UPA BUDGET-2009-Need to bail out vidarbha dry-land farmers-TIMES Report

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Need to bail out dry-land farmers Ramu Bhagwat, TNN http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4711452 * Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti’s Kishore Tiwari sees an urgent need for setting up a agricultural price stabilisation fund. “In the last five years, prices of farm produce have been volatile. For instance, soyabean prices have swung from Rs 1200 to Rs 4000 a quintal. Due to this a farmer seldom makes money. It is the middleman who gets the big cut while the consumers have to face the brunt of price rise. A stabilisation fund could be the answer to this problem,” feels Tiwari. “Bigger allocation to the sector could help achieve the target of 4% growth rate in agriculture. **Besides, the government should pump more funds into rural system restoration, NREG and National Rural Health Mission and tighten up the delivery system as except couple of states like AP and TN, others have done poorly,” cautions Tiwari. 28 Jun 2009, 0527 hrs IST, Ramu Bhagwat, TNN NAGPUR: Despite a general perception that enough has been done in last couple of years for farmers by way of a massive loan waiver schemes, fertiliser subsidy and National Rural Employment Guarantee schemes, farm economists and activists see an urgent need for major hike in public investment in agriculture sector to arrest its sagging growth rate. “Industrialists with powerful lobbying apparatus have over the years put pressure on the government to divert resources. Agriculture is taken for granted with public investment in it very low for the last one decade. This has directly stunted agricultural growth to around 2%. Even after the recent victory of the UPA government, the industry has prevailed on shifting focus to creamy areas like infrastructure building. But the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee would do a great service to a vast majority of the country if he increases allocation to agriculture,” said noted city economist Shrinivas Khandewale. “Within the sector, top priority should go to dry-land areas like Vidarbha where farmers have to face vagaries of the nature as well as the market forces. Neglect of the dry-land farmers has led to cultivators’ growing dependence on cash crops and giving up food crops. This, in turn, has led to foodgrains shortage, costly imports and consumers paying through the nose for pulses and cereals. Set up in 2007, the National Rain-fed Authority exists only on paper at least in Maharashtra. It should be activated with influx of funds and projects to save the dryland farmer,” stressed Khandewale. A streamlined credit service and setting up of an institutional structure for farm inputs, technological needs also figure high on his wish-list. Shetkari Sanghatana leader Vijay Jawandhiya agrees with the views of Khandewale. “Well-to-do farmers in irrigated lands get more attention and reap benefits of fertiliser and canal water subsidies. On the other hand, more than 60% of farmers who live on drylands are getting little from the state as well as the Centre. On the lines of European Union, India should also switch to peracre subsidy at least for non-irrigated cultivation. If the dryland farmer is not bailed out, the younger generation will abandon the occupation.” Rather paradoxically, Jawandhiya has written to the finance minister to impose income tax on agriculture. “The industry also paints the picture that agriculture is favoured as it is spared of income tax. Once it is taxed, the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti’s Kishore Tiwari sees an urgent need for setting up a agricultural price stabilisation fund. “In the last five years, prices of farm produce have been volatile. For instance, soyabean prices have swung from Rs 1200 to Rs 4000 a quintal. Due to this a farmer seldom makes money. It is the middleman who gets the big cut while the consumers have to face the brunt of price rise. A stabilisation fund could be the answer to this problem,” feels Tiwari. “Bigger allocation to the sector could help achieve the target of 4% growth rate in agriculture. Besides, the government should pump more funds into rural system restoration, NREG and National Rural Health Mission and tighten up the delivery system as except couple of states like AP and TN, others have done poorly,” cautions Tiwari.

विदार्भाच्या हजारो शेतकरी विधावांचा वेदना -हजारो कलावतींच्या पुनर्वसनासाठी वी.ज.स .घेणार पुढाकार-सकाळ वृत्तसेवा

Saturday, June 27, 2009

विदार्भाच्या हजारो शेतकरी विधावांचा वेदना -हजारो कलावतींच्या पुनर्वसनासाठी वी.ज.स .घेणार पुढाकार-सकाळ वृत्तसेवा

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हजारो कलावतींच्या पुनर्वसनासाठी घेणार पुढाकार

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Saturday, June 27th, 2009 AT 8:06 PM

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यवतमाळ - मागील पाच वर्षांत पश्‍चिम विदर्भात सहा हजारांवर शेतकरी आत्महत्या झाल्या. परंतु, सरकारी अधिकाऱ्यांनी मदतीला पात्र असूनही आत्महत्या कमी झाल्या, हे दाखविण्यासाठी त्यांना मदतीपासून वंचित ठेवले. जळका येथील एक शेतकरी विधवा कलावती बांदूरकर हिला 25 लाखांची मदत देऊन ही समस्या सुटणार नाही. विदर्भातील हजारो कलावतींसारख्या सर्वच शेतकरी विधवांचे पुनर्वसन करण्याचा एकमुखी निर्धार बोथबोडन येथे शेतकरी विधवांच्या पुनर्वसन कार्यक्रमात गुरुवारी (ता. 25) करण्यात आला.
दिल्लीच्या अमित जोसेफ यांच्या बिजनेस कम्युनिटी फाउंडेशनतर्फे बोथबोडन येथील बेबी विनोद राठोड, बेबी चरण जाधव, शोभा नामदेव पवार, शांताबाई चंद्रभान वरणकार, यमुना नंदलाल राठोड, शेवीबाई रूपा राठोड, शांताबाई शंकर वाघमारे, संपत्तीबाई तारासिंग राठोड, अनसूया रामचंद्र देवकर, विमल विष्णू चव्हाण, फुलीबाई हरी जाधव, अनिता मनोज राठोड, अनसूया सुखदेव राठोड, कमलबाई गणपत रिंगणे, नाजीबाई देवा राठोड या 15 शेतकरी विधवांना प्रत्येकी 500 रुपये महिन्याचे पहिल्या हप्त्याचे वाटप बोथबोडन येथील सरपंच बाळू चव्हाण यांच्या हस्ते करण्यात आले.
यावेळी विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीचे अध्यक्ष किशोर तिवारी, समितीचे सचिव मोहन जाधव, झरी तालुकाप्रमुख सुरेश बोलेनवार, भाऊराव आडे, कवडू शेळके, हरिचंद चव्हाण, बाबूलाल राठोड उपस्थित होते. विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीने अनेक स्वयंसेवी संस्थाशी संपर्क करून शेकडो विधवांना आर्थिक मदत सुरू केली आहे. या प्रकल्पाचा एक भाग म्हणून बोथबोडन येथे हा कार्यक्रम आयोजित करण्यात आला होता. यावेळी बोथबोडनचे सरपंच बाळू चव्हाण यांनी बोथबोडनला कॉंग्रेसचे महासचिव राहुल गांधी यांनी भेट देऊनसुद्घा येथील शेतकऱ्यांच्या जमिनीच्या मालकीचा प्रश्‍न अजूनही सुटला नसल्याचे सांगितले. आत्महत्याग्रस्त शेतकरी विधवांचा विचार करीत असताना सध्या बोथबोडनसारख्या आपत्तीग्रस्त खेड्यात शेकडो निराधार, विधवा, वृद्ध व परित्यक्ता महिला असून, त्यांच्यासाठीसुद्घा आर्थिक मदतीच्या कार्यक्रमाची योजना अत्यंत आवश्‍यक आहे. हा प्रश्‍नही मार्गी लावण्याचे आवाहन सरपंच बाळू चव्हाण यांनी केले. सरकारने सर्व शेतकरी व शेतमजुरांच्या विधवांना अंत्योदय योजनेचा लाभ देण्याचे आदेश देऊनही अजून पश्‍चिम विदर्भातील हजारो विधवांना अंत्योदय योजना लागू करण्यात आली नसल्याची खंत यावेळी विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीचे नेते किशोर तिवारी यांनी व्यक्त केली. समाजातील या निराधार व उपेक्षितांसाठी विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समिती लवकरच जनआंदोलन सुरू करणार असल्याची माहिती समितीचे सचिव मोहन जाधव यांनी दिली.

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Posted by VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI at 10:43 PM

‘1,020m people go hungry in world’-VJAS Draws PM’s Attention to Impending Food Crisis-Times Report

‘1,020m people go hungry in world’

VJAS Draws PM’s Attention to Impending Food Crisis

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Nagpur: Drawing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attention to the recent United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization report on impending food crisis in the world’ farmers activist group Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) has demanded that special measures like National Food Security Mission betaken in suicide prone areas of Vidarbha.“Ever since a majority of farmers in west Vidarbha shifted to mono crop cultivation of cotton or soyabean, there has been a severe food shortage leading to high number of suicide in the six districts of the region,” Kishor Tiwari of VJAS said. According to him the area of land under cash crop cultivation has increased to almost 95% in recent years and that is one of the main reasons of increasing distress and debt due to high cost of cultivation of these4 cash crop.

VJAS has been demanding introduction of food security mission in west Vidarbha t ensure provision of essential food grains to farmers to save them from taking own lives at times of such distress. Quoting the FAO report, Tiwari said that world hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2009 with 1,020 million people going hungry every day. The increase in hunger is not the consequence of poor global harvests but is caused by the world economic crisis that has resulted in lower incomes and increased unemployment.

This has reduced access to food by the poor according to the UN agency. The FAO reported has also touched on the root causes of agrarian crisis among small and marginal dry land farmers involved in non food crop cultivation. FAO director general Jacques Diouf has said in the reported “A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food proce in many countries has pushed some 100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger crisis – affecting one sixth of all of humanity– poses a serious rusk to world peace and security.Almost all of the world’s undernourished live in developing countries. In Asia and the Pacific, an estimated 642 million people are suffering from chronic

hunger, in Sub-Saharan Africa 265 million; in Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million in the Near East and North Africa 42 million; and in developed countries 15 million in total.

Tiwari has also slammed the Maharashtra government for its failure to implement the Narendra Jadhav committee report. “The report was accepted by the state legislature in December last year, but till date the government has not prepared any action plan to implement it,” lamented Tiwari. Jadhav has recommended special measures for 4.34 lakh severely distressed families in the six affected districts and urgent healthcare facilities for 92,000 families whose members are suffering from serious ailments and draining the farm incomes. “Instead of giving a serious thought to his findings, the UPA government has rewarded Jadhav by giving him the post of Planning’s Commission member,” Tiwari alleged.

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Govt Siting Idle on Jadhav Panel Report-Hitavada Reports

Govt Siting Idle on Jadhav Panel Report

Staff Reporter:

LAUNCHING a scathing attack on the State Government for siting idle in report of committee under Pune University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Narendra Jadhav, which was submitted to State Cabinet on August 6, 2008, farmers leaders have demanded immediate implementation of recommendations made by committee.

The one man committee report had stated that it is the relatively better off western Maharashtra region and not the crisis plagued Vidarbha region of the State that has benefited most from Government loan waivers Farmers in western Maharashtra got 53.8 per cent of the loan waiver’ those in Vidarbha just the report also outlined an action plan and various recommendations to be implemented for the betterment of the farming community in vidarbha.

“Even after a period of over 11 months of the committee submitting its

report, the State Government has not made any implementation. This has spread a wide-spread discontent amongst the farmers of Vidarbha. It also reveals the

earnestness of Government toward upliftment of farmers in Vidarbha,” statedVJS’ Santosh Naitam.

Naitam has also denounced Government’s decision to appoint Dr. Jadhav as Member of Planning Commission of India. “Is it an effort on the part of Government to relocate him. Government should jave shown same eagerness to implement his report in Vidarbha,” Naitam said.

To press for demand, the organization has also sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Ashok Chavhan recently. The letter also demanded hike in MSP of farm produce in Vidarbha like Soyabean, millet, Tur, Jowar etc. “Production of crops like cotto and soybean was too low in the region last year. Private traders offered too low returns for the produce and in the absence of any help from the Government, the farmers were left with no option but to sell the produce to such private players even at substantial low rates. When the yielding season reached its peak last year, the Government stopped purchase of may

crops depriving the farmers of benefits of MSPs. This should not happen at least this season, “Naitam said.

In the letter, VJS has said that it has been monitoring that it has been monitoring Vidarbha farmer’s suicide and agrarian crisis since 1999. “If we look at net result of relief packages worth crores of rupees it is clear that all of them have failed to stop on going farm suicides on Vidarbha. More over it failed to provide any help or healing touch to millions of distressed farmers in Vidarbha”. Govt has formed high-power Committee headed by Dr. Jadhav to examine shortcomings in Farmer’s Packages under implementation and to suggest remedial measures to stop farmer suicides. Committee had admitted that the packages have totally failed to provide any immediate help to those farmer’s families in the category of ‘farmers Families in Extreme Distress’ (total families4,34,291) and ‘Farmers Families with Extreme Illness’ (total families 92,456),

though the complete data of which is available in the Report of Survey conducted by Government o Maharashtra in June, 2006. It is required that Govt must act, otherwise it will be too late to revive collapsed social structure in crises ridden rural Vidarbha.

Dr. Jadhav Committee report findings

Dr. NARENDRA Jadhav Committee was set up to examine implementation of relief packages to distressed farmers and report on the overall agricultural scenario in the State. It submitted its report in August 2008 stating that it was relatively better off western Maharashtra region and not the crisis plagued Vidarbha region of the State that has benefited most from government loan waivers. Committee has also been critical on the manner in which loan waivers have been disbursed and quality of government aid packages. Its finding are as follows;

. Farmers in western Maharastra got 53.8 per cent of the loan waiver; those in Vidarbha just 20.01 per cent.

. Farming has become unprofitable in Vidarbha due to lack of irrigation inadequate credit for farmers, lack of non-agriculture related activities to supplement farm incomes, and harassment by money lenders.

. Sufficient awareness was not created among farmers regarding the aid packages.

. 40 per cent of important posts in the Agriculture Department remain

vacant.

. No independent entity to implement aid packages result in lack of

coordination among departments.

. Several irregularities, such as middlemen accepting commissions, in relief disbursement.

. Poor implementation of aid, such as mulch animals being given to farmers without ascertaining whether they have the means to maintain the animals and without providing veterinary support.

. Sub-standard agricultural implements bought, and at higher than market rates.

Two more distressed farmers commits suicide in vidarbha : VJAS urged Maharashtra Govt. to tackle fresh crop loan crisis seriously

Nagpur- Dated 23^rd June 2009

Last night around midnight Vinod Rathode. farm activist of village Wagdara called VJAS office to inform that one Mangal Chavan (age 32) consumed pesticide and has been decleared dead in V.N.Govt. medical college yavatmal same time Dr.Arvind Bhoyar social worker of village Gawara brought dead body of one credit starved cotton farmer from tribal community named Parasram Dhurve (age 30) who committed suicide two hour after mangal chavan of wagdara killed himself .“ both farmers are victim of gostile policies of bankers and this is single of restart of farm suicide spiral in vidarbha.our repeated request to administration to restore the baking credit network to credit starved farmers of west vidarbha is being ignored resulting these farm suicides” informed Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti(VJAS) told to media persons in Pandharkawada today.

“suicide of Parasram Dhurve is case of victimization ,he was going to State Bank of India Patanbori branch daily since 4^th june after the announcement of bankers before protesting farmers that all illigiable farmers will be given fresh crop loan but bank officials have made life of tribal farmers miserable as they asked these innocent farmers to bring NOC of farmers adjutant to Parasram Dhurve ,this is nonsense and ridiculous,we will press for criminal action against erring bank officials of State Bank of India Patanbori branch ” Dr.Arvind Bhoyar noted social worker of Gawara informed today . “Parasram Dhurve is not single case of victimization,there are hundreds of credit starved farmers being till tortured by bankers and are being forced to kill themselves” Dr.Arvind Bhoyar added.

“Mangal Chavan is the second farm suicide of our village but all farmers of my village wagdara are in debt trap and non of cotton farmers are doing well ,loan waiver has not changed the economic condition of wagdara moreover P.M. relief package has shown any sign of relief in my area,farmers are till dying inspite of toll claims of Maharashtra Govt.” Vinod Rathode. farm activist of village Wagdara informed .

Earlier the first victim of vidarbha farm credit crisis was reported last week when one Lakhama Namdeo Tekam tribal farmer of village Khusal-Wagholi in yavatmal district of vidarbha committed suicide due debt trap and failed to get fresh crop loan from his coopretative bank. “ after lakham tekam suicide till date nobody from administration has visited our village ,the ground situation has been very grim as banker have till adte not resumed crop loan disbursement more over delayed monsoon has added further worries to us” informed Prem Rathode village sarpanch.

“we will got to door of each farmers to give them fresh crop loan ,NABARD who announced after prime minister package is not even visiting the vidarbha ” Kishore tiwari of VJAS informed as per District Administration reports now it’s official crop loan disbursement is less than 50% in comparison to last year disbursement .there is huge cry all vidarbha fresh crop loan to all illegible farmers after loan waiver but bankers are facing liquidity crunch due insufficient fund sanctioned by apex bank NABARD as agriculture credit has been reduced to 40% in comparison to agriculture credit to given to farmers in year 2006 after Prime Minister of India Dr.Man Mohan Singh visited vidarbha and announced to relief package of Rs.3750/- crore .

‘After the interest waiver of Rs.1080 crore in 2006 followed by complete loan waiver of Rs.71,000 crore in march 2008 added to maharashtra Govt.’s extended loan waiver of Rs.6208 crore in December 2008 ,it was told that in vidarbha at least 3 million farmers will get farm credit from financial institutes but non-professional attitude and non-cooperation of bankers the complete exercise of loan waiver has been failed and till date only 20% illigibale farmers could manage to get credit from institutional finance owned by state .we demand serious attention of Govt. over farm credit crisis in west vidarbha ” KIshore tiwari of VJAS urged in press note.

Please arrange to release this press note

Kishor Tiwari

President

Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti

vjasamiti@gmail.com

kishortiwari.blogspot.com

contact-09422108846

.

डाक्टर नरेद्र जाधव यांचे लागली वरनी योज्जना आयोगावर मात्र विदर्भचे शेतकरी वार्यावर -Vidarbha TIMES

Bt cotton has failed in Vidarbha: study

Axis of Logic

Finding Clarity in the 21st Century Mediaplex

Science/Nature

Bt cotton has failed in Vidarbha: study
+ YouTube video

By Special Correspondent

hindu.com

Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_56043.shtml

`Its high input costs have increased farmers' indebtedness'

The hybrid Bt.cotton

MUMBAI: A new study on the introduction of Bt cotton in Vidarbha reveals that it has failed in the region. Suman Sahai, Director of Gene Campaign, told journalists on Wednesday that despite specific knowledge that Bt cotton would not work in rainfed areas, the government had introduced it in Vidarbha. The result was that in an area with a history of indebtedness, the high input costs of Bt cotton had increased indebtedness. The study had shown that 70 per cent of small farmers had already lost their landholdings as collateral for loans that they could never repay.

The Gene Campaign study, which will be ready in four to five weeks, consisted of a technology adoption study to look at how Bt cotton was adopted in Vidarbha. It is based on interviews with around 500 cotton farmers from Amravati and Yavatmal districts. Preliminary data shows that farmers who had adopted Bt cotton had a net lower income than non-Bt cotton farmers.

Dr. Sahai said that Bt cotton did better in irrigated areas and that it was a mistake to introduce it in an area like Vidarbha. It did not perform well in the region because inputs costs were high, including the cost of the seeds, there was an abundance of spurious seeds and the technology had been adopted without any preparation of the farmers for the complex management practices that were needed. Seed dealers, she said, encouraged farmers to buy far more fertilizer and pesticide than was needed, thereby raising their input costs. They promised farmers that they would get between 12 to 15 quintals per acre when the actual production was in the range of three to five quintals per acre. At the same time cotton prices came down with the import of Chinese cotton. The study reveals that on average, farmers who adopted Bt cotton lost Rs. 1,725 per acre. "Such economics cannot work," she said.

The study revealed that many farmers adopted Bt cotton because they believed it was a "government seed" and did not know that it was privately produced and marketed. They also accepted it because the government was actively promoting the technology. While local officials, like the Agriculture Commissioner of Amravati, were aware of the failure of Bt cotton, the state agriculture department continued to promote it. "The role of the government has been irresponsible and damaging," said Dr. Sahai.

Dr. Sahai also pointed that Bt was a limited time technology. In the United States, where it has been introduced 10 years ago, it had already developed resistance. This was also happening in China. In India, she said, "we are seeing resistance earlier because of rampant proliferation of illegal seeds and the wrong techniques being used."

The Bt technology was not need driven but supply driven, said Dr. Sahai.

She stressed that cotton farmers had not demanded it and that in any case, the expression of the Bt cotton gene worked for only 90 days while Indian cotton took 160 days to mature. In other words, during the crucial period when the crop needed protection from pests, it remained unprotected.

Side effects

The study had also collected anecdotal evidence about other side effects of Bt cotton on plants and animals.

For instance, cattle deaths had been reported in areas where they grazed in harvested Bt cotton fields, women working in cotton fields had complained of rashes, and there were reports that mango trees were not flowering.

Despite such reports, the government had not conducted tests to establish whether any of this could be attributed to the introduction of Bt cotton. The impact of cotton oil, extracted from Bt cotton, on human and animal health had also not been considered.

Dr. Sahai said it was essential to conduct safety tests and also put in place a regulatory system before any new technology is introduced.

Hindu.com

Also see YouTube video

Bt Cotton adoption in Vidarbha