‘Genuine demands of farmers have not been addressed’
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai seems to have stuck to his favourite sector, major irrigation, while allocating funds in his maiden budget, but ignoring the long-standing demand of farmers relating to marketing and remunerative prices for their produce. The political cost of this may reflect in the Assembly elections to be held next year.
Though agriculture and its allied sectors have got an impressive cumulative allocation of Rs 33,700 crore, the lion’s share goes to major irrigation, that too for the Yettinahole and Mekedatu projects whose economic benefits are yet to be convincingly proven. The actually useful and sustainable areas such as tank rehabilitation and watershed development have got lesser allocation and have been neglected again.
Farmers have made very clear what they want: Water is, of course, very essential but associated issues like regular supply of electricity is also equally important. Agriculture needs genuine focus on mechanisation as it has already turned into a high-cost enterprise. However, the newly initiated ‘Raitha Shakti’ scheme, to subsidise the cost of cultivation, has received only Rs 500 crore allocation. In the backdrop of the Covid catastrophe and the pandemic-induced lockdowns, the government could have utilised migrant labourers who returned to villages in mechanisation, processing, value addition and rural reconstruction works by better-utilising schemes like MGNREGS.
A separate department for value addition and processing of farm products with a proactive role for farmers and producers organisations, called the Department of Secondary Agriculture is an interesting concept. But its success will depend on how the existing departments and the people who will be part of the new department receive it.
The reintroduction of the Yashaswini health insurance scheme to help farmers is also a welcome step. Farmers across the country are unequivocal in their demand for remunerative prices for their produce and market access. They have been asking for statutory safeguards for MSP so that no one can buys their produce below the benchmark price. The Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission, in its report in 2018, had already presented a clear-cut roadmap in this regard. In spite of this, the long-standing demand did not get the attention it deserves.
Dr Prakash Kammardi
Agricultural expert and former chairman, Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission