Why should you sign this petition?

Given the extreme nature of restrictions that were imposed during the lockdown, the farmers found it difficult to serve the entire market which they were serving previously. The pandemic has shown the vulnerability of the farmers of India to such unforeseen circumstances. 

Smallholder farmers faced many pre-pandemic problems such as repayment of loans, low rainfall, volatility in market price, and not reaching breakeven of cost and revenue. COVID-19 pandemic has added challenges to their operations- transportation during the lockdown, shortage of labor and equipment, social distancing, and less demand.

The long supply chain was severely affected when the lockdown was imposed on 25th March 2020. The restriction in transportation made the owner of the truck abandon it in the middle of the interstate highways. Procurement was affected, and farmers had to sell their produce on the open market. The truck was eventually full of produce, and destruction in the supply chain led to the shortage in the market. There was a noticeable mismatch in the availability of farm goods. The prices touched the peak where supply was less and fell at places where oversupply took place. In all these processes, farmers did not gain an extra penny. Instead, their produce rotted due to a lack of supply and fertilizers. The availability of seeds and required fertilizers hampered the growth of farm produce for the next crop season. Even the system of procurement through Mandis became a painful process after the control was left to the police during the period of restrictions.

Suggestions to the Indian government:

The income of farmers fell considerably by 50% for vegetables (tomatoes, chilies, onion, coriander, etc.) due to the short supply. The farmers are not dying for MSP. All they want is good profit from the produce. Say, for e.g. The cost of production of green chilli is Rs.1.5 lakhs/acre, which includes the labor cost, fertilizers, etc., but they are not getting sufficient MSP to reach the breakeven. One of the main concerns is long-distance transportation as well. Farmers in Punjab can get a better price for rice from the South Indian dealers, but bulky transportation would add up to the supply chain costs. We propose the following solutions to help such farmers:

a)     Improving Market Linkages: A collective action group of smallholders would be given the power to negotiate with the buyers and access a larger market. The economics of scale would improve with reduced transaction costs and gaining the desired amount for farmers. Facilitating third-party certification for small farmers would enable them to sell at premium prices in the commercial market.

b)     Partnership with start-ups for the advisory role: “Yara International” is a digital farmer startup that imparts knowledge on the use of crop nutrition products and helps farmers to produce more with less resources. Farmers get access to information, computer-driven decision support, and optimization techniques that help them make an informed decision. Many such startups help a sample of farmers in different states to resume operation and liaise with local government. The government can do partnership with such organizations to make farmers educated towards efficient farming.

c)     Uniform implementation of Contract Farming: The full potential of land leasing, contract farming, and private agricultural market is unrealized. For eg. Implementation of e-Choupal is helping farmers to make more informed decisions and gain sufficient profit but in some states of India. Such programs should be made available to each farmer with the help of the State government.

d)     Protect the community by providing basic health facilities: Small farmers are vulnerable to health crisis and the absence of basic health infrastructure makes them weaker. The lack/death of farmers would impact the global food system. Farmers are considered as “Anndaata,” and protecting them is the priority.

e)     Creation of a proper database and provision of an online platform for selling goods: A database could be initiated which could store details of all existing farmers. Further, they could be provided with an open platform that could help them quote products and sell them directly to the buyer, thus making it more profitable for both buyer and the farmer.

f)      Extending MSP to all crops: Rather than providing MSP to only a select number of crops that could cause overproduction of those crops alone, the system could be extended to all kinds of crops so that farmers can grow appropriate crops.

g)     Procurement through PACS: By ensuring that PACS procures all produce, farmers can reduce their transportation costs, avoid fraud/payment issues, and plan crops easily as they are assured of the procurement.

h)     Provisions of pandemic related insurances: If the government provides a system that can give insurance to farmers in case, they make losses due to pandemic related issues like labor shortage, transportation issues, sudden drop in demand, etc., it would be a safety net for farmers and thus provide them with some relief

i)      Providing rural employment: Most rural workers do not get adequate living wages. Steps should be taken to provide employment to rural workers so that they can sustain themselves, reducing their reliance on farming. The focus should be on job creation in the agricultural as well as the non-agricultural sector.

Petition by: Deepika Barua, Pooja Udayabhanu, Sanjit Shinde (students of IIM Ahmedabad)