that it will ensure delivery of MSP at any cost to farmers.

The central government wants to bring in private sector players to supplement its schemes. Therefore the ministry, in the new policy, has proposed engagement of private sector in MSP-linked procurement through a transparent e-market platform.

The agriculture ministry will soon move a Cabinet note seeking approval for a new policy that aims to rope in both states and private firms in the procurement of other crops than wheat and paddy, for ensuring MSP to farmers, a senior government official said. The objective of the proposed policy is to improve the speed of response and effectiveness of procurement in cases when prices drop below the minimum support price (MSP). The ministry has proposed three models — Market Assurance Scheme (MAS), Price Deficiency Procurement Scheme (PDPS) and Private Procurement and Stockists Scheme — after consultations with an informal group of ministers, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, as well as with state governments. “The agriculture ministry is preparing a Cabinet note on this. The policy aims to give liberty to states to implement either one of the models of procurement,” the senior government official said. In case of MAS, the official said, it is to be implemented by state governments who can take immediate decisions on the basis of local conditions, to enter the market and begin procurement through their own state agencies or any other private agency authorised by states. States will be responsible for procurement and liquidation of the procured commodity. They would create a corpus fund for this purpose and make all logistics arrangements to handle the procurement. The central government will compensate the operational loss, if any, on value of MSP, up to a maximum 30-40 per cent. The second model proposed under the policy is ‘Price Deficiency Procurement Scheme (PDPS)’ which is similar to the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana launched by the Madhya Pradesh government. Under the PDS scheme, if the sale price is below a model price then the farmers would be compensated to the difference between the MSP and actual price, subject to certain conditions and ceiling. The MAS and PDPS are primarily government-owned and driven schemes. The central government wants to bring in private sector players to supplement its schemes. Therefore the ministry, in the new policy, has proposed engagement of private sector in MSP-linked procurement through a transparent e-market platform. States will be allowed to empanel private firms via a transparent bidding for the purchase of farm produce when prices fall below the MSP. The private firms will be given tax incentive and a commission. According to sources, the monitory implication of the proposed policy will run into thousands of crores if all three schemes are implemented by all states in all MSP notified crops. Also, the existing Price Support Scheme (PSS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) will be discontinued once the new policy is in place, the sources added. It may be noted farmers are under distress due to fall in prices of most commodities below the MSP in view of the bumper crop. In the Budget 2018, the government has announced that it will ensure delivery of MSP at any cost to farmers.

Agriculture Ministry to soon move Cabinet note to ensure farmers get MSP

The Congress on Thursday termed the BJP’s proposed rally in Mumbai on April 6 to commemorate its 38th Foundation Day as “rubbing salt into the wounds of farmers”.&nbsp

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, addressing reporters, said that the ruling BJP was spending “lavishly” on this rally despite the fact that 13,000 farmers had committed suicide, fiscal deficit had touched Rs 15,000 crore and unemployment had risen sharply during its regime. He criticised the Maharashtra government for excluding 50 lakh farmers from the ambit of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana, popularly referred to as farm loan waiver scheme.

He said that the government did not want too many farmers covered under the waiver scheme as it had launched the programme “half-heartedly”.

“In the month of January 47.46 lakh, farmers were included in the green list as eligible for the waiver and Rs 23,102 crore was approved. However, in the list brought out on April 3, the number of eligible farmers came down to 46.52 lakh and the approved amount dipped to Rs 18,904 crore,” he claimed.

He said that the government should apply to farmers the same yardstick based on which state Labour and Skills Development Minister Sambhaji Nilangekar got a waiver of Rs 51 crore on a loan amount of Rs 76 crore under the One Time Settlement scheme.

Earlier, on March 28, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had defended Nilangekar in the Legislative Assembly stating that he was just a guarantor for the loan and the OTS was done as per RBI guidelines.

The loan, amounting to Rs 49 crore with interest, was taken by a private firm in 2009 and 2011 and was later declared as a non-performing asset.

The ruling BJP was spending "lavishly" on this rally despite the fact that 13,000 farmers had committed suicide and fiscal deficit had touched Rs 15,000 crore, said Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.

The Congress on Thursday termed the BJP’s proposed rally in Mumbai on April 6 to commemorate its 38th Foundation Day as “rubbing salt into the wounds of farmers”. Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, addressing reporters, said that the ruling BJP was spending “lavishly” on this rally despite the fact that 13,000 farmers had committed suicide, fiscal deficit had touched Rs 15,000 crore and unemployment had risen sharply during its regime. He criticised the Maharashtra government for excluding 50 lakh farmers from the ambit of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana, popularly referred to as farm loan waiver scheme. He said that the government did not want too many farmers covered under the waiver scheme as it had launched the programme “half-heartedly”. “In the month of January 47.46 lakh, farmers were included in the green list as eligible for the waiver and Rs 23,102 crore was approved. However, in the list brought out on April 3, the number of eligible farmers came down to 46.52 lakh and the approved amount dipped to Rs 18,904 crore,” he claimed. He said that the government should apply to farmers the same yardstick based on which state Labour and Skills Development Minister Sambhaji Nilangekar got a waiver of Rs 51 crore on a loan amount of Rs 76 crore under the One Time Settlement scheme. Earlier, on March 28, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had defended Nilangekar in the Legislative Assembly stating that he was just a guarantor for the loan and the OTS was done as per RBI guidelines. The loan, amounting to Rs 49 crore with interest, was taken by a private firm in 2009 and 2011 and was later declared as a non-performing asset.

BJP rubbing salt into farmers’ wounds with April 6 rally: Congress

In an apparent attack on opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said confusion is being spread about the budget decision to fix MSP for crops, at least 1.5 times the production cost, and assured farmers that all major costs incurred will be included while declaring the support price.

The Centre is already working with state governments to ensure that farmers get the benefit of the declared Minimum Support Price (MSP), he said.

Addressing a three-day Krishi Unnati Mela 2018 here, Modi also appealed to farmers not to burn crop residues so as to curb pollution.

Besides, he asked farmers to grow more oilseeds to reduce dependence on import of cooking oil as also to cut urea consumption by at least half by 2022.

In the Union Budget 2018-19, the government took a decision to ensure right prices to farmers for their produce, he said.

It has decided that for all notified crops, MSP will be at least one and a half times the cost, Modi said.

Many people are &quot;spreading confusion and creating atmosphere of despair&quot; regarding the government&#39;s MSP decision, he said while sharing the detail of components to be considered while determining the cost of production for fixing the support price.

&quot;The cost of production will include elements such as hired labour, expenses on their own or rented machinery as well as livestock, cost of seeds and fertilisers, expenses on irrigation, revenue being given to state government, interest on working capital, and rent of leased land among others,&quot; he said.

It will also include labour put by farmers and their family, he said. &quot;This is an important decision related to income of hardworking farmers.&quot;

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government will consider A2+FL which includes paid out costs on inputs and imputed value of family labour. However, a section of farmers&#39; organisations have been demanding the comprehensive cost (C2) that also includes imputed rent and interest on owned land and capital, over and above A2+FL.

After the Prime Minister&#39;s speech today, when contacted, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand said, &quot;What the PM talked about was A2+FL. He shared the components of the cost. It is a comprehensive subject and not many people know about it. The PM tried to explain in detail.&quot;

Stating that the government is working to strengthen agri-marketing in a big way, Modi said the efforts are being made to link rural mandis to APMC wholesale markets to global market to enhance farmers income.

In the recent Budget, Grameen Retail Agriculture Markets have been envisaged. 22,000 rural haats will be upgraded with necessary infrastructure, and integrated with APMC and the e-NAM platform, he said.

Farmers can market their produce in a better way through Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs), which has been exempted from income tax, on the lines of cooperative societies, in the Budget, he added.

Modi, who also launched e-marketing portal for organic products, said this platform is a new chapter in agri-marketing reform. This will be a huge benefit to farmers.

To reduce input costs, the government has taken various steps like soil health card and neem coating of urea besides completing pending irrigation projects with an outlay of Rs 80,000 crore.

Stating that the farm sector is facing challenges affecting farmers income, he said, the government is working with a holistic approach to deal with these challenges and is committed to double farmers income by 2022 and making their lives easier.

He pitched for beekeeping, solar farming, organic farming, bamboo cultivation and biowaste management to supplement income and also appealed farmers to stop crop burning by adopting farm machineries.

For the farmers&#39; welfare, Modi said that the centre has framed many model acts and urged the states to implement them.

&quot;Government is making all out efforts to ensure that farmers get latest seeds, required electricity, do not face any problem in market access and get right prices for their produce,&quot; Modi said.

He inaugurated the Jaivik Kheti (organic farming) portal and laid the foundation stone of 25 KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) taking the total centres to 700 in India. He also conferred the Krishi Karman Award and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puruskar.

More than 800 stalls have been set up by the central and state governments and various other organisations in this fair.

The fair is showcasing ways to enhance farmers&#39; income through theme pavilions like micro irrigation, neem-coated urea, soil check/health card, reducing input costs through less use of fertiliser, effectiveness of crop insurance scheme and new dimensions of income generation such as animal husbandry, bee keeping and poultry farming.&nbsp;

In the Union Budget 2018-19, the government took a decision to ensure right prices to farmers for their produce, he said.

In an apparent attack on opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said confusion is being spread about the budget decision to fix MSP for crops, at least 1.5 times the production cost, and assured farmers that all major costs incurred will be included while declaring the support price. The Centre is already working with state governments to ensure that farmers get the benefit of the declared Minimum Support Price (MSP), he said. Addressing a three-day Krishi Unnati Mela 2018 here, Modi also appealed to farmers not to burn crop residues so as to curb pollution. Besides, he asked farmers to grow more oilseeds to reduce dependence on import of cooking oil as also to cut urea consumption by at least half by 2022. In the Union Budget 2018-19, the government took a decision to ensure right prices to farmers for their produce, he said. It has decided that for all notified crops, MSP will be at least one and a half times the cost, Modi said. Many people are "spreading confusion and creating atmosphere of despair" regarding the government's MSP decision, he said while sharing the detail of components to be considered while determining the cost of production for fixing the support price. "The cost of production will include elements such as hired labour, expenses on their own or rented machinery as well as livestock, cost of seeds and fertilisers, expenses on irrigation, revenue being given to state government, interest on working capital, and rent of leased land among others," he said. It will also include labour put by farmers and their family, he said. "This is an important decision related to income of hardworking farmers." Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government will consider A2+FL which includes paid out costs on inputs and imputed value of family labour. However, a section of farmers' organisations have been demanding the comprehensive cost (C2) that also includes imputed rent and interest on owned land and capital, over and above A2+FL. After the Prime Minister's speech today, when contacted, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand said, "What the PM talked about was A2+FL. He shared the components of the cost. It is a comprehensive subject and not many people know about it. The PM tried to explain in detail." Stating that the government is working to strengthen agri-marketing in a big way, Modi said the efforts are being made to link rural mandis to APMC wholesale markets to global market to enhance farmers income. In the recent Budget, Grameen Retail Agriculture Markets have been envisaged. 22,000 rural haats will be upgraded with necessary infrastructure, and integrated with APMC and the e-NAM platform, he said. Farmers can market their produce in a better way through Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs), which has been exempted from income tax, on the lines of cooperative societies, in the Budget, he added. Modi, who also launched e-marketing portal for organic products, said this platform is a new chapter in agri-marketing reform. This will be a huge benefit to farmers. To reduce input costs, the government has taken various steps like soil health card and neem coating of urea besides completing pending irrigation projects with an outlay of Rs 80,000 crore. Stating that the farm sector is facing challenges affecting farmers income, he said, the government is working with a holistic approach to deal with these challenges and is committed to double farmers income by 2022 and making their lives easier. He pitched for beekeeping, solar farming, organic farming, bamboo cultivation and biowaste management to supplement income and also appealed farmers to stop crop burning by adopting farm machineries. For the farmers' welfare, Modi said that the centre has framed many model acts and urged the states to implement them. "Government is making all out efforts to ensure that farmers get latest seeds, required electricity, do not face any problem in market access and get right prices for their produce," Modi said. He inaugurated the Jaivik Kheti (organic farming) portal and laid the foundation stone of 25 KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) taking the total centres to 700 in India. He also conferred the Krishi Karman Award and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puruskar. More than 800 stalls have been set up by the central and state governments and various other organisations in this fair. The fair is showcasing ways to enhance farmers' income through theme pavilions like micro irrigation, neem-coated urea, soil check/health card, reducing input costs through less use of fertiliser, effectiveness of crop insurance scheme and new dimensions of income generation such as animal husbandry, bee keeping and poultry farming.

Confusion being spread about support price to farmers: PM

Social Activist Anna Hazare has confirmed that he will begin satyagrah on March 23&nbsp;in Delhi&#39;s Ramlila Maidan.

&quot;The satyagarha will start from March 23 and there will be no set timeframe to end it. It will continue till life is in my body,&quot; Hazare said.

The Gandhian also complained that the government has still not allotted space for holding the satyagraha. He threatened to start the satyagraha from jail if space is not allotted before March 23.

&quot;We have written 16 times to the government in the last four months to allot the place for satyagraha but till date it has not been allotted. Four days before, I wrote a letter to&nbsp;Prime Minister Narendra Modi&nbsp;and said &#39;your government is deliberately not allotting the place and if it is not allotted then I will start satyagraha from jail,&quot; Hazare said.

While addressing a &#39;Rashtriya Kisan Mahapanchayat&#39; in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, in December, he said that he had written a number of letters to the centre, but they remained unaddressed.&nbsp;

Alleging the Centre for weakening the anti-corruption Lokpal Act, Hazare said that it has encouraged corruption in the country.

&quot;Today the farmer of this country is in a poor shape. The Centre is responsible for the suicides committed by the farmer. It is yet to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission. I have written a number of letters to the Centre, but nothing happened&quot;.

Hazare said, &quot;we have not achieved democracy which we had desired. Farmers are committing suicide but the government was ignoring plight of them&quot;, adding that Lokpal act, passed in 2013 but even after five years it has not been enforced. The intention of the government was doubtful as the act was pending for long.

Meanwhile, several thousands of farmers, men, women and youth, parked themselves under the scorching sun at the historic Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, around three km from the legislature where the budget session is currently on.

The gruelling 200 km, six-day long &#39;Long March&#39; undertaken by over 35,000 farmers ended on a positive note, with the Maharashtra government conceding most demands March 12 evening.

The farmers, tribals and labourers, under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers wing of the Communist Party of India (M), had marched nearly 200 km since March 6 and reached Mumbai late on Sunday, and to Azad Maidan at dawn on Monday.

All political parties have supported the farmers&#39; Long March, with Congress President Rahul Gandhi coming out in favour of the peasantry, terming it as &quot;an unprecedented show of strength&quot; and urged Modi and Fadnavis to shed their egos and concede the farmers&#39; legitimate demands.

Hazare's protest at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan will begin March 23

Social Activist Anna Hazare has confirmed that he will begin satyagrah on March 23 in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. "The satyagarha will start from March 23 and there will be no set timeframe to end it. It will continue till life is in my body," Hazare said. The Gandhian also complained that the government has still not allotted space for holding the satyagraha. He threatened to start the satyagraha from jail if space is not allotted before March 23. "We have written 16 times to the government in the last four months to allot the place for satyagraha but till date it has not been allotted. Four days before, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said 'your government is deliberately not allotting the place and if it is not allotted then I will start satyagraha from jail," Hazare said. While addressing a 'Rashtriya Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, in December, he said that he had written a number of letters to the centre, but they remained unaddressed. Alleging the Centre for weakening the anti-corruption Lokpal Act, Hazare said that it has encouraged corruption in the country. "Today the farmer of this country is in a poor shape. The Centre is responsible for the suicides committed by the farmer. It is yet to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission. I have written a number of letters to the Centre, but nothing happened". Hazare said, "we have not achieved democracy which we had desired. Farmers are committing suicide but the government was ignoring plight of them", adding that Lokpal act, passed in 2013 but even after five years it has not been enforced. The intention of the government was doubtful as the act was pending for long. Meanwhile, several thousands of farmers, men, women and youth, parked themselves under the scorching sun at the historic Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, around three km from the legislature where the budget session is currently on. The gruelling 200 km, six-day long 'Long March' undertaken by over 35,000 farmers ended on a positive note, with the Maharashtra government conceding most demands March 12 evening. The farmers, tribals and labourers, under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers wing of the Communist Party of India (M), had marched nearly 200 km since March 6 and reached Mumbai late on Sunday, and to Azad Maidan at dawn on Monday. All political parties have supported the farmers' Long March, with Congress President Rahul Gandhi coming out in favour of the peasantry, terming it as "an unprecedented show of strength" and urged Modi and Fadnavis to shed their egos and concede the farmers' legitimate demands.

Anna Hazare to stage satyagraha for farmers in Delhi

The famed &#39;dabbawalas&#39; of Mumbai and the city residents came out to help the thousands of farmers, who walked for six days to reach here from Nashik to raise their various demands, by providing them food and water.

The farmers walked up to the Azad Maidan in South Mumbai early this morning as a part of their &#39;long march&#39; for raising demands, including implementation of the Maharashtra government&#39;s loan waiver scheme.

Subhash Talekar, the spokesperson of Mumbai Dabbawala Association, said, &quot;We thought about helping the farmers with food as they are our food-providers and have come from remote parts of the state.&quot;

&quot;We asked our men working between Dadar (in Central Mumbai) and Colaba (South Mumbai) to collect food and deliver it to our farmer brothers at the Azad Maidan,&quot; he said.

Dabbawalas, the tiffin-carriers,&nbsp;known for their efficient delivery service, provided food to the protesters as a part of their &#39;roti-bank&#39; initiative.

According to Talekar, the Mumbai roti-bank, of which the dabbawalas are an integral part, deploys GPS-tracked vans to collect excess food from eateries, hotels, public functions and households, so that it can be distributed to the poor and hungry people.

Meanwhile, city residents were also seen offering &#39;Vada-pav&#39; (a popular street snack), other food items and water to farmers last night.

A Mumbai resident also posted on social media a picture of food and water being distributed to farmers.

Several political parties like the Congress, the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have extended their support to the protesting farmers.

Dabbawalas, the tiffin-carriers, known for their efficient delivery service, provided food to the protesters as a part of their 'roti-bank' initiative

The famed 'dabbawalas' of Mumbai and the city residents came out to help the thousands of farmers, who walked for six days to reach here from Nashik to raise their various demands, by providing them food and water. The farmers walked up to the Azad Maidan in South Mumbai early this morning as a part of their 'long march' for raising demands, including implementation of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme. Subhash Talekar, the spokesperson of Mumbai Dabbawala Association, said, "We thought about helping the farmers with food as they are our food-providers and have come from remote parts of the state." "We asked our men working between Dadar (in Central Mumbai) and Colaba (South Mumbai) to collect food and deliver it to our farmer brothers at the Azad Maidan," he said. Dabbawalas, the tiffin-carriers, known for their efficient delivery service, provided food to the protesters as a part of their 'roti-bank' initiative. According to Talekar, the Mumbai roti-bank, of which the dabbawalas are an integral part, deploys GPS-tracked vans to collect excess food from eateries, hotels, public functions and households, so that it can be distributed to the poor and hungry people. Meanwhile, city residents were also seen offering 'Vada-pav' (a popular street snack), other food items and water to farmers last night. A Mumbai resident also posted on social media a picture of food and water being distributed to farmers. Several political parties like the Congress, the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have extended their support to the protesting farmers.

Dabbawalas, Mumbaikars feed protesting farmers

Protesting farmers have finally completed their 180-km march as they reached Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Monday to protest outside the Vidhan Bhavan.&nbsp;

The six-day long march, called by Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS) affiliated with the CPI(M), began on March 6 from the CBS chowk in Nashik.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Visuals from Mumbai&#39;s Azad Maidan where members of All India Kisan Sabha have gathered to protest. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Maharashtra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Maharashtra</a> <a href="https://t.co/3GgN6UMVPB">pic.twitter.com/3GgN6UMVPB</a>
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Farmers have been walking with blistered feet under the scorching sun from last six days, sighting difficulty for the office goers and the students appearing for board examinations on Monday.&nbsp;

The farmers reached Thane toll on Saturday and following a night-halt, they marched towards Sion on Sunday.&nbsp;

After resting for nearly three hours at Somaiya ground, they started marching towards Azad Maidan at 1 am.

Today, they plan to surround the state assembly to press for their demands for a complete loan waiver, fair pay and transfer of adivasi land to farmers who have been tilling it for years.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Maharashtra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Maharashtra</a>: Latest visuals of All India Kisan Sabha protest which has reached Mumbai&#39;s Azad Maidan. The protest will proceed to state assembly later in the day. <a href="https://t.co/Dp5hsKU1Rc">pic.twitter.com/Dp5hsKU1Rc</a>
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The protestors are also demanding to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

The tribals have joined the protest in huge numbers. The huge crowd reached Azad Maidan around 5 am.&nbsp;

The protestors had camped at the KJ Somaiya Ground before marching towards Azad Maidan, a large ground designated for protests in South Mumbai, shortly after midnight.

Today, they plan to surround the state assembly to press for their demands

Protesting farmers have finally completed their 180-km march as they reached Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Monday to protest outside the Vidhan Bhavan. The six-day long march, called by Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS) affiliated with the CPI(M), began on March 6 from the CBS chowk in Nashik. #WATCH: Visuals from Mumbai's Azad Maidan where members of All India Kisan Sabha have gathered to protest. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/3GgN6UMVPB — ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2018 × Farmers have been walking with blistered feet under the scorching sun from last six days, sighting difficulty for the office goers and the students appearing for board examinations on Monday. The farmers reached Thane toll on Saturday and following a night-halt, they marched towards Sion on Sunday. After resting for nearly three hours at Somaiya ground, they started marching towards Azad Maidan at 1 am. Today, they plan to surround the state assembly to press for their demands for a complete loan waiver, fair pay and transfer of adivasi land to farmers who have been tilling it for years. #Maharashtra: Latest visuals of All India Kisan Sabha protest which has reached Mumbai's Azad Maidan. The protest will proceed to state assembly later in the day. pic.twitter.com/Dp5hsKU1Rc — ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2018 × The protestors are also demanding to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. The tribals have joined the protest in huge numbers. The huge crowd reached Azad Maidan around 5 am. The protestors had camped at the KJ Somaiya Ground before marching towards Azad Maidan, a large ground designated for protests in South Mumbai, shortly after midnight.

Mumbai: Farmers complete 180-km protest march, reach Azad Maidan to demand loan waiver

Over 30,000 farmers protesting against the BJP government in Maharashtra demanding a complete farm loan waiver, will reach&nbsp;Mumbai on Sunday.

The farmers, who started their march&nbsp;from Nashik,&nbsp;reached the doorstep of Mumbai, Thane on Saturday evening. The farmers will reach Mumbai on Sunday.

The 180-km-long march is led by All India Kisan Sabha National President Ashok Davle, local MLA J P Gavit and other leaders.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/maharashtra-farmers-protest-demanding-loan-waiver-reaches-thane-35177">30,000 farmers head towards Mumbai to demand complete loan waiver</a>

The farmers are planning to gherao the Vidhan Bhawan on Monday to demand complete loan waiver, remunerative prices for agricultural produce and implementation of Swaminathan commission recommendations which addresses issues of providing minimum support prices (MSP) and safeguarding interests of small farmers.

The Devendra Fadnavis government has been under immense pressure after continuous protests by farmers who alleged that he did not honour assurances given to farmers for a farm loan waiver of Rs. 34,000 crore in June last year.

Ashok Davle has accused the BJP government of having betrayed farmers. He said that promises made have remained unfulfilled.

He is also demanding transfer of forest land to those who have been tilling it for years and an increase in the compensation for peasants whose crops were damaged in the recent hailstorms and pink bollworm infestation.

Farmers and farm labourers in large number from various districts of the state gathered in Nashik city before setting off on &nbsp;&lsquo;long march&rsquo; to Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon.

The budget session is also underway at the state legislature.

 
&nbsp;

The protesting farmers reached the doorstep of Mumbai, Thane on Saturday evening

Over 30,000 farmers protesting against the BJP government in Maharashtra demanding a complete farm loan waiver, will reach Mumbai on Sunday. The farmers, who started their march from Nashik, reached the doorstep of Mumbai, Thane on Saturday evening. The farmers will reach Mumbai on Sunday. The 180-km-long march is led by All India Kisan Sabha National President Ashok Davle, local MLA J P Gavit and other leaders. Also read: 30,000 farmers head towards Mumbai to demand complete loan waiver The farmers are planning to gherao the Vidhan Bhawan on Monday to demand complete loan waiver, remunerative prices for agricultural produce and implementation of Swaminathan commission recommendations which addresses issues of providing minimum support prices (MSP) and safeguarding interests of small farmers. The Devendra Fadnavis government has been under immense pressure after continuous protests by farmers who alleged that he did not honour assurances given to farmers for a farm loan waiver of Rs. 34,000 crore in June last year. Ashok Davle has accused the BJP government of having betrayed farmers. He said that promises made have remained unfulfilled. He is also demanding transfer of forest land to those who have been tilling it for years and an increase in the compensation for peasants whose crops were damaged in the recent hailstorms and pink bollworm infestation. Farmers and farm labourers in large number from various districts of the state gathered in Nashik city before setting off on ‘long march’ to Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon. The budget session is also underway at the state legislature.

Over 30,000 farmers marching from Nashik demanding farm loan waiver to reach Mumbai today

By Manoj Dora*

Climate change could hurt farmers&rsquo; income by up to 20-25% in the medium term, according to the Indian government&rsquo;s latest annual economic survey. Extreme weather events, temperature rise, and lower rainfall all threaten to derail the Indian government&rsquo;s agenda of doubling farmers&rsquo; income across the country.

There are ways to counter this, however. New technology and better farm management can be deployed to improve irrigation systems. And, to ensure long-term impact, it is also important that the Indian government invests in agricultural research.

Agriculture is central to the Indian economy. It accounts for 50% of the country&rsquo;s employment and 18% of its GDP. And in India, about 80% of farmers are smallholders &ndash; which is generally considered to mean they have two hectares or less of land. The main crops are wheat, maize, rice, millets, pulses, sugarcane, and oil-seeds.

Indian farmers must contend with a number of risks, including adverse weather, competition from larger landowners or food corporations and price surges. Small farmers are a vulnerable population where social, market and economic pressures are huge, often leading to considerable distress. India is home to nearly 25% of the world&rsquo;s hungry population and has an alarming rate of farmer suicide (around 60,000 cases in the past three decades).

So the effects of fluctuations in weather, temperature, and rainfall on agricultural productivity will have a significant impact on the wider population.

Climate change

Extensive meteorological data in the recent government report shows that average temperatures are rising across the country and annual rainfall is declining. It also shows a rise in the number of days with extremely high temperatures and a corresponding decline in the number of days with low temperatures.

Extreme temperature shocks, when a district is significantly hotter than usual, results in a 4.7% decline in agricultural yields. Similarly, when it rains significantly less than usual there is a 12.8% decline.

Areas lacking in irrigation are worst affected by these extreme weather conditions. A temperature shock in an area that is not irrigated reduces yields by 7.6%. Similarly, the effects of extreme rainfall shocks are 14.7% higher in areas without irrigation &ndash; much larger than the effects these shocks have in irrigated districts.

Lower yields mean lower incomes for farmers. The report estimated that extreme temperature shocks will reduce farmers&rsquo; incomes by 4.3% and extreme rainfall shocks will reduce incomes by 13.7%. In a year where temperatures are 1℃ higher, farmers&rsquo; incomes would fall by 6.2% in unirrigated districts. Similarly, in a year when rainfall levels were 100mm less than average, farmers&rsquo; incomes would fall by 15%.

Temperatures in India are likely to rise by 3 to 4℃ by the end of the 21st century. It follows that in the absence of any adaptation by farmers, farm incomes will be lower by 20 to 25% on average in the coming years, especially in the unirrigated areas.

There are five important ways to mitigate against this that the Indian government could start investing in now.

Smart irrigation

There is a significant need for an appropriate irrigation system considering rising water scarcity and depleting groundwater resources. Less than 50% of agriculture in India is irrigated.

States such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand are still extremely vulnerable to climate change due to poor irrigation. Smart irrigation systems such as drip, sprinklers and efficient water management should be made a priority and allocated across the country where needed.

Reduce post-harvest loss

Post-harvest loss of major agricultural production is estimated at US$13 billion. About 16% of fruits and vegetables, valued at US$6 billion were lost in the year 2015. Only 2.2% of fruits and vegetables, the most perishable of agricultural produces, are sorted and packed for consumption in India, increasing the chances of wastage as it gets sent abroad. In contrast, the US (65%) and China (23%) are far ahead of India in processing their own crops.

Small landholders lose out the most from this. It is not economically viable for most of them to transport their produce for centralised large-scale processing &ndash; and they lack local processing and preservation technologies. This results in a lot of wastage. This is then compounded by inadequate transport infrastructure &ndash; produce gets damaged on the journey because of bad roads, gets contaminated from repeated loading and unloaded, as well as lack of refrigeration.

Small farms also suffer from their reliance on middlemen to sell their product. As a result, they are sometimes compelled to sell it at less than the cost of producing it.&nbsp;

So there is an overwhelming need to develop technologies for local processing, smart packaging, and transport facilities which do not disadvantage small farmers.

Data driven supply-chain management

India must start using data to continuously improve the efficiency of its agricultural supply chains. New technologies such as sensors, GPS, and satellite imaging can help collect meaningful data to make India&rsquo;s agriculture system more resilient.

This enables different sections of the supply chain to monitor environmental and other conditions. It can be used to adapt how crops are produced, stored and distributed to reduce waste.

Farmer-centric crop insurance

To compensate for the uncertainty caused by climate change, an effective crop insurance programme is required to protect farmers from bad yields. Many already pay into insurance programmes but they provide little protection. The system needs overhauling so that small farmer is protected by low premium and long-term insurance cover, instead of being designed, as it seems to be at the moment, purely for the profit of insurance companies.

Evidence-based research

Agricultural research will be vital in increasing yields but also in increasing resilience to all the problems that could come with climate change &ndash; including extreme heat and precipitation, pests and crop disease. The research will be especially important for crops such as pulses and soybean, which are crucial crops and highly vulnerable to weather and climate change.

These measures will improve crop and water management practices. They are tailored to small farmers and to the fragmented, small-scale agricultural landscape &ndash; to directly improve efficiency, boost productivity and minimize the environmental impact on farming.&nbsp;

* Manoj Dora is a Senior Lecturer in Operations &amp; Supply Chain Management, Brunel University London.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Climate change could hurt Indian farmers' income by up to 20-25% in the medium term.

By Manoj Dora* Climate change could hurt farmers’ income by up to 20-25% in the medium term, according to the Indian government’s latest annual economic survey. Extreme weather events, temperature rise, and lower rainfall all threaten to derail the Indian government’s agenda of doubling farmers’ income across the country. There are ways to counter this, however. New technology and better farm management can be deployed to improve irrigation systems. And, to ensure long-term impact, it is also important that the Indian government invests in agricultural research. Agriculture is central to the Indian economy. It accounts for 50% of the country’s employment and 18% of its GDP. And in India, about 80% of farmers are smallholders – which is generally considered to mean they have two hectares or less of land. The main crops are wheat, maize, rice, millets, pulses, sugarcane, and oil-seeds. Indian farmers must contend with a number of risks, including adverse weather, competition from larger landowners or food corporations and price surges. Small farmers are a vulnerable population where social, market and economic pressures are huge, often leading to considerable distress. India is home to nearly 25% of the world’s hungry population and has an alarming rate of farmer suicide (around 60,000 cases in the past three decades). So the effects of fluctuations in weather, temperature, and rainfall on agricultural productivity will have a significant impact on the wider population. Climate change Extensive meteorological data in the recent government report shows that average temperatures are rising across the country and annual rainfall is declining. It also shows a rise in the number of days with extremely high temperatures and a corresponding decline in the number of days with low temperatures. Extreme temperature shocks, when a district is significantly hotter than usual, results in a 4.7% decline in agricultural yields. Similarly, when it rains significantly less than usual there is a 12.8% decline. Areas lacking in irrigation are worst affected by these extreme weather conditions. A temperature shock in an area that is not irrigated reduces yields by 7.6%. Similarly, the effects of extreme rainfall shocks are 14.7% higher in areas without irrigation – much larger than the effects these shocks have in irrigated districts. Lower yields mean lower incomes for farmers. The report estimated that extreme temperature shocks will reduce farmers’ incomes by 4.3% and extreme rainfall shocks will reduce incomes by 13.7%. In a year where temperatures are 1℃ higher, farmers’ incomes would fall by 6.2% in unirrigated districts. Similarly, in a year when rainfall levels were 100mm less than average, farmers’ incomes would fall by 15%. Temperatures in India are likely to rise by 3 to 4℃ by the end of the 21st century. It follows that in the absence of any adaptation by farmers, farm incomes will be lower by 20 to 25% on average in the coming years, especially in the unirrigated areas. There are five important ways to mitigate against this that the Indian government could start investing in now. Smart irrigation There is a significant need for an appropriate irrigation system considering rising water scarcity and depleting groundwater resources. Less than 50% of agriculture in India is irrigated. States such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand are still extremely vulnerable to climate change due to poor irrigation. Smart irrigation systems such as drip, sprinklers and efficient water management should be made a priority and allocated across the country where needed. Reduce post-harvest loss Post-harvest loss of major agricultural production is estimated at US$13 billion. About 16% of fruits and vegetables, valued at US$6 billion were lost in the year 2015. Only 2.2% of fruits and vegetables, the most perishable of agricultural produces, are sorted and packed for consumption in India, increasing the chances of wastage as it gets sent abroad. In contrast, the US (65%) and China (23%) are far ahead of India in processing their own crops. Small landholders lose out the most from this. It is not economically viable for most of them to transport their produce for centralised large-scale processing – and they lack local processing and preservation technologies. This results in a lot of wastage. This is then compounded by inadequate transport infrastructure – produce gets damaged on the journey because of bad roads, gets contaminated from repeated loading and unloaded, as well as lack of refrigeration. Small farms also suffer from their reliance on middlemen to sell their product. As a result, they are sometimes compelled to sell it at less than the cost of producing it. So there is an overwhelming need to develop technologies for local processing, smart packaging, and transport facilities which do not disadvantage small farmers. Data driven supply-chain management India must start using data to continuously improve the efficiency of its agricultural supply chains. New technologies such as sensors, GPS, and satellite imaging can help collect meaningful data to make India’s agriculture system more resilient. This enables different sections of the supply chain to monitor environmental and other conditions. It can be used to adapt how crops are produced, stored and distributed to reduce waste. Farmer-centric crop insurance To compensate for the uncertainty caused by climate change, an effective crop insurance programme is required to protect farmers from bad yields. Many already pay into insurance programmes but they provide little protection. The system needs overhauling so that small farmer is protected by low premium and long-term insurance cover, instead of being designed, as it seems to be at the moment, purely for the profit of insurance companies. Evidence-based research Agricultural research will be vital in increasing yields but also in increasing resilience to all the problems that could come with climate change – including extreme heat and precipitation, pests and crop disease. The research will be especially important for crops such as pulses and soybean, which are crucial crops and highly vulnerable to weather and climate change. These measures will improve crop and water management practices. They are tailored to small farmers and to the fragmented, small-scale agricultural landscape – to directly improve efficiency, boost productivity and minimize the environmental impact on farming. * Manoj Dora is a Senior Lecturer in Operations & Supply Chain Management, Brunel University London. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Indian farmers can counter the threat of climate change

Farmers in Andhra Pradesh&#39;s Nellore district seems to have found a novel way counter &#39;evil eye&#39; and protect their crop. The farmers have replaced scarecrows with posters of Sunny Leone.&nbsp;

Locals here vouch for the fact that the switch seems to have helped in warding off &#39;evil-eye&#39;.&nbsp;

Posters of bikini-clad Sunny Leone are put up instead of lifeless scarecrows bearing an interesting message on them in Telugu that translates into, &quot;Don&rsquo;t cry or feel jealous of me!&rdquo;.&nbsp;

Sunny Leone is a Canadian born Indian actress who formerly worked as a porn star and now features in many Bollywood movies, item numbers and songs.&nbsp;

She was recently urged to pull out from a New Year event in Bengaluru.&nbsp;

&quot;No permission has been granted for Time Creation&#39;s New Year&#39;s Eve event in which Sunny Leone was to take part,&quot; Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy noted in December 2017.

Locals here vouch for the fact that the switch seems to have helped in warding off 'evil-eye'.

Farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district seems to have found a novel way counter 'evil eye' and protect their crop. The farmers have replaced scarecrows with posters of Sunny Leone. Locals here vouch for the fact that the switch seems to have helped in warding off 'evil-eye'. Posters of bikini-clad Sunny Leone are put up instead of lifeless scarecrows bearing an interesting message on them in Telugu that translates into, "Don’t cry or feel jealous of me!”. Sunny Leone is a Canadian born Indian actress who formerly worked as a porn star and now features in many Bollywood movies, item numbers and songs. She was recently urged to pull out from a New Year event in Bengaluru. "No permission has been granted for Time Creation's New Year's Eve event in which Sunny Leone was to take part," Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy noted in December 2017.

Andhra Pradesh farmers think Sunny Leone wards off 'evil eye'

Telangana is all set to become the first state to provide round-the-clock electricity supply to its farmers from December 31.&nbsp;&nbsp;

According to a government release, close to 23 lakh&nbsp;agricultural pump sets will help in&nbsp;boosting the overall power demand to 11,000 MW by March 2018.

Nearly 12610 crore rupees have been invested by the state to set-up&nbsp;new power lines, transformers and sub-stations to amplify the power supply.&nbsp;

&quot;Telangana is going to create history by becoming the first state in the country offering free power to farmers 24 hours a day,&quot; noted the&nbsp;release.

(With inputs from PTI)

State power utilities had spent Rs 12610 crore in setting up new power lines

Telangana is all set to become the first state to provide round-the-clock electricity supply to its farmers from December 31. According to a government release, close to 23 lakh agricultural pump sets will help in boosting the overall power demand to 11,000 MW by March 2018. Nearly 12610 crore rupees have been invested by the state to set-up new power lines, transformers and sub-stations to amplify the power supply. "Telangana is going to create history by becoming the first state in the country offering free power to farmers 24 hours a day," noted the release. (With inputs from PTI)

Telangana farmers to get 24-hour free electricity from Dec 31

The farmers&nbsp;in Congress bastion Amethi staged a protest&nbsp;against Rahul Gandhi demanding a return of their land.

The farmers protested and raised slogans against the newly elected president.

They demanded that in return of the land the Congress party should provide them employment.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The farmers warned the Congress leader of continuing the protest in case their demands are not fulfilled.&nbsp;

They further said that that they will demolish the structure built on the land and protest there.

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Farmers held protest and raised slogans against Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, say, our land that was given to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation should be returned to us or we should be given employment else we will demolish the structure built there &amp; continue to protest <a href="https://t.co/EGG2ynTJTg">pic.twitter.com/EGG2ynTJTg</a>
&mdash; ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/940809074282725376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The farmers protested with a banner stating &quot;Shame on you Rahul, return the lands of farmers&quot;.

The protest was held across Samrat Cycle factory, which was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he was MP from Amethi.

The land was acquired by Jain brothers in 1980s, with a promise to provide employment to the people.&nbsp;

However, the company had to shut down after it incurred losses.&nbsp;

No compensation was paid to the farmers, who suffered the loss of their land and employment.

&nbsp;

The farmers?in Congress bastion Amethi staged a protest?against Rahul Gandhi demanding a return of their land

The farmers in Congress bastion Amethi staged a protest against Rahul Gandhi demanding a return of their land. The farmers protested and raised slogans against the newly elected president. They demanded that in return of the land the Congress party should provide them employment. The farmers warned the Congress leader of continuing the protest in case their demands are not fulfilled. They further said that that they will demolish the structure built on the land and protest there. Farmers held protest and raised slogans against Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, say, our land that was given to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation should be returned to us or we should be given employment else we will demolish the structure built there & continue to protest pic.twitter.com/EGG2ynTJTg — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 13, 2017 × The farmers protested with a banner stating "Shame on you Rahul, return the lands of farmers". The protest was held across Samrat Cycle factory, which was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he was MP from Amethi. The land was acquired by Jain brothers in 1980s, with a promise to provide employment to the people. However, the company had to shut down after it incurred losses. No compensation was paid to the farmers, who suffered the loss of their land and employment.

Shame on you Rahul, say farmers in Amethi

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has lauded the Andhra Pradesh government for using technology to help farmers in the state.

&quot;Andhra Pradesh is taking bold steps. I expect we will be accelerating it (technology usage). More than half of India&#39;s population engaged in agriculture, and three-fourths of rural women are engaged in agriculture. Apart from gender equality, research has shown that having more women also increases production by 20 to 30 percent,&quot; Gates said at the valedictory session of the AP AgTech Summit-2017.

Gates also noted that the growth in the economy will not only lead to a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also lift people out of poverty.

&quot;First, we can turn the largest economic sector in the country into a source of growth instead of a drag on the economy. Secondly, we can make sure that growth is inclusive and that it not only leads to a higher GDP but also lifts people out of poverty. Third, we can produce enough nutritious food to spurt a healthy and well-educated labour force for the future, when the Indian economy will depend on even more on highly skilled workers,&quot; he added.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was also present in the summit. Naidu requested help from Bill and Melinda Foundation in agriculture, nutrition, and health.

Gates further said, &quot;Two examples that I am very impressed with; one is the Mega Seed Park, which really is the first of its kind and it will make available lots of high-quality seeds and coupled with that is the new EC distribution application, D Krishi, which will help farmers access quality seeds in a timely manner and ensure that the government&#39;s resources are being widely used. These are the kind of innovations that will help achieve the Chief Minister&#39;s goal of sustained double-digit economic growth in Andhra Pradesh over the next decade.&quot;

Gates, who landed in Visakhapatnam on Friday, visited the exhibition stalls in the summit along with Andhra Pradesh chief minister.

The summit focused on innovative ideas, technologies and global best practices to push agricultural transformation in the state.

This three-day global event was organized by the Andhra Pradesh Government in association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Dalberg Advisors.

More than 1,500 global leaders from 61 countries including business heads, start-up founders, leading policymakers, progressive farmers, NGOs, agriculture, and technology experts participated the summit over three days

Gates also noted that the growth in the economy will not only lead to a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but also lift people out of poverty.

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has lauded the Andhra Pradesh government for using technology to help farmers in the state. "Andhra Pradesh is taking bold steps. I expect we will be accelerating it (technology usage). More than half of India's population engaged in agriculture, and three-fourths of rural women are engaged in agriculture. Apart from gender equality, research has shown that having more women also increases production by 20 to 30 percent," Gates said at the valedictory session of the AP AgTech Summit-2017. Gates also noted that the growth in the economy will not only lead to a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also lift people out of poverty. "First, we can turn the largest economic sector in the country into a source of growth instead of a drag on the economy. Secondly, we can make sure that growth is inclusive and that it not only leads to a higher GDP but also lifts people out of poverty. Third, we can produce enough nutritious food to spurt a healthy and well-educated labour force for the future, when the Indian economy will depend on even more on highly skilled workers," he added. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was also present in the summit. Naidu requested help from Bill and Melinda Foundation in agriculture, nutrition, and health. Gates further said, "Two examples that I am very impressed with; one is the Mega Seed Park, which really is the first of its kind and it will make available lots of high-quality seeds and coupled with that is the new EC distribution application, D Krishi, which will help farmers access quality seeds in a timely manner and ensure that the government's resources are being widely used. These are the kind of innovations that will help achieve the Chief Minister's goal of sustained double-digit economic growth in Andhra Pradesh over the next decade." Gates, who landed in Visakhapatnam on Friday, visited the exhibition stalls in the summit along with Andhra Pradesh chief minister. The summit focused on innovative ideas, technologies and global best practices to push agricultural transformation in the state. This three-day global event was organized by the Andhra Pradesh Government in association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Dalberg Advisors. More than 1,500 global leaders from 61 countries including business heads, start-up founders, leading policymakers, progressive farmers, NGOs, agriculture, and technology experts participated the summit over three days

Bill Gates praises Andhra Pradesh for using technology to help farmers

Ten months after currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 were scrapped on November 8 last year, the ghost of demonetisation continues to haunt Deepak Badavne.

In early November, Badavne had harvested 31 quintals of cotton from his 2.5-acre farm. He expected good returns on it. &ldquo;The trader arranged for the truck and loaded the cotton from my house,&rdquo; he says. But just then, the demonetisation-induced cash crunch hit the farm sector. The payment for Deepak&rsquo;s cotton didn&rsquo;t materialise. &lsquo;The trader is now saying he will pay by Diwali [by mid-October 2017],&rdquo; he says.

The trader owes Badavne Rs. 178,483 for his cotton yield. A cheque he received for this amount on March 24 bounced&ndash; thrice. &nbsp;&ldquo;I am not the only one,&rdquo; says Deepak, 31, sitting under a tree in Karajgaon village on the outskirts of Aurangabad city in Marathwada, Maharashtra. &ldquo;There are others in my village who have been similarly duped.&rdquo;

Badavne, who lives in a joint family and has two children, has gathered some of them in this village of 1,300 people &ndash; people who are also waiting for their dues or have received cheques that bounced. In April, nearly six months after the demonetisation, Deepak&rsquo;s brother Jeetendra, 38, got a nearly two lakh rupees for 34 quintals of cotton. That too bounced. &ldquo;What am I supposed to do with this if I cannot have cash in hand?&rdquo; he asks. &ldquo;I need cash to buy inputs for the cropping season [that started in mid-June].&rdquo;

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Deepak Badavne holds up the cheque he received in return for his cotton &ndash; it bounced three times (Others)
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On the morning of our visit in June, the trader in question had left the village to avoid reporters. So he was unavailable to give his version of the events, and is therefore not named in this story.

When the angry group barged into his house, his mother threatened that they would be responsible if her son committed suicide. &ldquo;The trader said the cash crunch was responsible for the delays in payment,&rdquo; says Deepak, &ldquo;but the sowing season does not wait for us. We have filed an FIR [at the Karmad police station, around four kilometres away, on charges of cheating].&rdquo;

In Hasanabadwadi village on the Aurangabad-Jalna highway, Atul Antarai, 28, was also struggling in June, months after the demonetisation. He has 1,000 mosambi trees on five acres. &ldquo;I have a private well and borewell,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;so I manage to water the orchard better than many farmers cultivating mosambi around me.&rdquo;

In the first week of November, a trader had approached Antarai and offered him Rs. 6.5 lakhs for the entire produce. &ldquo;I had planned on harvesting around February,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;And going by the rate of Rs. 30-35 per kilo, I expected to make Rs. 10 lakhs from the crop. I told the trader I would get back to him.&rdquo;

On November 8, however, after the government&rsquo;s &lsquo;notebandi&rsquo; order, the same trader did not have the cash anymore, and rates plummeted. &ldquo;I eventually got Rs. 1.25 lakh for the entire yield,&rdquo; says Atul. &ldquo;Where I had expected Rs. 30&ndash;35 a kilo, I ended up selling the fruit at Rs. 3 a kilo.&rdquo;

Watch video: &lsquo;I got 3 rupees a kilo instead of 30-35 for my mosambi&rsquo; after the demonetisation last November, says Atul Antarai of Hasanabadwadi village

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Every year, the transactions for crops in Marathwada are made in cash. Relatively larger amounts than those for food crops get exchanged for cotton and mosambi &ndash; so after the demonetisation, when cash was in short supply, the impact on cotton and mosambi farmers was especially severe. November is when Marathwada&rsquo;s farmers harvest cotton, and it&rsquo;s just a few months before the year&rsquo;s first mosambi harvest of February-March (the second one is usually in August-September).

The rates plummeted and traders did not have cash to buy stock from farmers. The cashless future that demonetisation promised never came, and many in rural Marathwada scoff at the idea. &ldquo;ATMs are concentrated in cities,&rdquo; says Ashok Yedhe, a farmer in Anjanvati village of Beed district, who cultivates soyabean and jowar. &ldquo;Just to get to a bank or an ATM takes kilometres of travel for us.&rdquo;

ATMs in rural areas are few and far between. &nbsp;Of the 222,762 ATMs in the entire country, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data (till June 2017) only 40,997 are in rural centres &ndash; this means less than 20 per cent of the ATMs in India are available for the 69 per cent of the population that is classified as rural (by Census 2011).

Devidas Tuljapurkar, joint secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, points out that it is also important to note the run time of ATMs. &quot;In cities, the cash is replenished almost every day,&quot; he says. &quot;That is not the case in rural areas, where the run time of ATMs is about 20 per cent what it is in cities.&quot; &nbsp;

Besides, Yedhe points out, online transactions cost more, and a farmer cannot afford to pay extra money for every such transaction. In any case, he explains, cash is central to any transaction in a rural economy. &ldquo;We cannot Paytm 250 rupees to an agriculture labourer,&rdquo; he laughs. &ldquo;Most of the time, a farmer gets cash and uses it immediately to buy inputs or rations or fodder. The entire trade chain in rural India is cash-based.&rdquo;

To add to the cash crunch after November 2016, banks in rural areas were the last to get the new currency notes. For months, the RBI did not even accept the old notes deposited with the district cooperative banks, where most farmers have their accounts. Hanumant Jadhav, managing director of the Latur District Cooperative Bank, says, &ldquo;For 7-8 months we continued to struggle when district banks were not remonetised and all our ATMs were dry.&rdquo;

Watch video:&nbsp;&#39;A farmer can&#39;t go cashless&#39;, insists Deepak Badavne of Karajgaon village

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In Karajgaon too, farmers say the push towards a cashless economy is city-centric, ignoring the majority living in the villages. &ldquo;We usually use cash the same day we get it from any source,&rdquo; says Deepak. &ldquo;If we start going to the bank to withdraw cash for each transaction, can you imagine the amount of money and time we would be spending? Cashless sounds fine in Mumbai and Delhi, but it is a farce in rural India.&rdquo;

Deepak has been unable to repay the 2016-17 agricultural season&rsquo;s bank loan. &ldquo;I owe the Bank of Maharashtra in Karmad Rs. 1.5 lakhs,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I have been repaying every year, so I am eligible for a new crop loan. But this year, I have been a defaulter.&rdquo;

Deepak has now borrowed Rs. 240,000 from a private moneylender at 3 per cent interest per month. He already has a debt of Rs. 2 lakhs from a private moneylender. He has used the new loan for the ongoing kharif season and repaid a part of his bank loan. But he remains worried. &ldquo;The harvest does not look promising this year due to intermittent rainfall,&rdquo; he says.

And in Hasanabadwadi village, Atul is wondering if he will have to phase out his mosambi orchard. &ldquo;The well has run dry. Rainfall has not been great. The harvest [the year&rsquo;s second, of August-September] could be mediocre. And because I lost a lot of money after demonetisation, it is difficult to purchase water to keep the plants alive.&quot;

This&nbsp;<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/the-ghost-of-demonetisation" rel="nofollow" target="blank">article</a>&nbsp;was originally&nbsp;published on 15/ 09/ 2017 on the&nbsp;<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">People&#39;s Archive of Rural India.</a>

Photos Credit:&nbsp;Shrirang Swarge

In rural Marathwada, where the agrarian trade chain is cash-based, farmers are still reeling from the effects of the November 2016 demonetisation ? with bounced cheques, poor access to banks, and falling crop prices

Ten months after currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 were scrapped on November 8 last year, the ghost of demonetisation continues to haunt Deepak Badavne. In early November, Badavne had harvested 31 quintals of cotton from his 2.5-acre farm. He expected good returns on it. “The trader arranged for the truck and loaded the cotton from my house,” he says. But just then, the demonetisation-induced cash crunch hit the farm sector. The payment for Deepak’s cotton didn’t materialise. ‘The trader is now saying he will pay by Diwali [by mid-October 2017],” he says. The trader owes Badavne Rs. 178,483 for his cotton yield. A cheque he received for this amount on March 24 bounced– thrice. “I am not the only one,” says Deepak, 31, sitting under a tree in Karajgaon village on the outskirts of Aurangabad city in Marathwada, Maharashtra. “There are others in my village who have been similarly duped.” Badavne, who lives in a joint family and has two children, has gathered some of them in this village of 1,300 people – people who are also waiting for their dues or have received cheques that bounced. In April, nearly six months after the demonetisation, Deepak’s brother Jeetendra, 38, got a nearly two lakh rupees for 34 quintals of cotton. That too bounced. “What am I supposed to do with this if I cannot have cash in hand?” he asks. “I need cash to buy inputs for the cropping season [that started in mid-June].” Deepak Badavne holds up the cheque he received in return for his cotton – it bounced three times (Others) × On the morning of our visit in June, the trader in question had left the village to avoid reporters. So he was unavailable to give his version of the events, and is therefore not named in this story. When the angry group barged into his house, his mother threatened that they would be responsible if her son committed suicide. “The trader said the cash crunch was responsible for the delays in payment,” says Deepak, “but the sowing season does not wait for us. We have filed an FIR [at the Karmad police station, around four kilometres away, on charges of cheating].” In Hasanabadwadi village on the Aurangabad-Jalna highway, Atul Antarai, 28, was also struggling in June, months after the demonetisation. He has 1,000 mosambi trees on five acres. “I have a private well and borewell,” he says, “so I manage to water the orchard better than many farmers cultivating mosambi around me.” In the first week of November, a trader had approached Antarai and offered him Rs. 6.5 lakhs for the entire produce. “I had planned on harvesting around February,” he says. “And going by the rate of Rs. 30-35 per kilo, I expected to make Rs. 10 lakhs from the crop. I told the trader I would get back to him.” On November 8, however, after the government’s ‘notebandi’ order, the same trader did not have the cash anymore, and rates plummeted. “I eventually got Rs. 1.25 lakh for the entire yield,” says Atul. “Where I had expected Rs. 30–35 a kilo, I ended up selling the fruit at Rs. 3 a kilo.” Watch video: ‘I got 3 rupees a kilo instead of 30-35 for my mosambi’ after the demonetisation last November, says Atul Antarai of Hasanabadwadi village × Every year, the transactions for crops in Marathwada are made in cash. Relatively larger amounts than those for food crops get exchanged for cotton and mosambi – so after the demonetisation, when cash was in short supply, the impact on cotton and mosambi farmers was especially severe. November is when Marathwada’s farmers harvest cotton, and it’s just a few months before the year’s first mosambi harvest of February-March (the second one is usually in August-September). The rates plummeted and traders did not have cash to buy stock from farmers. The cashless future that demonetisation promised never came, and many in rural Marathwada scoff at the idea. “ATMs are concentrated in cities,” says Ashok Yedhe, a farmer in Anjanvati village of Beed district, who cultivates soyabean and jowar. “Just to get to a bank or an ATM takes kilometres of travel for us.” ATMs in rural areas are few and far between. Of the 222,762 ATMs in the entire country, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data (till June 2017) only 40,997 are in rural centres – this means less than 20 per cent of the ATMs in India are available for the 69 per cent of the population that is classified as rural (by Census 2011). Devidas Tuljapurkar, joint secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, points out that it is also important to note the run time of ATMs. "In cities, the cash is replenished almost every day," he says. "That is not the case in rural areas, where the run time of ATMs is about 20 per cent what it is in cities." Besides, Yedhe points out, online transactions cost more, and a farmer cannot afford to pay extra money for every such transaction. In any case, he explains, cash is central to any transaction in a rural economy. “We cannot Paytm 250 rupees to an agriculture labourer,” he laughs. “Most of the time, a farmer gets cash and uses it immediately to buy inputs or rations or fodder. The entire trade chain in rural India is cash-based.” To add to the cash crunch after November 2016, banks in rural areas were the last to get the new currency notes. For months, the RBI did not even accept the old notes deposited with the district cooperative banks, where most farmers have their accounts. Hanumant Jadhav, managing director of the Latur District Cooperative Bank, says, “For 7-8 months we continued to struggle when district banks were not remonetised and all our ATMs were dry.” Watch video: 'A farmer can't go cashless', insists Deepak Badavne of Karajgaon village × In Karajgaon too, farmers say the push towards a cashless economy is city-centric, ignoring the majority living in the villages. “We usually use cash the same day we get it from any source,” says Deepak. “If we start going to the bank to withdraw cash for each transaction, can you imagine the amount of money and time we would be spending? Cashless sounds fine in Mumbai and Delhi, but it is a farce in rural India.” Deepak has been unable to repay the 2016-17 agricultural season’s bank loan. “I owe the Bank of Maharashtra in Karmad Rs. 1.5 lakhs,” he says. “I have been repaying every year, so I am eligible for a new crop loan. But this year, I have been a defaulter.” Deepak has now borrowed Rs. 240,000 from a private moneylender at 3 per cent interest per month. He already has a debt of Rs. 2 lakhs from a private moneylender. He has used the new loan for the ongoing kharif season and repaid a part of his bank loan. But he remains worried. “The harvest does not look promising this year due to intermittent rainfall,” he says. And in Hasanabadwadi village, Atul is wondering if he will have to phase out his mosambi orchard. “The well has run dry. Rainfall has not been great. The harvest [the year’s second, of August-September] could be mediocre. And because I lost a lot of money after demonetisation, it is difficult to purchase water to keep the plants alive." This article was originally published on 15/ 09/ 2017 on the People's Archive of Rural India. Photos Credit: Shrirang Swarge

The ghost of demonetisation

The Maharashtra government will roll out the first set of its&nbsp;farm loan&nbsp;waiving scheme&nbsp;on October 18.&nbsp;

The state government will&nbsp;provide&nbsp;loan waiver amount&nbsp;to the first one million farmers.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis&nbsp;announced that about 80 per cent of the farmers will receive their loans by 15 November.

Fadnavis had announced a farm loan waiver on 24 June after several days of protest by farmers.&nbsp;

The pressure was intensified after the Yogi Adityanath government announced Krishi Rin Mochan Yojana which aimed at waiving off the farmer&#39;s loan.&nbsp;

The Maharashtra state government had previously allocated Rs 34,022 crore for waiving off farmers loan. However recent reports say that the chief minister was not sure about the real estimates as several amendments were introduced after the announcement of the scheme.&nbsp;

Over 10 million farmers in Maharashtra have enrolled themselves for this scheme.&nbsp;

The state government has also introduced an online system to curb manual manipulations.&nbsp;

The amount of the loan waiver will be deposited directly into the bank accounts of the farmers.&nbsp;

Recently the farmers of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/up-farmer-gets-loan-waiver-of-1-paisa-had-borrowed-rs-155000-20377" target="_blank">Uttar Pradesh were in a state of shock and felt cheated after they received as low as Rs 10, Rs 1 and even 1 paisa as part of the Krishi Rin Mochan Yojana</a>.&nbsp;

Also read :<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/maharashtra-farmer-protest-turns-violent-first-strike-since-1933-16341" target="_blank">&nbsp;Maharashtra: Farmer protest turns violent, </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/maharashtra-farmer-protest-turns-violent-first-strike-since-1933-16341" target="_blank">first</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/maharashtra-farmer-protest-turns-violent-first-strike-since-1933-16341" target="_blank"> strike since 1933</a>

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/maharashtra-announces-loan-waiver-for-farmers-but-conditions-apply-16697" target="_blank">Maharashtra announces loan waiver for farmers, but conditions apply</a>

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Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis?announced that about 80 per cent of the farmers will receive their loans by 15 November

The Maharashtra government will roll out the first set of its farm loan waiving scheme on October 18. The state government will provide loan waiver amount to the first one million farmers. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that about 80 per cent of the farmers will receive their loans by 15 November. Fadnavis had announced a farm loan waiver on 24 June after several days of protest by farmers. The pressure was intensified after the Yogi Adityanath government announced Krishi Rin Mochan Yojana which aimed at waiving off the farmer's loan. The Maharashtra state government had previously allocated Rs 34,022 crore for waiving off farmers loan. However recent reports say that the chief minister was not sure about the real estimates as several amendments were introduced after the announcement of the scheme. Over 10 million farmers in Maharashtra have enrolled themselves for this scheme. The state government has also introduced an online system to curb manual manipulations. The amount of the loan waiver will be deposited directly into the bank accounts of the farmers. Recently the farmers of Uttar Pradesh were in a state of shock and felt cheated after they received as low as Rs 10, Rs 1 and even 1 paisa as part of the Krishi Rin Mochan Yojana. Also read : Maharashtra: Farmer protest turns violent, first strike since 1933 Also read: Maharashtra announces loan waiver for farmers, but conditions apply

Maharashtra government rolls out farm loan waiver scheme today

What would Vishal do today, if he were alive? Perhaps the teenager would fly kites, or play with his friends. Maybe he&rsquo;d work with his father on the family&rsquo;s two-acre field or pick up an odd job for a daily wage as he occasionally did. He wanted new clothes, his parents remember. That&rsquo;s all he had asked for.

But Vishal Khule died last November, just 10 days after Diwali, by consuming a bottle of weedicide that his father had bought a few days earlier to spray on their crops. He was wearing a wrinkled white shirt and blue pants that day, the police report says. Vishal was not yet 16 years old.

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In Akola&rsquo;s Dadham village: Vishal&#39;s father, Vishwanath Khule and his distraught mother Sheela (on the right); elder brother Vaibhav and their neighbour Jankiram Khule, Vishal&rsquo;s &lsquo;kaka&rsquo; (on the left) (Others)
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&ldquo;He collapsed here,&rdquo; said his father, Vishwanath Khule, pointing to a spot beneath the window of the two-room shanty where the family lives. &ldquo;His mother was in the adjoining kitchen, making chapatis. I was out there,&rdquo; he added, gesturing toward the front yard. When her son collapsed with a thump, Sheela Khule rushed out to find Vishal lying on the floor, &ldquo;a white fluid oozing out of his mouth.&rdquo; The can of weedicide lay by his side, empty. Vishal died before reaching the hospital.

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Part of the two-room home where Vishal consumed a bottle of weedicide (Others)
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&ldquo;This is the darkest period of our life,&rdquo; Vishwanath said.

Dadham, with a population of 1,500, is among the poorest villages in this region. It is about 25 kilometres from Akola, a major city in western Vidarbha, Maharashtra&rsquo;s cotton- and soybean-growing belt, which has been in the news since the mid-1990s for a continuing spell of farmers&rsquo; suicides. The region is reeling under successive years of drought and an agrarian crisis that has only gone from bad to worse.

While the unabated spell of farmers&rsquo; suicides in rural Vidarbha and Marathwada, Maharashtra&rsquo;s eastern and central regions, has been reported on and acknowledged by the government, a related tragedy has gone all but unnoticed: suicides by the young children of debt-ridden farmers. (Farmers&rsquo; children have taken their own lives in the past, but newspaper reports indicate that the incidence has spiked in the past two years.)

While there is no specific data on suicides by children (under 18; or by youth under 20), in India as a result of agrarian distress, several studies and reports &ndash; from the 2005 door-to-door study commissioned by the Maharashtra government to subsequent studies on farm distress and suicides by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research &ndash; have pointed to the impact of debt and distress on children in peasant households. Many adolescent children of farmers inherit their parents&rsquo; debts and are forced to take on adult responsibilities, dropping out of school, tilling the fields, succumbing to depression, and for girls, being married off early so the family has one less mouth to feed.

Over the past decade, this writer has documented several such suicides, particularly in households where a suicide has already occurred. Sometimes farmers&rsquo; children commit suicide because they fear that if they don&rsquo;t, their parents will, a phenomenon is known as &lsquo;altruistic suicide&rsquo;. In one particularly poignant case in 2005, 19-year-old Neeta Bhopat hanged herself in Aasra village in Maharashtra.

In a neatly written suicide note in Marathi, she said: &ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t commit suicide, my father will [take his own life]; my family can&rsquo;t even earn a thousand rupees a month. I have two younger sisters. My parents can&rsquo;t bear the burden of our marriages when we don&rsquo;t have enough to eat. So I am taking my life.&rdquo; Nobody should be held responsible for her decision, she wrote. Committing suicide was the only way she could relieve her parents of some of their tension.

Scarcity and struggle

With a few months to go before the next kharif (monsoon) crops sprout, Dadham is still coming to terms with Vishal Khule&rsquo;s suicide. Severe water scarcity is already testing the villagers this summer. The entire vicinity is arid. Local newspaper reports suggest that the groundwater table has fallen alarmingly. Dadham has to wait for tankers to supply water every alternate day, or people must trek several kilometres to fetch drinking water. And as if this is not difficult enough, no work is available in the village.

&ldquo;This is the worst year&rdquo; of a three-season drought, said Akola district collector G. Sreekanth in his office earlier this year. &ldquo;We began preparing for the coming summer in September last [year],&rdquo; he added, even before the 2015 monsoon had officially ended.

Like many districts in the Marathwada, Vidarbha and western regions of Maharashtra last year, Akola district received only 60 per cent of its average annual rainfall of 692 mm. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s around 500 mm rains,&rdquo; said Sreekanth, &ldquo;which may not sound all that bad, but we got 400 mm of that in two days, on August 4 and 5.&rdquo; This meant the fields flooded and rainwater could not percolate into the ground.

Such a downpour and a long gap between rainy days is a new and alarming feature of the changing monsoon pattern, according to studies by the Indian Meteorological Department and Pune&rsquo;s Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and other research institutions studying climatic aberrations. After August 5 last year, Akola didn&rsquo;t see another drop of rain for 41 days, a devastatingly long dry spell. &ldquo;Every crop failed: soybeans, cotton and tur,&rdquo; the collector added.

With no crops to sell, and domestic expenses and other exigencies to meet, the Khule family borrowed from moneylenders. According to their bank records, they also have unpaid bank loans of about Rs. 50,000 over the last five years.

The Khules, who belong to the close-knit tribal Andh clan, are marginal peasant farmers. They have long been living hand-to-mouth, and Vishal Khule&rsquo;s death has only made life more precarious. His mother barely speaks, recounts their neighbour, Jankinath Khule, who recently retired from the government service as a naib tehsildar (a minor-rank revenue official). Vishal&rsquo;s two sisters, both married, are taking turns to return to the home to be with their mother, he said. Vishal&rsquo;s elder brother, 18-year-old Vaibhav, has dropped out of school after Class 10 and has taken to working odd jobs.

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When her son collapsed with a thump, Sheela Khule rushed out of the kitchen to find Vishal lying on the floor (Others)
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According to Jankinath Khule, a village elder, Vishal&rsquo;s suicide was the culmination of his growing frustration with poverty, combined with a feeling of helplessness.

&ldquo;He would often talk with me about the village poverty and the difference between him and his schoolmates,&rdquo; said Khule, who Vishal affectionately called Khule kaka (uncle). &ldquo;[Vishal] spoke of his parents&rsquo; troubles, and was resigned to the fact that this situation would never end.&rdquo;

During the Diwali holidays in recent years, Vishal and Vaibhav would help their father in the fields. In 2015, the kharif crops &ndash; mainly soybean &ndash; had failed. Though the lentils they grew fetched a good price, inadequate rainfall had affected the yields. Vishal&rsquo;s father planted green gram in winter, thanks to the state government&rsquo;s distribution of free seeds to struggling farmers. But the relief measure did not work, villagers said, as there was no water or moisture in the soil to nurture the crop.

With no work in the fields, Vishwanath Khule said, the brothers went to Akola over the school break with friends to find a job that would pay a daily wage&nbsp;but came back empty-handed. Vishal was upset that he could not afford a pair of new clothes for himself, says Khule kaka, or help his father with the cash crunch.

Vishal&rsquo;s was not the only suicide of its kind. Last October, Latur district, about 400 kilometres from Akola, reported a suicide by the 17-year-old daughter of a farmer, a student in junior college.

In her note, Swati Pitale explained in some detail why she was committing suicide. She could no longer suffer the plight of her father, she wrote in Marathi and didn&rsquo;t want to be a burden on him. She would soon be of marriageable age&nbsp;and didn&rsquo;t want her father to incur additional expenses on her wedding. In the note, she made a plea to the banks and moneylenders her father owed. She asked them not to harass her father, for, she said, he would surely repay his debts once her elder sister was married.

Swati had stopped attending college for a while, as her monthly bus pass had run out and her parents did not have the money to renew it. Her mother borrowed Rs. 260 for the pass from a neighbour, but Swati had missed crucial classes and wasn&rsquo;t able to take the exam.

According to reports in the local newspapers, when Swati consumed pesticide in her family&rsquo;s fields in the village of Kingaon, her father had left home for Karnataka, in search of work.

Back in Dadham, Vaibhav looks nervous. He says he must work to keep the firewood burning. At 18, he is now his father&rsquo;s last hope &ndash; and perhaps his only support.

This <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/this-is-the-darkest-period-of-our-life/#" rel="nofollow" target="blank">article</a> was originally published on 07/ 05/2016 on the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">People&#39;s Archive of Rural India</a>.

Photo Credit: Jaideep Hardikar

In the already distressed regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada, another tragedy has gone all but unnoticed: suicides by the children of debt-ridden farmers

What would Vishal do today, if he were alive? Perhaps the teenager would fly kites, or play with his friends. Maybe he’d work with his father on the family’s two-acre field or pick up an odd job for a daily wage as he occasionally did. He wanted new clothes, his parents remember. That’s all he had asked for. But Vishal Khule died last November, just 10 days after Diwali, by consuming a bottle of weedicide that his father had bought a few days earlier to spray on their crops. He was wearing a wrinkled white shirt and blue pants that day, the police report says. Vishal was not yet 16 years old. In Akola’s Dadham village: Vishal's father, Vishwanath Khule and his distraught mother Sheela (on the right); elder brother Vaibhav and their neighbour Jankiram Khule, Vishal’s ‘kaka’ (on the left) (Others) × “He collapsed here,” said his father, Vishwanath Khule, pointing to a spot beneath the window of the two-room shanty where the family lives. “His mother was in the adjoining kitchen, making chapatis. I was out there,” he added, gesturing toward the front yard. When her son collapsed with a thump, Sheela Khule rushed out to find Vishal lying on the floor, “a white fluid oozing out of his mouth.” The can of weedicide lay by his side, empty. Vishal died before reaching the hospital. Part of the two-room home where Vishal consumed a bottle of weedicide (Others) × “This is the darkest period of our life,” Vishwanath said. Dadham, with a population of 1,500, is among the poorest villages in this region. It is about 25 kilometres from Akola, a major city in western Vidarbha, Maharashtra’s cotton- and soybean-growing belt, which has been in the news since the mid-1990s for a continuing spell of farmers’ suicides. The region is reeling under successive years of drought and an agrarian crisis that has only gone from bad to worse. While the unabated spell of farmers’ suicides in rural Vidarbha and Marathwada, Maharashtra’s eastern and central regions, has been reported on and acknowledged by the government, a related tragedy has gone all but unnoticed: suicides by the young children of debt-ridden farmers. (Farmers’ children have taken their own lives in the past, but newspaper reports indicate that the incidence has spiked in the past two years.) While there is no specific data on suicides by children (under 18; or by youth under 20), in India as a result of agrarian distress, several studies and reports – from the 2005 door-to-door study commissioned by the Maharashtra government to subsequent studies on farm distress and suicides by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research – have pointed to the impact of debt and distress on children in peasant households. Many adolescent children of farmers inherit their parents’ debts and are forced to take on adult responsibilities, dropping out of school, tilling the fields, succumbing to depression, and for girls, being married off early so the family has one less mouth to feed. Over the past decade, this writer has documented several such suicides, particularly in households where a suicide has already occurred. Sometimes farmers’ children commit suicide because they fear that if they don’t, their parents will, a phenomenon is known as ‘altruistic suicide’. In one particularly poignant case in 2005, 19-year-old Neeta Bhopat hanged herself in Aasra village in Maharashtra. In a neatly written suicide note in Marathi, she said: “If I don’t commit suicide, my father will [take his own life]; my family can’t even earn a thousand rupees a month. I have two younger sisters. My parents can’t bear the burden of our marriages when we don’t have enough to eat. So I am taking my life.” Nobody should be held responsible for her decision, she wrote. Committing suicide was the only way she could relieve her parents of some of their tension. Scarcity and struggle With a few months to go before the next kharif (monsoon) crops sprout, Dadham is still coming to terms with Vishal Khule’s suicide. Severe water scarcity is already testing the villagers this summer. The entire vicinity is arid. Local newspaper reports suggest that the groundwater table has fallen alarmingly. Dadham has to wait for tankers to supply water every alternate day, or people must trek several kilometres to fetch drinking water. And as if this is not difficult enough, no work is available in the village. “This is the worst year” of a three-season drought, said Akola district collector G. Sreekanth in his office earlier this year. “We began preparing for the coming summer in September last [year],” he added, even before the 2015 monsoon had officially ended. Like many districts in the Marathwada, Vidarbha and western regions of Maharashtra last year, Akola district received only 60 per cent of its average annual rainfall of 692 mm. “That’s around 500 mm rains,” said Sreekanth, “which may not sound all that bad, but we got 400 mm of that in two days, on August 4 and 5.” This meant the fields flooded and rainwater could not percolate into the ground. Such a downpour and a long gap between rainy days is a new and alarming feature of the changing monsoon pattern, according to studies by the Indian Meteorological Department and Pune’s Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and other research institutions studying climatic aberrations. After August 5 last year, Akola didn’t see another drop of rain for 41 days, a devastatingly long dry spell. “Every crop failed: soybeans, cotton and tur,” the collector added. With no crops to sell, and domestic expenses and other exigencies to meet, the Khule family borrowed from moneylenders. According to their bank records, they also have unpaid bank loans of about Rs. 50,000 over the last five years. The Khules, who belong to the close-knit tribal Andh clan, are marginal peasant farmers. They have long been living hand-to-mouth, and Vishal Khule’s death has only made life more precarious. His mother barely speaks, recounts their neighbour, Jankinath Khule, who recently retired from the government service as a naib tehsildar (a minor-rank revenue official). Vishal’s two sisters, both married, are taking turns to return to the home to be with their mother, he said. Vishal’s elder brother, 18-year-old Vaibhav, has dropped out of school after Class 10 and has taken to working odd jobs. When her son collapsed with a thump, Sheela Khule rushed out of the kitchen to find Vishal lying on the floor (Others) × According to Jankinath Khule, a village elder, Vishal’s suicide was the culmination of his growing frustration with poverty, combined with a feeling of helplessness. “He would often talk with me about the village poverty and the difference between him and his schoolmates,” said Khule, who Vishal affectionately called Khule kaka (uncle). “[Vishal] spoke of his parents’ troubles, and was resigned to the fact that this situation would never end.” During the Diwali holidays in recent years, Vishal and Vaibhav would help their father in the fields. In 2015, the kharif crops – mainly soybean – had failed. Though the lentils they grew fetched a good price, inadequate rainfall had affected the yields. Vishal’s father planted green gram in winter, thanks to the state government’s distribution of free seeds to struggling farmers. But the relief measure did not work, villagers said, as there was no water or moisture in the soil to nurture the crop. With no work in the fields, Vishwanath Khule said, the brothers went to Akola over the school break with friends to find a job that would pay a daily wage but came back empty-handed. Vishal was upset that he could not afford a pair of new clothes for himself, says Khule kaka, or help his father with the cash crunch. Vishal’s was not the only suicide of its kind. Last October, Latur district, about 400 kilometres from Akola, reported a suicide by the 17-year-old daughter of a farmer, a student in junior college. In her note, Swati Pitale explained in some detail why she was committing suicide. She could no longer suffer the plight of her father, she wrote in Marathi and didn’t want to be a burden on him. She would soon be of marriageable age and didn’t want her father to incur additional expenses on her wedding. In the note, she made a plea to the banks and moneylenders her father owed. She asked them not to harass her father, for, she said, he would surely repay his debts once her elder sister was married. Swati had stopped attending college for a while, as her monthly bus pass had run out and her parents did not have the money to renew it. Her mother borrowed Rs. 260 for the pass from a neighbour, but Swati had missed crucial classes and wasn’t able to take the exam. According to reports in the local newspapers, when Swati consumed pesticide in her family’s fields in the village of Kingaon, her father had left home for Karnataka, in search of work. Back in Dadham, Vaibhav looks nervous. He says he must work to keep the firewood burning. At 18, he is now his father’s last hope – and perhaps his only support. This article was originally published on 07/ 05/2016 on the People's Archive of Rural India. Photo Credit: Jaideep Hardikar

'This is the darkest period of our life'

Once again farmers have been killed in police firing while taking part in a protest. This time in Madhya Pradesh&rsquo;s Mandsaur district. It has trigerred the usual flurry of articles and emergency policy measures. The most prominent policy response has been the promise by several state governments to offer debt relief by waiving outstanding farm loans. In recent weeks Maharashtra, Punjab, and Karnataka have announced waivers with Adityanath announcing them earlier in Uttar Pradesh soon after his victory in the assembly polls. Other states may follow suit, because farm distress is a nation-wide phenomenon.

Much has been written as usual on what will happen to the states&rsquo; fiscal deficit, in particular if the centre refuses to contribute, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has indicated. Commentators have also weighed in on how repeated waivers punish those who repay in addition to reducing incentives for repayment of future loans and how past loan waivers have not worked to stem the farm crisis. Indeed we have been here many time before. Farm loans have been waived in times of drought, famine, or other rural distress since the colonial period. It is a legitimate short-run solution not only in agriculture but in any sector, provided, and this is key, it is a solution to an unforeseen problem, a sudden external shock, and is part of an overall strategy to prevent crises in the future.

Instead what we see is a refusal to deal with the long-run structural problems and the use of loan waivers as a cynical political measure in place of a vision. This makes the public discourse on agriculture to be about inefficient farmers who need to be bailed out with public money rather than about negligent or even malign government policy.

While debt relief is to be welcomed as a short-term measure, it should be borne in mind that it only works partially. If only cooperative bank loans are waived and not nationalised banks, that leaves some people out. Further, governments have no control over private loans, in particular loans issued by informal moneylenders, which have made a strong comeback in the rural economy. It also only works to the extent that the relief actually goes to those who need it most. And there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, ranging from definitinal issues on who qualifies for relief and who doesn&rsquo;t, whether banks actually stop collection efforts, official corruption and so on. Only promises have been made thus far.

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<h5>The crisis, as manifested in years of below average growth, unremunerative land holdings, and ultimately in the horrendous phenomenon of farm suicides, is very well-documented. Its principal causes are also well-known and have been known for years.</h5>
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<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The crisis, as manifested in years of below average growth, unremunerative land holdings, and ultimately in the horrendous phenomenon of farm suicides, is very well-documented. Its principal causes are also well-known and have been known for years." target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
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Ultimately as veteran rural journalist P. Sainath said in a recent interview on the subject, the loan waiver is only a symptom of a crisis, it is not the crisis itself.

The crisis, as manifested in years of below average growth, unremunerative land holdings, and ultimately in the horrendous phenomenon of farm suicides, is very well-documented. Its principal causes are also well-known and have been known for years. Ever decreasing size of holdings, predictably rising costs of production, unpredictable output prices, and a woeful lack of public investment.

In the early 1990s investment in agriculture was around 3.8 per cent&nbsp;of GDP. Since then it has steadily fallen. The 2005-06 budget document lamented that it had fallen from 2.2 per cent&nbsp;in the late 1990s to 1.7 per cent&nbsp;in 2004-05 and that this was &ldquo;a matter of concern.&rdquo; Increased public investment was one of the key recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission also. While the share in GDP has gone up from its 2005 low, it is still well below the level reached in the early 1990s.&nbsp;

Given the extensive Swaminathan Commission report as well as many other studies, our problem is not lack of knowledge on what needs to be done to revive the rural economy. The really important issue is, how do we view agriculture and the rural economy in general? What place does it occupy in our imaginations? Is it a source of cheap labour, food, and raw materials for the urban economy? Do villages exist for the sake of the city? Or do they have their own autonomous existence and future? And if we believe the latter, do we act like we believe it?

I fear we don&rsquo;t act like we believe it. Take one example. RBI data shows that agricultural wage growth has slowed down dramatically over the past few years, in real terms from a high of 15-16 per cent&nbsp;to a low of 0-1 per cent&nbsp;from 2013 to 2016. &nbsp;The NSS Situation Assessment of Farmers survey (2012) showed that for households with 2.5 acres of land or less (which is 75 per cent&nbsp;of all households), 20 per cent&nbsp;report wages as their primary income source. This number goes up to 35 per cent&nbsp;for households owning an acre or less.

Now, take into account the fact that wages would constitute an important secondary income source even for those whose primary income comes from selling their own product. So, we are talking about half the rural population or more for whom wages matter as a source of income, not just as a cost of production. So, such a sharp decline in wage growth for millions of workers should be a matter of intense policy concern. Instead this collapse has mostly been interpreted in terms of its (positive) impact on inflation. So&nbsp;complete&nbsp;is the macroeconomic obession with inflation that a collapse of rural wage growth is considered to be a good thing.

Generally economists believe that wage growth should be commensurate with productivity growth. In other words, it is only when wages rise faster than productivity that inflationary concerns become salient. Now, output of foodgrains, setting aside fluctuations due to weather, has grown at around 3 per cent&nbsp;per year on average for the past decade or more. The growth of output is faster in case of cotton (around 10 per cent).

The State of Agriculture report (2015) attributes most of this increase to increases in productivity (as opposed to additional acreage or workers). Looking at these figures one is tempted to say that agricultural wage growth observed in the pre-2015 period was indeed a problem. Perhaps due to an unusually tight rural labour market due to increased opportunities in urban areas and MGNREGA, wages grew much faster than productivity. This is a fair point within conventional economic thinking.&nbsp;

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<h5>For an income of around INR 7000 a month to become equal even to what the lowest paid government servant gets today, it would have to more than double. Even at the rate of 10 per cent&nbsp;growth a year, incomes double only every seven years.</h5>
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But enough about growth, let us now bring in the level element. Recall that rural wages, like wages in many urban informal activities, are very low. For an income of around INR 7000 a month to become equal even to what the lowest paid government servant gets today, it would have to more than double. Even at the rate of 10 per cent&nbsp;growth a year, incomes double only every seven years. Thus, one of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations that the net take home income of farmers should be comparable to those of government servants, would require sustained growth of wages for several years at very high rates. For there to be changes in the quality of life in the villages in keeping with aspirations, wages may have to grow must faster than productivity. Employers will of course want to pass on these higher wages to buyers in the form of higher farm gate prices.&nbsp;

But the structure of agricultural markets is such that producers have almost no price setting power. They are forced to buy expensive inputs (input subsidies intended for farmers often do not reach them) and sell their output for very low prices, often less than the cost of production. This is because markets are competitive, the product is perishable and transaction costs (of transportation, storage, etc.) are high. So selling at the price being offered at the local mandi is the only option for the farmer.

Hence, the persistent and just demand for fair prices; a demand that has seen immense mobilisation by farmers across the country for years. The small and marginal farmers (which is the majority of farmers) are caught in a double bind. As wage-earners their wage growth has collapsed. As employers, when wages are growing strongly, they do not get a high enough price to recover the costs of production.

Here, we run into the crux of the problem. In our urban-centred imagination, it is not conceivable that the producers of food and raw materials will decide the price at which they want to sell their output. Because they exist for us. On the other&nbsp;hand, we will gladly allow large companies to sell us meals, clothes, and shoes at prices they set.

Selling at the price being offered at the local mandi is the only option for the farmer

Once again farmers have been killed in police firing while taking part in a protest. This time in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district. It has trigerred the usual flurry of articles and emergency policy measures. The most prominent policy response has been the promise by several state governments to offer debt relief by waiving outstanding farm loans. In recent weeks Maharashtra, Punjab, and Karnataka have announced waivers with Adityanath announcing them earlier in Uttar Pradesh soon after his victory in the assembly polls. Other states may follow suit, because farm distress is a nation-wide phenomenon. Much has been written as usual on what will happen to the states’ fiscal deficit, in particular if the centre refuses to contribute, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has indicated. Commentators have also weighed in on how repeated waivers punish those who repay in addition to reducing incentives for repayment of future loans and how past loan waivers have not worked to stem the farm crisis. Indeed we have been here many time before. Farm loans have been waived in times of drought, famine, or other rural distress since the colonial period. It is a legitimate short-run solution not only in agriculture but in any sector, provided, and this is key, it is a solution to an unforeseen problem, a sudden external shock, and is part of an overall strategy to prevent crises in the future. Instead what we see is a refusal to deal with the long-run structural problems and the use of loan waivers as a cynical political measure in place of a vision. This makes the public discourse on agriculture to be about inefficient farmers who need to be bailed out with public money rather than about negligent or even malign government policy. While debt relief is to be welcomed as a short-term measure, it should be borne in mind that it only works partially. If only cooperative bank loans are waived and not nationalised banks, that leaves some people out. Further, governments have no control over private loans, in particular loans issued by informal moneylenders, which have made a strong comeback in the rural economy. It also only works to the extent that the relief actually goes to those who need it most. And there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, ranging from definitinal issues on who qualifies for relief and who doesn’t, whether banks actually stop collection efforts, official corruption and so on. Only promises have been made thus far. The crisis, as manifested in years of below average growth, unremunerative land holdings, and ultimately in the horrendous phenomenon of farm suicides, is very well-documented. Its principal causes are also well-known and have been known for years. × Ultimately as veteran rural journalist P. Sainath said in a recent interview on the subject, the loan waiver is only a symptom of a crisis, it is not the crisis itself. The crisis, as manifested in years of below average growth, unremunerative land holdings, and ultimately in the horrendous phenomenon of farm suicides, is very well-documented. Its principal causes are also well-known and have been known for years. Ever decreasing size of holdings, predictably rising costs of production, unpredictable output prices, and a woeful lack of public investment. In the early 1990s investment in agriculture was around 3.8 per cent of GDP. Since then it has steadily fallen. The 2005-06 budget document lamented that it had fallen from 2.2 per cent in the late 1990s to 1.7 per cent in 2004-05 and that this was “a matter of concern.” Increased public investment was one of the key recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission also. While the share in GDP has gone up from its 2005 low, it is still well below the level reached in the early 1990s. Given the extensive Swaminathan Commission report as well as many other studies, our problem is not lack of knowledge on what needs to be done to revive the rural economy. The really important issue is, how do we view agriculture and the rural economy in general? What place does it occupy in our imaginations? Is it a source of cheap labour, food, and raw materials for the urban economy? Do villages exist for the sake of the city? Or do they have their own autonomous existence and future? And if we believe the latter, do we act like we believe it? I fear we don’t act like we believe it. Take one example. RBI data shows that agricultural wage growth has slowed down dramatically over the past few years, in real terms from a high of 15-16 per cent to a low of 0-1 per cent from 2013 to 2016. The NSS Situation Assessment of Farmers survey (2012) showed that for households with 2.5 acres of land or less (which is 75 per cent of all households), 20 per cent report wages as their primary income source. This number goes up to 35 per cent for households owning an acre or less. Now, take into account the fact that wages would constitute an important secondary income source even for those whose primary income comes from selling their own product. So, we are talking about half the rural population or more for whom wages matter as a source of income, not just as a cost of production. So, such a sharp decline in wage growth for millions of workers should be a matter of intense policy concern. Instead this collapse has mostly been interpreted in terms of its (positive) impact on inflation. So complete is the macroeconomic obession with inflation that a collapse of rural wage growth is considered to be a good thing. Generally economists believe that wage growth should be commensurate with productivity growth. In other words, it is only when wages rise faster than productivity that inflationary concerns become salient. Now, output of foodgrains, setting aside fluctuations due to weather, has grown at around 3 per cent per year on average for the past decade or more. The growth of output is faster in case of cotton (around 10 per cent). The State of Agriculture report (2015) attributes most of this increase to increases in productivity (as opposed to additional acreage or workers). Looking at these figures one is tempted to say that agricultural wage growth observed in the pre-2015 period was indeed a problem. Perhaps due to an unusually tight rural labour market due to increased opportunities in urban areas and MGNREGA, wages grew much faster than productivity. This is a fair point within conventional economic thinking. For an income of around INR 7000 a month to become equal even to what the lowest paid government servant gets today, it would have to more than double. Even at the rate of 10 per cent growth a year, incomes double only every seven years. × But enough about growth, let us now bring in the level element. Recall that rural wages, like wages in many urban informal activities, are very low. For an income of around INR 7000 a month to become equal even to what the lowest paid government servant gets today, it would have to more than double. Even at the rate of 10 per cent growth a year, incomes double only every seven years. Thus, one of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations that the net take home income of farmers should be comparable to those of government servants, would require sustained growth of wages for several years at very high rates. For there to be changes in the quality of life in the villages in keeping with aspirations, wages may have to grow must faster than productivity. Employers will of course want to pass on these higher wages to buyers in the form of higher farm gate prices. But the structure of agricultural markets is such that producers have almost no price setting power. They are forced to buy expensive inputs (input subsidies intended for farmers often do not reach them) and sell their output for very low prices, often less than the cost of production. This is because markets are competitive, the product is perishable and transaction costs (of transportation, storage, etc.) are high. So selling at the price being offered at the local mandi is the only option for the farmer. Hence, the persistent and just demand for fair prices; a demand that has seen immense mobilisation by farmers across the country for years. The small and marginal farmers (which is the majority of farmers) are caught in a double bind. As wage-earners their wage growth has collapsed. As employers, when wages are growing strongly, they do not get a high enough price to recover the costs of production. Here, we run into the crux of the problem. In our urban-centred imagination, it is not conceivable that the producers of food and raw materials will decide the price at which they want to sell their output. Because they exist for us. On the other hand, we will gladly allow large companies to sell us meals, clothes, and shoes at prices they set.

Indian farmers are dying from abysmally low wages

As the media runs endless reports&nbsp;on the looming agrarian crisis, the intended consumers of these pieces, the English-speaking middle-class in India, remain largely unperturbed. Farmers killed in police firing in Madhya Pradesh, farmers spilling milk and blocking highways in Maharashtra, farmers agitating in Jantar Mantar - these are news we have become used to. It does not perturb us anymore.&nbsp;

It remains a fact that most urban Indians above a certain economic threshold are not really concerned about the intensifying distress of the Indian farmers as long there is enough food on their table. Given the increase in real income of this class in recent years and the decreasing proportion of that income being spent on food, only a sharp increase in food prices would seriously disturb this complacency. And as we know from a cursory reading of the news, the crux of the present crisis is exactly the reverse- low price of food crops, especially at the farmers&#39; end. Notwithstanding this apparent mismatch in their concerns, there are actually critical links between the farmers and the middle class. It needs to be urgently recognised that the relation between the two classes&nbsp;is&nbsp;mediated by agriculture as a vocation. The Indian middle class can&#39;t remain oblivious of the plight of the farmers.

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<h5>Most urban Indians above a certain economic threshold are not really concerned about the intensifying distress of the Indian farmers as long there is enough food on their table</h5>
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The first rather obvious linkage is about food. A stable supply of relatively cheap food is a precondition for continuous accumulation in the economy. Inexpensive food is&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;to realise the growth numbers that the middle class take quite seriously for their own sake. This is not lost on analysts and economic forecasters who justifiably make a big deal every year about monsoon predictions and consequent projections of agricultural growth and how that eventually feeds into overall economic growth.

For a number of reasons, reasonably good rainfall being an important one, the farm sector has managed to do pretty well in the last few years, and food inflation has consequently been on check. This has satisfied the precondition of providing cheap food for economic growth. The problem, however, is not with the quantum of food (and non-food crops) produced but the abysmal conditions under which the overwhelming majority of Indian farmers produce their output and keep the economy moving. Even if we keep aside the alarming farmer suicide numbers, which the state tries to explain away variously by factors unrelated to agrarian distress, official NSSO data reveal that the average earnings of farming families are only marginally above the national poverty line. What is worse,&nbsp;for several major agricultural states, the average income is actually less than the poverty line.

A plausible question at this point is why do people continue in agriculture and keep contributing to the national supply-pool of primary commodities if the returns are so low and inadequate? The answer, unsurprisingly, is compulsion. Non-farm avenues of employment, though extremely important as a supplementary livelihood strategy, are not in themselves remunerative or secure enough to altogether abandon agriculture. This explains why almost half of the workforce is still employed?primarily?in agriculture and related activities in India despite farming being economically unviable.

In some perverse sense, for those of us in the middle-class who do not live off agriculture directly, this state of affairs seems to serve us well. So, the thought process of the middle-class, at the risk of caricaturing it, is somewhat like this: the business pages tell us that retail inflation is at an &lsquo;all-time low&rsquo;, our vegetable seller is not quoting alarmingly high prices anymore, and mangoes are actually plenty and very affordable! The middle-class is, therefore, happy.

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The farmers don&rsquo;t have anywhere else to go and continue to produce for their own survival and in the process, allow us to reap the benefits of the high-growth economy that we are part of. Of course, this growth is not inclusive in any sense even for the non-agricultural population. The large pool of informal workers continues to live precariously with subsistence earnings but their survival is also made possible by the relatively cheap supply of food from agriculture.&nbsp; 
?&nbsp; 
Apart from this direct economic function, a less appreciated political function deserves mention as well. Given the continuing deficit of employment generation that plagues India, agriculture provides a livelihood of last resort- an option for millions to socially reproduce themselves under conditions slightly better than absolute destitution. If it were not for agriculture, the social disgruntlement with the country&rsquo;s path of accumulation and development would have been much more palpable, possibly to an extent of actually destabilising that very process. In simple terms, agriculture acts as a safety valve against the large-scale social conflict that could derail the growth trajectory that most in the middle-class has taken for granted in the last ten to fifteen years and are dependent on for their ever-increasing consumption.&nbsp; 
?&nbsp; 
How much longer can Indian farmers be squeezed before they give in? As the agrarian crisis deepens, there is a threat that consumption levels of farmers will fall below a lower threshold, and sustaining social reproduction will become impossible for them. This will endanger the accumulation process both economically and politically as both the food and the livelihood linkages will be severed.

This doomsday scenario, however, is not inevitable. Rising consciousness and mobilisation among farmers, which has already started, can generate a national movement that is more confident in demanding their entitlement in the form of remunerative conditions of production, rather than begging for charity.?&nbsp;The government on its part can be more cognizant of the larger utility of a healthy agricultural sector for economic growth. It can pre-empt the potential conflict with farmers by shelving their current &lsquo;disaster relief&rsquo; stance and coming up with a longer-term plan of rejuvenating agriculture which combines production gains with income gains for farmers as essential?twin goals.?&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Burdened with the task of producing cheap food for the nation, Indian farmers reside below poverty line

As the media runs endless reports on the looming agrarian crisis, the intended consumers of these pieces, the English-speaking middle-class in India, remain largely unperturbed. Farmers killed in police firing in Madhya Pradesh, farmers spilling milk and blocking highways in Maharashtra, farmers agitating in Jantar Mantar - these are news we have become used to. It does not perturb us anymore. It remains a fact that most urban Indians above a certain economic threshold are not really concerned about the intensifying distress of the Indian farmers as long there is enough food on their table. Given the increase in real income of this class in recent years and the decreasing proportion of that income being spent on food, only a sharp increase in food prices would seriously disturb this complacency. And as we know from a cursory reading of the news, the crux of the present crisis is exactly the reverse- low price of food crops, especially at the farmers' end. Notwithstanding this apparent mismatch in their concerns, there are actually critical links between the farmers and the middle class. It needs to be urgently recognised that the relation between the two classes is mediated by agriculture as a vocation. The Indian middle class can't remain oblivious of the plight of the farmers. Most urban Indians above a certain economic threshold are not really concerned about the intensifying distress of the Indian farmers as long there is enough food on their table × The first rather obvious linkage is about food. A stable supply of relatively cheap food is a precondition for continuous accumulation in the economy. Inexpensive food is necessary to realise the growth numbers that the middle class take quite seriously for their own sake. This is not lost on analysts and economic forecasters who justifiably make a big deal every year about monsoon predictions and consequent projections of agricultural growth and how that eventually feeds into overall economic growth. For a number of reasons, reasonably good rainfall being an important one, the farm sector has managed to do pretty well in the last few years, and food inflation has consequently been on check. This has satisfied the precondition of providing cheap food for economic growth. The problem, however, is not with the quantum of food (and non-food crops) produced but the abysmal conditions under which the overwhelming majority of Indian farmers produce their output and keep the economy moving. Even if we keep aside the alarming farmer suicide numbers, which the state tries to explain away variously by factors unrelated to agrarian distress, official NSSO data reveal that the average earnings of farming families are only marginally above the national poverty line. What is worse, for several major agricultural states, the average income is actually less than the poverty line. A plausible question at this point is why do people continue in agriculture and keep contributing to the national supply-pool of primary commodities if the returns are so low and inadequate? The answer, unsurprisingly, is compulsion. Non-farm avenues of employment, though extremely important as a supplementary livelihood strategy, are not in themselves remunerative or secure enough to altogether abandon agriculture. This explains why almost half of the workforce is still employed?primarily?in agriculture and related activities in India despite farming being economically unviable. In some perverse sense, for those of us in the middle-class who do not live off agriculture directly, this state of affairs seems to serve us well. So, the thought process of the middle-class, at the risk of caricaturing it, is somewhat like this: the business pages tell us that retail inflation is at an ‘all-time low’, our vegetable seller is not quoting alarmingly high prices anymore, and mangoes are actually plenty and very affordable! The middle-class is, therefore, happy. As the agrarian crisis deepens, there is a threat that consumption levels of farmers will fall below a lower threshold, and sustaining social reproduction will become impossible for them × The farmers don’t have anywhere else to go and continue to produce for their own survival and in the process, allow us to reap the benefits of the high-growth economy that we are part of. Of course, this growth is not inclusive in any sense even for the non-agricultural population. The large pool of informal workers continues to live precariously with subsistence earnings but their survival is also made possible by the relatively cheap supply of food from agriculture. ? Apart from this direct economic function, a less appreciated political function deserves mention as well. Given the continuing deficit of employment generation that plagues India, agriculture provides a livelihood of last resort- an option for millions to socially reproduce themselves under conditions slightly better than absolute destitution. If it were not for agriculture, the social disgruntlement with the country’s path of accumulation and development would have been much more palpable, possibly to an extent of actually destabilising that very process. In simple terms, agriculture acts as a safety valve against the large-scale social conflict that could derail the growth trajectory that most in the middle-class has taken for granted in the last ten to fifteen years and are dependent on for their ever-increasing consumption. ? How much longer can Indian farmers be squeezed before they give in? As the agrarian crisis deepens, there is a threat that consumption levels of farmers will fall below a lower threshold, and sustaining social reproduction will become impossible for them. This will endanger the accumulation process both economically and politically as both the food and the livelihood linkages will be severed. This doomsday scenario, however, is not inevitable. Rising consciousness and mobilisation among farmers, which has already started, can generate a national movement that is more confident in demanding their entitlement in the form of remunerative conditions of production, rather than begging for charity.? The government on its part can be more cognizant of the larger utility of a healthy agricultural sector for economic growth. It can pre-empt the potential conflict with farmers by shelving their current ‘disaster relief’ stance and coming up with a longer-term plan of rejuvenating agriculture which combines production gains with income gains for farmers as essential?twin goals.?

How Indian middle class's desire for 'cheap' food is harming farmers

The Indian government has allowed farmers to purchase seeds with old 500 rupee currency note from state-run outlets, national or state seeds companies and agricultural universities, a finance ministry statement said on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s move to withdraw from circulation 500 and 1,000 rupee bills as legal tender has left millions of farmers with little cash to buy seeds and fertilisers for winter crops, Reuters reported.

It has also snowballed into an adverse effect on the&nbsp;production of key commodities and hurting rural communities just as it recovers two years of drought.

The government on Monday allowed farmers to purchase seeds with the demonetised bank notes of Rs 500 value.

&quot;The government is committed to ensure that the farmers are suitably facilitated during the Rabi season,&quot; the official statement said.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Following demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes, farmers were left with little cash to buy seeds and fertilisers for the Rabi season

The Indian government has allowed farmers to purchase seeds with old 500 rupee currency note from state-run outlets, national or state seeds companies and agricultural universities, a finance ministry statement said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to withdraw from circulation 500 and 1,000 rupee bills as legal tender has left millions of farmers with little cash to buy seeds and fertilisers for winter crops, Reuters reported. It has also snowballed into an adverse effect on the production of key commodities and hurting rural communities just as it recovers two years of drought. The government on Monday allowed farmers to purchase seeds with the demonetised bank notes of Rs 500 value. "The government is committed to ensure that the farmers are suitably facilitated during the Rabi season," the official statement said. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Demonetisation: Indian government allows farmers to buy seeds with old Rs 500 notes

Denver has become the first city in the United States to legalise the social use of cannabis in businesses, including bars, yoga studios and art galleries.

The new ordinance was part of several marijuana measures put to voters in nine US states during last week&#39;s general election. Denver officials said on Tuesday that Initiative 300 had garnered enough votes to pass after nearly all the ballots had been counted.

The measure allows private businesses in Colorado&#39;s capital to seek permits to create areas where customers can bring their own cannabis and consume it. However, applicants would first need to receive backing from a local business group or neighbourhood.

&quot;This is absolutely historic and ground-breaking,&quot; said Emmett Reistroffer, a key proponent of the measure and a cannabis consultant in Denver. &quot;We are the first in the United States and potentially the first place in the world to regulate the consumption of cannabis.&quot;

He told AFP that the vote was in line with a measure approved by the state four years ago allowing the recreational use of marijuana by adults.

&quot;Essentially what we passed is a continuation of that same belief that adults should be able to use and socialise with cannabis as they are able to do with alcohol,&quot; Reistroffer said.

The city&#39;s trailblazing measure comes as more and more states across America move to legalise cannabis either for medical or recreational use. California, the nation&#39;s most populous state, last Tuesday handed a major victory for backers of legalisation by approving recreational use of the drug. Massachusetts approved a similar measure.

According to industry professionals, the marijuana market in the United States could expand to $23 billion by 2020, compared to $5.7 billion in 2015.

In Denver, the new ordinance will be implemented as part of a four-year pilot program that will test the concept and determine its long-term feasibility. Opponents, including Colorado&#39;s governor and former Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, had argued that it would encourage the public use of marijuana, which is banned on the state and federal level, and harm public safety.

&quot;I look at it as the camel&#39;s nose getting under the tent flap,&quot; Hickenlooper told the Denver Post before the vote. Protect Denver&#39;s Atmosphere, a group which also opposed the ballot measure, urged city officials to tread carefully in issuing licenses to businesses.

&nbsp;

Concert venues &amp; comedy clubs

&quot;Initiative 300 allows the concurrent consumption of marijuana and alcohol, which can lead to greater impairment than the&nbsp;use of either substance alone,&quot; Rachel O&#39;Bryan, campaign manager for the group, said in a statement.&nbsp;

&quot;It will also allow the public consumption of slow-acting marijuana edibles and highly potent marijuana concentrates,&quot; she added. &quot;How can these businesses possibly monitor patrons for marijuana intoxication?&quot; She also noted that the initiative had received less backing from voters than the bill legalising recreational marijuana use in 2012.

The Denver Post, which supported the bill, in an editorial also called for caution as local officials &quot;move forward with this experiment&quot;.

&quot;But right now Denver is struggling with a public consumption problem, some who want to consume have no place to go, legally,&quot; the editorial said. &quot;It&#39;s a problem that should get solved sooner rather than later, now that voters have spoken.&quot;

Supporters of the marijuana ordinance stressed that the measure is so restrictive that it is unlikely that pot smoking will flourish in public places where food and alcohol are served.

&quot;I don&#39;t see this coming to a lot of restaurants,&quot; Reistroffer said. &quot;I see it happening in certain art galleries, concert venues and even comedy houses where adults go for generally adult entertainment.&quot;

(AFP)

Farmers will be able to withdraw up to $370 every week against their crop loans, cash withdrawal of $3700 for weddings approved

Denver has become the first city in the United States to legalise the social use of cannabis in businesses, including bars, yoga studios and art galleries. The new ordinance was part of several marijuana measures put to voters in nine US states during last week's general election. Denver officials said on Tuesday that Initiative 300 had garnered enough votes to pass after nearly all the ballots had been counted. The measure allows private businesses in Colorado's capital to seek permits to create areas where customers can bring their own cannabis and consume it. However, applicants would first need to receive backing from a local business group or neighbourhood. "This is absolutely historic and ground-breaking," said Emmett Reistroffer, a key proponent of the measure and a cannabis consultant in Denver. "We are the first in the United States and potentially the first place in the world to regulate the consumption of cannabis." He told AFP that the vote was in line with a measure approved by the state four years ago allowing the recreational use of marijuana by adults. "Essentially what we passed is a continuation of that same belief that adults should be able to use and socialise with cannabis as they are able to do with alcohol," Reistroffer said. The city's trailblazing measure comes as more and more states across America move to legalise cannabis either for medical or recreational use. California, the nation's most populous state, last Tuesday handed a major victory for backers of legalisation by approving recreational use of the drug. Massachusetts approved a similar measure. According to industry professionals, the marijuana market in the United States could expand to $23 billion by 2020, compared to $5.7 billion in 2015. In Denver, the new ordinance will be implemented as part of a four-year pilot program that will test the concept and determine its long-term feasibility. Opponents, including Colorado's governor and former Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, had argued that it would encourage the public use of marijuana, which is banned on the state and federal level, and harm public safety. "I look at it as the camel's nose getting under the tent flap," Hickenlooper told the Denver Post before the vote. Protect Denver's Atmosphere, a group which also opposed the ballot measure, urged city officials to tread carefully in issuing licenses to businesses. Concert venues & comedy clubs "Initiative 300 allows the concurrent consumption of marijuana and alcohol, which can lead to greater impairment than the use of either substance alone," Rachel O'Bryan, campaign manager for the group, said in a statement. "It will also allow the public consumption of slow-acting marijuana edibles and highly potent marijuana concentrates," she added. "How can these businesses possibly monitor patrons for marijuana intoxication?" She also noted that the initiative had received less backing from voters than the bill legalising recreational marijuana use in 2012. The Denver Post, which supported the bill, in an editorial also called for caution as local officials "move forward with this experiment". "But right now Denver is struggling with a public consumption problem, some who want to consume have no place to go, legally," the editorial said. "It's a problem that should get solved sooner rather than later, now that voters have spoken." Supporters of the marijuana ordinance stressed that the measure is so restrictive that it is unlikely that pot smoking will flourish in public places where food and alcohol are served. "I don't see this coming to a lot of restaurants," Reistroffer said. "I see it happening in certain art galleries, concert venues and even comedy houses where adults go for generally adult entertainment." (AFP)

Demonetisation: Indian government eases cash withdrawal limit for farmers, weddings

Hundreds of small Argentine farm producers and mostly indigenous workers marched on Buenos Aires Friday (November 4) to demand better working conditions as centre-right President Mauricio Macri looks to promote growth. As is their custom in these protests against austerity under centre-right president, Mauricio Macri, they handed out free produce.

They set out from different areas in the country such as the northeast, Cuyo, and Patagonia in the south days earlier. They ultimately gathered in the central Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada government house. 
The farmers donated vegetables to highlight their poor working conditions and demand help from the government.

They also are protesting hunger and lack of labour flexibility for production, land, housing and small and medium producers, among other issues.

The protesters are aiming to bring their claim to several ministerial delegations and secretariats including Agribusiness, Social Development, Labour and Housing, local media reported.

Strikes and other labour protests have been common in Argentina under centre-right president Mauricio Macri, where high inflation have prompted wage increase demands from workers wary of losing purchasing power.

 
&quot;We have been fighting a long time for the restitution of the land of small producers, and lands of indigenous peoples. Today we are present here to tell this government of Macri, we do not want him to forget us small producers, because that is what he is doing, he is opening for imports and we can&#39;t survive with the production we have here,&quot; said a representative of the national peasant farmers federation, Roberto Solano.

The main demands for the sector revolve around the regulation of minimum and maximum prices for small farmers (price support), soft loans for the same payment facilities, and a land policy for the access of small producers, farmers and original communities, according to local media reports.

An array of organisations took part in the national protest.

&quot;We suffer hunger, suffer from health, education, lack of housing, production, where we have abdanoned fields, but when they politicians arrive from here, from the capital (Buenos Aires), they come to our territory and they treat us as brothers, but when they get into government, they forget about us,&quot; said Bernardo Sosa, a Wichi indigenous person.

The government has faced a series of protests in recent months as frustration grows over the economy. Macri was elected president late last year on a platform of attracting international investment and stimulating growth by ditching the heavy market controls established by the previous centre-left government.

Macri says he is ridding Latin America&#39;s number three&nbsp;economy of distortions caused by the interventionist policies of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez. The economy is still shrinking though and inflation, while slowing, remains in the double digits.

Inflation was expected to be 40.2 per cent in 2016, one of the world`s highest rates, and 19.4 per cent in 2017. 
Argentine gross domestic product is expected to shrink 1.3 per cent in the full-year 2016 before snapping back to 3.2 per cent growth in 2017, according to a central bank poll of analysts.&nbsp;

(Reuters)

'We suffer hunger, suffer from health, education, lack of housing, production, where we have abandoned fields...but...they forget about us'

Hundreds of small Argentine farm producers and mostly indigenous workers marched on Buenos Aires Friday (November 4) to demand better working conditions as centre-right President Mauricio Macri looks to promote growth. As is their custom in these protests against austerity under centre-right president, Mauricio Macri, they handed out free produce. They set out from different areas in the country such as the northeast, Cuyo, and Patagonia in the south days earlier. They ultimately gathered in the central Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada government house. The farmers donated vegetables to highlight their poor working conditions and demand help from the government. They also are protesting hunger and lack of labour flexibility for production, land, housing and small and medium producers, among other issues. The protesters are aiming to bring their claim to several ministerial delegations and secretariats including Agribusiness, Social Development, Labour and Housing, local media reported. Strikes and other labour protests have been common in Argentina under centre-right president Mauricio Macri, where high inflation have prompted wage increase demands from workers wary of losing purchasing power. "We have been fighting a long time for the restitution of the land of small producers, and lands of indigenous peoples. Today we are present here to tell this government of Macri, we do not want him to forget us small producers, because that is what he is doing, he is opening for imports and we can't survive with the production we have here," said a representative of the national peasant farmers federation, Roberto Solano. The main demands for the sector revolve around the regulation of minimum and maximum prices for small farmers (price support), soft loans for the same payment facilities, and a land policy for the access of small producers, farmers and original communities, according to local media reports. An array of organisations took part in the national protest. "We suffer hunger, suffer from health, education, lack of housing, production, where we have abdanoned fields, but when they politicians arrive from here, from the capital (Buenos Aires), they come to our territory and they treat us as brothers, but when they get into government, they forget about us," said Bernardo Sosa, a Wichi indigenous person. The government has faced a series of protests in recent months as frustration grows over the economy. Macri was elected president late last year on a platform of attracting international investment and stimulating growth by ditching the heavy market controls established by the previous centre-left government. Macri says he is ridding Latin America's number three economy of distortions caused by the interventionist policies of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez. The economy is still shrinking though and inflation, while slowing, remains in the double digits. Inflation was expected to be 40.2 per cent in 2016, one of the world`s highest rates, and 19.4 per cent in 2017. Argentine gross domestic product is expected to shrink 1.3 per cent in the full-year 2016 before snapping back to 3.2 per cent growth in 2017, according to a central bank poll of analysts. (Reuters)

Hundreds of small Argentine farmers march on Buenos Aires

Launching an offensive against the Prime Minister over price rise, Rahul Gandhi today said after coming to power Narendra Modi has ignored the issue and demanded that he should give a date by when the prices of pulses will drop.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;You may make as many hollow promises as you want, but give us a date by when the prices of daal will come down,&quot; Gandhi said in Lok Sabha during a debate on price rise. 
 
In his first major intervention in the monsoon session, Gandhi said the price of pulses and vegetables have gone over the roof after NDA came to power, and farmers have not been able to get any benefit of the steep rise in the price of these commodities. 
 
Recalling Modi&#39;s speech at a poll rally in Himachal Pradesh in February 2014, Gandhi said while attacking the then UPA government over the issue, he had said that &quot;Ma-bachche raat raat rote hain, aasoon pee ke sote hain&quot; (mother and child cry the whole night and sleep drinking their tears). 
 
&quot;What a dialogue,&quot; Gandhi said thrice, taking a dig at Modi who was not present in the House. 
 
&quot;I want to remind the Prime Minister of the promises he made to people of the country during the poll campaign, which Modiji does not talk about now and has forgotten. He had also promised that when the BJP government comes to power, it will bring down the prices,&quot; Gandhi said. 
 
Listing out the prices of vegetables and pulses, Gandhi said in 2014, the price of tomato was Rs 18, which has shot up to Rs 55 in 2016. Urad and tur dal, priced at Rs 70 and 75 in February 2014, has gone up to Rs 160 and Rs 180 this month. 
 
He said there was a gap between the minimum support price for tur dal given to the farmers. It was Rs 45 whereas its price in the market was Rs 75. Now, the MSP has risen to Rs 50, but the price of the pulses is now Rs 180.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;So, there is a gap of Rs 130 in the NDA government. Where is this Rs 100 going?&quot; Gandhi asked. &quot;During elections, Modiji had said, &#39;Make me a chowkidar&#39; (watchman).&nbsp;Now, there is a theft of dal under the very nose of the chowkidar. But the chowkidar has not uttered a word. He is mum. Now he has become a big person. Leave that job of chowkidari to the Congress,&quot; Gandhi said.&nbsp; 
 
In reference to a BJP slogan &#39;Har Har Modi&#39; used during the Lok Sabha polls, he said, &quot;Now people are saying &#39;Arhar Modi&#39;.&quot; Taking a jibe at NDA&#39;s second birthday celebrations, the Congress vice president said the Prime Minister did not even utter a single word about rising prices during this event, and sought to know why. 
 
Accusing the government of waiving off Rs 52,000 crore of the corporates, Gandhi asked what benefit the government has given to the farmers and housewives of the savings amounting to Rs 2 lakh crore it has made from the slump in the crude prices. He also questioned NDA&#39;s flagship programmes like Make in India, Stand Up India and said, &quot;The &#39;Make in India&#39; programme has not got given a single job to the youth&quot;. 
 
(PTI)

The Congress vice president said the PM did not even utter a single word about rising prices. 'Now people are saying 'Arhar Modi''

Launching an offensive against the Prime Minister over price rise, Rahul Gandhi today said after coming to power Narendra Modi has ignored the issue and demanded that he should give a date by when the prices of pulses will drop. "You may make as many hollow promises as you want, but give us a date by when the prices of daal will come down," Gandhi said in Lok Sabha during a debate on price rise. In his first major intervention in the monsoon session, Gandhi said the price of pulses and vegetables have gone over the roof after NDA came to power, and farmers have not been able to get any benefit of the steep rise in the price of these commodities. Recalling Modi's speech at a poll rally in Himachal Pradesh in February 2014, Gandhi said while attacking the then UPA government over the issue, he had said that "Ma-bachche raat raat rote hain, aasoon pee ke sote hain" (mother and child cry the whole night and sleep drinking their tears). "What a dialogue," Gandhi said thrice, taking a dig at Modi who was not present in the House. "I want to remind the Prime Minister of the promises he made to people of the country during the poll campaign, which Modiji does not talk about now and has forgotten. He had also promised that when the BJP government comes to power, it will bring down the prices," Gandhi said. Listing out the prices of vegetables and pulses, Gandhi said in 2014, the price of tomato was Rs 18, which has shot up to Rs 55 in 2016. Urad and tur dal, priced at Rs 70 and 75 in February 2014, has gone up to Rs 160 and Rs 180 this month. He said there was a gap between the minimum support price for tur dal given to the farmers. It was Rs 45 whereas its price in the market was Rs 75. Now, the MSP has risen to Rs 50, but the price of the pulses is now Rs 180. "So, there is a gap of Rs 130 in the NDA government. Where is this Rs 100 going?" Gandhi asked. "During elections, Modiji had said, 'Make me a chowkidar' (watchman). Now, there is a theft of dal under the very nose of the chowkidar. But the chowkidar has not uttered a word. He is mum. Now he has become a big person. Leave that job of chowkidari to the Congress," Gandhi said. In reference to a BJP slogan 'Har Har Modi' used during the Lok Sabha polls, he said, "Now people are saying 'Arhar Modi'." Taking a jibe at NDA's second birthday celebrations, the Congress vice president said the Prime Minister did not even utter a single word about rising prices during this event, and sought to know why. Accusing the government of waiving off Rs 52,000 crore of the corporates, Gandhi asked what benefit the government has given to the farmers and housewives of the savings amounting to Rs 2 lakh crore it has made from the slump in the crude prices. He also questioned NDA's flagship programmes like Make in India, Stand Up India and said, "The 'Make in India' programme has not got given a single job to the youth". (PTI)

Give a date by when pulses price will decline: Gandhi scion tells Indian Prime Minister Modi

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