THANJAVUR: A series of three ordinances promulgated by the Union Government on the subject of
agricultural produce and their marketing as part of agricultural reforms would benefit only traders and big corporations while farmers would miss out, according to farmers and their representatives in the delta district.
The amendments to the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) brought by the Union Government have removed commodities like paddy, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potato from the list of essential commodities. This would pave the way for private traders and corporates to store these items without any restrictions on quantity.
“Though this was done ostensibly to create more warehousing capacity and reduce waste of food, it would pave the way to hoarding,” said PR Pandian, president of the committee of all farmers associations of Tamil Nadu.
He pointed out that while there was surplus production, traders and companies buy produce at low cost and sell later at high prices. V Sathyanarayanan, general secretary, Consortium of Cauvery Delta Farmers, said there was discontent among farmers about the ECA, as it was suppressing prices of their produce. It also stood as the rationale for the government to fix Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procure produce from farmers.
“The government should not abdicate its responsibility of fixing the MSP as per the MS Swaminathan Committee recommendation, that is, 50 per cent over and above the production cost,” he said, adding it should also continue to procure as is being done by the FCI through Tamil Nadu’s TNCSC, for example.
Kakkarai R Sukumaran, a farmer from Orathanadu, said farmers are apprehensive about the recent moves by the Union Government and it was planning to move away from the responsibility of procuring paddy, which is highly objectionable, he said. While the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance claims the provisions in it would empower farmers for
engaging with processors, wholesalers, aggregators, wholesalers, large retailers and exporters on a level playing field without fear of exploitation, farmer leaders and others questioned the assumption.
K Venkatraman, general secretary, Tamil Desiya Periyakkam, pointed out the majority of farmers in the country are small and marginal farmers. At most. some may hold five acres. “They would not be able to bargain with private players, that, too, large companies, for better prices or terms,” he said.
After leaving agriculture entirely to the private sector, it would be hard for the government to procure rice, wheat, pulses and edible oil for the public distribution system and fair price shops would also be closed in due course.
“Already. traders buy for less and sell for more. Traders are now buying ladies finger at Rs 7 per kg from me, while the market price is Rs 30,” said Sathyanarayanan. This difference would widen if big companies come into the picture, he added.