The Hindu Business Line : Time running out for Kerala farmers: Expert

Time is running out for the State Government to take a holistic view of the farm sector and prepare the heavily indebted and thoroughly demoralised farmer to deal with the challenges thrown up by a fast-integrating global and regional markets.

"The Government must strive to protect farmers, and provide relief of the fiscal kind to those who are willing and able to turn around their fortunes through diversification and value addition," says Mr A.V. Narayanaswami, agri-business and IPR consultant and a project consultant to UNDP.

No amount of public funds or private equity will prove good unless and until the farmers are taken into confidence by being included in the decision making process. They should be freed from debt, assured of prompt governmental intervention and regulation whenever needed.

A number of solutions, ranging from group farming to IT interventions, have been proffered to find a way out of the crisis. But time is fast running out, given the wholesome changes happening at the global, regional, bilateral and national levels for the farmer to contend with.

For instance, by year 2013 when free trade would have blossomed into its full potential, each country could levy import and export duties only on those sensitive listed items which it feels need to be protected. Of the 688 agricultural products listed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), only five per cent (32 items) are eligible for such protection in India.

The recent list of sensitive items discussed does not include rice, coconut, coconut oil, pepper, coffee, copra or arecanut.

Rubber and coir just do not find a mention in the list since they are not classified as agricultural products.

At the regional level, Government of India is committed to bringing down tariff to ASEAN levels. In the next few years, we will see free trade extending to China, Japan and South Korea and even New Zealand and Australia.

At the bilateral level, India has recently entered into an agreement with Thailand for setting up of a free trade area covering goods, services and investment in 10 years. The Indo-Sri Lankan agreement has already been blamed for the downfall of pepper prices.

The State Government needs to think `out of the box' to come up with practical solutions to deal with the situation. A consortium of innovative farmers, as suggested by Dr M.S. Swaminathan, could be set up for discussing experiences and achievements of small and marginal farmers.

The vast network of co-operatives is another option that can be exercised to group farmers at the grassroots level for squarely facing the challenges posed by domestic reforms heralded by legislations such as the Seeds Bill and the Model APMC Act.