The Agrarian Crisis in Vidarbha

by Vasant Futane

(organic farmer and Sarvodaya activist from Vidarbha)

The agrarian crisis experienced in Vidarbha is mounting all over India. Its original

deep-rooted cause is the intentional destruction of agricultural and rural self-

sufficiency by government policies and programmes that foster market

dependence.

Much of our rural population is now dependent on urban industries, both for daily

needs, as well as farm inputs. Time-tested, traditional practices in farming,

housing, cooking, health, have been eroded, resulting in near total dependence

on the market. Government policies are still framed to increase such dependence,

resulting in severe exploitation of farmers and the rural populace.

Destruction of traditional, self-sufficient farming system

Before the ‘Green Revolution’, not a single external input was needed in the

farming system in Vidarbha, or elsewhere. Farmers used their own seeds and

manures. Local carpenters and blacksmiths produced farm implements, transport

carriages and housing materials. The village shoemaker tanned leather and

delivered a finished product. Spinners, weavers, health-workers (vaidyas), etc

were all components of the village economy, enriching each other. This system

had the least chance to concentrate economic power to exploit. It was

decentralized, non-polluting, and with minimum consumption of non-renewable

energy. Transport reliance for basic needs was minimal, and the ecological

footprint was close to zero.

It is true that Indian agriculture had suffered under exploitative colonial rule. But

India’s first agriculture minister, KM Munshi, emphasized the restoration of the

fertility and hydrological cycles in each village and bio-region. Consequently,

Indian agriculture saw significant recovery in the first two five-year plan periods,

with creditable improvement in both aggregate production and productivity. Bio-

diverse, self-reliant and self-sufficient farming was still the norm.

The well-known Gandhian economist, Dr JC Kumarappa, dwelt deeply on the

subject of self-sufficiency and sustainability in his book, ‘The Economy of

Permanance’. His views had been invited by Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru,

but his prescription for a Gandhian model of gram swaraj (village self-sufficiency

and self-governance) was not adopted. The nation was instead steered down the

path of centralized, giant industries, and a spurt in urbanisation. This resulted in

splitting the country into ‘rural Bharat’ and ‘urban India’. Agriculture and the rural

sector became a mere ‘raw material’ and potential market for the increasingly

urbanizing and industrializing India. Rural Bharat’s independent well-being and

self-sufficiency were not just neglected, but willfully undermined. This is the root

cause of the agrarian crisis in Vidarbha, and elsewhere in India. Farmers’ suicides

are just the tip of the iceberg.

We may have all heard much about the growing misery and indebtedness of the

once prosperous Vidarbha farmers, trapped in an industrial, mono-cultural system

of agriculture, oriented to a distant market, rather than their own basic, local

needs. With the spread of Bt cotton, and the near total loss of local varieties of

cotton, the vulnerability and helplessness of the Vidarbha farmer has heightened

further. But as we have seen, the deeper roots of Vidarbha’s agrarian crisis date

back to the Green Revolution, and even earlier, to a policy favouring urbanization

and industrialization at the cost of rural self-sufficiency and welfare.

The alarming situation in Vidarbha can become even worse in the near future, as

Vidarbha is being used as a power hub. Irrigation water is being diverted to

thermal power plants, coal mining, and cement, paper industries, threatening

agriculture and depleting and polluting water bodies and land. Farming too is

becoming more export-oriented to the detriment of domestic local and national

needs.

Instead of nutritious groundnut, the cultivation of soyabean is promoted by the

state agriculture department. While groundnut and other pulse-legumes nourish

the soil, and provide nutritious food for humans and fodder for farm animals, yet

soya is promoted by the government. Why? It is only to earn dollars. Soyabean

cake is a protein-rich cattle feed, and every kilogram of it is exported. Not a single

kg is used in India. Soya cultivation and export thus cause great recurring loss to

soil fertility. In agriculture, recycling is the key to restoring and sustaining soil

fertility. Cultivation of groundnuts and other legumes are an appropriate answer

to enriching our soils. But this issue is totally neglected by our politicians,

economists and agricultural scientists, who seem unconcerned about the fertility

drain caused by a rapacious system of ‘deficit industrial agriculture’.

Subhash Sharma, a wise organic farmer of Vidarbha, warns us that “no country

with infertile soils can maintain her freedom.” We need to ponder deeply on this

crucial matter.

Denuded forests, the disappearance of grasslands, and the uneven, wasteful

distribution of irrigation water to non-priority areas are other important causes of

our agrarian crisis.

Widening economic disparity is a major issue causing mounting social tension.

The 5th Pay Commission has created a serious disparity. A 4th class government

employee is able to enjoy a better standard of material life than a 25 acre dryland

cotton grower. A school-teaching couple can afford to maintain a four-wheeler,

but not a hundred acre dryland farmer. Such a farmer, who has to struggle to

even meet the costs of his daughter’s marriage, becomes stigmatized by society.

This is not a minor but major issue, reflecting the current agrarian crisis.

Aggressive Marketing

The media is extensively used by MNCs for aggressive marketing, creating

unnecessary demands in farming. Farmers are not able to realize that they are

trapped by agro-service centres into losing both money as well as soil fertility.

They are fooled again and again by misleading or blatantly false advertising and

marketing campaigns. It will be a great help if radio and TV stop advertising

agricultural inputs. But can we do it?

A sustainable farming system and un-degraded/unpolluted environment are a

must for food security. It is essential to think of quality as well, not just quantity.

Unfortunately, politicians are playing a game of cat and mice with farmers.

Generally, one can find every village split into 3 or 4 groups with distinct party

alignments. The politicians are not interested in uniting people, but rather

fragmenting them with narrow agendas. In such a situation, undertaking

collective activity for the common good of the village is extremely difficult. Even a

decade ago, the situation was not so serious. Now, gram panchayat elections are

fought on a party basis, unlike in the past. The external supply of liquor and

money for fighting elections, has become routine. Government schemes are used

to favour party cadre, rather than benefit the general public. All this further

intensifies corruption. If the village can be cleansed of such narrow party politics

that fragment and corrupt, there is yet hope of renewing the agricultural

economy and self-sufficiency of the rural sector. A fresh ecological outlook that

looks at the whole, instead of just parts, is needed both in farming and in society.