CHENNAI: Agriculture cannot sustain without State support and whatever little subsidy is given, it goes to the irrigation farmers. Dryland farmers are fighting against the vagaries of nature as well as the uncertainty of the global market, said farmer and activist Vijay Mohanlal Jawandhia.
Delivering the Asian College of Journalism’s seventh TG Narayanan memorial lecture on social deprivation in the city on Friday, Jawanthia, who is coming from a family of farmers, spoke on the ‘Non-viability of agriculture.
Vocal against the free market system, Jawandhia who had worked with the late agricultural leader, Sharad Joshi who was a supporter of the system, eventually parted ways. Drawing from his own experiences to narrate the plight of farmers, he said, “I sold my soybean yield the year before last which was then 1 quintal per acre. When the cost of harvesting the crop was `1500 per acre and the total cultivation expense of `10-12,000 per acre, what option do I have other than to sell off my land?”
The uncertainty of the global market added to their woes, he added. He went on to say that while the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India argued that the increase in price of foodgrains would lead to the devaluation of the rupee, there were no qualms about the implementation of the seventh pay commission.