A silent but huge majority of farmers across India is watching the bullying tactics adopted by farmers from Punjab in and around Delhi. The protest is nothing more than a rainbow collection of Commission agent, Modi political adversary, Communist Comrade, Suspicious and anti-national individuals, overseas brotherhood and religious overtone.  Poor farmers have been placed only as poster boys for mere name sake.

The Government has been very patient and so has been the citizens of Delhi and Haryana who have allowed this anarchist crowd to gather and blackmail the government at their cost of disciplined civil life.

Government on its part has made it eminently clear about its intent and content about Agricultural reform and its commitment. And why should it not be?

The bitter part of the story is why the concern in the mind of farmers from Punjab is not discussed? Fact is, the reason is not traced rather it is omitted. As it is not politically correct to take a cartel having vested interest head on.

Punjab has not invested in modernizing its farm. It has failed to address the core issue of rotating crops. It has had average productivity and efficiency when it comes to per hectare production in comparison to many other states in India. And it has not considered the water as a resource to be preserved alongside farming. To be fair, it has refused to change and adopt the scientific changes happening in farming in the nation. How has this happened?

Years of neglect by Governing bodies in Punjab and cartel who have exploited the farmer all along is the true hidden story.

The results have been shocking. The less efficient Punjab farming has one of the least efficient agro-productivity in India. In terms of the agro-GDP per hectare of gross cropped area it stands 11th in India.  Why So?

It has chosen not to replace its traditional crop of Rice Wheat and Sugar with the crop which has more commercial value and less irrigational and other input needs.

For example, conventional crops like Wheat, Rice and Sugar cane are water guzzling crops and farmers in this belt have been able to produce more than the national need. A study revealed India produces 1.5 times surplus grain, nearly 97 MT against 71 MT needed today. It has a cost on water as a resource. In this process the water table is receding in this area leading to declining productivity and rising cost. No farmer leaders seem to be bothered. The surrounding inefficient system, its unawareness along with a political lobby has blocked any constructive thinking in this area.

Absence of desired buyers leads to pile pressure on the Government to buy these outputs and hence MSP (Minimum Support price) and commission to middle man emerges into picture.

The statistics reveals, today a Punjabi farming family in Punjab gets an average subsidy of INR 1.22 lakh in 2020. And no surprise that they are among the richest farming families in terms of per capita Income  to the extent of 2.5 times the average farming household income with respect to other farmers In India.

Think about farmers from TN, AP, Gujarat and other south Indian arid zones who have successfully adopted commercial crops and are earning and contributing better realizable revenue from farming without matching support of MSP. It would have been an ideal response if the Government could have offered some incentive, financial support and assistance on the line of Pradhan Mantri Kissan Nidhi Yozna to these farmers from TN, AP and other arid zones for their alertness and adaptability.

So what happens to those surplus crops purchased by the Government and the answer would be, these all are rotting in the Storage and FCI Godam at the end of day. Poor storage facilities and vested lobby of the alcohol beverage industry purchase those at throw away price. The nexus is working.

Thus the story is like this. The cartel would lead farmers and encourage them to produce for Beverage Industry which are ably subsidized by Government. To run this ring around you have a middleman and fake intellectual articulating stories.

The result is, despite having 99% irrigation in Punjab, the farming is quite primitive, unscientific and in the control of unscrupulous elements.

PM Modi’s decision and his firm stand on the three farm Bills is set to challenge the status quo of these cartels. They had long monopolized the system and breaking them to silence should not be compromised and delayed any more.

If India needs the next green revolution, it should not come only at the subsidy and MSP but also on scientific rotation of crops, protection of environmental resources and unshackling of middle man from the farming business.   

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