No Daily Bread:

July 6/2011: In a very disturbing development, the State has witnessed a sharp decline in the number of farmers, indicating the trend of cultivators opting out of farming.  The data released by Directorate of Economics and Statistics reveals that Orissa now has 9 cultivators in every 100 persons as against 11 in 2001. This figure is way below the national average of 12/100. All of us might not be fully aware of the future implications of this dangerous trend. It is no revelation that despite the excitement surrounding our new found love for industrialization, India is still very much dependent on agriculture. No matter how many Mukesh Ambanis and Ratan Tatas come into the picture, the fact remains that the stock market takes a huge dip every time we are faced with a bad monsoon and there is reason to cheer after a good harvest, that not just for the farmers. Despite this, farmers are treated as the most disposable group in our social as well as economic structure. The picture of a farmer in our minds is that of a half naked menial working in the fields, obviously undeserving of pricey clothes or good food, leave aside good homes and a luxurious lifestyle. He should be satisfied providing food to the rest of us while he and his family go hungry. That is why most of us have little respect for the hands that feed us.

The country is trying hard to keep pace with the rapid industrialization. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had once urged the youth to move away from agriculture and look for other options. What most people fail to understand is that there is no other industry apart from agriculture that can provide livelihood to so many people. It is not just the farmer but the whole family, in a way the whole village, that is involved in agriculture in some way or the other. But the government’s focus has shifted from agriculture to industry for a long time now. Fertile lands are being snatched away from hapless farmers who have no other skills but the art and knowhow of making the soil reap gold. Cultivable land is being converted for other use irreplaceably. Sourcing water for industry seems to be more of a priority than providing the same for irrigation. Even when a farmer, despite all odds, manages to get a good yield, lack of proper storage facilities and the poor public distribution system play havoc.

The situation in Orissa is far from rosy. According to the National Sample Survey data, a farmer household in the state could spend Rs.7.50 per day on an average but carries a loan burden of over Rs.2665. Official estimates put the number of farmers in debt at over 9 lakh. Lack of irrigation facilities and poor returns are some of the reasons why farmers do not see agriculture as a viable option anymore. With their fathers and grandfathers suffering in debt, youngsters are disillusioned with the profession. Apart from this, the social standing of a farmer is next to nothing in our country. The ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ slogan is something that even political parties are refraining from using because they very well know that the Jawan (soldier) and Kisan (farmer) are the most abused lot these days. Falling back on the slogan at this stage may backfire, even for people who could put most lie detectors to shame.

With the entire system working against the farmer, we have achieved a reasonable amount of success in driving him to the end of the road. Unable to make ends meet, some take the extreme step of ending their miserable existence and many others are in the process of looking for other options which most often reduce the entrepreneur to a daily wage labourer.  Instead of backing up the system, we force him to become a burden instead.

India had the chance of becoming the food basket for the rest of the world only if we had our perspective in place. Instead, the direction that we are headed would lead us to start importing most essential commodities soon. The steep price rise of food items is an indicator of things to come. A few decades later, we might have some very prosperous inpiduals and equally rich companies but with most farmers moving away from their prime vocation and most of the land already acquired for other purposes, we might just be struggling for that ‘daily bread’.

Man is known to survive without clothes and shelter. Without food, no living being can sustain for long. Jeans, cars, private jets and helicopters, bunglows and all luxury items would be redundant were we to remain hungry. What we see in Orissa is scary. Industrialists coming to this state are keen on devouring cultivable, sometimes irrigated, fertile lands much larger in quantity than required by the units they are putting up. Allowing them to build land banks at the cost of food for the future generations of Oriyas will be a grievous crime that all of us will be guilty of. It is important that the state government, district level RPDACs and Collectors/RDCs consciously refrain from changing land use patterns with special attention to those areas where agriculture is still in vogue. Damaging or perting land being used for agriculture must be stopped forthwith.