In which ways farmers can get fair value for their produce?
Answers
Answer:
When the policies of government are properly implemented all over the country
And no malpractices
Explanation:
The Budget was expected to provide agriculture with a shot of intravenous adrenaline. What we got, instead, was familiar lines. The finance minister’s offer consisted in the main of agricultural credit, crop insurance and electronic trading platforms. The farmer would dearly love to see electronic trading eliminate middlemen, but when and how would this happen? What is on offer is not some gritty action but expression of intent, which is already old hat. The farmer does, of course, need credit, but how would he pay it back without a decent price for his produce? Insurance, finally, is a complete no-no.
We had hoped that this government would be different, but that hope is fading. There is an uncanny similarity between now and 2008 when P Chidambaram announced loan waiver as the panacea to agrarian distress. “This government,” as he put it, “has stood up and has said: Count on us; we are in favour of farmers.”
His silver bullet might have helped the Congress win the election but did nothing for the farmer. The response of the political class to the farmer’s plight is to play around with loan waiver, subsidies, minimum support prices and distress tourism. Will this government break out of symbolic gestures and political gimmickry to address the real issues?