Representational image (File photo| EPS)
Representational image (File photo| EPS)

The plight of Odisha’s farmers

The latest reports by the National Statistical Office (NSO) have pricked the farm sector bubble of Odisha, where rosy pictures of growth and prosperity were being painted.

The latest reports by the National Statistical Office (NSO) have pricked the farm sector bubble of Odisha, where rosy pictures of growth and prosperity were being painted. A declining trend of farmer income aside, the reports show how agricultural households are tied down by poor asset holding and indebtedness as well as low access to institutional credit. One report shows that the average monthly income of farmers during the June 2018-2019 period has fallen to Rs 5,112 from Rs 7,731 in 2015-16.

An average daily income of Rs 170 per household puts farmers on the level of daily wage earners. Much of their income comes from wages while receipt from crop production is a modest Rs 1,569. Not long ago, the Odisha government had proclaimed that farmer income in the state had doubled in a decade’s period, between 2003 and 2013, as it registered a compound annual growth rate of 16.5% during that time.

That the NSO report debunks it is another story, but what it also brings to the fore is that the poor financial health of agricultural households in the state has not shown any marked improvement. The average asset value of a cultivator household stands at Rs 6.21 lakh in rural areas, which is the lowest in the country. Neighbouring Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, states that took birth around the time the BJD government came to rule Odisha, have better figures to show.

Falling income and poor assets aside, indebtedness seems to be a critical burden on the farming community. A separate NSO report reveals that at least 61.2% agricultural households in the state are indebted, which is much higher than the national rate of 50.2%. When in need, where do the farmers go seeking loans? The same report points out that 21% borrow from professional moneylenders and another 15% seek help from relatives and friends as well as other non-institutional agencies. All these point at problems that are deep-seated and systemic for a state where farmers are at the mercy of nature and its vagaries. The reports may have been plain numbers but they have given the Odisha government plenty to introspect.

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The New Indian Express
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